Watch On-Demand Instead Of Netflix To Avoid Data Cap Overages?

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
It might be time to switch ISPs when they charge you $1 per gigabyte for data cap overages and recommend on-demand movies versus Netflix. :rolleyes:

Service Electric, which serves PA’s Lehigh Valley area and a few nearby communities, recently e-mailed its Internet customers that it will begin notifying customers if and when they reach 75% (187.5 GB) of the 250 GB cap. “All usage over 250 gigabytes will be billed at $1.00 per gigabyte,” reads the e-mail.
Click to expand...
 
Heh. Cox still clicks off your data usage even if you use their streaming app to watch TV at home.

And if you use thier 'free' backup software.

Anything that moves bits over your internet counts towards your data cap.
 
I use to have Centurylink and they suspended my internet access because we went over the 250 GB cap. We don't have cable anymore, just Netflix, so we watch alot of movies. The rep went so far as to say maybe someone in our family was probably torrenting. He wanted us to purchase their "Business Plan" instead.

This is dumb, 4K televisions are gonna be the norm eventually, heck Netflix is already planning on streaming in 4K. These ISPs need to get with the times.
 
jordan12 said:
Comcast business is the way to go. No overages at all. :D
Click to expand...

It does cost more that "consumer" internet (WITH XFININTY SPEED BOOST ZOMG!) - but if you factor in that we dropped cable TV years ago at the same time we moved to business class and add in the cost of NetFlix, Hulu+ (more current stuff), it's still cheaper, speeds are better, service is better, reliability is better, it has a pen, it's just ... better. Plus, we do have a legit business, so, it's a write off :)
 
That's right, just buy up all the barrels that way you have no way to ship yer oil. Capitalism gotta love it!
 
1$ per GB is freakin' AWESOME. It's terrible in Canada. I currently have an 80GB cap, was raised from 60GB. If we go over 80GB, we're charged 41$. FORTY ONE. that's 8$ less then the monthly bill. Every GB after the overage fee is 1.75$ per.
 
This is absolute garbage. I spoke to a Comcast engineer one time about this and he said that if they need more bandwidth on the local last mile side they have plenty of headroom based on the channel frequencies. Granted bandwidth costs money but if you have somebody abusing the system with 24/7 full throttle use then cut them off permanently. Data caps are nothing more than getting people used to the idea of paying for a set amount of data just like cell phone companies with their stupid 2 gig caps.

I wish we had more competition where you had tons of choice for your internet use.
 
FM_Fixxxer said:
1$ per GB is freakin' AWESOME. It's terrible in Canada. I currently have an 80GB cap, was raised from 60GB. If we go over 80GB, we're charged 41$. FORTY ONE. that's 8$ less then the monthly bill. Every GB after the overage fee is 1.75$ per.
Click to expand...


That's insane.
 
digitalmango said:
I use to have Centurylink and they suspended my internet access because we went over the 250 GB cap. We don't have cable anymore, just Netflix, so we watch alot of movies. The rep went so far as to say maybe someone in our family was probably torrenting. He wanted us to purchase their "Business Plan" instead.

This is dumb, 4K televisions are gonna be the norm eventually, heck Netflix is already planning on streaming in 4K. These ISPs need to get with the times.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about switching to Century Link from Comcast. Good thing I haven't yet. I use about 200GB/month on my own, according to Comcast, and that's just Hulu, Netflix, and Star Trek Online.

The biggest problem is the "shareholder" mentality corporate executives and board members hold these days. They run companies into the ground, favoring dividends and share price, instead of investing some earnings into future development. Comcast and Qwest both made more than enough profit over the years that they could be at ten times the speeds they are now, if they'd only invested half of it back into product development and infrastructure.

It's so incredibly stupid, sacrificing longevity and ling term profitability in favor of short term cash. It's the same mentality as payday loans. Then again, that's the mentality of most of the country these days.

