This would be a dream come true for Canadians. You Americans are so damn lucky. I am considered lucky to have a 120GB bandwidth cap here.
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Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
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It's amusing when people complain about the rates their cablecos charge and then don't make use of the phone-based tech support that's available and paid for by a portion of their bill.
Time to break up big red and the rest...
I just don't understand how the small cable companies are able to offer faster speeds, lower prices, better service, and still find a way to reinvest in their infrastructure all while turning nice profits as well.
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www.midcocomm.com/midconetxstream/
Over the past two years our speed has gone from 20/2 to 50/10 (I don't know why we test at almost 60) and only increased a total of 10 dollars per month. No caps to be had as well.
I just don't understand how the small cable companies are able to offer faster speeds, lower prices, better service, and still find a way to reinvest in their infrastructure all while turning nice profits as well.
www.midcocomm.com/midconetxstream/
Over the past two years our speed has gone from 20/2 to 50/10 (I don't know why we test at almost 60) and only increased a total of 10 dollars per month. No caps to be had as well.
...250 GB? How much streaming do you have to do to go over that? 
That bandwidth would cost a small fortune a month where I live as it is, and now they're offering more?
That bandwidth would cost a small fortune a month where I live as it is, and now they're offering more? You are. Try 35GB, top tier pricing.anonymous12 said:
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...250 GB? How much streaming do you have to do to go over that?
Not as hard as you may think. We are a family of four and between normal internet surfing, online gaming, BBMP (dish), Netflix, and FaceTime with the Grandparents once or twice a week adds up fast. Currently we sitting just south of 200 gigs so far this month.
On average we end the month at around 315 used.
I suppose I'm a pretty light user, I don't stream anything or even use YouTube for that matter. Large file downloads are a PITA due to lack of speed, so I don't usually attempt those either. Gaming, every once in a while but only older ones that I guess don't really use much bandwidth (Original Halo, MoH, etc.)
I suppose I'm just not your average internet user.
...250 GB? How much streaming do you have to do to go over that?
You are. Try 35GB, top tier pricing.
Wow... Texas IS a third world country :-S
Just a test I made right now in Brazil:
It's not a fast connection and it's not cheap either (arround 65 dollars a month), but still... it's unlimited.
Perhaps because they don't have layers upon layers of unnecessary management creating bureaucracy and taking nice salaries for themselves. That increases profit margins by reducing operating costs and allows more money to be free to reinvest in the network.
In larger markets you have exclusivity agreements and it all becomes a big gravy train for whoever can make their employment appear a needed expense to the company.
Well, it really has to do with more of the fact that I live in a rural area. San Antonio is about an hour southeast from where I live, and they can get Time Warner Cable and what have you, probably at decent speeds with decent caps.
But where I am, choices are very limited and expensive.
TWC seems to have uncapped connections, at least that's somethin'.
In Spain, rural areas have sloooow connections (1 Mbps to 3 Mbps), but they're uncapped. Though it seems that places that are in the middle of nowhere will get by law a connection, but will have a cap. But those are extreme cases, anyway.
WOW! I am doing about 325 GB a month on average with comcast. I could not imagine a 10 GB a month limit. What kind of connection do you have?
I have comcast and I'm currently 20 days into my billing cycle. So far i have used 24GB. I'm not too worried about the policy change. It seems the only people who are concerned are data hogs.
10 GB monthly limit for broadband? That's insane! I could see that kind of cap on a cellular network but certainly not on residential or commercial broadband (DSL, cable, fiber.) That's ludicrous!
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Not necessarily. If you have "cut the cord" and use Netflix and Hulu for all your TV and have two or three other people in your home streaming content on phones, tablets, and laptops, it's not difficult to reach or exceed 250 GB in a month.
Im not sure what to think of this, on one hand its more bandwidth.
On the other hand, instead of cutting speed (which is what they did to me) they want to start playing the wireless game and charge per 50 GB. I mean that's not bad but they could definitely take advantage of consumers by raising prices whenever they want to.
Comcast is famous for charging monthly fees for everything, as such you have to buy cable boxes instead you have to rent each one.
Just hope this doesn't go the way of the wireless carriers is all I'm concerned about.
On the other hand, instead of cutting speed (which is what they did to me) they want to start playing the wireless game and charge per 50 GB. I mean that's not bad but they could definitely take advantage of consumers by raising prices whenever they want to.
Comcast is famous for charging monthly fees for everything, as such you have to buy cable boxes instead you have to rent each one.
