Comcast to limit customers' broadband usage

[HaRuMaN]

News story here.

Basically:

Comcast said it was setting a monthly data usage threshold of 250 gigabytes per account for all residential high-speed Internet customers, or the equivalent of 50 million e-mails or 124 standard-definition movies.

"If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast's Customer Security Assurance (CSA) group to notify them of excessive use," according to the company's updated Frequently Asked Questions on Excessive Use.

Customers who top 250 GB in a month twice in a six-month timeframe could have service terminated for a year.

I'm glad I don't have Comcast...  but if they do it, and get away with, how long before the other providers follow suit? 

[ChadTower]

ISPs have always had upper limits.

[shardian]

250 Gb per month is more than reasonable for a residential account.

[Ginsu Victim]

Yeah, I download a LOT and stream lots of video, but I don't reach 250 GB in a month. More than that IS excessive.

Does that include uploading?

[CCM]

I have Comcast and I'm fine with this.  250gb is a ridiculous amount for a home user for one month.  I'll bet I've never even come close to half of that in one month.

[ark_ader]

Yikes that is a lot. 

In the UK 40gb and Fair Usage Policy is the norm.  But 250gb is plain asking for it.

My mate pulls something similar, but he has a home network with kids and the PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox etc. so he can clear 120gb a month easy.

You get caught pulling 250gb a month, better have documentation of your exploits, like iTunes movie downloads, etc. 

I couldn't touch that volume and I am active with home video production and a huge distribution list.  That's upping not downloading.  Wow. 

[Cakemeister]

I'm on Comcast. I wonder if there is a way for me to monitor total bandwidth usage for myself?

I don't watch streaming video or download loads of pr0n or share multigigabyte torrents, so I should be okay, I guess.

[AtomSmasher]

If you watch a movie every night (I generally do) you could nail 250GB pretty quickly when you lump in all your other online activity.

Heh, ya.  Ever since I got a netflix player and with nothing on regular TV lately, I'd bet I pretty easily cleared 250GB the past few months.  However, I don't have comcast and couldn't even get comcast here if I wanted, so theres not a lot for me to do about it.

[Ed_McCarron]

I'm on Comcast. I wonder if there is a way for me to monitor total bandwidth usage for myself?

Not without doing it in your router, or installing software on every PC in your house.  Oh, and that won't count the Tivos and console games.

Did you seriously thinkComcast was going to give you a way to monitor your usage?  That'd cost 'em money to roll out.

[Malenko]

I'm on Comcast. I wonder if there is a way for me to monitor total bandwidth usage for myself?

Not without doing it in your router, or installing software on every PC in your house.  Oh, and that won't count the Tivos and console games.

Did you seriously thinkComcast was going to give you a way to monitor your usage?  That'd cost 'em money to roll out.

I work for comcast , and I cant even bring up my usage (or anyone else's in the system)   250GB is ALOT
As for being a ploy...I dunno if I ran an ISP I wouldnt want people raping it. With Comcast being Comcast they'll prolly have a thing where you can pay $5 a month for an extra 250GB or something dumb like that.

[Jdurg]

Really what they're trying to do is stop people from downloading massive amounts of data in the form of music, movies, video games, etc. that they are pirating or selling.  The people who do that take up so much bandwidth it's not funny.

[ChadTower]

I have Comcast and it isn't stable enough for a Netflix style movie streamer anyway.  Drops all the time... never for more than a minute or so but it happens too frequently for an HD movie to stream cleanly every time.

[Ed_McCarron]

if I ran an ISP I wouldnt want people raping it.

Well then, they shouldn't have advertised it as 'unlimited', should they have?  Oh, right, they changed the AUP.  Well, that makes it OK then.

There's three trains of thought as far as I can see.

1.  Anti-piracy.  Maybe, but Comcast doesn't strike me as the most altruistic company around.
2.  Anti competition.  Stop people from streaming video over the net and maybe they'll buy more PPV movies.
3.  They are truly running out of bandwidth and don't want to spend the money to fix the infrastructure.  Hard to believe, since I remember hearing something to the effect of half the glass in the ground is still dark.

I don't move nearly that much data, but it chaps ---my bottom--- on principle.

