Comcast May Cap Unlimited Internet

[admin]

After Rogers, Canada’s top Cable/Internet broadband provider announced it’ll end its unlimited Internet access, America’s number two Internet provider considers the same measure. An insider tells DLSReports.com that Comcast is discussing monthly caps on Internet use. In the new system subscribers to the previously unlimited plans will have 250GB limit. An additional charge of $15 would be applied for every additional 10GB.

Discuss "Comcast May Cap Unlimited Internet" here. Read the article.

 

[highfihoney]

Right now internet service is the only thing keeping me with comcast,if they stop unlimited useage it'll be the straw that breaks my back,i'd shut off all the cable tv & comcast telephone service in protest,im the kinda guy that can live with rabbit ears or even just am radio.

 

[hodedofome]

I'm just glad I have roadrunner and I'm not in Houston where Comcast took over Time Warner and put everything(tv/internet) down to crap. If Time Warner does the same thing then as soon as Verizon brings FIOS to my area I'll move to that. Capping the internet is like paying per minute for crappy AOL back in the 90s. I'm not going back to that, and cable companies can bite me. I already cut off my cable because I didn't feel like paying for hundreds of channels I don't watch. I'll only go back to cable when they offer a la carte. They have no respect from me.

 

[supervij]

250 GB? That's a cap? Up here in the Great White North, I'm with Rogers for internet, I pay $45 per month plus $3 per month for the modem, and my cap is 60 GB! 250 is so huge that the vast majority of people wouldn't even notice it. You Americans are so lucky.

cheers,
supervij

 

[gliz]

it is like they said "hey, what can we do to shoot ourselves in the foot?" and that is what they came up with. I hope Verizon does not do this. I can tear through 250gb pretty damn quick. I work in IT and I do a lot of stuff remote in from home. They are going to loose a LOT of customers

 

[Halon451]

it is like they said "hey, what can we do to shoot ourselves in the foot?" and that is what they came up with. I hope Verizon does not do this. I can tear through 250gb pretty damn quick. I work in IT and I do a lot of stuff remote in from home. They are going to loose a LOT of customers

I second that notion - I've got a phone/internet/cable package deal through my local cable provider, and if I hear high wind of them taking such a policy under their wing it will be hasta la vista for me.

It would be different if they offered such a capped package as a lower cost alternative to those who may not use the internet quite as much, as long as they kept the normal unlimited package open and at their normal rate.

 

[WmAx]

To my knowledge, Comcast has always been limited access for residential plan users. It has been published on consumer grip web sites that if you use the unlimited service too much, you receive threats from Comcast to turn off your service. Unlimited was never true based on what I have read. At least if they finally specify what the limit is(they never gave a quantified number before - they just started threatening you at some point of use) one can meter their usage accordingly.

-Chris

 

[gliz]

I never saw that I was with comcast for 5 years. does not mean that it was not the case thoug just means I never saw it

 

[Wayde Robson]

if you use the unlimited service too much, you receive threats from Comcast to turn off your service.

It's true! I almost added it to the article but there are always extra tidbits to add. That's a big one though.

Apparently it's been reported that users who currently download over or near 250 GB in a month will get threats from Comcast to shut you down.

I see it as cable TV trying to keep the channel subscription paradigm alive and resist al la carte programming.

 

[10010011]

Where did I read this before? Hmm....

Oh yeah!

THREE DAYS AGO In MY "The iTunes Movie Releases Trying to Kill the DVD killer" POST in the iTunes Movie Releases Trying to Kill the DVD thread.

Say goodbye to streaming video and movie downloads. Comcast and other ISP's are going to get this established as standard practice. As these things really begin to take off Comcast and others internet providers will start lowering the caps and selling tiered service plans to make up for the loss of OnDemand services.

 

[gliz]

VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET nothing gets attention like lost revenue!

 

[fmw]

If only we could fix it so that emails cost 10 cents each. It is the only way I can think of to end email spam forever.

 

[mtrycrafts]

250 GB? That's a cap? Up here in the Great White North, I'm with Rogers for internet, I pay $45 per month plus $3 per month for the modem, and my cap is 60 GB! 250 is so huge that the vast majority of people wouldn't even notice it. You Americans are so lucky.

cheers,
supervij

What does that 60G include? Incoming mail? Outgoing mail? Posts at AH?
Each letter is a bite/byte? More? Uploading files?

Once they start the cap, that 250 is just an initial limit. Next year it could be down to 60G, then 10G. It's all about being rich over night.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Why would they threaten people about overusage if their package is "unlimited"?[raised voice]

Personally, I'd file a complaint with the states Attorneys General office if I got that kind of message. Oh, and I did when I had "unlimited" nights and weekends and Verizon had to balls to tell me I was using too many night and weekend minutes. That was the last time they bothered me about it.

Jack

 

[supervij]

What does that 60G include? Incoming mail? Outgoing mail? Posts at AH?
Each letter is a bite/byte? More? Uploading files?

Once they start the cap, that 250 is just an initial limit. Next year it could be down to 60G, then 10G. It's all about being rich over night.

The 60 GB (7 Mbit/sec) includes everything. Anything coming into or out of my computer through the internet connection is subject to the cap. Incoming and outgoing e-mail, streaming video, uploading content, web surfing (yes, posting on AH), everything. And me, by myself, I usually don't come close to the cap. My new roommate does a lot of multimedia stuff on the 'net, so we're getting close most months. We would get charged an additional $2 per GB that we go over the cap (up to a maximum of $25).

cheers,
supervij

 

[westcott]

This is just another sign that cable service is struggling with their limited bandwidth when compared to satellite. Their SD and HD sucks and pretty soon I will stop using them for internet service. I am still pissed they changed my email address when they bought roadrunner.

FIOS, here I come!!!!!

 

[croseiv]

It sounds like a bad idea to me. I don't think I do anything near 250 GB though.