Comcast data caps are coming in January all over the place

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deruberhanyok said:
Now I realize 1.2tb is “a lot” of data to most average users, but for my friend, working from home with 3 kids schooling from home frequently, he has exceeded that the last 3 months in a row. His letter included an option to remove the cap by paying an extra $30/month, which I can’t find on their website. Might require that you’re logged in to your account to see that, but I don’t have Comcast so I can’t check.

My opinion? This is just an obvious cash grab. It’s unlikely they’re going to be adding new customers very often at this point since so many people already have internet, so they’re just trying to find a way to make more off of what they have. Not letting people “roll over” unused data from month to month is expected because they’re on an “unlimited” plan, but putting a cap on an “unlimited” plan doesn’t make it unlimited, imo.
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1.2 TB is a lot depending on your circumstance. In most cases, i.e. those without jobs that require absolutely MASSIVE amounts of data transfer which to be honest most people do not have, most data usage is going to be entertainment related. Kids/adults on zoom meetings for a good portion of the day aren't going to use terribly much data in the grand scheme of things. But if you have 3 kids (and adults) all streaming 4k videos because everyone has a TV and wants to watch something different then yeah it's going to chew through that data in no time when they're always home, downloading multiple massive games in a month yeah it'll eat it up pretty good. Now my kid streams way too much TV... but it's mostly cartoons that probably can be compressed quite a bit when colors are very uniform, and I'm ashamed to admit I watch way too many youtube videos, but only in 1080, and I'm not sure what my wife does on her phone most the day, but I'm sure it compresses the crap out of most of what she does, and we're hitting about 600GB/month over the past 4 months. So add a 4k household to that, more people viewing, then yeah you totally can hit it.

Is it a cash grab? Hasn't it always been that in some way? At least the argument for a relatively dense area like I live in is that they went cheap with the backbone, so can't have people sucking at that teet constantly or everyone suffers.

I currently pay $60/month for 600Mbps download through Xfinity, unfortunately their Gig speed still has the 1.2TB data limit here, also have the option of AT&T Gig speeds too, not sure how much it cost not too long ago (pre-covid) they had a fantastic deal for $40/month for gig (plus $10/month equipment rental that's mandatory I think), and they do give unlimited (last I checked) for that tier I think the price has gone up a bit, and luckily *knocks on wood*, that has kept Xfinity in check with rampant price hikes. The only real cling to Xfinity I have now is the fact my wife and I have cell service through them, that costs $12/month for as many phones as we want (ends up being about $23/month after all taxes and fees), however it's a 1GB shared usage plan, which isn't a problem because we tend to not do heavy data usage when away from wifi hot spots (home, work, or just about in general) which it automatically uses over cell service more than enough to look at whatever websites I want, I just don't watch videos when I'm out, now compare to before when we had ghetto MetroPCS it cost $70/month for 2 phones to have unlimited data that we never got close to using even a 1GB each, it really was a no brainer to ditch the expensive phone plan for a cheaper one. So ultimately my total "connectivity" cost is about $83/month, which is what I use when comparing different options, not just what does the internet cost me, it has to be internet + phone. I don't pay for TV because yeah fuck that shit, and all the local taxes and fees that get tacked onto that crap.
 
My local library just installed external WIFI and the speeds or nice!
Have to login about a couple times a day, but maybe there's something that can automatically do that for me.
Also they block some sites which I have to use a VPN with, and I can only download torrent with the VPN and only on android based devices.
 
The Mad Atheist said:
My local library just installed external WIFI and the speeds or nice!
Have to login about a couple times a day, but maybe there's something that can automatically do that for me.
Also they block some sites which I have to use a VPN with, and I can only download torrent with the VPN and only on android based devices.
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This may be illegal.
 
I just checked, the last month with three virtual kids / two parents with a lot of wfh we used 914GB. Kinda close to that cap, but I have comcast and heard nothing about it.

Honestly i doubt the crappy school chromebooks can handle a high bitrate so that helps? Heh
 
ng4ever said:
Yes upstream + downstream is included in the total.

So if you uploaded 100 GB and downloaded 1100 GB that would be your limit without the unlimited addon package.
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Damn.


I found a package in the pfSense repository called Traffic Totals which tallies and uses data from vnStat to give a total. it seems to work well.