[Ummon]

I have Comcast and it isn't stable enough for a Netflix style movie streamer anyway.  Drops all the time... never for more than a minute or so but it happens too frequently for an HD movie to stream cleanly every time.

HD I can see being problematic. I don't think Netflix streams HD, at least it doesn't to me, but maybe that's my bandwidth. DVDs are obviously more defined than when I stream, but streaming quality is good enough for me.

[Cakemeister]

My router does not have a total bandwidth option. I guess the only way to monitor total bandwidth would be to have some kind of Linux-powered firewall box having this function between the router and switch or between the router and cable modem.

[ChadTower]

My router does not have a total bandwidth option. I guess the only way to monitor total bandwidth would be to have some kind of Linux-powered firewall box having this function between the router and switch or between the router and cable modem.

Does it have alternative firmware?  The only reason the router is the place to do it is because it is the only common link for all machines on your network going outwards that you also have control over.  The modem would work but those tend to be more appliances than routers.

[AmericanDemon]

I work for comcast , and I cant even bring up my usage (or anyone else's in the system)   250GB is ALOT
As for being a ploy...I dunno if I ran an ISP I wouldnt want people raping it. With Comcast being Comcast they'll prolly have a thing where you can pay $5 a month for an extra 250GB or something dumb like that.

Me too.  I'm a field tech in Bloomington, IN.

[Hockeyboy]

A quick search shows a page where Comcast lays out the whys and whats about their upcoming "throttling" to usage. A typical home user would never come close to that limit, but I agree with several others on principle. How long before they say that 200Gb is now the new limit because only .8% of all users exceed that limit? Then it's 150, then 100, then they charge you fees every time you go over the new limits. It's a way for them to incur extra money in what could be considered fair practices by law but it's really a way for them to monitor your usage and marks the end of "unlimited internet access" for all. Don't think for a minute that the other big ISP players won't be joining Comcast in the near future, especially if they see that there's not a big noise made by Comcast users.

All I can do as a consumer is go with the best company offering the best services for the best rates and hope I'm not screwed 3 months after going into contract. 

[ark_ader]

I'm on Comcast. I wonder if there is a way for me to monitor total bandwidth usage for myself?

Not without doing it in your router, or installing software on every PC in your house.  Oh, and that won't count the Tivos and console games.

Did you seriously thinkComcast was going to give you a way to monitor your usage?  That'd cost 'em money to roll out.

Well you go the easy route and revert your modem to a bridge, get an old PC bang 98 or Windows 2000 on it and go heterogeneous.   While you are doing that download http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/nsl.htm

To explain that big word I used - connect your modem acting as a bridge via a nic - no wireless - and connect another wireless nic to the other end or more cat5 whatever, and you can monitor, setup accounts so the kids have no internet after bed time, filter internet, protect your privacy more.  Schedule your Netflix or Torrents.

I do that and I increase my Wifi protection by VPN directly into the server.  Nobody could hack me if they tried.  Data is centralized, backups are done and I have all my gear with the latest service packs.  The NAS backups on the fly like time capsule on the MAC.  Oh it goes to bed with wake on Lan.

If you have problems with routing your IP packets in Windows 2000 or 98 you can use AnalogX Proxy.  Both programs are free and do work very well.  I suggest that to willy nilly approach to home networking, as you can log any intrusion or breach and lock it down.  My old server was a P90 laptop running NT4 Workstation.  I could look at ITX instead if you wanted to start up from scratch.

Best of all small energy footprint. 

[ChadTower]

All I can do as a consumer is go with the one company offering the only service for whatever rate they say and hope I'm not screwed 3 months after going into contract. 

fixt so it applies to a whole lot more people, including me.

[SavannahLion]

A quick search shows a page where Comcast lays out the whys and whats about their upcoming "throttling" to usage. A typical home user would never come close to that limit, but I agree with several others on principle. How long before they say that 200Gb is now the new limit because only .8% of all users exceed that limit? Then it's 150, then 100, then they charge you fees every time you go over the new limits. It's a way for them to incur extra money in what could be considered fair practices by law but it's really a way for them to monitor your usage and marks the end of "unlimited internet access" for all. Don't think for a minute that the other big ISP players won't be joining Comcast in the near future, especially if they see that there's not a big noise made by Comcast users.

