Comcast capping connections to 250GB/mo

[demi]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26444853/

On Oct. 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250 gigabytes of traffic per month, the company announced on its Web site.

[permutated]

How many megs do a COD4 game usually run over LIVE?

[Joe Molotov]

distinguished effete cable company

[Positive Touch]

awesome.  it'll be just like the old days of aol & prodigy, but instead of measuring out time we'll be measuring our downloads!  i bet there won't even be a way to check how much you've used each month.

[Vizzys]

i think Ive read somewhere that this cap has existed without customer knowledge for some time now and you are only made aware of it when you reach it

250gb is plenty sane IMO

[patrickula]

When the fuck will Fios come to my side of the highway dammit 

[pilonv1]

lol welcome to australia, where 40/60gb is considered a "heavy" cap

[MrAngryFace]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

[cool breeze]

I don't download that much, but the wait for FIOS in my area is tough.  I want off Comcast.

[Candyflip]

This is both upload and download. Obviously it's not going to be a problem for anyone who isn't seeding 500 torrents 24 hours a day, but I wouldn't be surprised if the ceiling for the cap eventually starts dropping. That's okay though, because by that time FiOS should be available here.

edit: damn you people always reading my mind and shit

[Candyflip]

They've been quoted in the past as saying that they "aren't currently planning to impose any bandwidth caps on our users" because they "expect the service to be used frequently" and stuff like that, but at the same time they are pretty careful to not rule out the possibility.

If they did I guess I wouldn't be surprised, although you would think they'd have to have a lot more users than they do now

But like someone else said, just be glad you aren't Australian.

[pilonv1]

lol if its uploads as well

[MrAngryFace]

What the fuck? Time to tell my mother we need to switch or something, fuck. Being a high profile gaming journalist, I'm downloading 20-25 gigs a WEEK.

I hope thats a joke

[Bildi]

lol welcome to australia, where 40/60gb is considered a "heavy" cap

  Yeah, my cap is 10Gb a month.  250GB is insane - I don't think they even exist in Australia.

[MrAngryFace]

10GB is harsh, but 250GB is like wtf

[Bildi]

I just went to check my plan and they have free line speed changes at the moment.  So for $5.00 more per month I've moved up from 512kb/s to 1500kb/s (still have my 10GB cap).

I'm in the big league now, baby.

[MrAngryFace]

What the fuck? Time to tell my mother we need to switch or something, fuck. Being a high profile gaming journalist, I'm downloading 20-25 gigs a WEEK.

I hope thats a joke

I just downloaded like 25 gigs of shit today. Granted, I just did a clean install(so I'll have more to download too) but it'll be fucking ridiculous with all the audio, videos, images, betas and text documents I'll be downloading from now on.

Back in MY day they shipped me shit. Are they that cheap now?

[T-Short]

What the fuck? Time to tell my mother we need to switch or something, fuck. Being a high profile gaming journalist, I'm downloading 20-25 gigs a WEEK.

I hope thats a joke

A high profile gaming journalist that lives with his mom? Story seems to check out

[Bildi]

[TVC15]

i think Ive read somewhere that this cap has existed without customer knowledge for some time now and you are only made aware of it when you reach it

250gb is plenty sane IMO

Fuck no!  This means my days of 200 gig Doctor Who torrents are done.  Fuck Comcast.  At least FIOS will be here soon.  I hope this doesn't start a domino effect in the industry.  Things are supposed to improve, not regress.

[MrAngryFace]

FIOS is Verizon and theyve never been assholes about their internet.....yet

[TVC15]

FIOS is Verizon and theyve never been assholes about their internet.....yet

Yeah, this is why I'm prepared to brave out being with Comcast. . . I think all the big names will follow them now that they've set precedent.  Say goodbye to streaming 720p on Hulu now.  Comcast just shit up the future.

[Eel O'Brian]

time warner has already started testing caps out in some areas

it's weird, they seem to be headed in that direction, but they also just upped the dl speeds here (at no extra charge)

[Eel O'Brian]

goodbye digital distro future

[MrAngryFace]

FIOS is Verizon and theyve never been assholes about their internet.....yet

 

Not familiar with their nationwide wireless internet plans, are you?

Dont shatter my dream world.

[TVC15]

It's easier for me because I don't leave the house anymore unless it's a family emergency.

Sounds like a great life!

I'm fifteen and the world scares me, fuck you.

And some distinguished mentally-challenged fellows don't understand why new psychological disorders are "invented."  Our highly peculiar society creates them.  The more technology we have, the less human we become.  READ BALLARD.

[Tabasco]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

Waht happens when I use XBOX Live to get my Netflix movies?  What if Netflix offers up an HD solution?  I could see myself hitting that cap in December with lots of Gears hosting and Netflix downloads over the holidays.