By that Downstream + Upstream measure I've used 13GB in the 5 hours since I installed the package. Take that number /5*24*365/12 and we have a monthly estimate of ~1.8TB and I haven't even done anything yet...

Just wait for game downloads, streaming, or my overnight backup cycle to run...

I'd argue a 1.2TB cap is completely unreasonable.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
Damn.


I found a package in the pfSense repository which tallies and uses data from vnStat to give a total. it seems to work well.

By that Downstream + Upstream measure I've used 13GB in the 5 hours since I installed the package. Take that number /5*24*365/12 and we have a monthly estimate of ~1.8TB and I haven't even done anything yet...

Just wait for game downloads, streaming, or my overnight backup cycle to run...

I'd argue a 1.2TB cap is completely unreasonable.
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It definately can if you have more than one person in a household or even just you if your a power user.
 
Internet of things? Devices with lots of push notifications? Home security cameras you like to monitor when you’re away? All sorts of stuff will contribute to that, and the more little connected devices you have the more likely that amount will be reached.

I assume they settled on it because “95% of their users don’t use that much” but unless the cap increases with time it will start to be a lot more common.
 
deruberhanyok said:
Internet of things? Devices with lots of push notifications? Home security cameras you like to monitor when you’re away? All sorts of stuff will contribute to that, and the more little connected devices you have the more likely that amount will be reached.

I assume they settled on it because “95% of their users don’t use that much” but unless the cap increases with time it will start to be a lot more common.
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Yeah, up to 15GB now in the last 6 hours or so.

Funnily enough uploads are 5.5x larger than downloads. I'm guessing a lot of this is becuase of the kiddo streaming.

He has this crazy obsession with becoming a streaming star. It's really quite frustrating, because he is absolutely convinced he is going to become a millionaire streaming, and whenever I argue with him that he needs to focus on school work he tries to guilt us by using the "you don't believe in my dreams" bullshit line.

The joys of dealing with irrational adolescent brains.
 
I use 4-5 terabytes a month if not more. 4k video, games, especially at 100GB+ each, internet of things, download streaming constantly.
*cough*torrentingblurayripsandhostingamediaserver *cough*
Uploading 1080p60fps streaming.

It all adds up!
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Damn.


I found a package in the pfSense repository called Traffic Totals which tallies and uses data from vnStat to give a total. it seems to work well.

By that Downstream + Upstream measure I've used 13GB in the 5 hours since I installed the package. Take that number /5*24*365/12 and we have a monthly estimate of ~1.8TB and I haven't even done anything yet...

Just wait for game downloads, streaming, or my overnight backup cycle to run...

I'd argue a 1.2TB cap is completely unreasonable.
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I'm not sure about Comcast, but usually you can see your bandwidth usage on your ISP's website too.

My modem doesn't show the bandwidth but it shows the number of packets sent and received, which is a completely messed up number because they store it as an integer and didn't account for integer overflow.
 
mnewxcv said:
comcast has had caps for probably a decade at this point. As far as I know verizon never has. Comcast literally has a problem on their hands that if their customers all used that much data and then some, the copper wire wouldn't be able to sustain the speeds of their plans. Fios doesn't have that problem with fiber.
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Which copper wire are you referring to? Cat 5e does gigabit and even 10 gigabit with newer Cisco gear
 
Kinda surprised they raised the cap to 1.2TB. A year or two back I was doubtful they would ever raise it. We'll see if this consumer friendly (if you can call it that) trend will continue.
 
kirbyrj said:
Next thing you know, streaming services are going to be subsidizing Comcast to remove the caps and then your subscription fees will increase.
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That's called Zero-Rating, it's been a thing for years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-rating

In the net neutrality litigation back during the Obama administration, the FCC was trying to kill it off, or at least limit it because it is rife with abuse.

Decko87 said:
Time for Municipal Broadband!
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In almost every case where a municipality wants to roll out a broadband service, the local ISP monopoly will tie the project up in ugly legal battles to try and kill the project, or delay it as long as possible. I've followed a few such cases, and what would otherwise be a well planned and affordable internet service rollout ends up running into millions of dollars in legal fees defending against vexatious litigation from ISPs. The ones that did win out over monopolistic ISPs had internet service for the community that was orders of magnitude better than the crap the internet monopoly "graciously" provided.

One municipality I vaguely remember was somewhere I think in Alabama where the local ISP offered like a paltry 768k down and 128 or 64k up for like $70 a month. The municipal broadband was either like 100 or 1000 mbit for $20 a month after all of the dust settled.
 