I'm thinking it's more like the hard drive conundrum. I remember when 250GB hard drives were considered HUGE and it was difficult to fathom the amount of data it would take to fill up such space. Nowadays, 250GB is considered below average and I can't really conceive of building a modern PC with such a small drive.

Visualize a 250GB limit for the next ten years. When users regularly bump their heads against the 250GB upper limit Comcast will find it in their hearts to increase the upper limit for users.... for a small fee.  I think Malenko's speculation is spot on. Comcast might not charge "overage" fees now, but you can bet they'll be doing it once users become used to a 250GB limit, then start complaining it's not enough.

[Malenko]

man I hope I dont get fired for posting this:


Team ---

As you may have already discovered, it has been widely publicized on the news and in the media that Comcast is “to make monthly Internet use cap official.”

Please be sure that you are reading the following update to the amended acceptable use policy at [internal link removed].  We have a very small percentage (sub 1%) of our users who use an inordinate amount of bandwidth and impact the rest of the customer base by affecting their speeds.


Announcement of Amended Acceptable Use Policy

Comcast has announced it will be amending its Acceptable Use Policy in order to better define what would constitute as excessive use of its high-speed Internet service by providing a monthly data usage threshold.

Please click here  to access national talking points regarding this issue.

the internal link points to this document:
Summary of Topic:
 Comcast has announced it will be amending its Acceptable Use Policy in order to better define what would constitute as excessive use of its high-speed Internet service by providing a monthly data usage threshold.
 
Specifics:
 Beginning October 1, Comcast will implement a 250 Gigabytes (GB) monthly data usage threshold per account for its high-speed Internet service.

The threshold will be in place to help identify excessive use of our high-speed Internet service.

The vast majority of Comcast customers will not be impacted by this monthly data usage threshold. Less than 1% of our customers are excessive users.

This is the same system we have in place today. The only difference is that we will now provide a limit by which a customer may be contacted. As part of our pre-existing policy, we will continue to contact the heaviest users of our high-speed Internet service and ask them to moderate or adjust their usage. If a customer uses more than 250 GB in a given month and is one of the top users of our service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast to notify them of excessive use. At that time, we’ll tell them exactly how much data per month they had used.

Excessive use FAQs are posted at: http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use

 
Customer Q&A:
 Use Verbatim

 
 

 

If customer asks... Then respond...
Why is Comcast creating a data usage threshold?
 We’ve been evaluating a monthly data usage threshold for quite some time and we’ve heard from customers that they would like us to provide a specific number for excessive use.
 
What is an excessive use?
 Excessive users consume substantially more data than typical residential users—only less than 1% of customers use excessive amount of data today.

It’s important to keep in mind that that the vast majority of customers don’t fall into the excessive use category. To learn more about excessive use, you can go to our FAQs page at http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use

 
 
Do I have an unlimited amount of data usage?
 No. We maintain an Acceptable Use Policy as part of our high-speed Internet service. The policy describes what constitutes as unacceptable conduct and uses of the service, including requirements regarding data usage. We’ve had our Acceptable Use policy in place for years and the policy itself remains the same. The only thing that is changing is now we’re going to provide a specific number (250 GB) for what would qualify as excessive use.

A preview of the amended Acceptable Use Policy can be found by going to our Network Management Web page at www.comcast.net/networkmanagement

This amended policy will officially go into effect on October 1 st.

 
 
How do I know how much data I am using?
 There are a number of online tools you can use to measure your data consumption. You can find such tools by simply doing a Web search – for example, you can search “bandwidth meter” to locate some options.

If you use multiple computers in your home, you should make sure to measure and combine their monthly data usage to get an accurate read of total data consumption for your entire account.

 
 
When is Comcast’s new 250 GB threshold going to take effect?

 
 The 250 GB monthly threshold will begin October 1.
 
Will the 250 GB threshold have an effect on my Internet speed?
 No, data usage and speed are two separate things.

Speed is how fast you can go to do things like uploading and downloading files such as music, photos and videos. Data usage has more to do with the size of those files and the amount of activity done online. The larger the files and the more activity that’s done, the more data that’s consumed.

You will continue to get the same amount of speed you’ve been getting.
 