Is it just me or are people just getting more and more stupid and lazy as time goes by?
 
I actually work In tier4 tech support for hughesnet and dishnetwork does the on demand and what they do is bundle the internet and when you use on demand it actually uses the data from what they give to you which on the basic plan that is only 10GB per month and when you use on demand it burns the data up fast. Do not be fooled by satellite internet providers I know I work for them but I see the BS they are pulling and I don't think that it is right. Stick to fiber, cable or dsl you are better off call and find out what ISP is in that area before you move and avoid satellite internet and the problems that come from it like not being able to do online gaming.
 
Streaming is the future, right?! That's what I keep hearing. Physical media is shit and digital media is going to take over.

Sorry, not at this rate. ISP's and streaming media are pushing each other. Can't stream a lot of movies without hitting a cap. Have a cap because people are streaming too many movies. Someone has to budge here. Netflix (and others) will hit a wall. Can't upgrade quality as the infrastructure won't support it (and caps), so quality sucks. ISP's won't upgrade infrastructure because 75% of the data is from streaming media (why pay for something the other companies are benefiting from). Definitely don't want government involvement, but the ISP's may have to take a leap of faith and start upgrading shit and changing policies. I would certainly pay more for a faster, more reliable, non-capped connection. Rates are a bit high right now for such an antiquated system, but I'd pay for a great fiber connection.
 
Steve said:
It might be time to switch ISPs when they charge you $1 per gigabyte for data cap overages and recommend on-demand movies versus Netflix. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

250GB and $1/GB over?

I wish.

I have 60GB cap and $2/GB overage with Rogers in Canada.

I won't even consider a streaming service because of this. Which is part of the plan. The Canadian ISP Duopoly (Rogers/Bell) both run TV delivery services of their own, so they want to keep data costs high to keep Netflix out.
 
Snowdog said:
250GB and $1/GB over?

I wish.

I have 60GB cap and $2/GB overage with Rogers in Canada.

I won't even consider a streaming service because of this. Which is part of the plan. The Canadian ISP Duopoly (Rogers/Bell) both run TV delivery services of their own, so they want to keep data costs high to keep Netflix out.
Click to expand...

Probably your location more than anything.... My cap with Telus is 250GB, last month I used 400-450GB just for usenet, more if I count Netflix/etc and they havent done a thing. Telus is fantastic.
 
TechLarry said:
Heh. Cox still clicks off your data usage even if you use their streaming app to watch TV at home.

And if you use thier 'free' backup software.

Anything that moves bits over your internet counts towards your data cap.
Click to expand...

This somewhat makes sense though. Would you prefer they look through the data you are sending to see if its backup data :eek:? or online-streaming and what's being streamed from where? I think that would be a bit more ....disturbing on some level :)
 
dgingeri said:
I was thinking about switching to Century Link from Comcast. Good thing I haven't yet. I use about 200GB/month on my own, according to Comcast, and that's just Hulu, Netflix, and Star Trek Online.
Click to expand...
You should check with Century Link for your options, which may vary by locality. While I suppose it may be because I was grandparented in when my service went from Qwest to CL, I don't seem to have any cap at all. My evidence for this is that streaming video (Netflix/Hulu/Amazon) is running on this connection for 12-16 hours per day, at least 6 days a week, and there's nary a problem with it.

It's a good thing too because giving Comcast money is an absolute last resort for me. I'd seriously consider moving if Comcast was my only option based on my Internet usage.
 
FM_Fixxxer said:
Dude, I know. But there is NO other highspeed service in my area. We're screwed regardless.
Click to expand...

Does teksavvy not offer service in your area? They lease bell/rogers lines soits basically the same service for less + 300gb cap or unlimited for a few bucks more. I've been with them for over a year and a friend of mine for over 4 years, they have been great so far.
 