......and thankfully the building I'm in will soon offer fiber. Remember net neutrality?
 
Another f off to Comcast.... what did we expect though

Coincidental that these data caps are coming when the wfh workforce and virtual learning numbers are climbing ...
AND next generation consoles are out in digital download versions


Nah...no way that isn't coincidental 🤣🤣
 
The Mad Atheist said:
My local library just installed external WIFI and the speeds or nice!
Have to login about a couple times a day, but maybe there's something that can automatically do that for me.
Also they block some sites which I have to use a VPN with, and I can only download torrent with the VPN and only on android based devices.
Click to expand...


Love your Sig, especially part 1 to 4 of the product pitch :)

C19 is now a scam thats being used to re-order the world's economy, quite literally into a Dystopian nightmare. I have a soft cap here in snowy Ontario,350/15 with a 3 Terabytes a month cap. I rarely hit even a half a terabyte a month.
 
TheSlySyl said:
I use 4-5 terabytes a month if not more. 4k video, games, especially at 100GB+ each, internet of things, download streaming constantly.
*cough*torrentingblurayripsandhostingamediaserver *cough*
Uploading 1080p60fps streaming.

It all adds up!
Click to expand...
So basically all of your entertainment.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Yeah, up to 15GB now in the last 6 hours or so.

Funnily enough uploads are 5.5x larger than downloads. I'm guessing a lot of this is becuase of the kiddo streaming.

He has this crazy obsession with becoming a streaming star. It's really quite frustrating, because he is absolutely convinced he is going to become a millionaire streaming, and whenever I argue with him that he needs to focus on school work he tries to guilt us by using the "you don't believe in my dreams" bullshit line.

The joys of dealing with irrational adolescent brains.
Click to expand...

Now up to 101GB in 22 hours, and I havent even intentionally downloaded anything. Just users in house, streaming, and my backup scripts.

Sure am glad I live in a reasonable place which has competition and no caps.
 
ng4ever said:
The pandemic has had no effect on me.
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I mean, I'v been working at home since March, and not going places out of my concern for others, but at this point in my life I don't have much time for outside the house entertainment anyway, so it really hasn't been much of a difference :p

Most days I don't even have time for any in-house entertainment.

1.) Get ready for work
2.) Work
3.) Deal with Dinner/Dishes/Homework enforcement time
4.) House chores
5.) Bed
6.) Repeat

And then on weekends, there is yard work. and house chores.

I don't even have time to spread the COVID. :p

I haven't even played a video game since February!
 
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Aug-Nov.JPG


It's an absolute joke with almost everything being a digital download now. We were dinged an extra $100 last month. 5 person household, 3 kids. 3 gaming PC's. 1 laptop. 3 school laptops. 2 Switch's. One tablet. TV w/ Prime, Netflix, Disney+, and Xfinity 4K DVR. Essentially just keeping things "up to date" eats the data cap now. If my boys get a new game or two downloaded and installed (they have access to my Steam library), data cap gone. I told the Comcast rep months ago that your business model will not be sustainable when the new consoles drop. People will not pay this month in and month out and will leave your service.
 
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ng4ever said:
The pandemic has had no effect on me.
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Congrats?
My income is easily 20k less than last year, my job is literally currently in a shutdown, the company that I've worked for 6 years is almost bankrupt, we've laid off 75% of our staff this year and literally only managers are left - doing the work of absolutely everything. My entire industry, that I was planning on staying in for life, is dieing.

(Edit: in the 10 minutes since I made this post I got a call from the boss that we need to lay off more people after Thanksgiving. Fun!)

Furthermore my favorite things to do, Travel, Museums, live shows, events, etc. no longer exist. I've seen dozens of calendar reminders of shows and events get cancelled and disappear. I went to 5 concerts in February and ZERO since March.

We had to fucking downgrade our wedding from 150 people at a beer festival to 10 people in our backyard. (Still ended up being a fantastic day.)

Computers are my hobby, but it's far from the only thing that I actually do in my life.

I did get a pretty successful garden going this year but with the freezes happening almost every night and nonstop rain here in OR it's not exactly something that I want to do at the moment.

So I watch shows and read books.
 
