Comcast Finally Makes 250GB Cap Official
Slashdot is reporting something we suspected all along, but now is going to be the stated law of the land in Comcast country. Comcast is amending it’s Terms of Service on October 1st, establishing a specific monthly data usage threshold of 250 GB/month per account for all residential customers.
The claim from Comcast is that less than 1% of current customers exceed that limit, the vast majority don’t get anywhere near it. I suspect that’s true now, but won’t be in, say, 2-3 years time.
This is a “may” clause, meaning if you go over this amount a month, you may be contacted by Comcast to reduce your usage, depending on whether or not your usage is one of the “top users.” I think Comcast needs to be more specific about what a “top user” is, i.e. is the usage is past the 99% percentile, or something else?
Also, the one thing they won’t do is tell you how much bandwidth you’re using now. The only time they’ll tell is when you do exceed the limit and are among the top users. Their suggestion? Install a “bandwidth meter” on each computer. Right. I have some things that aren’t traditional PCs called mobile phones and Internet tablets that don’t have a way to install that software on it.
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Tags: Acceptable use policy, bandwidth caps, comcast, Terms of Service Fnord
Comment by Eric Hanke
What a pile of manure!!! I am glad I use a traditional ISP with NO LIMITS…
Comment by Martin Dindos
Of course any cap is ridiculous. About the badwidth meters – the latest version of dd-wrt firmware has this built in. The advantage is that you measure it at the right spot where the data is leaving your home. I guess this solves the problem you mentioned, no need to install it anywhere else.
Comment by JimAtJaxtr
It seems like Comcast might want to engage with those power users, assuming that they’re using all that bandwidth for legitimate purposes. Cutting them off seems like it might alienate the people who use the service the most. Just my two cent.
Comment by spg
i am wondering how this will affect most of the places i use WiFi. i tend not to hang out at very commercial places like starbucks, borders books and Macdonald’s that have official hots spots from t-mobile or at&t. instead i mostly use WiFi internet at very small independently run coffee shops, book stores, etc. and you guessed it they all use cable or DSL connections to support their free wifi offering. ditto for many smaller hotels and even downtown apartment buildings(particularly those catering to students). people will also gradually start turning off the wifi access points they leave open now for their neighbors; likely after they start hearing stories of accounts canceled.
Comment by spg
i have to say i completely agree about the ‘may clause’ that really stinks along with discretionary FUP’s. i would much rather pay for a product knowing that everyone on an equal basis will be cut off each month at a very specific time. and that is exactly what should happen. instead of setting myself up for a future cancellation and being charged an overage my service should simply cease to work until i move to the next billing cycle.
Comment by PhoneBoy
If you dig through the TOS changes, this only applies to residential customers. Business users are exempt from these caps.
Comment by PhoneBoy
The comment about dd-wrt is noted, though what it showed in my case was highly suspect. It was missing several days worth of data!
Comment by spg
so now i am wondering 1. what are the requirements to be considered a business customer? small biz at home ok? also how many of the shared connection being used for open hot spots are business accounts as opposed to regular residential accounts that happen to be located in a business.
i have always suspected that most of the hot spots i use are probably not legit if the fine print is read. but they have become ‘the way’ for a small biz or landlord to provide a cheap open hot spot. we will see if ‘life can go on’ and these account are to be considered bushiness accounts or if one by one they go down. i do suspect that in most of these cases a hot spot from t-mobile or wayport or any sort of leased line is not an option. it’s cheap DSL/cable or nothing. while i know the metering has not hit DSL yet i believe it is only a matter of time.
but who knows maybe this will bring in some competition. we could sure use a metroPCS or crikit of high speed internet; selling unlimited cheap while all the big guys are metered and expensive.
Comment by PhoneBoy
@spg Comcast offers both residential and business level services. The difference: you pay 2-3 times as much, but you get a local account rep and dedicated business support folks. The speed packages vary from the residential variety as well. It’s possible to get 16 megs down, 2 up on business in my area and they claim 50mb down is coming. Wonder what that’s going to cost.
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[...] thinking about the Comcast 250GB cap thing a bit more, I really think the caps are anti-competitive. Yeah, I said it, anti-competitive. [...]
Comment by spg
i understand the different packages. i also know for a fact that the two places that i most use public WiFi are on residential packages. i know this because i asked them; they had not yet heard of the cap. but i do believe in the long run this will one by one shut down most free WiFi access points. to be clear when i say free i do not include promo deals such as when i buy coffee with a gift card i get a limited amount of usage each day. by free i mean a completely open no sign in hot spot at a small independent coffee shop or bed and breakfast style hotel.