Clear internet sets usage caps!

[erikistired]

i didn't see this posted, and i have no links, but here we go anyway.

i have been a clear internet user for about a year now, used to rave about the service. lately i've been having problems, but tonight takes the cake. i am posting this in case anyone is considering signing up with them.

i noticed tonight my service was really slow, hit up speedtest and saw i was getting .25 Mb/s. that is obviously abnormally slow, so i hit up their support site and called in to tech support. it turns out they are now throttling bandwidth of "excessive users" to .25 Mb/s. for TWO DAYS. they did say i can turn off my modem for 8 to 24 hours and that might reset the limit.

let me explain one thing. i am not a heavy user. the customer service rep even agreed. my max usage this year hit 100gb for one month, and that was excessive for me. i stream a lot of tv, and i use steam (the high month was a good month of sales for steam it seems). i don't file share, i don't torrent, i don't download much of anything aside from steam and hulu/netflix. my usual usage is 15-20gb a month.

so, after agreeing i'm not a heavy user, they proceed to tell me they have no control over this cap and can't release me manually, that it is controlled by the computers. (skynet, apparently)

luckily, there is a clause in their TOS so if they change their terms you can terminate any contracts with them if you find service unusable. so i'm out. if you are considering clear internet service, i would stay well away. this isn't my only problem, but this was a deal breaker for me.

/rant

 

[Fear No Evil]

Porn addiction?

 

[erikistired]

not really no. just netflix and hulu, as i said up there. there is no posted "limit" either. it's arbitrary.

 

[zerocool84]

Umm fyi 100GB in one month is NOT low usage.

 

[Fear No Evil]

not really no. just netflix and hulu, as i said up there. there is no posted "limit" either. it's arbitrary.

Really... REALLY?

 

[erikistired]

Umm fyi 100GB in one month is NOT low usage.

that was one month out of the year. as i said, my normal usage is 15-20gb. even with steam sales i'm not sure how i hit 100gb, but since they don't publish stats i had to believe what the rep told me.

anyway, i never said i was low, i said i wasn't a heavy user. the cap for comcast is 250gb before you even get a warning.

Really... REALLY?

really. the service has been too slow to stream off most sites anyway. also, i have a wife. i think she would notice if i was watching porn all day.

 

[konakid7]

It'll be a sad day when all ISP's resort to this. It seems like its slowly heading in that direction though. It's pretty shitty that they suddenly started enforcing these arbitrary caps on you with no warning whatsoever.

 

[zerocool84]

It'll be a sad day when all ISP resort to this. It seems like its slowly heading in that direction. It's pretty shitty that they suddenly start enforcing these arbitrary caps with now warning whatsoever.

There are warnings. It's called fine-print. I chose to go to a provider that didn't have ridiculous caps like Time Warner or Comcrap.

 

[erikistired]

It'll be a sad day when all ISP resort to this. It seems like its slowly heading in that direction. It's pretty shitty that they suddenly start enforcing these arbitrary caps with now warning whatsoever.

i don't have a problem with caps. i had comcast internet for years, never came close to hitting their cap (250gb). my biggest problem is that they throttle you down to speeds slower than dial up, and leave you there for 2 days. i could hardly check my email, much less watch some doctor who on netflix.

There are warnings. It's called fine-print. I chose to go to a provider that didn't have ridiculous caps like Time Warner or Comcrap.

yeah, this wasn't in my original contract. they just added it to their terms of service. luckily this allowed me to get away without paying early termination fees.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I've had Clear at work since March, and I will be canceling in the next day or so. The biggest gripe I have is that they intentionally block VoIP (verified) that isn't their own or Skype (they supposedly have an agreement with Skype). I gave them a chance and they failed, and since I was month-to-month (no contract) I can cancel without penalty. Fuck them.

 

[erikistired]

I've had Clear at work since March, and I will be canceling in the next day or so. The biggest gripe I have is that they intentionally block VoIP (verified) that isn't their own or Skype (they supposedly have an agreement with Skype). I gave them a chance and they failed, and since I was month-to-month (no contract) I can cancel without penalty. Fuck them.

i didn't know that about them. i was looking at adding vonage VOIP (no home phone line), so this would have been a problem as well.

 

[child of wonder]

OP, I only use XGB of internet per month. You use more than me so I, therefore, will arbitrarily decide you use too much and attempt to position myself in a state of moral authority over you. I will assume you use your internet for nefarious purposes and judge you accordingly.