[TVC15]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

Waht happens when I use XBOX Live to get my Netflix movies?  What if Netflix offers up an HD solution?  I could see myself hitting that cap in December with lots of Gears hosting and Netflix downloads over the holidays.

Also, as I posted to GAF:

10 days (10 days connected to internet straight), 28 gigs down, 41gigs sent.


This is regular, LEGAL usage.  I have not torrented anything lately, and I am in the danger zone.

[MrAngryFace]

Comcast is clearly siding with Sony

[Candyflip]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

Waht happens when I use XBOX Live to get my Netflix movies?  What if Netflix offers up an HD solution?  I could see myself hitting that cap in December with lots of Gears hosting and Netflix downloads over the holidays.

Also, as I posted to GAF:

10 days (10 days connected to internet straight), 28 gigs down, 41gigs sent.


This is regular, LEGAL usage.  I have not torrented anything lately, and I am in the danger zone.

Wow. Is this just from streaming video and regular browsing? I'm kinda curious to see my own now. I'm wondering how much traffic is generated from video games as well

What is a good free bandwidth monitor?

[bagofeyes]

so australia is still the pits of the technological world eh? im never going back there

[The Fake Shemp]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

Waht happens when I use XBOX Live to get my Netflix movies?  What if Netflix offers up an HD solution?  I could see myself hitting that cap in December with lots of Gears hosting and Netflix downloads over the holidays.

Also, as I posted to GAF:

10 days (10 days connected to internet straight), 28 gigs down, 41gigs sent.


This is regular, LEGAL usage.  I have not torrented anything lately, and I am in the danger zone.

Uh, Einstein, if you were to keep that up you'd still be UNDER 250GB traffic for the month.  So your complaint is that, "With my heavy usage of legal Internet traffic, this cap won't allow me to pirate!"?

[Kestastrophe]

Once fiberoptic connections are mainstream, which have theoretical unlimited bandwidth capactity, there will be no excuse for caps. I just hope that other companies stay away from this pricing model so it doesn't become an industry standard. It's almost like their commoditizing  bandwidth

[Tabasco]

So my connection is 2 Mb up.  So if I'm hosting a game, that's 2Mbx60x60=7200Mb=858MB per hour.  Since there's downtime and whatnot it's not too worrisome.  I'm much more concerned with Netflix.  Like, concerned enough to not use it to stream.

Wish I had some idea how much general web surfing used up.

Bizarrely, I think streaming a NTSC DVD uses more bandwidth than grabbing a 720p mkv off usenet.

[The Fake Shemp]

That's silly.  If there's a legitimate demographic using it for legal purposes, like streaming Netflix and if enough of these people hit the cap and voice their concerns - Comcast will realize there's a viable revenue stream there and work on a resolution.  Trying to fall under the cap is the opposite way to go if you think you have legitimate reasons to use more than 250/gb per month.

[DJ_Tet]

Uh, Einstein, if you were to keep that up you'd still be UNDER 250GB traffic for the month.  So your complaint is that, "With my heavy usage of legal Internet traffic, this cap won't allow me to pirate!"?

lol what's he gonna do if he wants netflix or wants to d/l movies from XBL?


If he's Teddman he'll just switch to one of 15 different service providers, to show his distain for the cap.  If he's like the rest of us, though, the only other broadband option in town is DSL (lol.)  Once these caps hit all over the place, it's bad news for those companies who want to stream legal video.  They just expected cable companies to peddle their shit for free, but it's been obvious to me that isn't going to happen.  This is just Comcast drawing the line in the sand.

imo this has a LOT more to do with securing the digital download marketplace than it does with pirating.  Who else besides netflix and xbl offers movies on demand?  Why, your local cable company (and only true broadband option in most towns) of course.

God I can't wait for fios, looks like it's coming to my town too late though.  TW is right behind Comcast in this move.

Demi, post this on OA, I wanna see Teddman cry

[Shuri]

Honestly.

250gb is like 55 dvd5 res movie isos. If you manage to watch all that shit in a month, reconsider your life.

edit: also, blame the torrent feggits for this mess. distinguished mentally-challenged fellows doing 500gb a month because they wanted good ratios by seeding scoobydoo 2 is why companies decided to go on with this.

[DJ_Tet]

The TW 'cap' is a lot less than 250 gigs a month.  This is just a start towards tiered pricing, and as of now Comcast isn't offering an 'unlimited' option.  Being that most of the US is stuck with one true broadband option, the implementing of caps could screw a lot of people.

But ultimately I agree that 250 gigs is a very large cap for legit internet usage, however the legit pipeline is getting bigger every day.

[The Fake Shemp]

If you are downloading so many legal XBL videos or streaming Netflix or what have you, then you should have the time and the resources to look at alternative options - like a T1.

The service is meant for the majority of users and most (like probably 96%) won't touch this cap.

[DJ_Tet]

wat?

