Comcast Download Caps

[imported_jag]

I recently received "the call" from Comcast stating that I had exceeded their acceptable limit for internet use in one month (420 GB compared to the 2 GB that they say the average person uses). I won't go into how pissed off I am at Comcast for never mentioning a limit and still refusing to disclose what the number is while not hesitating to threaten to cut me off with no warning the next time this happens.

My real question is if anyone has any brainstorms for ways of circumventing this. I have a wireless network available (different ISP, friends downstairs/next door) but rarely use it because of the slow speed. I can't help but think there must be a way to use the wireless for downloads (mostly torrents) and the wired for the internet, email, etc. Even better would be if there was some way to load balance (preferably without any new hardware) or aggregate the wired and wireless connections while still retaining control over applications and their path to the internet.

Hardware available: 2 desktops, laptop (wired & wireless), linksys wrt54g (connected to my modem), linksys wrt54gs DD-WRT (currently doing nothing), 8 port switch.

If no one cares that's cool but I was just hoping to get some help brainstorming. Plus any additional info I can add to whatever I can find out there on the Google would be awesome.

thanks,
--jag

 

[spidey07]

That kind of usage is just beyond obscene. I'll help your brainstorming - stop downloading illegal crap or purchase a service that is more suitable to your needs.

Acceptable use policy - read it.

So, just how pissed are you at Comcast for providing you a 10,000 dollar a month service for less than a hundred bucks?

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Spidey...back off...This isn't the first time you've done this....How do you know he wasn't downloading free to distribute music from independent artists. Do you have his traffic logs? Yes, one can assume that it would be quite hard to legally download that much, but it is possible. If you would have read the post you'd see that he complained about the lack of a number posted by comcast, I'm sure if the number was well known, he wouldn't have gone over it. Also, why should Comcast advertise unlimited service that is anything but unlimited? Seriously, any time someone says even a slightly negitive comment about Comcast you bring down the hammer. Not even anything constructive either, which is quite unfortunate as you are a knowledgeable member. Just please, don't assume and let the mods decide if the thread should be locked, maybe send them a heads up instead of vigilante modding. Sorry if this offends you but like I said, this isn't a first, and I do agree that more than likely it was due to illegal activities but we can't just assume.

 

[JackMDS]

nismotigerwvu, I do not see what this has to do with Comcast.

If one does not like their service One can switch.

If the competition is too slow, move to another city.

What do you expect us to do? Solutions cost money, and the OP stated that it does not want to spend more. Which usually means that whatever the 420GB are for is not something so crucial and a must. Industrious people usually solve this by working harder to make more money and support their needs.

 

[imported_jag]

Fair enough. nismotigerwvu said what I was thinking but I really didn't want to turn this into a discussion about Comcast. I don't have a problem with a cap if I know what that cap is but a secret, invisible cap just seems ridiculous. Also, just to defend myself a little, I download countless videocasts and watch almost all of my tv and movies online (ie. hulu, etc.). I guess its not important enough for me to move to another city. Unfortunately no other internet options without getting landline phone installed as well.

ANYWAYS...it was really just a hardware/software question. Is it possible to aggregate traffic from a wifi and a wired connection on a router or multiple routers. Maybe a simple fix I have missed in DD-WRT? Any constructive ideas are appreciated. Thanks,
--jag

 

[Markbnj]

Fair enough. nismotigerwvu said what I was thinking but I really didn't want to turn this into a discussion about Comcast. I don't have a problem with a cap if I know what that cap is but a secret, invisible cap just seems ridiculous.

Well, you kind of did want a discussion about Comcast, in as much as their name is in the post title, and their actions are the whole reason for the post. There's no amount of brainstorming that's going to somehow hide nearly half a terabyte of bandwidth usage. Just to give a baseline, we're on Comcast, and have four machines online with three teenaged users, my wife, and myself. I run a home office and do software development. We use about 200 megs a day on rainy weekends, and about 25 to 30 megs a day during the week when they are at school. Figure 3-5 gigs a month tops. I get about ten percent cache hits on my proxy, since the kids hit the same pages over and over, so knock that down a little.

Not saying you should be like us, but you're obviously way off at the other end of the spectrum. Look at it from Comcast's point of view: they run a shared network and you're probably accounting for the normal bandwidth utilization of 100 customers. The reason they don't publish a limit, I suspect, is they really don't have one. What they have is some process to pinpoint people who are way off the scale and try to intercede. You're _way_ off the scale, so they are interceding .

