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A well-placed source in Washington, D.C. with knowledge of the matter tells Stop the Cap! the Federal Communications Commission is prepared to take a hard look at the issue of Internet data caps and usage-based billing if a major cable operator like Comcast imposes usage allowances on its broadband customers nationwide.
Comcast introduced its usage cap market trial in Nashville, Tenn. in 2012 but gradually expanded it to include Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama; Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah, Georgia; Central Kentucky; Maine; Jackson, Mississippi; Knoxville and Memphis, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; and Tucson, Arizona.
“Two and a half-years is exceptionally long for a ‘market trial,’ and we expected Comcast would avoid creating an issue for regulators by drawing attention to the data cap issue during its attempted merger with Time Warner Cable,” said our source. “Now that the merger is off, there is growing expectation Comcast will make a decision about its ‘data usage plans’ soon.”
In most test markets, Comcast is limiting residential customers to 300GB of usage per month, after which an overlimit fee of $10 per 50GB applies. Despite that, Comcast’s forthcoming premium gigabit speed plans are exempt from usage caps, the company announced.
Comcast sustomers in market test cities have not been happy with the usage caps, some confronted with inaccurate usage measurement tools or “bill shock” after claiming to find surprise charges on their cable bill. One federal employee offered his own story of bill shock — $200 in overlimit fees on his April Comcast bill. The customer spent $70 a month on broadcast basic cable television and Comcast Internet service. As an almost cord-cutter, he could instead rely on one of several alternative online video providers like Netflix or Hulu, but watching video that did not come from Comcast’s cable TV package contributed to eating his monthly usage allowance and subjected him to hundreds of dollars in extra fees.
“I’ve reviewed [the] account to see and can confirm the charges are valid,” responded a Comcast representative who defended the company’s usage cap trials. “Please understand that we are not here to take advantage of customers. We are here to provide a great customer service experience. After researching [the] account, at this time no matter what level of service you obtain, the Internet usage [allowance] will remain the same.”
To date, the Federal Communications Commission has left the issue of data caps and usage-based billing on the back burner, despite a Government Accounting Office report that found little justification for usage limits or compulsory usage allowances on broadband.
In 2012, former FCC chairman Julius Genachowski defended the practice, claiming it would bring lower prices to light users, spur “innovation” and enable consumer choice. But Comcast customers have found little, if any savings from Comcast’s so-called “data usage plans.” The only savings comes from enrollment in Comcast’s Flexible Data Option, which offers a $5 discount if a customer keeps usage under 5GB a month on just one plan — Comcast’s 3Mbps $39.95/mo Economy Plus tier.
“We don’t see much innovation coming from Comcast’s usage limit trials because Internet pricing continues to rise and the plans have the side effect of discouraging customers from using competing video providers, which can consume a lot of a customer’s usage allowance,” our source adds.
You are over our arbitrary usage limit!
As far as enabling consumer choice, Comcast’s own representative put the kibosh on that, unless a customer wants to pay higher Internet bills.
Net Neutrality and issues surrounding Title II have consumed much of the FCC’s attention in the residential broadband business during the first half of the Obama Administration’s second term. Usage billing and data caps are likely to become bigger issues during the second half if there is a decisive move towards compulsory usage limits and consumption billing by large operators.
“An operator the size of Comcast absolutely will draw scrutiny,” said our source. “If Comcast decides to impose its currently tested market trial plans on Comcast customers nationwide, the FCC will take a closer look. Under Title II, the agency is empowered to watch for attempts to circumvent Net Neutrality policies. Usage caps and charging additional fees to customers looking for an alternative to the cable television package will qualify, especially if Comcast continues to try to exempt itself.”
Cable industry officials have also become aware of the buzz surrounding usage caps and growing regulator concern. Some reportedly discussed the possibility of FCC intervention behind closed doors at the recent cable industry conference in Chicago. Multichannel News reported (sub. req.) cable industry executives increasingly fear federal officials will ban usage pricing for wired broadband service on competitive grounds. Online video competitors rely on large cable and phone companies to reach prospective customers, many that may think twice if usage allowances are imposed on consumer broadband accounts.