 
How will I know if I use more than 250 GB of data in a month?
 Keep in mind that only a very small number of customers actually reach 250 GB in a month today. As part of our pre-existing policy, we will continue to contact the top users of our high-speed Internet service and ask them to curb their usage.

There are also a number of online tools you can use to measure your data consumption. You can find such tools by simply doing a Web search – for example, you can search “bandwidth meter” to locate some options.

If you use multiple computers in your home, you should make sure to measure and combine their monthly data usage to get an accurate read of total data consumption for your entire account.

 
 
Is 250 GB a lot of data usage?
 Yes, 250 GB is a large amount of data. A typical residential high-speed Internet user doesn’t even come close to using that amount of data. To put it in perspective, currently, the median data usage by our high-speed customers is approximately 2 - 3 GB each month. 250 GB falls more into the excessive use category—going well above and beyond typical Internet usage.

 

To reach 250 GB in a month, for example, a customer would have to do any of the following:

Send 50 million emails (at 0.05 KB/email)
Download 62,500 songs (at 4MB/song)
Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)
Upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos (at 10 MB/photo)
 
 
Can I buy more bandwidth if I go over 250 GB?

 
 No.
 
How is Comcast notifying customers about the 250 GB data threshold?

 
 We are notifying customers in a number of ways:

A preview of the amended AUP is posted on our Network Management Web page.
We have also posted:
A statement and link to FAQs on our Network Management Web page.
Banner alerts on our .net home page and on our Security Channel Web page notifying customers about the amended AUP.
We will also notify customers with a bill stuffer about the amended AUP and that it will officially go into effect on October 1 st.
 
 
Where can I find Comcast’s current Acceptable Use Policy?  The current Acceptable Use Policy can be found at: http://www6.comcast.net/terms/use/.

A preview of the amended AUP that will go into effect on October 1 st can be found on our Network Management Web page www.comcast.net/networkmanagement

You can also read more about our excessive use policy and some FAQs by visiting our Network Management Web page.
 

[ark_ader]

A quick search shows a page where Comcast lays out the whys and whats about their upcoming "throttling" to usage. A typical home user would never come close to that limit, but I agree with several others on principle. How long before they say that 200Gb is now the new limit because only .8% of all users exceed that limit? Then it's 150, then 100, then they charge you fees every time you go over the new limits. It's a way for them to incur extra money in what could be considered fair practices by law but it's really a way for them to monitor your usage and marks the end of "unlimited internet access" for all. Don't think for a minute that the other big ISP players won't be joining Comcast in the near future, especially if they see that there's not a big noise made by Comcast users.

I'm thinking it's more like the hard drive conundrum. I remember when 250GB hard drives were considered HUGE and it was difficult to fathom the amount of data it would take to fill up such space. Nowadays, 250GB is considered below average and I can't really conceive of building a modern PC with such a small drive.

Visualize a 250GB limit for the next ten years. When users regularly bump their heads against the 250GB upper limit Comcast will find it in their hearts to increase the upper limit for users.... for a small fee.  I think Malenko's speculation is spot on. Comcast might not charge "overage" fees now, but you can bet they'll be doing it once users become used to a 250GB limit, then start complaining it's not enough.

Thats is the same thing as saying the average Joe will download and watch 2 DVDs a night.   

[SavannahLion]

A quick search shows a page where Comcast lays out the whys and whats about their upcoming "throttling" to usage. A typical home user would never come close to that limit, but I agree with several others on principle. How long before they say that 200Gb is now the new limit because only .8% of all users exceed that limit? Then it's 150, then 100, then they charge you fees every time you go over the new limits. It's a way for them to incur extra money in what could be considered fair practices by law but it's really a way for them to monitor your usage and marks the end of "unlimited internet access" for all. Don't think for a minute that the other big ISP players won't be joining Comcast in the near future, especially if they see that there's not a big noise made by Comcast users.

I'm thinking it's more like the hard drive conundrum. I remember when 250GB hard drives were considered HUGE and it was difficult to fathom the amount of data it would take to fill up such space. Nowadays, 250GB is considered below average and I can't really conceive of building a modern PC with such a small drive.