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Jag,
I highly doubt there is much you can do with the firmware of your router to hide your data usage as this is more a central server monitored thing. Kinda sucks, but without paying for a business class account (maybe an option, I'm not sure what all services Comcast offers) or switching to a DSL service (there may actualy be "naked" DSL available for you, in fact, I always kinda thought they had to offer it that way instead of forcing a landline on you as well). I'm guessing you are cable tv-less as well as without a landline and using your internet connection to save some cash by having it stream you some entertainment and maybe skype the crap out of your friends, kinda sucks when the well runs dry :/. But yeah, maybe the logical and mature solution to offer here is to simply move *rolls eyes*.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Also, you mentioned using dd-wrt, do you have your networked secured (WPA2, not WEP, and MAC filtering would be a nice idea) as it may have been compromised and then leeched for all it was worth. DD-wrt has traffic logs and IP logs, you might want to see if all that traffic goes back to you and then try an idle test to see if perhaps your system itself may have been infected and turned into a zombie. All things to think about really.

 

[degibson]

There is basically nothing that you can do to hide the quantity of data transferred from your ISP. After all, at some point, it passes over their hardware.

If I were you, I'd arrange for another connection, then blast the Comcast connection with so much bandwidth that Comcast is forced to cancel your service contract. Assuming you are not downloading illegally, you are in the right, and the best way to express dissatisfaction is to stop paying for the service.

And for everyone who thinks 420 GB in one month implies something shady: How many *nix distributions are there out there? Guess how they distribute themselves. I've been known to go through 10 of 'em looking for 'the right' distro.

 

[NickOlsen8390]

I had Road Runner here in Florida. The residential stuff.
Then i found out for like a $15 month difference i could get a Business class account. Which upgraded my speeds from 7/512 to 10/1 and i have a static IP now. I also use A LOT of bandwidth but they never made a fuss about it. But now it doesn't matter. I'm a business class customer. I also don't get complete retards when i call (when i have to call, mabey 1-2 times a year).

So to round it up. See what packages Comcast has to offer. you might beable to get something like i have. And who knows. mabey more speed.

And as degibson said. *nix distros are out there. About 3 months ago i was using torrents for download them. I downloaded just about all of them i think i used like ~700gb that month. finally settled on centos.

 

[mooseracing]

You're not going to be able to distrubute or aggregat ethe conenction reliably without spending some decent money, more likely around 500 or more dollars. The decent stuff I've seen that actually does it properly and works has all been at 1k plus or minus a couple hundred depending where you buy.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: NickOlsen8390
I had Road Runner here in Florida. The residential stuff.
Then i found out for like a $15 month difference i could get a Business class account. Which upgraded my speeds from 7/512 to 10/1 and i have a static IP now.

Hey Nick you do not get the idea .

When One downloads hundred GB for """free""", what is the point to waste money on a "retard" expensive Internet service.

Oh sorry "My Bad", I forgot . Free means that is all legal "Penguin" releases.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: nismotigerwvu
Spidey...back off...This isn't the first time you've done this....How do you know he wasn't downloading free to distribute music from independent artists. Do you have his traffic logs? Yes, one can assume that it would be quite hard to legally download that much, but it is possible. If you would have read the post you'd see that he complained about the lack of a number posted by comcast, I'm sure if the number was well known, he wouldn't have gone over it. Also, why should Comcast advertise unlimited service that is anything but unlimited? Seriously, any time someone says even a slightly negitive comment about Comcast you bring down the hammer. Not even anything constructive either, which is quite unfortunate as you are a knowledgeable member. Just please, don't assume and let the mods decide if the thread should be locked, maybe send them a heads up instead of vigilante modding. Sorry if this offends you but like I said, this isn't a first, and I do agree that more than likely it was due to illegal activities but we can't just assume.

Actually, its you that needs to back off, spidey hit the nail on the head. The guy is a pirate, plain and simple. There is no amount of "independent" music that would get him anywhere close to 420GB per month. That makes him downloading over 500mb per hour nonstop for 31 days straight!

Bullcrap!

He's not downloading linux, hes not downloading free music, he is pirating and being abusive and they have every right to cancel his ass.

 

[DrPizza]

I don't know what this crap is about "unlimited bandwidth." I'm sure one of you people who think a company owes you the world because you sign up for their $30 a month plan will be more than happy to provide a link to Comcast advertising "unlimited bandwidth."

