Comcast Usage Meter

[her209]

actually I think Comcast would have been better off if they didn't enforce a cap.

Now that I know exactly what the limit is and how much I'm using, I just want to hit the limit every month. It's human nature.

If I'm paying for it, why not?

 

[FelixDeCat]

I'm wondering if this is the first step toward pay as you use internet?

:thumbsdown:

You get FREE internet?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Where are you viewing this meter?

 

[gaidensensei]

I guess it was just a matter of time before the business heads start to see profits from doing this. It's the torrent man / ftp ratpacker's worst nightmare.

Some countries (see South America for one), already do the bill-per hour for internet stuff, which is probably the motivator for ours.

 

[Evadman]

This "feature" just got rolled out in my area (NW suburbs of Chicago). It allows me to see the usage on my account for the month to make sure that I'm below the 250GB cap.

Sweet, that's where I am and I was always looking for a way to check this out.

Holy Hell!! WTF? This can't be correct. 486 GB in 24 days of March and 377 in Feb?? That's 20 GB a day! I recently bought a game from Steam and it took more than a day to download the ~4 gb of data. I have b!tched to comcast about the crap speed, but they haven't done anything because it is 'within spec'. It was even down for 2 days this month. It would be impossible to download that much data even if I wanted to. This has to be broken.

 

[gaidensensei]

^ lol, how much are they looking to impose from you for the overusage?

 

[bobdole369]

Mine hit 244GB in Dec. Lots of ahem - Linux distro's. Also found a certain show about a certain island and got season 4 and 5 in Dec. Was home for 2 weeks off work too.

Last month was 90GB.

 

[Evadman]

^ lol, how much are they looking to impose from you for the overusage?

I guess I will see it on my bill. I can't find anything online about it. What is messed up is that march already increased to 488 GB while I was typing that note and took the screen shot. I'm not at home, no one is using the internet now. I certainly wasn't when I was taking my shower this morning, so that would be at least 12 hours so far without internet usage, but the download amount is still increasing when no one is using the connection. It makes no sense.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Holy Hell!! WTF? This can't be correct. 486 GB in 24 days of March and 377 in Feb?? That's 20 GB a day! I recently bought a game from Steam and it took more than a day to download the ~4 gb of data. I have b!tched to comcast about the crap speed, but they haven't done anything because it is 'within spec'. It was even down for 2 days this month. It would be impossible to download that much data even if I wanted to. This has to be broken.

Start using WPA2. You'll get better speeds and your neighbor will have to find someone else's internet to use.

 

[gaidensensei]

I guess I will see it on my bill. I can't find anything online about it. What is messed up is that march already increased to 488 GB while I was typing that note and took the screen shot. I'm not at home, no one is using the internet now. I certainly wasn't when I was taking my shower this morning, so that would be at least 12 hours so far without internet usage, but the download amount is still increasing when no one is using the connection. It makes no sense.

That sucks if someone's stealing your internet and/or shared connections. It'll be a PITA to have to deal with that stuff, and more secured routers going to be popping up around your neighborly wifi.

 

[mugs]

^ lol, how much are they looking to impose from you for the overusage?

When they announced the caps a long time ago they didn't specify any kind of penalty for going over. I'm guessing it's one or more warnings followed by an invitation to find a new ISP.

 

[Evadman]

If someone is using my WiFi, then they are pretty good. I logged into my router from here and don't show anything connected though WiFi, and everything connected by wire is mine. My WiFi is regular WPA, so it would at least take some effort to get in.

By the way, I found Comcast's FAQ about going over limit. Looks like a phone call telling me I was a bad person and to knock it off. I didn't get a call for going 125 GB over last month, or 38 the month before. Assuming this data is the same source that the "Customer Security Assurance" uses I would have already got a call for being a bad person. So that makes me think the graph presented is wrong.

What will happen if I exceed 250 GB of data usage in a month?

The vast majority - more than 99% - of our customers will not be impacted by a 250 GB monthly bandwidth or data usage threshold. If you exceed more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, you may receive a call from the Customer Security Assurance ("CSA") team to notify you of excessive use. At that time, we will tell you exactly how much data per month you had used. When we call you, we try to help you identify the source of excessive use and ask you to moderate your usage, which the vast majority of our customers do voluntarily. If you are contacted by the CSA team again for excessive use within six months of the first contact your service will be subject to termination for one year. We know from experience that most customers curb their usage after our first call. If your account is terminated, after the one year period expires you may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to you needs.
Our practice for the past several years has been to call only our heaviest data users, and this practice remains the same now that the 250GB data usage threshold is in effect. We may change our practice but will, of course, provide notice to you of any change.