Visualize a 250GB limit for the next ten years. When users regularly bump their heads against the 250GB upper limit Comcast will find it in their hearts to increase the upper limit for users.... for a small fee.  I think Malenko's speculation is spot on. Comcast might not charge "overage" fees now, but you can bet they'll be doing it once users become used to a 250GB limit, then start complaining it's not enough.

Thats is the same thing as saying the average Joe will download and watch 2 DVDs a night.   

You're applying a current standard to what could potentially be a future problem. Yes, today that would be around 2 DVD's a night. But what about tomorrow? Is it still going to be two DVD's a night?

To put it perspective, I have a computer with 64K of RAM. Everything I ran on this computer had to be within this 64K of RAM. Today, a proper PC with only 64K of RAM would be laughable. I can't even think of a new PC sold today with only 64K of RAM.

The same is holding true for networking. 300 and 1200 baud modems were once considered more than adequate. Now those same modems are considered mind numbingly slow. Pegging a limit of 250GB now will seem adequate for more than 99% of Comcast users (or so Comcast says), but I can guarantee you that 250GB won't be enough in short order.

Notice that Comcast (as per Malenko) says this is equal to, "Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)." Comcast is pretty specific about "standard definition". Did a quick check and a HD movie weighs in at around 22GB (and Bluray holds up to 50GB so there's room there). 22GB per movie works out to be around 11 movies a month.

[ChadTower]

You're applying a current standard to what could potentially be a future problem. Yes, today that would be around 2 DVD's a night. But what about tomorrow? Is it still going to be two DVD's a night?

It's only a soft limit, though.  It's not like they can't just say "hey, all of a sudden we have 5% of users at 250G, and usage patterns suggest it is legit usage, time to update that to 400G".  I'm fine with a pretty high ceiling like this if if ensures better service for me.

[SavannahLion]

You're applying a current standard to what could potentially be a future problem. Yes, today that would be around 2 DVD's a night. But what about tomorrow? Is it still going to be two DVD's a night?

It's only a soft limit, though.  It's not like they can't just say "hey, all of a sudden we have 5% of users at 250G, and usage patterns suggest it is legit usage, time to update that to 400G".  I'm fine with a pretty high ceiling like this if if ensures better service for me.

That's true, but then there's nothing really preventing Comcast from saying, "hey, all of a sudden we have 5% of users at 250GB, and usage patterns suggest it is legit usage, let's see if we can charge $5 for each additional 100GB over the limit."

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't trust Comcast to develop policies that are ultimately in our best interests. They're saying now that they're doing to protect the QOS of 99% of their other users. But what are they going to have in mind five years down the road?

I get this argument from other people all the time. "If you don't like Comcast, why don't you go with AT&T or someone else?" These people just don't get it. I would if I could, but the simple fact of the matter is ISP's have monopolistic practices. If I want broadband, Comcast is the only provider in my neighborhood.

It's not like I live out the ---smurfing--- boondocks either. It's a well developed urban neighborhood with an excellent mix of residential and commercial zoning. It's the unfortunate fact that some providers are so well entrenched other providers can't gain entry.

[ChadTower]

But what are they going to have in mind five years down the road?

I bet they're going to be saying something like "what the hell are we going to do about the fact that everyone seems to be moving to fibre optic connections?"

I have comcast right now because it's the only broadband option available to me.  That supposedly changes by end of 2008 when FIOS becomes available here due to the construction of a new office park a couple blocks away.  When FIOS becomes available I will no longer have a Comcast connection of any sort.  As it is my Comcast line is subleased by Galaxy Internet Services and I buy it through them - as I likely will my FIOS connection.  The big companies aren't user friendly but the smaller subleasers almost always are.

[SavannahLion]

FIOS isn't all cracked up to be. Not too long ago a contract was drawn to bring fiber to each home. The company brought fiber to the neighborhoods. The company asked if they could simply bring it down to the street and break it out to copper at that point due to the costs involved. The city gave the OK. A year later the company asked again if they could bring it to a square block and break out to copper to the houses. Again the city gave the OK. That's where FIOS is stuck. Fiber was brought to the individual neighborhoods, but still not breakout to copper or even a direct fiber as specified in the original contract.

[ChadTower]

It may not be what they originally said it would be... but it is faster and cheaper than cable.  That's all most people will ever care about.