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DukenukemX said:
So how's the future of cloud gaming looking now?
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Honestly, I got one of those free Stadia + chromecast ultras in the mail this week and it's a FAR smoother than I ever expected. If you're playing on a TV it's much harder to notice the artifacts than if you're playing on a monitor.

Still will absolutely never be my main way to play a game, but they warn that even stadia at 1080p on mobile can use 3 gigs an hour and that 4k on a TV can use over 15!
 
My nephew thankfully did not get Cox High Speed Internet sense they nickle and dime you but the more I think about it think he should have because there is no Fiber where he is at. He just went with AT&T lower tier of 25 Mbps it is his only option. :(

I told him it would be fine I guess but once all 3 of them start using the internet at the same time there could be issues. Either way both have 1.2 TB data caps.
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
Hopefully Charter doesn't follow this path. No caps or issues with their service. They are my only option in my area for anything over 10mbps. Currently 200mbps at $60/mo.
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Yes I have the 200 plan I got it after I bitched that every year they take away more services (channels) I said you ineptness of making your contracts work are not MY fault that that channel costs you more I don't care but why should I pay for your poor deal making skills so I got a promotion for two years of 200 for $50 a month. Charter has an archaic system with the Cisco boxes my neighbor still has a Scientific Atlanta box talk about old and outdated (at least it has an HDMI connection) Comcast has the best and most modern infrastructure and back end I do like the X1 platform I saw and got to mess with in when I was visiting a family member in Vermont back in August.

An internet cap would kill me as my days are spent downloading *COUGH" Stuff I should not (no not porn) *COUGH* *Boot something*
 
coynatha said:
View attachment 302915

It's an absolute joke with almost everything being a digital download now. We were dinged an extra $100 last month. 5 person household, 3 kids. 3 gaming PC's. 1 laptop. 3 school laptops. 2 Switches. One tablet. TV w/ Prime, Netflix, Disney+, and Xfinity 4K DVR. Essentially just keeping things "up to date" eats the data cap now. If my boys get a new game or two downloaded and installed (they have access to my Steam library), data cap gone. I told the Comcast rep months ago that you're business model will not be sustainable when the new consoles drop. People will not pay this month in and month out and will leave your service.
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Why didn't you just get the xfi advantage? It's $20 in my area and unlimited internet cones with it.
 
coynatha said:
People will not pay this month in and month out and will leave your service.
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assuming those people have another option. Many do not.

this will lead to tech companies (who want more internet enabled, service-using, cloud-hosted stuff in consumers’ hands, for any number of data mining ad selling reasons) and ISPs (who want to milk their customer base for even more money) and customers are going to be stuck in the middle, either paying through the nose or not being able to use the things they’ve bought.

might be a fun fight to watch the ISPs and Tech Giants really get into it, but it’s a shitty situation for end users that could have been avoided by just calling it a utility, making it a dumb pipe and metering it for everyone.
 
wizzi01 said:
Why didn't you just get the xfi advantage? It's $20 in my area and unlimited internet cones with it.
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Never heard of it. I'll have to look into that. Comcast keeps pushing to get me into business class. Now that my bill is approaching $300/month I might as well.
 
deruberhanyok said:
assuming those people have another option. Many do not.
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I can get 1gbps for $100 through comcast.
My next, and only other landline option is 80mpbs for $50 a month.

It gets WORSE from there, a local wireless internet company wants $100 a month for speeds "good enough for 1080p video" and doesn't even MENTION a particular mbps rate anywhere on their website.
 
coynatha said:
Never heard of it. I'll have to look into that. Comcast keeps pushing to get me into business class. Now that my bill is approaching $300/month I might as well.
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I won't do business because they don't really bundle there and I can't get my GB internet.
 
wizzi01 said:
Why didn't you just get the xfi advantage? It's $20 in my area and unlimited internet cones with it.
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It's $25 here but it requires that you us their modem/router combination (which basically broadcasts free internet to anyone nearby through the xfinity hotspot and is known to have countless security issues) and a bunch of other bullshit such as a lack of networking options and Xfinity knowing even MORE about what goes on in the house through their "free security" that comes with it.
I'm pretty damn open with my data but the last thing I want is for comcast to have such control over it. I like having my own network.

https://billfixers.com/blog/comcast-is-charging-some-customers-35-to-own-their-own-modem


Yes, I'm literally paying *more* to have unlimited data and own my own modem/router (both of which I paid for) but I wasn't in the mood to really argue last time.
 
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