People with Data Caps should be filing a complaint with the FCC as a way to take action against
this practice. They listened to our cries for Net Neutrality, and Data Caps are just another way that
ISPs are harming Net Neutrality, after all. The process is very simple, and should only take as long
as it takes you to write a very strongly worded letter as to why Data Caps suck so much.
https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
I filed an online complaint against Comcast over the data usage fees. We’re cord-cutters, and this really pisses me off. To my surprise, the FCC actually requires Comcast to respond to complaints. Someone from some Comcast office in Tennessee left me a message and sent a form email wanting to discuss my complaints. I sent a nice email back, pretty much saying that, unless they were going to discontinue the data surcharge, there was little that needed to be discussed. I’m not holding my breath, but it is kind of nice that they are having to respond to me, no… Read more »
I just filed a complain too…..my biggest issue is that when the technician was here in my home, he never told me about Caps, and when i actually called comcast they said that they do no need to tell me about the data caps…I was furious….then they apologized. I asked them why do you have caps? they said its a better way to keep their servers from being too full…or too busy. I called Bulls%$# on that…..South Korea has better internet that the USA alone, so don’t give me that. I don’t buy those lies…The Data Caps suck and i… Read more »
You are the lucky ones in Tucson. At least you are tiered, meaning the caps are 300, 350, 400 depending on what service you have. I used to live in Phoenix and Cox does this. Since Cox is also in Tucson, Comcast had to match them. The rest of the affected Comcast uses are in the south where there is no competition therefore segregating us once again. The users up north have no such caps especially where the Comcast HQ is. I was on the 25mb plan and went over so I thought if I upgraded to the faster extreme… Read more »
When the banks got caught charging customers overdraft fees without giving them a choice up front to choose the account to decline if funds are not available, they had to finally give the customers the up front option when opening an account with them. It should be the same, the choice should be up front. You can’t allow the charge to happen without the consent of the client. We did not consent for the data to be charged this way. In the case of internet service you are existing as a customer and left no choice. We are given the… Read more »
You’re also lucky that you have other options. I have no other cable options where I am in Maine. DSL is not an equivalent and therefore ComCrap has a monopoly here.
My complaint has been filed.
$299.99 per month for 2GB Speed. Thank goodness there are no data caps! Way to innovate Comcast! #comcastcares
I sent my complaint to the FCC and BBB
BE WARNED ABOUT FILING COMPLAINT TO FCC. As it is, when filing a complaint, FCC send your FULL DATA to the ISP. So the ISP knows you are a in their terms “trouble maker” I am dealing with an issue where I have noticed a severe Download Throttling on real files from websites. 300mb use to take 5 min or less now they take in excess of 10 minutes, on a 7mb connection. This started happening after I filed my complaint dealing with the data caps and netflix where the ISP exempts their own tv/movie service from said data cap.… Read more »
Issues with comcast? Get a lawyer and sue! Keep very detailed notes, bills, and so on to prove your rights have been violated. Comcast can NOT slow down your speed just because you went to the FCC! Comcast came out to my parents house, fixed our speed, as it was way too slow, showed us the new speed and then went back out and slowed it down. I noticed immediately. My dad did not. I mentioned something, but my dad is so over the top stupid he refuses to believe the truth that is in front of his own eyes!… Read more »
I just sent this in to the FCC with an audio clip! Comcast will not do a thing regarding WiFi hacking while enforcing their Data Cap Since October of 2015 Comcast has enforced a Data Cap on my account. This has been a nightmare trying to regulate in my home due to internal and external issues that Comcast will not acknowledge. I have attached an audio recording of my last conversation with 3 representatives at Comcast. I’m sorry I did not edit the waiting periods of the clip. Please use Windows Media Player and fast forward. The recording details the… Read more »
I just want to know what corrupt to the core FCC and other government bodies are allowing our country to be run into the ground. Complete monopolies (consolidation promoting more monopolies and lagging innovation) to squeeze the American consumer dry. Why is it the same service for communications in another modern country with similar or even slightly higher wages is $50 a month or less for the same service that we are paying $200/month for and receiving substandard innovations (Germany is 4X faster service/no caps/much faster DSL alternatives) and regulation to promote innovation in IT infrastructure. The only possible answer… Read more »
I have been writing to the FCC for some months now. The new Internet laws were never for the home users. DSL is dead, and millions do not have Internet at all. The federal government does not care for the average American people one damn bit. To prove it, this article will be nearly 2 years old. Has anything been done about the caps? NO!!
