MediaCom Cable - Introducing a data cap mid-contract

[ImpulsE69]

Sounds like a person who is behind the times and stuck in his old thought process. Oh well..at least 5 in every crowd.

Honestly I have no dea how much data I use over the internet, but I assume it's quite a bit considering that with Slacker alone I use 10gb a month on my phone. I find it pretty hilarious that people still scream "pirates!" for every little thing. Sigh.

Companies that suddenly put data caps into effect and "judge" how much data people should be using are backwards and only trying to milk more profit. I'll say it again, a person using over 250gb of data costs them no more than a person using under. For every person using more, there's probably 2 people using less. The REAL issue that needs addressed is bandwidth thin provisioning, but they won't talk to you about that , because it makes them look bad.

 

[Puppies04]

umm..I quit like 2 months ago. Maybe 3 now?

The reason I am so firm is because I went to bat when my old company introduced caps. I mean as high up the food chain as you can go. I argued that caps were pointless and only hurt the company.

Then I actually got to see the numbers. Out of the 4 million customers we had on our internet, less than 3% of them ever went over 100 GB per month. Less than .5% ever went over 250 GB and nearly every one of those accounts had DMCA notices.

In my household we stream Netflix and Youtube nearly 24/7. lil rudeguy downloads a ton of Steam games and I download a ton of random files and ISO's for work. We don't come anywhere close to 250 GB.

You can argue the point all you want but the data is against you. Only thieves need that much data.

We know what you are saying but you are making yourself look like a jackass by contradicting yourself. There are several legal ways to use over 250GB per month I would guess that for every person that does there are 99 that do so by illegally downloading pirate material. This in no way proves that going over your limit makes you a dirty pirate.

 

[RedShirt]

I believe the true reason why Internet companies do this is to force people to use their video services. They will roll out their own services that do not count toward the bandwidth cap, or push their video on demand, etc.

I like how people state "There is no way you could use X GB of data by doing Y". They fail to realize that Y is just a portion of the usage in the month. 10 GB here, 20GB there, it all adds up.

Streaming takes a lot of bandwidth, and it's also allowing people to cut the cable TV cord.

 

[Juddog]

I believe the true reason why Internet companies do this is to force people to use their video services. They will roll out their own services that do not count toward the bandwidth cap, or push their video on demand, etc.

I like how people state "There is no way you could use X GB of data by doing Y". They fail to realize that Y is just a portion of the usage in the month. 10 GB here, 20GB there, it all adds up.

Streaming takes a lot of bandwidth, and it's also allowing people to cut the cable TV cord.

^^ Exactly - the real reason cable companies are doing this is because streaming videos is competitive to their own services. That's all it boils down to.

 

[SunnyD]

I believe the true reason why Internet companies do this is to force people to use their video services. They will roll out their own services that do not count toward the bandwidth cap, or push their video on demand, etc.

I like how people state "There is no way you could use X GB of data by doing Y". They fail to realize that Y is just a portion of the usage in the month. 10 GB here, 20GB there, it all adds up.

Streaming takes a lot of bandwidth, and it's also allowing people to cut the cable TV cord.

We have a winnar!!!!

 

[chimaxi83]

I believe the true reason why Internet companies do this is to force people to use their video services. They will roll out their own services that do not count toward the bandwidth cap, or push their video on demand, etc.

I like how people state "There is no way you could use X GB of data by doing Y". They fail to realize that Y is just a portion of the usage in the month. 10 GB here, 20GB there, it all adds up.

Streaming takes a lot of bandwidth, and it's also allowing people to cut the cable TV cord.

Pretty much. The telco I work for also has a cap of 250GB for Uverse service, but you could stream on all your TVs all day every day and never hit your data cap... as long as you're streaming something via your Uverse service.

Other than DMCA notices, I haven't heard of my company enforcing their cap on anyone. From personal experience, I downloaded my Steam library to 4 separate PCs, easily hitting a little over 800GB both times I did it, and not a peep from the company.

I know they can separate IPTV packets from data packets if they wanted to enforce the cap, but I guess they just haven't done it yet.

 

[jpiniero]

^^ Exactly - the real reason cable companies are doing this is because streaming videos is competitive to their own services. That's all it boils down to.

This is true, but it's not like the infrastructure/last mile is cheap to build and maintain. Cable is what brings in the bucks, so don't be surprised if Big Cable implodes once Cord Cutting gets to a certain level, with no real replacement.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

Should deregulate the cable lines like we did the phone lines for DSL.