We have two choices here. Cableone which has 50Mbs speed and a 100gb cap with $.50per gb overage or Windstream with 6Mbs speed and no cap. Therefore I just putter along at 6Mbs. Seems to me with the pace digital goods and entertainment are evolving on the internet, if these caps aren't changed we'll be pretty hamstrung in the near future. There has to be a tipping point to drag ISP's kicking and screaming into the 21st century right?
 
Sturmangriff said:
There has to be a tipping point to drag ISP's kicking and screaming into the 21st century right?
Click to expand...

What your overlooking is that you want the ISPs to invest in ever increasing bandwidth so other companies can provide you services to make them rich. Not going to happen.

Personally I'm not sure why everyone seems to think they they are entitled to an unlimited amount of a limited resource for one low price.

Is there a single gas station on the planet that gives you unlimited amounts of gas for $40 a month? Or a grocery store, or restraunt, which has a $50 a month flat rate for all the food you want?
 
jordan12 said:
Comcast business is the way to go. No overages at all. :D
Click to expand...

Comcast dropped the caps back in May. At this time, you don't need business. I'm not sure what their replacement plans will be, but it shows they are listening and changing.

http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/common-questions-excessive-use/

Comcast said:
MPORTANT UPDATE (May 17, 2012): Effective immediately, we've decided to change our Data Usage Plan and replace our 250 GB monthly data usage allowance with a more flexible one. Our goal is to provide options that benefit consumers while also ensuring that all of our customers enjoy the best possible Internet experience over our high-speed data service. In the next few months, we are going to launch improved data usage management approaches that are in step with plans that other Internet service providers in the market are using and will provide our customers with more choice and flexibility than our current plan.
Click to expand...
 
After dealing with CenturyLink and ATT for dsl, I can't tell you which one was worse.

Centurylink has a cap, they just don't advertise it until you get the bill.

As for AT&T, they can go f**k themselves and their overrated corporate BS charges.

For instance, one month of service (well, less than), I called them on the 12th, I need DSL. So they send me a starter kit which consists of a phone cable, ethernet cable and a CD. I call them back and say where the hell is the DSL modem. Oh, you don't have that do you? We will send one next day.

Two days later I call back, no DSL modem. "Well it looks like they put it in the system but didn't ship it. I will do that now."

Two days later, no DSL modem. "I am not sure what happened, but its confirmed that it will be there the next day."

Next day the DSL modem arrives, not to mention the most f**king expensive one for residential they could ship me. Alas, I look around the house for the damn line, and all the lines are dead. Look outside the house, no ATT interface box, the damn thing was ripped off the back. So here it is the 22nd. I call back and they will send someone out within a couple days to put up the line. OK that's reasonable enough, I can understand that wait. What's that, $100 to run the line inside of the house? Na, that's pud, I will do it.

The 24th comes around and I have DSL service. A few days later the bill comes in and its F**KING $400???? Overnight shipping charges??? Seriously wtf is up with the greed? Customer service = loss of about 2 hours of my life. I still haven't decided whether to send in the DSL modem in original packaging or pack it with dog shit.
 
I pay 59$ a month for grandfathered 50gbit net from Shaw Cable. I think the cap is 400gb a month but there is no overage charge. I upload 400gb a month with torrents and I only download maybe 250gb a month and they say nothing, and there is no slow down. Speed is constant and fast with no issues. No DC's playing games etc.

I love my 50mbit a month stream netflix every day on hd max settings while downloading and playing games no issues. I love shaw cable.
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
What your overlooking is that you want the ISPs to invest in ever increasing bandwidth so other companies can provide you services to make them rich. Not going to happen.

Personally I'm not sure why everyone seems to think they they are entitled to an unlimited amount of a limited resource for one low price.

Is there a single gas station on the planet that gives you unlimited amounts of gas for $40 a month? Or a grocery store, or restraunt, which has a $50 a month flat rate for all the food you want?
Click to expand...