I know what Comcast is going to say — that the number of people who reach the usage cap is very small, and that it is only there to ensure a reliable, quality service for all customers. The first part is very probably true. I watch a lot of video over my internet connection, and the most I’ve consumed in a month is 250GB. Now, I don’t have an entire family glued to their phones, so I’m not the heaviest user out there, but I’m willing to bet that I still consume more than 90% of all users. I support… Read more »
Every ISP says theirs is enough. AT&T thinks 3GB was plenty for 4G data before they throttled you. Comcast said 250-300 was good. There is just no need for wired caps.
I just heard about the cap today because we got a warning from comcast that we are over our 300gb cap. We are only 6 days into our bill cycle so imagine how much we will have used after a full 30 day cycle… This cap is ridiculous and I don’t see how it is not illegal to change your customer’s data plans. I would understand more if it was their new plans and previous users kept their originals unless they switch. We have 4 adults and 2 kids at home. 3 of the adults are online gamer, all 4… Read more »
Comcast is “Trialing” how many customers will drop them because of this stupid and slimy corporate decision all to to try and skim more money off their Triple and Quad Play customers.
If they see that more than 10% of their customers are ready with their pitch forks to storm the castle, they may look for another scam in 2016.
Keep posting….but more importantly File FCC Complaint Reports!!! The FCC needs to be flooded with more reports so they realize this is a serious problem. Not just a few customers.
File FCC Internet Complaint in the following link:
https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38824
We have Blue Ridge cable company in PA, and they are also trying to cap the service, really screwed up we would watch Netflix a lot so we did not have to pay for the cable movie channels, I think this is a way for the cable companies to sell more movie channels, they such
Lisa, don’t worry that you’re only 6 days into your billing cycle. They measure usage per calendar-month from 12am UTC on the 1st.
Sorry… I was looking at the wrong name. I meant to say ‘Jen’. 🙁
I hate this. I’m 5 days into my cycle and got a notice today that we have used 90% of our data! Im jot even sure how that happened. We have no kids. My husband and i are gone from 6 to 6 monday thru Friday. And we maybe stream 1 episode of walkig dead a day and we both use pandora for maybe an hour on the treadmill. Since August (we made it 10 days into our data cycle then) just use my phone data for the treadmill. Strangley enough I never go over with verizon. Comcast says someone… Read more »
I am in your same situation. i switched over to comcast in aug 2015 from Uverse. Never went over my data plan with them, but have gone over my data 3 out of the 4 months with Comcast. It’s just me, my wife, and 2 yr old daughter. We both work from full time on weekdays, and have recently gone over the cap for Nov in just 11 days into our cycle. I’ve contacted them repeated, to be asked the same questions over and over, and have been told that someone is stealing our internet, and other crap. they refuse… Read more »
Abel, I’m in your same situation. Or I was, rather. We didn’t realize there was a data cap until a bill came and we learned of the 300Gig cap. We paid and put monitors on our computers to watch our usage. We were coming nowhere close to the amount the claimed so we asked them to provide some sort of evidence that we were using that much, they couldn’t, we figured maybe someone was stealing our internet despite having locked it down as best we know how. (Brother is extremely knowledgeable, works for Microsoft on issues of security, and helped… Read more »
I had the same issue. I never used more that 200gb before then all of the sudden less than 10 days in I am getting the 90% warning. my router logs data usage, so I checked it it was less than 100 gb for the same period. I contacted comcast and they confirmed I was at 90% and suggested I change my wifi password in case someone was leaching from me. I’m a network security engineer, so i was confident that was not the case. but even so, I disconnected my router, unplugged and disconnected my cable modem. went to… Read more »
i just filed a complaint its my husband, my toddler and me who use the internet we have two smaller kids can you imagine how my bill is going to be in a year! i feel that charging me for overages on my internet is like charging me for the ammount of hours i watch TV!!!
I’m an AT&T DSL subscriber and a cord cutter that watches streaming TV. Explain to me how a 150 gigabyte per month and for every 50 gigs a subscriber goes over is charged an additional $10 is somehow not extortion on a supposedly 6-meg (in reality I get 4.38-meg) speed connection???
