PSA - Comcast users - Data Cap

[ch33zw1z]

Hey, so not "politics" per sey, but for those of us who are limited in our ISP options (Comcast is essentially my only feasible choice, for now), their expanding their data cap enforcement to 12 more states

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/23/21591420/comcast-cap-data-1-2tb-home-users-internet-xfinity

And once again, the bully ISP's use bullshit logic to do it.

If 95% of their customers only use ~300GB, why are they punishing those 5% who use more?

Am I expected to buy a service and NOT use it?

I thought getting rid of Net Neutrality would open up the ISP's abilities? (yea right, lol)

 

[brycejones]

Hey, so not "politics" per sey, but for those of us who are limited in our ISP options (Comcast is essentially my only feasible choice, for now), their expanding their data cap enforcement to 12 more states

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/23/21591420/comcast-cap-data-1-2tb-home-users-internet-xfinity

And once again, the bully ISP's use bullshit logic to do it.

If 95% of their customers only use ~300GB, why are they punishing those 5% who use more?

Am I expected to buy a service and NOT use it?

I thought getting rid of Net Neutrality would open up the ISP's abilities? (yea right, lol)

You cord cutters are destroying their cable revenue need to get that money from someplace.

hopefully we can get an fcc that prioritizes competition and meaningful regulation when competitors are not present.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Not politics but it is news.
And they're doing it because they can and it's easy profit

 

[Fanatical Meat]

So glad I have a choice of two wired broadband provider and now one wireless broadband provider. Unlikely I will ever see data caps except the wireless option but that one is “reduced” speed if you use too much. My internet only option is typically affordable.
I am sure Verizon will ultimately sell fios since they appear to want out of the wireline business but regardless someone will buy the lines.

 

[TheVrolok]

It's coming to me. Am sad. Don't think I go over 1.2 TB too often, though.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Not politics but it is news.
And they're doing it because they can and it's easy profit

Yep, MA had the benefit of FIOS being rolled out in the eastern side of the state, so Comcast actually had competition and had to adapt. FIOS is no longer being rolled out, Net neutrality is gone, this is just a step towards tiered services

 

[ch33zw1z]

Heres a screen cap of mine recently

A lot of mine is my work laptop, but my family streams a lot and download a lot of new games around bdays and holidays when the kids have money.

My plan is to not give them a penny more than I have to, so habits will change.

So glad ISP's can stifle progress so much.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

@ch33zw1z close to a TB of data?
cut down on the Pr0n man

Edit: post going stream only for tv I have no idea how much data we use monthly.

 

[ch33zw1z]

@ch33zw1z close to a TB of data?
cut down on the Pr0n man

Edit: post going stream only for tv I have no idea how much data we use monthly.

lol, if only. 1.6TB in August, 1.4 in September, this is mostly video streaming and gaming. Some games are 100GB downloads now, and one of my kids likes to redownload them after reinstalling windows for whatever reason.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

lol, if only. 1.6TB in August, 1.4 in September, this is mostly video streaming and gaming. Some games are 100GB downloads now, and one of my kids likes to redownload them after reinstalling windows for whatever reason.

probably gonna be cheaper to set the kids up with a nas unit.
And yeah some games are ridiculous sizes. I installed Ark to play with some buddies and it was around 100GB.

 

[Shmee]

Yeah data caps suck. I hope that we can get ATT gigabit fiber here soon. IDK if they have data caps though...

 

[ch33zw1z]

probably gonna be cheaper to set the kids up with a nas unit.
And yeah some games are ridiculous sizes. I installed Ark to play with some buddies and it was around 100GB.

Yea, one habit change will be game data management. Gonna have to backup locally or make sure we have enough data to spare. This is ridiculous tho, the FCC has failed Americans

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Yea, one habit change will be game data management. Gonna have to backup locally or make sure we have enough data to spare. This is ridiculous tho, the FCC has failed Americans

haha if you lived closer I’d give you my address for drive by downloading on my WiFi.
Pretty good connection out there around 20mbs.

 

[Steltek]

If the ISPs thought they could get away with it, they'd have put every broadband connection on a metered connection ages ago. After all, the electric company gets away with it, so why shouldn't they?

