AT&T Monthly Caps & Cutting The Cable

[mtrycrafts]

of course not. that would mean that we would KNOW when we are about to go over and cut back instead of just letting you silently slip over the limit and have a nice fat bill at the end of the month

I wonder if they plan to allow us to see how much bandwidth we have used in each billing cycle. Maybe some kind of big thermometer, like in the old cartoons- when it's getting close, a face appears at the bulb end, becomes swollen and red, sweating and frantic before popping.

You can check your usage on line with Comcast any time and downloads are registered soon after usage so it is up to date rather quickly.
Your service should have on line access to your account info and usage as well.

iirc. i can get an upgraded package. but i hardly use 2gb a month.

That is what we were using before we got a Netflix gift for Christmas 1 disc at a time and unlimited downloads. Now I see the usage in the 50gb range. Sure it is not close to the max yet but not all the programs are in 720HD

 

[mtrycrafts]

they don't have fees, they will send you a letter with your bill several times before they threaten to terminate the service. i seriously doubt comcast would terminate something that brings in money though

Perhaps but I don't want to tempt them and see what they will do. However, since I can check my usage whenever I want, I can control it, for now

 

[yepimonfire]

EDIT: messed up somewhere. will re-do the math.

ok nevermind so its about 2.5GB each 90 minute movie yeah i guess you could easily go over it, thats like 100 movies, granted i doubt someone will have the time to watch that many movies in a month but add music downloads, youtube, hulu, music streaming like pandora, and general websurfing as well as gaming (which can be more of a bandwidth hog then you think) you could get close to going over if you werent careful.

 

[wormraper]

and then count the linux people like me who download hundreds of gigs a month testing out Linux distributions. mixed with Netflix. mixed with gaming etc by multiple people in the house.

caps are just a dangerous dangerous route for them to take. the rest of the world has SOOOOOOOOOOOO much better of an infrastructure. USA has been lazy about pocketing the funds that were supposed to be used to upgrade their infrastructure for the last few decades

 

[yepimonfire]

the rest of the world has SOOOOOOOOOOOO much better of an infrastructure. USA has been lazy about pocketing the funds that were supposed to be used to upgrade their infrastructure for the last few decades

+1

totally in agreement with you.

 

[highfigh]

Everyone would like the ideal of unlimited data usage at low to near zero cost both for our home internet connections as well as for our cell phones. But, the reality is it costs the providers boat loads of money to constantly upgrade their infrastructure. Better to charge more to those who use the most rather than hit everyone with high fees.

I pay for the lowest data cap for my cell phone on AT&T. It is $15 for 2 MB and so far I haven't exceeded it in any month. I thought I might be always surfing the web on my phone when I am out but it turns out I just don't use it all that much.

I do think there should be 'rollover data' like rollover minutes so you could be frugal in the first few months and accumulate more data rights so you could use it more heavily the next month. I doubt they will ever adopt such a plan though and if they did, the rollover data would expire every rolling 12 months just as it does for rollover minutes.

If they want to complain about having to upgrade their infrastructure, they should stop pushing that as a feature so dam hard. I worked for someone at a boat dealership who complained about having to buy oil and filters all the time. Then, I reminded him that we charged $65 for an oil change (not the same as an oil change for a car, so don't bother) and I was doing 6-12 every day in fall and spring. That's like complaining that they're making too much money.

 

[audiofox]

I just downloaded the new TWC iPad app, which allows me to view a collection of cable channels via Wifi (and my TWC cable modem) on my iPad. It will be interesting to see what justification TWC claims if they implement BW caps given that this app is free and can only be used with an internet connection (and of course a TWC internet account).

 

[sholling]

At least Verizon is rejecting caps for now.

FIOS will continue to rock uncapped.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-No-Plans-To-Meter-Usage-113231

But AT&T is going after those tethering their cell phones without paying extra. It appears they've found away to detect those using 3rd party tethering tools.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Warning-Users-Over-Unofficial-Tethering-113246

 

[mtrycrafts]

... USA has been lazy about pocketing the funds that were supposed to be used to upgrade their infrastructure for the last few decades

How else can you get rich quickly? Hell with tomorrow.