Just hope this doesn't go the way of the wireless carriers is all I'm concerned about.
..Note sure who your provider is, but thats terrible. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and with BellAliant FibreOP, I get 70Mbps Down + 30Mbps Up with no caps. The only capped service we have here is the 250Mbps Down + 30Mbps up which is capped at 250 GB/Mo.
Even Eastlink here offers 20Mbps uncapped. Although, their upper tiers (40-200mbps) have a cap of 250GB after which i believe you are selectively throttled.
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When 40mbps connections were suddenly available to lots of homes the cap was around 250gb, then 300gb months later, then another month later and it was "unlimited".
I'm not sure what the unlimited amount really is, but we've gone to 1tb in a month in this house without being told off.
But what I'm getting at is... how can anywhere still have these arbitrary limits? And why are they so small? This is the future, people!
I'm not sure what the unlimited amount really is, but we've gone to 1tb in a month in this house without being told off.
But what I'm getting at is... how can anywhere still have these arbitrary limits? And why are they so small? This is the future, people!
u guys have datacaps for home internet??? i understand doing it for mobile but omg
Only those providers who provide their bandwidth through cable. I have DSL through my local phone company and it is unlimited. I sat here one month and downloaded eight HD seasons on one show (24 episodes each season) plus every HD season of Dexter and Parks and Rec and never got a word. I frequently go way over 300GB a month just on newsgroup downloads alone.
I couldn't picture going over 250GB a month let alone 300GB. We use the internet a lot in my house. Which includes a lot of updates to software, watching HD video on XFinity and so forth. The worst I have gotten to is about 40GB in a month. Usually it is around 15-20GB.
You people going over 250GB a month must be downloading a massive amount of data. Is it MMO's that cause such massive data usage?
I rather they'd just offer 50GB packets with no expiration. That way I be paying $10 every three or four months for 20mb internet.
Don't know what region you are in. But in my region Comcast charges double the price for the same speed business plans.
You people going over 250GB a month must be downloading a massive amount of data. Is it MMO's that cause such massive data usage?
I rather they'd just offer 50GB packets with no expiration. That way I be paying $10 every three or four months for 20mb internet.
Don't know what region you are in. But in my region Comcast charges double the price for the same speed business plans.
The one reason if you are actually streaming with Xfinity is that Comcast manages to exclude their own data from your caps. if you are routinely streaming from Netflix or using cloud services, which you probably don't, but if you were, you'd find that your usage would increase significantly.
I definitely do NOT LIKE THIS TREND!!
What's wrong with this?
As a customer of a product that requires internet connectivity (ex. Diablo 3) I now require to have the company state the monthly internet download usage of their product.
Let's put this in another perspective... I buy a car that requires gas. The gas company tells me that I can buy 30 gallons of gas every month at the standard price. If I go over 30 gallons, I must pay more than anyone else.
At least if I drive a car, I have an idea of how much gas I'm going to use because I can measure the gas usage.
With internet service applications, I have NO IDEA HOW MUCH DATA I'M USING.
Truth is... if Comcast is going to charge you a fee when going over a certain data usage limit, then COMCAST MUST PROVIDE A METER THAT SHOWS REALTIME DATA USAGE TO THE CUSTOMER
What's wrong with this?
As a customer of a product that requires internet connectivity (ex. Diablo 3) I now require to have the company state the monthly internet download usage of their product.
Let's put this in another perspective... I buy a car that requires gas. The gas company tells me that I can buy 30 gallons of gas every month at the standard price. If I go over 30 gallons, I must pay more than anyone else.
At least if I drive a car, I have an idea of how much gas I'm going to use because I can measure the gas usage.
With internet service applications, I have NO IDEA HOW MUCH DATA I'M USING.
Truth is... if Comcast is going to charge you a fee when going over a certain data usage limit, then COMCAST MUST PROVIDE A METER THAT SHOWS REALTIME DATA USAGE TO THE CUSTOMER
Comcast provides a usage meter at Comcast.com, you have to login to manage your account, and select Users & settings, and the meter is right there. This is on the full site and I don't think it appears on the mobile site.
It seems this is the reason for these caps. Comcast, and I imagine all the big providers are afraid of cable cutters; and their increasing numbers.
I would not be surprised if in the near future we see the providers offer their own streaming services that do not count towards the imposed caps; as a way of holding on to their current revenue stream. Or I could just be paranoid.
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