Comments on: Boycott Comcast Now on 250Gb Bandwidth Cap

By: Turd Ferguson

Turd Ferguson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:07:39 +0000

Something tells me that more than 1 percent of Comcast subscribers use more than 250 GB of bandwidth each month. I’m thinking of switching to Knology, which has no bandwidth limits.

By: KaaJamm

KaaJamm — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:17:33 +0000

I think, this is the perfect time for one or, all of Comcast’s competitors to start advertising that they are not restricting bandwidth or, putting a cap on use.
The moment a huge Corporation like Comcast see they are loosing market shares they will quickly change there tune. A lot of bad press never hurts. A few protests at the Shareholders meeting will really get the ball rolling. lol

By: John

John — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:13:01 +0000

I don’t have Comcast, but this 250GB cap has me wondering.
Many people on this page are stating that they use less than 250GB per month right now. What is going to happen if new technologies come out in the next few years that require larger amounts of bandwith. Ten years ago, I never imagined that I would use the amount of bandwidth I currently use. Just think of the possible applications that are just around the corner that may possibly require enormous amounts of data trasfer.
We cannot just think about the here and now. The future is at stake.

By: Tom Newman

Tom Newman — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:12:15 +0000

I agree that this is a major problem and goes way beyond Comcast. I’m sure other IPs are looking at this and to see if Comcast sticks with this policy. For some who have a choice in IPs, there will be no real choice if they all are allowed to head in this direction. I wrote up my thoughts about this on my blog. http://fogview.com/index.php?post_id=372895 Thanks for taking up the fight Todd. -Tom

By: John Knights

John Knights — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:23:46 +0000

I would agree with Comcasts stance on this (bandwidth costs money, as we all know) but thinking about your situation with 5 users Todd I can see that is actually unworkable. For a single user the average 8-9 Gb per day cap would still allow you to download several hours of movies (pretty much the most bandwidth-hungry thing you can do) which is clearly ample for the average single user.

For you? I don’t know but evidently 50Gb per user per month is unworkable but then if everybody had such high demands of the internet it really would grind to a halt with the present infrastructure.

Some people are more ahead of the times than others I guess…

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:27:45 +0000

The problem is that in many areas you can not boycott Comcast because they are the only provider available, and what about Charter Communications, they are owned by comcast and will be enforcing the very same limits, as a user you realize how little power you have in this matter, myself am a fairly heavy user and I blow through about 100gig a month, and that is between a desktop, a laptop and a tivo, I am also a very active video logger but still I am in no danger, so I guess I stay observant and chill for now, at least until they lower the limit which they probably will soon..

By: A Seasoned Internet Professional

A Seasoned Internet Professional — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:27:44 +0000

Comcast’s recent inability to live up to their contractual service obligations has caused them to grasp at straws for indirect solutions to thier problems. Rather than reinvesting the considerable profits they gather into upgrading and maintaining their data networks, they would rather invest in lawyers and shoddy business practices. As their customers become more aware of their limiting behaviors, the intelligent (and most profitable) customers will leave. Having a network capable of delivering uninterrupted service to their subscribers should be their focus, and it is not. They will suffer the long-term consequences of their shortsightedness, and in my opinion, the sooner the better.

By: KenC

KenC — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:08:17 +0000

How strict is this 250GB cap?

I ask that cause I did a little looking and here in the PHX area we have Cox Cable. Cox has a cap as well 60GB. But here is the kicker they aint strict about it unless your really doing alot to harm their network (Torrents always and constantly downloading and uploading etc) they wont bust you for it. I have one month I know I blew past it (100GB) and I was never contacted or anything. This may be a cap for legal reasons etc and probably wont affect anyone really, except those that are always every month clearly abusing it. I think if they see where the traffic is going to and coming from (Microsoft, apple, etc) they probably would look the other way.

By: Tim Pettus

Tim Pettus — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:09:00 +0000

I just talked to frank Eliason at Comcast about this very thing. Read my blog post to learn what he had to say: http://cawfeetawlk.blogspot.com/2008/08/comcasts-250gb-bandwidth-cap-real-deal.html

By: Mark Schneider

Mark Schneider — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:45:13 +0000

Boycott them for 250GBs a month? You gotta be kidding, I’d kill for half that. Frankly I think you should pay for what you use. Until we get the government to subsidize bandwidth this should be like any other utility, the electric company, the gas company ect all make you pay for the amount you consume. I use pretty much all my ISP allows and since I live where its dial-up or satellite. I live with 17GB per 30 day rolling usage. I hate it but I do manage to fudge by borrowing a little bandwidth at work for my podcasts.
But 250 Gbs is reasonable, I may get Comcast later this year and I can’t friggin wait.

By: Tom Newman

Tom Newman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:56:13 +0000

As a Comcast user I'm very concerned about this and it could be the start of a trend for other Internet providers if it's allowed to continue. I also wrote about it on my blog. http://fogview.com/index.php?post_id=372895 Thanks Todd.

By: Nerraux

Nerraux — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:33:40 +0000

On second thought I wonder how much bandwidth XBox Live uses…that could sway my vote. I’m with SDC, I want a meter to know where my usage actually stands.

By: Nerraux

Nerraux — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:19:59 +0000

I’m going to have to agree. Our studio streams four (or five if the planets align) 3-hour episodes a month, four one-hour shows, plus all the uploading for the shows and all the home usage, and I doubt we’re going anywhere near 250 GB. There aren’t many content creators putting out more than we are. You’d have to be serving your own show or downloading a lot of illegal stuff for that to be much of an issue. And that should remain true until bandwidth speeds triple, which they won’t for a while, and not on cable at all.

Mind you, I loathe Comcast and treat it in my life as a necessary evil. I would love nothing more than dumping them, I’ve already cut my TV plan down to the minimum. But until something comes along that’s more reliable, it’s what there is.

Keep in mind, too, that the longer the economy stays in the toilet, they’re going to have to do something to keep from losing customers. They may well lift the cap in a couple months.

By: SDC

SDC — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:51:34 +0000

250 GB is ALOT of data…if it is only affecting 1%, then how is this affecting the 99%?? They should have a way for you to check your own usage stats before everyone goes off complaining, only to realize that they have never used more than 20-30 GB in a single month anyway….

By: Franklin McMahon

Franklin McMahon — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:40:55 +0000

I have Time Warner broadband so this does not affect me (well not yet anyway) and I am kind of on the fence. I see their point, they have users cranking on bit torrent 24/7 and downloading everything they can get their hands on (often they don’t even watch the content) and those users DO indeed degrade the network. Nice, paying, family customers who just want fast access…suffer. And often do not even realize it.

Most typical users, I would say even power users, would have to try really hard to burn through 250GB a month. I have Apple TV and love it, but HD moves are only 5GB, 10 at the most. If someone is renting hourly yes, that would be an issue. I am lucky to sneak in one rental in a busy week.

I do believe it when Comcast says it will not affect 99% of their customers. But those 1% dragging the network down will have a wake up call. They should have handled this differently, dealt with the 1% rather than getting everyone all upset.

I love unlimited of course, I remember the dial-up days when I was anxiously checking my “minutes” every day to see what I had left for the month. I do think there needs to be some discussion on how to handle bandwidth hogs, but this way was not the best that is for sure. However I always try to look at both sides and I do see Comcast’s point.

Of course if my provider did this nonsense I may not be so calm and collected

By: Kemp Ruffner

Kemp Ruffner — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:29:09 +0000

I am in agreement. I use the internet to both consume AND create media, much of it video. If I were a comcast user I would boycott them.(I am in Germany where we have yet to face such asinine challenges, but I add my lowly voice to the cause.