This is ATOT and I have spoken.

 

[erikistired]

OP, I only use XGB of internet per month. You use more than me so I, therefore, will arbitrarily decide you use too much and attempt to position myself in a state of moral authority over you. I will assume you use your internet for nefarious purposes and judge you accordingly.

This is ATOT and I have spoken.

luckily a lot of people here file share, so i know my usage is lower than theirs.

 

[02ranger]

That's crap. They need to quit this cap BS. That's just like AT&T capping data on the phone plans, only worse. I'd like to say they'll quit when they realize by capping usage they're going to lose a ton of customers, but if they all start this capping crap then we won't have anywhere to go to show them how much we disapprove. Things like this may kill services like Hulu or Netflix, which both could/are great services. I'll be pissed if the internet companies kill them. Think of all the places mobile entertainment could go with the technology we have now, but capping usage has got to be stifling development.

/really weak rant

 

[Oceanas]

If you go to their contact page, they list the most active recent discussions in their forums. Just about every single one is about exactly this.

Unlimited Use Plans.If you subscribe to a service plan that does not impose limits on the amount of data you may download or upload during a month, you should be aware that such "unlimited" plans are nevertheless subject to the provisions of this AUP. What this means is that all of the provisions described in this AUP, including those that describe how Clearwire may perform reasonable network management such as reducing the data rate of bandwidth intensive users during periods of congestion, will apply to your use of the Service. The term "unlimited" means that we will not place a limit on how much data you upload or download during a month or other particular period, however, it does not mean that we will not take steps to reduce your data rate during periods of congestion or take other actions described in this AUP when your usage is negatively impacting other subscribers to our Service.

:thumbsdown: Don't oversell your capacity and you won't have this problem. Not that they care.

 

[Eli]

That's the second time that I've seen even the slowest broadband being compared to dialup in OT over the last few days.

I don't think people really remember how slow dialup is....

0.25mbps is lightning fast compared to 0.056mbps..

Dialup tops out at about 6.0kb/sec down and 3.0kb/sec up. LOL.

 

[PhaZe]

There's a huge discussion on dslreports and even clear's own forum
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/110502

I suffered the 256kbps cap for a week straight and got so frustrated I ended up getting comcast high speed internet. I cancelled clear today.

 

[leckley]

The whole ironic thing about this is the cost of wholesale bandwidth is now sub $5 per mbit and in the volumes an ISP would buy from the big boys (Level 3, Cogent, Peer 1, etc.) they would be sub $1 per mbit.

It amazes me how an ISP will complain about your usage when most everyone uses less than 1Mbit per month (round to about 324GB), unless you go the 95% percentage scale and it would be less as most of use it for only a few hours each day...

+1 for going to Comcast, I have been using them for 8+ years now and have not yet regretted it and as of late their support and quality has gone through the roof - I do believe they actually give a fuck about their clients.

As for RoadRunner - been using them for the better part of 6 yrs and well, they are a pain the ass from top to bottom - never liked them, always had issues, but when its that or dial-up, you get the point.

(As for having both, when you grow up in a broken home, you get more than one internet connection.)

 

[BarkingGhostar]

They have clearly decided to be a cellular company providing data only instead of an ISP. Their usage caps will likely kill their business.

 

[yhelothar]

100GB/mo is not a lot at all.. I'd be pissed as hell.

 

[meltdown75]

not really no. just netflix and hulu, as i said up there. there is no posted "limit" either. it's arbitrary.

so... yes?

 

[jlee]

Umm fyi 100GB in one month is NOT low usage.

It's not high usage either, though.

 

[spidey07]

The all you can eat model is over. It costs the provider too much money. 3 gigabytes per day is indeed excessive.

 

[PhaZe]

The all you can eat model is over. It costs the provider too much money. 3 gigabytes per day is indeed excessive.

The problem is clear isn't defining what is excessive.

 

[erikistired]

so... yes?

sorry. not really, no.

The all you can eat model is over. It costs the provider too much money. 3 gigabytes per day is indeed excessive.

well, now i'm back with comcast. i now have about 8gb a day without being noticed.

considering what is being offered online with hulu and netflix, amazon unbox, itunes rental, 3gb a day isn't that hard to attain. not that i average 100gb a month, it's a lot less than that if you'd read everything. when i signed up i let them know. it's billed as unlimited, and they had no issues with what i use my internet connection for. this is something new.