 

[NesuD]

I guess I will see it on my bill. I can't find anything online about it. What is messed up is that march already increased to 488 GB while I was typing that note and took the screen shot. I'm not at home, no one is using the internet now. I certainly wasn't when I was taking my shower this morning, so that would be at least 12 hours so far without internet usage, but the download amount is still increasing when no one is using the connection. It makes no sense.

Kind of looks like it isn't resetting back to zero at the end of each month and just keeps adding to the total.

 

[M0RPH]

By the way, I found Comcast's FAQ about going over limit. Looks like a phone call telling me I was a bad person and to knock it off. I didn't get a call for going 125 GB over last month, or 38 the month before. Assuming this data is the same source that the "Customer Security Assurance" uses I would have already got a call for being a bad person. So that makes me think the graph presented is wrong.

If you are given a warning and then go over the cap again within the next 6 months, they can suspend your service. You won't be able to get service through them for a certain amount of time, I think maybe it was a year.

In your case if it's an error I wouldn't worry about it, they'll figure it out. You're not running file-sharing are you?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Kind of looks like it isn't resetting back to zero at the end of each month and just keeps adding to the total.

What is messed up is that march already increased to 488 GB while I was typing that note and took the screen shot. I'm not at home, no one is using the internet now.

...

 

[thegimp03]

I could have sworn the usage meter was implemented in my area...not able to find it in customer central though. That's weird.

 

[Evadman]

You're not running file-sharing are you?

Nope. No FTP, Email server, database server, web server, or any of that stuff. No torrents, or other P2P either. I did watch a few movies (1 or 2) on Hulu, but that isn't a change from anything I have done before. I do use the internet for work quite a bit, but that isn't any different for past months either.

 

[lord_emperor]

It is possible to use bandwidth without being anywhere near your computer, you know.

Yep, two ways:

1. Downloading movies/games which, even if you don't watch the download progress, you will eventually watch the movie or play the game... at the computer / TV.

2. Leaving file sharing wide open 24/7, which is exactly what the ISP doesn't want you to do.

 

[rcpratt]

1. Downloading movies/games which, even if you don't watch the download progress, you will eventually watch the movie or play the game... at the computer / TV.

Doesn't mean that person spends any more time at his computer than a person that just sits and surfs the web all day. You could download a movie in 1080p which might be 10GB and only spend 90 minutes watching it.

 

[luv2liv]

this is why i dont use comcast.
easily passed 300gb one time and comcast called to warn me. so i canceled the next day.
i dont see how renting/purchasing movies online would work with 250gb limit

 

[HeXen]

Around 99% of comcast customers use significantly less than 250gb's per month

But, digital distrobution and sales are on the rise. From Steam games, netflix movies...etc. All internet users gradually use more and more each year as technology and internet needs go up and user entertainment changes....what would the future hold for pay per gb when you must first pay $50 for a 15 gb game then pay more just to download it??
what happens when movies and games inevitably exceed 50Gb's and as bandwidth speed is continually offered in higher amounts throughout the years. Way more is now consumed than it was in 2000, so i worry about 2020 with this kind of talk.

What about all the bandwidth those stupid Flash Ads force me to download, i mean if i had to pay per gb, Ads could add up and take away from stuff i actually want, even if its just a single .MP3 file.

 

[Hacp]

250gb is plenty. for those who claim that streaming hulu will kill you, hulu doesn't even use that much bandwidth. it's probably less than those 1gb 720p TV show rips too... and you'd have to download 250 of those to go over your limit. 250 hours of TV shows in a month. And clearly Hulu can go even longer. So all those march madness games you're streaming via ESPN? I doubt that'll really kill your limit. Even if you download 24, Lost, Fringe, and 3 other shows every week, I think you'll be more than fine.

Of course there are those who will continue to insist 250gb is such a small cap.

A quality 720p stream should be at least 7mbps.

 

[Ika]

this is why i dont use comcast.
easily passed 300gb one time and comcast called to warn me. so i canceled the next day.
i dont see how renting/purchasing movies online would work with 250gb limit

A regular SD movie is about 700mb-1.4gb. A 720p movie is around 4.2gb. That's a movie a day, or more. How much time do you really have on your hands?

 

[TheVrolok]

Just checked my "usage" meter and it's fairly accurate for me. In fact, Comcast's usage meter is reading a few gb lower than DD-WRT's monitor. shrug. Also, I've never had a problem with the 250GB cap, and I honestly don't see how anyone could easily butt heads with it on a monthly basis without doing a lot of pirating.

 

[Hacp]

Just checked my "usage" meter and it's fairly accurate for me. In fact, Comcast's usage meter is reading a few gb lower than DD-WRT's monitor. shrug. Also, I've never had a problem with the 250GB cap, and I honestly don't see how anyone could easily butt heads with it on a monthly basis without doing a lot of pirating.

You don't see because you don't use paid services. You subscribe to any TV video streaming service and you'll start racking up high usage just for watching TV.