 

[SunnyD]

Should deregulate the cable lines like we did the phone lines for DSL.

Oh yes, because deregulating the telco's did WONDERS for that industry.

 

[Pulsar]

No.

I worked in the industry for years. The only people I ever saw go over the cap just so happened to also have DMCA notices. You can try to pretend that the cap doesn't only affects thieves but the data proves you wrong.

"Worked" being the key term. I particpate in a large number of employee purchase programs through Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, and Solidworks. There are substantial discounts for downloading the software rather than having discs sent. Since I'm installing the software on 7 different computers in my household, and each computer requires a seperate download on THAT computer, I blow through 250 GB very very easily. Especially with the beta and alpha testing.

In fact, this month I probably blew through 40 GB's of just ROM downloads for phones.

I haven't done a complete website backup this month, and that's usually 20-30 GB of files by itself.

99.99% I'd believe, but be careful throwing around 100% number.

With regard to the OP, they have changed the contract whether they will admit it or not. USAGE amounts and BILLING are definitely part of the contract. Whether you signed it or verbally consented to it at the time you opened the account doesn't really matter. They can't substantially change their service without letting you out. It's no different than cell-phones. Cell-phone companies have already learned this one the hard way, and usually won't argue for a second if they changed your bill.

 

[child of wonder]

"Sweet! Windows 8.1, Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 have just been released! I'm going to download those and try them out in my lab. While I'm at it, I'm going to grab the latest install media for SQL 2012, Exchange 2013, Lync 2013, and Sharepoint 2013. Oh and the latest VMware just came out, too! Gotta download ESXi, vCenter, vCOPs.... wait... what? Download limit reached?"

 

[Pulsar]

This is true, but it's not like the infrastructure/last mile is cheap to build and maintain. Cable is what brings in the bucks, so don't be surprised if Big Cable implodes once Cord Cutting gets to a certain level, with no real replacement.

Bingo. Reported 5G speeds are through the roof. In some cases I read that they approached gigabit speeds.

IF that is the case, then the last mile fiasco and the monopolies that Cable / DSL / Phone providers have had will finally be gone. Hell, I just concelled my home phone, DSL, and satellite contracts because I get 15 mbps down on the upgraded sprint network that just got installed. That's better than a large chunk of wired broadband users.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/vroom-samsung-tests-5g-speed-phones-1C9907650

So we're looking at 2022 before it's widely deployed, but I'd be stunned if it didn't start to happen 5 years sooner. Someone is always pushing technology to get a competitive edge.

 

[Pulsar]

"Sweet! Windows 8.1, Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 have just been released! I'm going to download those and try them out in my lab. While I'm at it, I'm going to grab the latest install media for SQL 2012, Exchange 2013, Lync 2013, and Sharepoint 2013. Oh and the latest VMware just came out, too! Gotta download ESXi, vCenter, vCOPs.... wait... what? Download limit reached?"

Exactly. I've actually called my provider on a couple occasions and had them make a note in my account. I'm on unlimited, but I still want them to know what's going on =).

 

[rudeguy]

I think you just assume that I want to cancel my service because I go over the cap. This is not the reason why I want to cancel without ETF.

I want to ditch cable TV and switch to cheaper DSL (which also happens to have a cap of 250GB a month where I live). I have no options of a capless service here, so there would be no point in canceling if I were going over. I'd have no alternative.

I'd save about $100 a month doing this. So, feel free to assume whatever you want to assume. Again, it's irrelevant to the original question.

I see this as a way to get out of my contract without a ETF. That is all. Feel free to assume whatever the heck you want.

There you go.

You are trying to weasel out of your obligation. You need to just pay the ETF and stop crying.

 

[AMDZen]

I'm just glad my ISP doesn't have a cap, and even when they did they didn't enforce it unless you also had DMCA notifications which I haven't had since the last time I had roommates.

RudeGuy would assume I'm the world's #1 pirate if he saw my monthly usage habits.

 

[RedShirt]

"Sweet! Windows 8.1, Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 have just been released! I'm going to download those and try them out in my lab. While I'm at it, I'm going to grab the latest install media for SQL 2012, Exchange 2013, Lync 2013, and Sharepoint 2013. Oh and the latest VMware just came out, too! Gotta download ESXi, vCenter, vCOPs.... wait... what? Download limit reached?"