Downloading $4 movies on xbl = being able to afford a T1 line?

Do you work for the cable company now?

edit:  I can see the netflix ads now.  All you need is a netflix subscription and a T1 line and you can stream us all day!


You mention options, Teddman mentions options, the only option I see for the majority of users is their local cable company. 

[hyp]

looks like other ISPs have some new marketing material with this announcement. 

[DJ_Tet]

Not really, Comcast only competes with Comcast as far as providing cable internet, that's part of the problem.  It's not like a Comcast user has any other options other than DSL, T1 (thanks willco  ,) or a more economical option of moving.  Of course, Fios and Uverse are 'out there' and 'coming' for some/most of us, but a cable internet user really has very few options already.

[Tabasco]

How can I monitor my usage? I want to see how bad it actually is.

Task manager in Windows will do it, but that's just for that PC.  For whole network, you'll need to use router diagnostics.  Unfortunately my router only gives me total packets, not bytes.  So it's worthless

[The Fake Shemp]

Not really, Comcast only competes with Comcast as far as providing cable internet, that's part of the problem.  It's not like a Comcast user has any other options other than DSL, T1 (thanks willco  ,) or a more economical option of moving.  Of course, Fios and Uverse are 'out there' and 'coming' for some/most of us, but a cable internet user really has very few options already.

Do you realize how many XBL videos you'd have to download to come close to that limit?

[TVC15]

250 gigs is INSANE if youre downloading that much a month youre clearly up to something

Waht happens when I use XBOX Live to get my Netflix movies?  What if Netflix offers up an HD solution?  I could see myself hitting that cap in December with lots of Gears hosting and Netflix downloads over the holidays.

Also, as I posted to GAF:

10 days (10 days connected to internet straight), 28 gigs down, 41gigs sent.


This is regular, LEGAL usage.  I have not torrented anything lately, and I am in the danger zone.

Uh, Einstein, if you were to keep that up you'd still be UNDER 250GB traffic for the month.  So your complaint is that, "With my heavy usage of legal Internet traffic, this cap won't allow me to pirate!"?

UH EINSTEIN, I saif it would put me in the danger zone.  This has been a light use month so far, and I'm already projecting up to 210gigs.  EINSTEIN!  EINSTEIN.  Fuck off, distinguished mentally-challenged fellow.

[TVC15]

That came out harsh.  Add a lol in there somewhere.

[The Fake Shemp]

You'd be FORTY GIGS away from the cap limit.  How does that put you in the DANGER ZONE.

That is a ridiculous expectation.  Are you going to burn 40GBs on that one day if it's a thirty-one day month?

I fail to gather sympathy for folks who are upset that 250GB/per month is LIGHT usage.  I game and download towns of HD content and all that crap - and I'm not going to hit it.  If you're hitting 250GB/per month routinely and LEGALLY, it's because you're paying for so much content.  And if that's the case, then there is DSL (and yes, DSL is not 56k - I've had DSL that was faster than my cable), FIOS for many nowadays, sattelite, etc.

[TVC15]

You'd be FORTY GIGS away from the cap limit.  How does that put you in the DANGER ZONE.

That is a ridiculous expectation.  Are you going to burn 40GBs on that one day if it's a thirty-one day month?

Once again, this is a light usage month.  Wait until TV season starts.

[The Fake Shemp]

That's not Comcast's problem.

You're upset because you won't be able to torrent massive amounts of television or because you're going to buy hundreds of gigs worth of television per month.  If it's the former, then it yeah, it sucks - because you won't be able to pirate, but that's life.  If it's the latter, then the dollar amount spent on television is so high that you could pursue other Internet connection options if need be.

[TVC15]

Hey Willco, you can defend Comcast's decision to regress to AOL-style metering all you want, but unless Comcast is signing your cheque, I think it's a pretty silly thing to defend.  As I said on GAF, the limit is high now, but why would they go to the trouble of announcing a limit if they didn't plan on metering usage further?  If you accept this now, you're not allowed to wah wah a year from now when your 50 bucks a month is only getting you, say, 100 gigs.

[demi]

Willco might as well defend GAF

Is that what you stand for?

[TVC15]

Also, in the ten days that those stats are from, there's been no piracy except for 2 VBR albums.  There goes Willco's piracy excuse.  Not that I don't pirate (only music and TV though), but there's just about no piracy in those numbers.

[DJ_Tet]

Do you realize how many XBL videos you'd have to download to come close to that limit?

Sure, but they aren't in full-hd yet.  And that's beside the point.  TW was experimenting with much smaller caps.  This is just the beginning and those screaming 'options' haven't really shown me many.


edit:  lol @ dsl and satellite 'options'

[Phoenix Dark]

i have comcast but i'm not smart on these things:

1. will playing WoW effect this?
2. how about downloading music? would it be wise to only download a couple albums a month or so?