Broadband power users explode, making data caps more profitable for ISPs

Usage increase “confirms the value” of data caps for ISP revenue, vendor says.

arstechnica.com

 

[Fanatical Meat]

This is one area where I hate the internet, we have all been trained to expect the lowest price for everything but as consumers only apply that logic to a few things. Everything gets more expensive over time, transportation, fuel, healthcare, housing, food, clothing, education. Why do we have an expectation that internet or communications should do the opposite?
Failure of leadership at Comcast. They are chasing new subscribers with low cost and expecting existing customer’s to foot the bill. They easily could say “All Comcast plans are going up $10 per month” or better “All new subscriber plans will start at $X”. Boom revenue found. Instead they choose the let’s bill a select amount of big users a lot more and expand upon that as we need revenue.
Everyone knows there is value to fast internet. If my Parents internet bill went up $10 per month they’d pay it. They are not going back to dialup to save $10 per month.
Price the product at what its value is. Boohoo executives will have to hear complaints instead of front line workers hearing complaints about overages.

 

[Steltek]

This is one area where I hate the internet, we have all been trained to expect the lowest price for everything but as consumers only apply that logic to a few things. Everything gets more expensive over time, transportation, fuel, healthcare, housing, food, clothing, education. Why do we have an expectation that internet or communications should do the opposite?
Failure of leadership at Comcast. They are chasing new subscribers with low cost and expecting existing customer’s to foot the bill. They easily could say “All Comcast plans are going up $10 per month” or better “All new subscriber plans will start at $X”. Boom revenue found. Instead they choose the let’s bill a select amount of big users a lot more and expand upon that as we need revenue.
Everyone knows there is value to fast internet. If my Parents internet bill went up $10 per month they’d pay it. They are not going back to dialup to save $10 per month.
Price the product at what its value is. Boohoo executives will have to hear complaints instead of front line workers hearing complaints about overages.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with Comcast's leadership. They are being smart about it - the law allows them to apply the screws until nothing is left. So, they do it, and don't care about public opinion (because, in most areas, who else are the public going to be able to take their business to). Comcast isn't doing anything different than Apple, Google, Microsoft, et al, do in their own ways. It is the American way, after all, to take everything that isn't nailed down whether it belongs to you or not. And, it has been this way since the very beginning of this country - the snake oil salesmen just moved on to more profitable grounds.

The actual failure is on the part of the cockroaches in Congress (on both sides of the isle), who fail year in and year out to do anything about it. After all, they can't be seen doing anything to upset the big money donors, can they?

 

[brycejones]

Yeah data caps suck. I hope that we can get ATT gigabit fiber here soon. IDK if they have data caps though...

ATT does. Even worse than Comcast.

A key factor in buying our next house will be what providers are available. We currently use 3-4TB per month.

 

[Fenixgoon]

ATT does. Even worse than Comcast.

A key factor in buying our next house will be what providers are available. We currently use 3-4TB per month.

jesus stop using all the precious bits. there are only so many!

 

[brycejones]

jesus stop using all the precious bits. there are only so many!

All day teams meetings, 4 kids streaming and playing games, we only use streaming video services, it all adds up.

 

[Svnla]

LOL, only if my cap is 1.2 TB per month. I would be happy.

How much you ask? How about 250 GB per month with 1 grace month. Want more? Gotta pay more. Uh huh.

I just check the latest promotion (Black Friday sale for $30/month plus fees/taxes). What is the cap for that special? How about 50 GB/month. Yay for greed.

 

[Fenixgoon]

All day teams meetings, 4 kids streaming and playing games, we only use streaming video services, it all adds up.

oh for sure - given all that it's not unreasonable by any means.

i was trying to poke fun at the fact that caps are used for finite resources, but data is not a finite resource. it is merely rate-limited

 

[Brainonska511]

Yep, MA had the benefit of FIOS being rolled out in the eastern side of the state, so Comcast actually had competition and had to adapt. FIOS is no longer being rolled out, Net neutrality is gone, this is just a step towards tiered services

I don't know if FIOS is available in my Eastern MA area, but at least I have a choice for cable internet. RCN >>> Comcast

 

[brycejones]

oh for sure - given all that it's not unreasonable by any means.

i was trying to poke fun at the fact that caps are used for finite resources, but data is not a finite resource. it is merely rate-limited

Yeah, and the costs of providing a given amount of bandwidth have been rapidly dropping since before comcast started their caps. Its purely a money grab.

 

[Homerboy]

ATT does. Even worse than Comcast.

A key factor in buying our next house will be what providers are available. We currently use 3-4TB per month.

There's no data caps on AT&T's Gigabit lines
I still have 15 days left in my billing cycle.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

ATT does. Even worse than Comcast.

A key factor in buying our next house will be what providers are available. We currently use 3-4TB per month.

While I know it will be more expensive, you may be a good candidate for a business account