The 250 GB bandwidth cap with Comcast. Oct 28 '11    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Is the FCC actually involved? Why should I have to cut back on my HD viewing? It's quite apparent I'm not the only one with this little problem. For the past 3 months I've exceeded my monthly 250GB internet usage with Comcast. I didn't even know I was metered but I stumbled upon an article in late September where a customer was unexpectedly shut off, without warning, for one year. Sure enough I go to my detailed account info under "Users & Settings" and there it was pegged at 100% percent. Just below I click on "View Details" and to my surprised, since July I've been going well over in the 350-380GB range monthly. Confused and concerned, I call customer support only to be told to "Cut back your usage" but no explanation as to what's causing this or "what to cut back on"? Before I was well below, around 10-15GB per month and considered typical which 99% of all Comcast's customer use. Now I'm in that nasty "internet hogging" 1% that exceeds the 250GB cap. I've called several times to verify when the meter starts and was given a different answer each time. First two calls: "At the end of each billing cycle" The third call being correct. The meter actually resets at the end of each month, not at the end of my billing cycle which is on the 16th. How nice of them to finally get that straight. After doing a little more research I found the culprit. Netflix. Our guest house is without cable TV however it is wired for internet. Apparently streaming 1080p movies which are in 3-4 GB each can really add up. All I could do is ask our temporary guests to "please cut back on their HD viewing". Response: "We're paying $20 a month to Netflix..". For now the cutback is working but I can't be bothered by this constant monitoring? With our current "Triple Play" $250+ (per mo) plan, I don't see any options or upgrades except to add another modem. Not cheap and it involves a commitment. Currently AT&T charges their customers $10 per 50 GB of overage where as Comcast doesn't impose extra fees but instead warns its customers then eventually cuts them off. Unless you're on an unlimited plan, most if not all ISP's will eventually adopt a limit. I'm also told by several Comcastic customer service reps, it's FCC that mandated the cap in order to help curb or stop unlawful downloading and reproduction of HD media. I found nothing on FCC's website mentioning their involvement but instead multiple artcles suggesting it's actually Comcast that imposed the limit after being censored by FCC for secretly throttling peer-to-peer services. Here's part of a transcript from my most resent chat session: Me> Bandwidth meter says I'm at 79%, I need to know what the meter start date was? Comcast> Your first month starts on the 16th day of the month which the beginning of your billing cycle. So, for this month your data usage started on the 16th.  (Wrong answer!) Another session: Me> 250GB isn't enough, is there another price plan or option? Comcast> No, it cannot be increased anymore. The 250 was set up by FCC to regulate the downloading of data for security purposes and to avoid abuse. (This is simply not true) Me> Streaming 1 or 2 HD movies a day on Netflix is in what form of abuse or security threat? Comcast> The FCC is just regulating the flow of data in order to better monitor the usage of it. 250 GB is already big. That is the allowable usage for residential customers. In cases of business accounts, higher band is awarded to the subscriber for business use. Me> I am a business owner but I'm told I cannot get that service in a residential area even if I pay extra. Comcast> Since this is a temporary situation, I think it's best to monitor the meter and limit the guest to the amount of HD viewing. Here we are at 98%, no warning yet but if you don't hear from me in a while, they pulled the plug. I could get by with my Palm Centro?. Hope to see "Penn & Teller" to doing a segment on this because a 250 GB cap is truly, completely and utterly a bunch of Bull.

Read all comments (8)|Write your own comment

Write an essay on this topic.