While you're looking, chew on this (pointed out in the first reply in the thread)
Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy.

The Service is for personal and non-commercial residential use only. Therefore, Comcast reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts where bandwidth consumption is not characteristic of a typical residential user of the Service as determined by the company in its sole discretion. Common activities that may cause excessive bandwidth consumption in violation of this Policy include, but are not limited to, numerous or continuous bulk transfers of files and other high capacity traffic using (i) file transfer protocol ("FTP"), (ii) peer-to-peer applications, and (iii) newsgroups, whether provided by Comcast or a third party.

420GB in a month is clearly abusive. Furthermore, the OP seems to be asking for help in circumventing Comcast's controls. That's a big no-no in my book. However, the advice to check his wireless connection to make sure no one's leeching is a good idea, as well as the advice to make sure his computer isn't someone else's zombie.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: NickOlsen8390
I had Road Runner here in Florida. The residential stuff.
Then i found out for like a $15 month difference i could get a Business class account. Which upgraded my speeds from 7/512 to 10/1 and i have a static IP now. I also use A LOT of bandwidth but they never made a fuss about it. But now it doesn't matter. I'm a business class customer. I also don't get complete retards when i call (when i have to call, mabey 1-2 times a year).

Business-class accounts are great, and, as you found, not THAT much more money.

 

[NickOlsen8390]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: NickOlsen8390
I had Road Runner here in Florida. The residential stuff.
Then i found out for like a $15 month difference i could get a Business class account. Which upgraded my speeds from 7/512 to 10/1 and i have a static IP now. I also use A LOT of bandwidth but they never made a fuss about it. But now it doesn't matter. I'm a business class customer. I also don't get complete retards when i call (when i have to call, mabey 1-2 times a year).

Business-class accounts are great, and, as you found, not THAT much more money.

Thank you. Thats the point i was TRYING to get across.

And as said before 420GB is 99.9% most likely illegal downloading.
But the other point i was trying to get across was that one, in theory, could use that much on legal downloads. Like downloading all the Podcasts on Revision3.com. And any other site like that. With streaming video such as Youtube (i know low quality doesn't take much) and other stuff, Such as netflix's plan allowing you to watch movies on line. One could rack up a Large amount of usage quite easily, And Legally.


And i Also agree. Make sure your computer Isn't part of a bot-net or something. Run netstat if you have more then just a few items when you are doing nothing you have a problem.

Friends dad has a computer on wireless. One day I'm just sitting in my friends room, Look at the router and when no one is doing anything the wireless was just getting hammered. Went over to his computer, ran netstat, Listed about 310 SMTP connections. Needless to say that got axed quick.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: NickOlsen8390

And as said before 420GB is 99.9% most likely illegal downloading.
But the other point i was trying to get across was that one, in theory, could use that much on legal downloads. Like downloading all the Podcasts on Revision3.com. And any other site like that. With streaming video such as Youtube (i know low quality doesn't take much) and other stuff, Such as netflix's plan allowing you to watch movies on line. One could rack up a Large amount of usage quite easily, And Legally.


And i Also agree. Make sure your computer Isn't part of a bot-net or something. Run netstat if you have more then just a few items when you are doing nothing you have a problem.

Friends dad has a computer on wireless. One day I'm just sitting in my friends room, Look at the router and when no one is doing anything the wireless was just getting hammered. Went over to his computer, ran netstat, Listed about 310 SMTP connections. Needless to say that got axed quick.

That's all well and good.

Pay for a service you desire, but don't bitch when you assume capacity/bandwidth is some free thing to leech off of. You took the obvious choice - pay for a service that meets your needs.

420 GB is beyond obscene for a residential connection. Want bandwidth? Pay for it.

 

[NickOlsen8390]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Pay for a service you desire, but don't bitch when you assume capacity/bandwidth is some free thing to leech off of..

If that was directed at me. I never assumed bandwidth was something free to leach off of.

At the same time i was justifying how 420GB could be done in a home setting easily.
Yes, its insane for a res user. Is it hard to do without illegally downloading? In some cases.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: NickOlsen8390

And as said before 420GB is 99.9% most likely illegal downloading.
But the other point i was trying to get across was that one, in theory, could use that much on legal downloads. Like downloading all the Podcasts on Revision3.com. And any other site like that. With streaming video such as Youtube (i know low quality doesn't take much) and other stuff, Such as netflix's plan allowing you to watch movies on line. One could rack up a Large amount of usage quite easily, And Legally.