The big issue is that most of the ISPs have been claiming unlimited plans for years, but then they're capped with overages. Also, there have been lots of problems with the data usage monitoring, the official numbers are often delayed, making it hard to monitor yourself. Cap + throttle would be much more consumer friendly; cap + reduced network priority would probably better fit with the congestion justifications. On the other hand, most of the smaller ISPs have less restrictive caps, even though smaller ISPs likely have higher costs for bandwidth and tend to attract tech savvy users who (I assume) tend to use more bandwidth. (Let's ignore Google fiber for this discussion, because Google prints money, so we won't know if their offering is financially sound on its own for some time)
 
I'd love to switch ISP's. Let me see what competition I have for my wonderful AT&T 6Mbps DSL service in my area...

/crickets
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
What your overlooking is that you want the ISPs to invest in ever increasing bandwidth so other companies can provide you services to make them rich. Not going to happen.

Personally I'm not sure why everyone seems to think they they are entitled to an unlimited amount of a limited resource for one low price.

Is there a single gas station on the planet that gives you unlimited amounts of gas for $40 a month? Or a grocery store, or restraunt, which has a $50 a month flat rate for all the food you want?
Click to expand...
Personally, I'm not sure that I've seen anyone in this thread state that they are "entitled" to anything.

Also, I don't think there's a single gas station on the planet that charges you for a full tank of gas no matter how much gas they actually pump.

If you want to argue that all Internet use should be paid for by the unit (be it kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, or terabyte), that's a reasonable point of view. However, when there are people paying $50 for 250 GB on a plan while others on the same plan with the same company are paying $100 for 300 GB, the system is broken. This is especially true if the actual cost to the ISPs per GB transferred is a matter of pennies - not quarters and not even dimes...pennies with maybe a nickel every now and then.

Why do you think Comcast has altered their policy and all but eliminated data caps? It's not because they're kind, sweet, caring people. It's because a) they want to keep their customers (which is barely an issue thanks to government-approved monopolies) and b) they know that their pricing structures couldn't stand up to scrutiny.

If someone wants to offer usage plans where everyone pays, say, $0.15/GB (to ensure a healthy profit margin - perhaps with a $15-20 minimum), I'll accept that. I'd probably end up paying a little more for my service but the benefit to others who use less would make up for that in my mind.
 
Yes of course, let me just switch to my other ISP, the 56k guy, good one.

They can do what they want, there's almost no consumer choice in most places for this kinda of service.
 
Oh, and as a postscript to my concept of a reasonable pay-for-usage plan, this would also provide incentive for ISPs to increase bandwidth and provide more customer-desired services that would utilize it. After all, the more data customers transfer, the more money they'd make. Anyone who believes Comcast isn't making money hand over fist probably isn't aware that not only did they buy 51% of NBC/Universal but they actually made a[n unsolicited] bid to buy Disney before that.
 
Internet services must be doing something illegal. Not only putting ridiculous caps (there should be no caps, there is no rational evidence for caps) on service, but "suggesting" more expensive proprietary alternatives for other services that may take you over your cap? That has to be against some sort of law.
 
From what I heard bandwidth is cheap now. And cable companies telling you they have to cap to save money is BS. But the other point to caps is to prevent companies like netflix from expanding.

As long as cable internet is a monopoly nothing will change.
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
What your overlooking is that you want the ISPs to invest in ever increasing bandwidth so other companies can provide you services to make them rich. Not going to happen.

Personally I'm not sure why everyone seems to think they they are entitled to an unlimited amount of a limited resource for one low price.

Is there a single gas station on the planet that gives you unlimited amounts of gas for $40 a month? Or a grocery store, or restraunt, which has a $50 a month flat rate for all the food you want?
Click to expand...

your concepts are not applicable here because:

1. as technology advances, the equipment needed to provide a set speed drops considerably. Right now, the equipment to provide 30Mb/s (my speed with Comcast) is less than 1/4 of what it was 7 years ago when I moved into my last apartment and picked up Comcast. So, while their costs to provide me with 30Mb/s is down, my bill isn't, and my speed hasn't increased.