I have contacted the FCC trying to get them to investigate this-to get them to listen-to no avail. Please ANYONE, GET the word out.
Try this one…….120.00 monthly for only 30GB and 10.00 per GB over that. No streaming happening here. This is via Verizon’s wireless division. Fixed Wireless in my home as it is the only thing available. I used to pay 59.99 for unlimited usage just 3 years ago Via Alltel. Verzson is buying up anyone that is cheaper and then slamming peoplel with huge fees. The carriers are moving in lockstep both Wired and Wireless to make this their honeypot. I have a hard time beleiving this is not fraud as I am going to put the reasons why in another… Read more »
They are all turning into extortionists……Verizon tried the same thing with me….I have fixed wireless they throtlled my old unlimited 3G plan to unusability and then said as long as I could connect they were fulfilling their obligation, so a usable connection wasn’t an issue? They then said if I switched to their 4G that the throttling would stop…that was of course metered service and because it was not available I would still have the same 3G but metered instead. This time around they have me at 30 GB fixed LTE service and last mont hit the cap in 2.5… Read more »
As @Joe says, usage caps are even more onerous in the Telecom and Wireless sectors.
The economics of superusers, however, is beside the point for the economics of the internet industry. The difficulty in expanding internet service is the capital cost of the last infrastructure, not the cost of “middle mile” infrastructure or the bulk prices that they pay for bandwidth, which are less than 10 cents per GB. (Frankly I wouldn’t mind paying that from a base of zero.)
Internet was an after thought for cable television companies. Their business started before personal computers and the internet existed. They need less equipment when every customer watches fixed channels where the programs start at the same time for all customers. More profit under that business model. Streaming video on the internet side requires more equipment and the customers are prone to cancel cable television packages. Less profit. Small wonder they do not want to make it easy for Netflix.
Cox is dramatically increasing usage caps. The preferred package goes from 250 to 350 GB, premier goes from 300 to 700 GB, and ultimate goes from 400 GB to 2 Terabytes. Preferred is their most popular package. Just when you think Cox is being generous, consider that the Cox rep told me today that they will be introducing overage fees in the near future, presumably as a way to up-sell heavy users to more expensive packages. It appears that Cox wants to push cord cutters into the Ultimate tier which costs a hefty $100/month. At this price, Cox would likely… Read more »
Well it sure looks like you were 100% right. It’s just so ridiculous when you look at Google and even Comcast with their 2gig service not having caps. Is Cox hurting so much it needs to ration the net?
Well, just got the message from Cox they are trying overage fees in my area. The article was posted last night confirming they are doing the same thing Comcast is doing. Start writing to the FCC and Cox now. Be proactive.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exclusive-Cox-Planning-to-Impose-Usage-Overage-Fees-133775
I am also with COX, can anyone tell how accurate their meter is? I have cut back my streaming by about 50 hours a month trying to stay under my cap. I expected a big drop in my usage amount but actually ended up with a big increase in the amount I used for the month. I should tell you I live alone, have a Roku, but my usage has only gone down not up as the meter shows. Right now I am experimenting with view in 790p mode instead of the 1080p I have been using since I started… Read more »
I always hear the comment from ISPs that only a small percentage of users get near the data cap. Let me see if this sounds familiar to anyone else…
I own a PS4. I just downloaded ‘Wolfenstein: The Old Blood’ from the PSN marketplace. That one game was over 39GB. That’s over 13% of my MONTHLY data allowance. We also stream from Netflix, Hulu, HBOGo, and YouTube. There’s no way my usage is that abnormal that I should be considered a part of that “small percentage of users”.
