BREAKING: Comcast Users Get F'd in the A

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elime

elime

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Comcast puts a cap on Net usage - Portland Business Journal:

Comcast Corp. said Thursday it will limit the amount of data its Internet customers can send and receive each month to 250 gigabytes, effective Oct. 1.

The Philadelphia-based cable-television, Internet, phone and media company said that if a customer exceeds the limit and is among the heaviest users of its Internet service twice within six months, it will suspend the customer’s service for a year.
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Well, not exactly breaking. City/area specific tests have been going on for a while now (Frontier Communications has as well, if I recall correctly).

Can you guys believe this shit?

Just one more step to regulating the net even more.

I don't personally use Comcast (my condolences to those of you who do), but I know that if one company can get away with this, it's likely they all can.

I'm kind of sleep deprived at the moment, but I know one thing. This pisses me off.

Edit: Huh, I just remembered we have an 'industry news' section. If mods wanna move, have at it.

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Yeah actually just read about it. Fucking bullshit. I know it won't affect a lot of users but it's still bullshit. Last time I checked I was paying for unlimited access at a certain speed.

Whether this would affect your or not, you should still be pissed.
 
I hate to be the one to say it, but if you're using 250GB of bandwidth then you really should be using a business class account.

To use that kind of volume in a month you would have to be hosting a popular site from home or just moving a ton of bootlegs.
 
What's the big deal? If you're a bandwidth hog, you will have to pay a premium.

Why should the people who use less bandwidth subsidize the people who use a lot? I'd rather they charge the heavy users and maintain network quality than allow some people to bog down the network for everyone.
 
The providers in my city tend to cap around 60GB. If you go over they turn off your connection. If you phone and complain they'll turn you back on - but odds are this will happen every month if you download a lot.

Makes me a little nervous using my neighbors wireless because I'm afraid their internet will get shut off, causing them to wise up and increase their security.
 
I don't see the big deal with this. There are 'caps' for a lot of things we consume (utilities, phone usage, etc)

Do you really ever plan on exceeding these limits PER month?

- sending 50 million e-mails
- downloading 62,500 songs or
- 125 standard-definition movies, or
- upload 25,000 high-resolution digital photos

If you, do you really need to get a life!
 
This sucks but I don't use comcast, lets hope they fail and go bankrupt yay!
 
Yeah this is a really common restriction here in the can-a-da. If you frequently exceed the limit you have to upgrade to a more expensive plan.
 
well fuckin ey. I have comcast. Damnit.

Im not sure if i use 250gb But i do a lot of online gaming and of course non stop streaming music and AM related stuff.
 
I'm actually kind of surprised that so few of you care about this. Props to those of you who understand the implications.

250gb limit today. 200gb limit tomorrow. 100gb limit the next day. 50gb limit the following day. See where I'm going with this?

Considering how many of us make our livings, it's reasonable to me to assume that these kind of issues are pretty important. Yeah, even worthy of the annoying 'breaking' headline.

Canadians, yes, I'm whining about it coming here, but you're actually living with this kind of restriction. I'll admit that I actually wasn't aware (it might have something to do with your country being less populated than my state, but that's a different bedtime story). From what I can gather from your comments, you all think it's a shitty situation.

What I'm curious to know is whether or not it's affected your business in any way. Any way at all?

I'm quick to pessimistic thoughts I suppose, but here's an example: I have more minutes than I'll ever use on my cell phone. I logically know this. However, every time I pick the thing up and make a call, the idea of "I'm using my minutes" flashes through my mind. I could easily afford it if I ever did go over my time, and there's a small likelihood that I ever will. But the thought is still there, causing momentary hesitation.

Now imagine this hesitation is applied to the surfing habits of your every day user.

"Oh boy, I should log off...don't want to go over my bandwidth too soon. Maybe I'll click that ad later."

Those kids that we've all hocked ringtones to? Yeah, this would be the statement by their penny pinching soccer moms: "Little Timmy, get off the goddamn internet! You'll use up all our jiggawatts!"

They might never even come close to utilizing all of their bandwidth, but the thought is placed in their minds. The thought and thus the hesitation.

So, am I overly paranoid?

Or am I rightfully pissed and a little concerned, because I don't want to choose between sending a business partner a full, legitimate ISO with the contents of whatever joint project we're working on and whether or not I can stream a few divx clips? (if stage6 was still around, /wrists).

And, well, yes. Of course the porn is an issue too.
 
elime said:
What I'm curious to know is whether or not it's affected your business in any way. Any way at all?
Click to expand...

No. Then again I don't download a ton of shit either.

Seriously, unless you're downloading movies/games/apps/music 24/7 you're not going to hit the limit.

If you're hitting 250 gigs for business use alone then surely you can afford more expensive alternatives.

I see your point on the 200gb limit tomorrow, etc...when you get to 60 then you can start complaining :)

Bottom line is there are always going to be alternatives if you're willing to pay for them. If you're generating even 60 gigs a month for business use alone and not making any money then you should reconsider the business.

If you're downloading warez all the time then nobody cares.

Here's my usage:

usagevt3.jpg


On a side note I can upgrade to 95 gigs if the need arises and I'm pretty sure there are more business alternatives for me. I just haven't looked because there is no need right now.
 
Bandwidth, like RAM, processing power, and hard drive space is scaling UP, not down. These limits are a natural consequence of some people overtaxing resources, not a sign that eventually we will all be rationed 4k each 24 hour period.

I believe in free enterprise and the free market. So I have to back a company's right to change it's service plan to be profitable, and/or provide the best service to the most people. If you don't like it, switch providers. If you can't, that is because the government is trying to create ISP monopolies, in cahoots with the big players.
 
250gb a month holy shit thats a good deal, that much is unheard of here in australia you fuckers.
 
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