[Smooth Groove]

Is Time Warner cable affiliated with Comcast?  TW services my area.

Also, what are the benefits of FIOS?  Verizon is already sending some FIOS ads to my home. 

Also, in the ten days that those stats are from, there's been no piracy except for 2 VBR albums.  There goes Willco's piracy excuse.  Not that I don't pirate (only music and TV though), but there's just about no piracy in those numbers.

Don't forget about PSP! 

[Eel O'Brian]

i have comcast but i'm not smart on these things:

1. will playing WoW effect this?

yes

2. how about downloading music? would it be wise to only download a couple albums a month or so?

depends, but albums are usually pretty small unless you're downloading flac files and such

if tw in my area starts this horseshit, i will disappear from the internet almost entirely

the internet will only exist as a pirating and gaming tool for me from then on, and i will do my utmost to hit that 250gb cap every month

i'll download shit i don't even want

i will become robopirate

[The Fake Shemp]

Hey Willco, you can defend Comcast's decision to regress to AOL-style metering all you want, but unless Comcast is signing your cheque, I think it's a pretty silly thing to defend.  As I said on GAF, the limit is high now, but why would they go to the trouble of announcing a limit if they didn't plan on metering usage further?  If you accept this now, you're not allowed to wah wah a year from now when your 50 bucks a month is only getting you, say, 100 gigs.

Likely because it was stated as unlimited and people have approached over the 250GB/per month cap, which was already in place and they opted to make it so for legal reasons.  Especially when people's downloadable content options keeping increasing, I'm sure they'll have a handful of individuals who'll download hundreds of videos and albums per month under the belief that they had unlimited Internet traffic.  I don't doubt that you can hit the cap with legit usage, but for it to occur, you'd have to spend a considerable amount of money.  And if that's the case, those folks will have the resources to look at other options.

Why would a company decrease the cap?  Comcast isn't evil or dumb.  Like I said, if there's a large enough amount of people hitting the cap with legitimate usage, they will simply charge for tiers and - tada! - more revenue.  If you're upset that you might have to pay more in the near future if you use the service a ton, then that's capitalism, baby.  Most folks use cable to check their stupid MySpace, read e-mails, watch YouTube, download porn and play games and 250GB/per month is a reasonable cap.  They're not going to cater their service to a fraction of their subscribers.

Tet, you can't dismiss DSL with "lol".  Dear God, you might have to sacrifice speed for usage and that's legitimate (oh no, up to 6MB DL instead of whatever your cable company gets - my local Comcast connection WISHES it was that good).  First off, DSL is not 56k, it's legitimately high speed.  Also, it's available in a lot of places.  FIOS is also available in a lot of metropolitan areas.  HughesNet, which is sattelite, starts at like $60 per month.  There are options, Tet.

I'm not defending Comcast, but I absolutely hate it when people who do something illegal get pissy when it looks like that will no longer be the case.  Did you really think the good times would last forever?  If someone isn't making money off of you, somebody else will figure how.

[DJ_Tet]

DSL does offer stable, but slow speeds.  I've had it before, I'd have it again if I had to.  I guess for a gamer it's alright.  The main drawback to dsl is having to have an active home phone line.  I haven't had a home phone in over 4 years, it would be an added cost that I would have to consider, making DSL more expensive and slower than cable.

As far as satellite, sure that's fine for downloading, but it's abysmal for online gaming.  It's not anything other than a last resort for people on these forums.

[Rman]

Is Time Warner cable affiliated with Comcast?  TW services my area.

<b>Also, what are the benefits of FIOS?</b>  Verizon is already sending some FIOS ads to my home. 

Also, in the ten days that those stats are from, there's been no piracy except for 2 VBR albums.  There goes Willco's piracy excuse.  Not that I don't pirate (only music and TV though), but there's just about no piracy in those numbers.

Don't forget about PSP! 

It's a direct fiber connection, hence the slow roll out nationwide. They have to re-wire entire regions.  They offer up to 50 Mbps and since fiber allows greater bandwidth you can also add tv services as well with more hd content than most cable companies.

[The Fake Shemp]

DSL does offer stable, but slow speeds.  I've had it before, I'd have it again if I had to.  I guess for a gamer it's alright.  The main drawback to dsl is having to have an active home phone line.  I haven't had a home phone in over 4 years, it would be an added cost that I would have to consider, making DSL more expensive and slower than cable.

You do not need an active phone line.  I had DSL for AT&T for over a year without an active phone line - this is not 2001!  AT&T also offers speeds up to 6MB.  That's not really slow, dude.  You cannot simply discount DSL.  Yes, overall, cable provides consistently higher speeds.  But it's not like the stone age.

FIOS is out and about here in a large portion of the DC metropolitan area.  My brother and I are pretty heavy gamers, download from XBL, download music, etc.  I might look into that.