2. If a company were to invest a set amount per customer into their infrastructure, they would have advanced into faster and faster speeds (due to the above circumstances) and customers would get charged the same. Here we are, same bill, same speed, 7 years later.

3. ISPs are making more and more profit. Comcast had a first half of 2012 with 34% growth in revenue from their services division (http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...adband-customers-help-drive-comcast-earnings/) over 2011, while customers paid 8% more, yet the internet performance did not improve at all. If anything, I had more outages in 2012 than any previous year. This is specifically because they are not investing in improving their capacity or their performance. This trend includes the major business ISPs: AT&T and Verizon.

4. They're getting away with this because they are monopolies. Most areas have a choice between two or three horrible options, all with the same bad performance, high outage rates, and high costs. I, personally, only have the choice of Century Link and Comcast in Denver.

Now, I'm generally conservative, and I believe in the free market. However, this is not a free market. This is Crony Capitalism. The ISPs have used political connections to prevetn any competition, or only inadequate competition, into their areas. Denver's City Council is horribly corrupt on this stance, and they're mostly liberals. They've turned away company after company trying to invest in the area.

These companies are being run in a horribly stupid manner. Any decent minded businessman knows that a well run business is run for future longevity, not instant cash. Any businessman who runs his company into the ground like these guys are doing shouldn't be allowed to have any business. Yet, they get away with it because of politics.
 
I spoke to a representative for my ISP a year or so back about going over the cap, it went like this:

"So I have a data cap? How much is it?"
-"Approximately 150gb a month."
"Ah, that's not too bad I guess, but if I go over that I might get additional charges?"
-"Correct."
"Alright, well where can I see what my usage is at?"
-"We don't have the framework set up to allow customers to see that yet."
"So my data usage is being monitored, and if I go over it I get additional charges, but I won't ever know how close I am because you have no way of showing customers that data?"
-"Correct."

:rolleyes:
 
Any chance they can make a quick dollar they will do it. I doubt any type of serious legislation to crack down on the monopolies that are in place are ever going to be put forward, I'm sure most of them are in comcast, cox, centurylink, att, etc. etc's damn pocket.

Seriously, charge me $40 for self installation fee and $90 for a modem, then they want me to send it back?
 
toast0 said:
The big issue is that most of the ISPs have been claiming unlimited plans for years, but then they're capped with overages. Also, there have been lots of problems with the data usage monitoring, the official numbers are often delayed, making it hard to monitor yourself. Cap + throttle would be much more consumer friendly; cap + reduced network priority would probably better fit with the congestion justifications. On the other hand, most of the smaller ISPs have less restrictive caps, even though smaller ISPs likely have higher costs for bandwidth and tend to attract tech savvy users who (I assume) tend to use more bandwidth. (Let's ignore Google fiber for this discussion, because Google prints money, so we won't know if their offering is financially sound on its own for some time)
Click to expand...

Well this is two different issues, and I agree if you advertise unlimited it should be so, although just as with cellphones it only makes sense for them to look into applying caps as the speed increases.

For example, when dial up internet access was common unlimited data plans were limited by the speed, you couldn't really transfer 100's of GB of data a month as there just wasn't enough time.

Even early "high speed" access was so slow as to be a limiting factor but now as speeds are 10, 20, or even 100 times faster, for basically the same price, so speed is no longer a limiting factor so to me it make sense that the companies tried to replace the lmiting factor speed used to play?

Now this isn't to say that I enjoy, or support data cap, simply that I can understand them and it makes sense to me (for disclosure I have a unlimited net at home, and 4GB limit on my cell.)
 
thedge said:
Probably your location more than anything.... My cap with Telus is 250GB, last month I used 400-450GB just for usenet, more if I count Netflix/etc and they havent done a thing. Telus is fantastic.
Click to expand...

Teh pr0n is strong in this one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top