And i Also agree. Make sure your computer Isn't part of a bot-net or something. Run netstat if you have more then just a few items when you are doing nothing you have a problem.

Friends dad has a computer on wireless. One day I'm just sitting in my friends room, Look at the router and when no one is doing anything the wireless was just getting hammered. Went over to his computer, ran netstat, Listed about 310 SMTP connections. Needless to say that got axed quick.

That's all well and good.

Pay for a service you desire, but don't bitch when you assume capacity/bandwidth is some free thing to leech off of. You took the obvious choice - pay for a service that meets your needs.

420 GB is beyond obscene for a residential connection. Want bandwidth? Pay for it.

i thought i'd let you know that AT&T has a similar cap .. if you really [really] search you will find it is also ~3GB. And they will also give you a call if you are leeching all of their bandwidth that 100 regular customers would use.

and they have the right to terminate service for "abuse" - you cannot "host" a Server on most wireless data services


That said, i had to give up AT&T wireless as my physical location is a problem and i am back on 56k - my other choice being "satellite" [forget it]

on netzero 56K i manage ~3GB a week .. 24 hours a day 5Kpbs .. my landline is on the net 24/7, ping is great and all my calls are routed to my cell phone

i tried to "parallel" my 56K connection with my wireless 256K connection and it was not workable under Vista - nothing like back with Win98 when you could use two 56K modems and two separate phone lines.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I don't know what this crap is about "unlimited bandwidth." I'm sure one of you people who think a company owes you the world because you sign up for their $30 a month plan will be more than happy to provide a link to Comcast advertising "unlimited bandwidth."

While you're looking, chew on this (pointed out in the first reply in the thread)
Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy.

The Service is for personal and non-commercial residential use only. Therefore, Comcast reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts where bandwidth consumption is not characteristic of a typical residential user of the Service as determined by the company in its sole discretion. Common activities that may cause excessive bandwidth consumption in violation of this Policy include, but are not limited to, numerous or continuous bulk transfers of files and other high capacity traffic using (i) file transfer protocol ("FTP"), (ii) peer-to-peer applications, and (iii) newsgroups, whether provided by Comcast or a third party.

420GB in a month is clearly abusive. Furthermore, the OP seems to be asking for help in circumventing Comcast's controls. That's a big no-no in my book. However, the advice to check his wireless connection to make sure no one's leeching is a good idea, as well as the advice to make sure his computer isn't someone else's zombie.

They do not use that phrase anymore, the keyword being anymore. Comcast and all the other cable providers used to use the phrase all the time until they started shutting people off for hitting some unspecified in the TOS limits. They still don't go out of their way to tell you exactly what the limits are but they have finally stopped using the word "unlimited" in their current advertising.

 

[Markbnj]

Did they really used to say "unlimited bandwidth" in their advertising? I don't recall ever seeing that, not that I was paying close attention. Seems like a startlingly stupid thing to say.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
Did they really used to say "unlimited bandwidth" in their advertising? I don't recall ever seeing that, not that I was paying close attention. Seems like a startlingly stupid thing to say.

I don't recall "unlimited bandwidth" but they did throw around the word unlimited quite a bit. When they first started sending out the abuse of service letters there was a lot of talk about this over on DSLReports as there was nothing in their TOS at that time regarding any kind of limits. They smartened up and changed the TOS to reflect that now.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: Markbnj
Did they really used to say "unlimited bandwidth" in their advertising? I don't recall ever seeing that, not that I was paying close attention. Seems like a startlingly stupid thing to say.

I don't recall "unlimited bandwidth" but they did throw around the word unlimited quite a bit. When they first started sending out the abuse of service letters there was a lot of talk about this over on DSLReports as there was nothing in their TOS at that time regarding any kind of limits. They smartened up and changed the TOS to reflect that now.

i don't know about Comcast, but with AT&T there always were limits .. they are just not specified in their ToS as being "less than 5GB" for example

it has always been "normal Internet usage" which gives them quite a bit of latitude in determining what is normal; now they have begun to restrict it even more and if you look carefully, you will find it

it is NOT to their advantage to ADVERTISE "limits"

 

[filetitan]

download a bandwidth meter for starters, and keep track of our illegal downloads.
(I work for Comcast) lol