Don't worry, MediaCom doesn't turn off your Internet if you reach the limit, they just keep charging you $10 for every 50GB over. So keep downloading!

 

[RedShirt]

There you go.

You are trying to weasel out of your obligation. You need to just pay the ETF and stop crying.

And they are trying to weasel out of theirs.

Edit: Actually they ARE weaseling out of theirs. I'm trying to get permission from them to weasel out of mine.

 

[drebo]

Typically when you sign up for a service term, the terms of use are not guaranteed for the entire term. There will almost always be a term in your contract that says "terms of use may change at any time."

If you do not have your original contract that says otherwise, you're SOL.

 

[RedShirt]

Typically when you sign up for a service term, the terms of use are not guaranteed for the entire term. There will almost always be a term in your contract that says "terms of use may change at any time."

If you do not have your original contract that says otherwise, you're SOL.

See: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/0212134792.shtml

 

[KMFJD]

"Worked" being the key term. I particpate in a large number of employee purchase programs through Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, and Solidworks. There are substantial discounts for downloading the software rather than having discs sent. Since I'm installing the software on 7 different computers in my household, and each computer requires a seperate download on THAT computer, I blow through 250 GB very very easily. Especially with the beta and alpha testing.

In fact, this month I probably blew through 40 GB's of just ROM downloads for phones.

I haven't done a complete website backup this month, and that's usually 20-30 GB of files by itself.

99.99% I'd believe, but be careful throwing around 100% number.

With regard to the OP, they have changed the contract whether they will admit it or not. USAGE amounts and BILLING are definitely part of the contract. Whether you signed it or verbally consented to it at the time you opened the account doesn't really matter. They can't substantially change their service without letting you out. It's no different than cell-phones. Cell-phone companies have already learned this one the hard way, and usually won't argue for a second if they changed your bill.

Damn that's an impressive waste of bandwidth, wouldn't you just dl on one system and install to the others from the 1 copy? Why the need to dl to each individual system?

 

[rudeguy]

I'm just glad my ISP doesn't have a cap, and even when they did they didn't enforce it unless you also had DMCA notifications which I haven't had since the last time I had roommates.

RudeGuy would assume I'm the world's #1 pirate if he saw my monthly usage habits.

no...I'd assume that because I remember the Waste Server


My whole point in trolling the OP was to get him to admit why he really wanted to get out of his contract. He lied and said it was because of the data cap. I felt the need to call him out on his lie.

Of course there are going to be a small number (literally less than .5% when I saw the numbers) of people that do go over. If anyone bothered to pay attention to the numbers I posted, .5% of 4 million customers would come out to 10,000 customers per month that would go over over the cap.

My points still remain: Caps are in place to deter thieves and people from using residential service for commercial. If people did not use their service for those things, caps would not be needed.

 

[drebo]

See: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/0212134792.shtml

That only applies to online terms of service.

If he has a signature copy from when he signed his initial installation order, the above would not apply.

 

[Pulsar]

Damn that's an impressive waste of bandwidth, wouldn't you just dl on one system and install to the others from the 1 copy? Why the need to dl to each individual system?

The Autodesk and Solidworks somehow have a unique computer code so that the stand-alone installer will only install to that individual computer. Quite an f'n headache, especially when you're doing 3-4 installs a week. Your suggestion was the first thing I tried.

 

[RedShirt]

My whole point in trolling the OP was to get him to admit why he really wanted to get out of his contract. He lied and said it was because of the data cap. I felt the need to call him out on his lie.

I never said the reason why I wanted out was because the Data Cap. I said the reason why is because they were changing the terms of my contract. You made several assumptions that simply were not true. Your initial assumption was that I was hitting my future cap in usage.

If the original terms of a contract are breached by one party, and the other party calls them on it, the fault lies on the party that breached the contract. I should be totally within my rights to call the contract void. It doesn't matter the reason as long as it was breached.

I basically refuted every single one of your arguments. All your troll attempts failed and now you are trying to come up with some sort of "victory" in your trolling when there is none.

Congrats?

 

[MixMasterTang]

It's painfully obvious that your data is plain wrong.

More numbers @ http://sogrady.org/2011/05/01/mlb-tv-per-game-bandwidth-and-mobile-data-pricing/


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Did you read that link? If you watch every red sox game (27 of them) in a month, you've still used less than 100gb.