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CryptAck
November 29th, 2011, 12:42 PM
Comcast has a monthly data usage limit of 250GB per month. On their site you can view the last three months (and current up to 3 hours ago) data usage. Here's mine...

105GB - August
126GB - Sept
202GB - Oct
Currently at 205 with two days to go.

I'm fearful with my current trend that I'll have to limit my usage in December or January. :(

My usage increase is primarily because new seasons of TV shows begin in the fall, and it's cheaper to pay for 'faster' internet than standard internet and cable TV. Especially when considering that I watch shows on only a few network channels that are not on standard broadcast TV.

I'm starting to wonder if the data usage cap is primarily focused on restricting Instant TV users like me. After all, if it's true what Comcast says, "you should know that the vast majority - around 99% - of Comcast customers use significantly less than 250GB per month" then is my usage really affecting the quality of the other customers?

Furthermore, I'd be willing to pay for Comcast Cable TV, if they allowed for selective product/channel billing. I receive no added benefit paying for 300 channels when all I want to watch is on five.

Anyone else have Comcast? If so, what is your average monthly data usage?

mobilediesel
November 29th, 2011, 01:01 PM
I was using about 110 to 130 GB per month when I had Comcast. The DSL I have now is slower but I can download and upload continuously without hitting any ridiculous data cap.

The primary reasons Comcast started with that cap are:

They're selling more bandwidth than they're capable of providing.
They want you to subscribe to the TV channels.
They anyone doing anything more than reading email and checking Facebook are criminals who must be downloading movies and music all day.

They deny those reasons, of course.
They also throttle any VOIP use that you don't pay them for. On my much slower DSL connection that I have now, the VOIP phone always works as long as there's a connection. When I had Comcast, internet connectivity slowed WAY down any time I used the phone. Every time I tried to find out why the internet slowed down, they tried to sell me their VOIP service.

3Miro
November 29th, 2011, 01:21 PM
I am not happy with Comcast myself. I watch a lot of Starcraft casts in HD and those eat the traffic pretty fast. Furthermore, you cannot even get them on regular TV.

When I used to live in an apartment complex by myself, the landlords payed for the Internet and I would constantly go over the limit. Neither the landlord nor Comcast ever contacted me. Now I moved and I pay for Internet separately, but then I try not to go over the limit. Comcast claims that the limit is there for people in remote place that have lesser bandwidth, but I am sure that's not the real reason. Unfortunately where I live, Comcast has monopoly over Internet and Cable.

CryptAck
November 29th, 2011, 01:28 PM
I am not happy with Comcast myself. I watch a lot of Starcraft casts in HD and those eat the traffic pretty fast. Furthermore, you cannot even get them on regular TV.

I watch a lot of SC 2 as well, but I've reduce the quality to help limit the data usage.

I'm strongly considering other internet service providers due to the data cap. I know it seems strange to use more than 250GB a month, but with HD shows and streams, its getting easy.

drawkcab
November 29th, 2011, 03:16 PM
I'm strongly considering other internet service providers due to the data cap. I know it seems strange to use more than 250GB a month, but with HD shows and streams, its getting easy.

It's true. I am on AT&T and I regularly go over the cap. It's only $10/50gb after the cap which is still cheaper than cable.

On the other hand, I don't have many choices down here. It's AT&T or Time Warner and each has the same cap policy.

kurt18947
November 29th, 2011, 05:12 PM
Memo

TO: All Comcast customers

FROM: Comcast

We're gonna git'cha, one way or the other.

Sincerely,

mips
November 29th, 2011, 06:59 PM
Comcast has a monthly data usage limit of 250GB per month. On their site you can view the last three months (and current up to 3 hours ago) data usage. Here's mine...

105GB - August
126GB - Sept
202GB - Oct
Currently at 205 with two days to go.

I really wish I was you!

Here where I live you pay through your nose per gigabyte. I have to restrain myself to 8GB a month.

doorknob60
November 30th, 2011, 03:20 AM
I don't have Comcast, I have Bendbroadband, and they have a freaking retarded stupid 100 GB cap that is seriously making me consider switching to DSL. My last few months: 110 and 93. Honestly, my average is about 100 now, and considering only a year ago, it was about 50 GB, this could get ugly fast. Already once I hit 132 GB, and the worst part is it's $1.50 per extra GB, which is pretty ridiculous. The internet costs $40 a month, and when I went 32 GB over (32% of the cap), I paid $48 extra (120% of the cost)....meh.

LowSky
November 30th, 2011, 03:42 AM
If your having an issue why not just lower the quality settings?

or do stuff outside of the home, lol

cbowman57
November 30th, 2011, 03:45 AM
Funny, now that everybody *needs* the internet they start hacking & slashing.

The internet, a pretty good thing while it lasted.

I use Clearwire, they're a POS too.

Lucradia
November 30th, 2011, 04:36 AM
I can't monitor my Internet usage sadly:

"Charter is currently evaluating methods for presenting usage data to customers to help them self-monitor their bandwidth usage. "

They've been saying this for years and years though.

tjeremiah
November 30th, 2011, 06:13 AM
250 gb seems reasonable. I was looking for an app for linux that can monitor my usage as I am curious to know how much I use a month since my ISP doesnt have a cap in place. But 250gb looks like an insane amount to go over in a month even with HD content I assume.

SadisticCheeto
November 30th, 2011, 07:38 AM
I recently learned about Cox's data usage meter. The data cap had not even crossed my mind before. Apparently, I used about 85 GB out of the 200 GB limit last cycle. Another cycle is almost over, and I'm only at about 33 GB. I feel like I should start downloading more so I get my money's worth.

CryptAck
November 30th, 2011, 07:41 AM
I really wish I was you!

Here where I live you pay through your nose per gigabyte. I have to restrain myself to 8GB a month.

Ouch, that does stink! Are prices at least coming down over time?


I don't have Comcast, I have Bendbroadband, and they have a freaking retarded stupid 100 GB cap that is seriously making me consider switching to DSL. My last few months: 110 and 93. Honestly, my average is about 100 now, and considering only a year ago, it was about 50 GB, this could get ugly fast. Already once I hit 132 GB, and the worst part is it's $1.50 per extra GB, which is pretty ridiculous. The internet costs $40 a month, and when I went 32 GB over (32% of the cap), I paid $48 extra (120% of the cost)....meh.

I currently pay $70 for the Blast! Comcast service. Not really sure if it's worth the extra money to go from Premium to Blast though...

Actually, maybe I could try to go from residential to business, for 30 dollars more? I'd get the residential performance speed but with no data cap...wonder how you qualify for business.


If your having an issue why not just lower the quality settings?

or do stuff outside of the home, lol

I do lower the quality settings. But between me and my girlfriend (who is home most of the day), streaming netflix, hulu, and Zune, it adds up fast (plus 700MB + updates for linux Live CDs don't help! :)).


250 gb seems reasonable. I was looking for an app for linux that can monitor my usage as I am curious to know how much I use a month since my ISP doesnt have a cap in place. But 250gb looks like an insane amount to go over in a month even with HD content I assume.

True, it does seem like a lot; for music, e-mail, and web browsing. Consider HD movies and TV Shows though, and it begins to consume a lot of data! Most of the HD videos from Zune marketplace are around 5-8GB. That means that I could watch ONE HD Movie, or maybe TWO TV Shows per day for 30 days (8*30 = 240 / 8*31 = 248 ).

I stream content from Zune marketplace through my Xbox to my HDTV. The difference between the SD and HD content is noticeable on the large screen.