Right there with you, not only did Comcast not tell us about caps (I am sure it was in the fine print) but really something that is going to cost you hundreds of dollars a year should be told to the customer upfront. We are a family of 4 and we go over every month at 350. We ration Netflix and everything else now we still go over. I can only take the companies word for it that this data usage is accurate. Its not like I have a meter reader for proof of thier charges. The most frustrating is… Read more »
Agreed …software delivery is another thing that will move back to the dark ages where you either wnt to a brick and mortar store or waited for it to come via snail mail. I can no longer allow any game downloads and we were once a household of gamers..mostly mmo….can no longer withstand the financial impact of the upgrades…new games….and even playing now has become to expensive. I feel like I am handcuffed by VERIZON……pay attention to this company they are all in it to winit…The internet to be the prize. their own personal service network, only to be shared… Read more »
That is standard verbage from them all….I guess we all are unusual…..lol
For those stating that the cap is fine because they do not use that much data. they should consider the purpose of the cap on the average user. The cap is largely designed to prevent future use and innovation by applying a cap today that most users will not hit, but later on will be too low for for innovative uses. For example if we were back in the late 90’s or early 2000’s and ISP’s made 5GB caps the norm for wired connections. Many people would see that as a massive amount of data that they would not hit.… Read more »
Razor512, with all due respect, I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what they are trying to accomplish, as well as cause and effect. When streaming first started, average Internet connections were not fast enough, but they eventually caught up. Dial-up modems did not prevent innovation. Innovation pushed for faster speeds. Comcast isn’t trying to squelch innovation, frankly they don’t care about that either way. They are trying to not just make more money and improve net revenue, but make up for loss of cable subscribers to Internet-only customers by making single play services less price attractive (something they’ve… Read more »
> Comcast isn’t trying to squelch innovation, frankly they don’t care about that either way That’s a DANGEROUSLY NAIVE assumption about a company that DIRECTLY loses business every time someone drops their cable in favor of Netflix, HBO Go (or perhaps an ESPN online if there is such a thing in future). Make no mistake, they want these “cord cutting innovations” to stop and fast! Also, cynics might suggest that “Well they make money either way via cable or internet”. But the reality is that their profit margins on cable TV are (and always were) markedly higher than their ISP… Read more »
I’m with Cox. They almost doubled me speeds a few months ago at no extra charge (good). But now they capped me at 150 GB per month (not good). Cox’s official BS: http://www.cox.com/residential/support/internet/article.cox?articleId={2fd6ccb0-b13a-11df-4be3-000000000000} It seems obvious to me that this “solution” is just a dubious way of getting back ‘top tier’ subscribers. So, for many Cox users, their data is now capped at 150 GB per month. If they go over, Cox will suspend the service and/or add extra charges on the bill. Now, I agree that 150 GB is plenty for some household, but if your a web savy… Read more »
Im with Cox, and just had my cap raised from 100 GBs to 250 GBs, but here is the rub without any change in my usage they are showing a slow but steady increase in the amount of GBs I use. I have actually cut down on my streaming since I no longer have to stream for my dog when I leave her alone in the afternoon, in spite of that the amount stays the same and continues to slowly increase. I have been on the phone with them a number of time, the last time they raised to their… Read more »
Depends on the brand of router you use. Acer and Netgear can use the XVORTEX firmware, which comes with all kinds of metering tools, tons of tweaks, and numerous device settings, all of which make it easy to test what is going on with your network. Notably, the XVORTEX firmware has a nice bandwidth meter to test how much data is coming from each IP address. Also, certain routers (not just Acer and Netgear, other brands too) come with bandwidth meters built-in. It may be worth logging into your router’s config page to see what you have available. There are… Read more »
Thanks, I probably should buy a new router anyway – I am going to see if any you recommended will work with Cox.
Hello, I seen your post and want to offer some information. I own a Netgear N300 wireless router. This router has a built in traffic monitor service that you can customize. It will allow you to see realtime and historical data. History data for the prior day, prior week, and month.
Does the router measure everything that passes through it, including a Roku used for streaming?
I am interested in this as well.
I need a new router with this funtionality, as I have 2,
soon to be 3, Raspberry Pi’s set up as media streamers
and I plan on cutting the cord in January when I get my
first of the twice yearly price increases.
My cable company screwed me out of 100 GB’s the first
day the caps went into effect. I want the ability to log
every byte of data so this doesn’t happen again.
Yes It does. My apologies for the delay. It measures everything attached to your router including wireless. I have 2 TiVo’s, 1 Desktop, 1 laptop, one microcell, and a cell phone. So far the ISP reporting and mine have been close in numbers (less than 1% either way).
Not a problem and thanks for getting back to me.
One more thing to add, my Sony Bravada TV is also connected and I use Hulu, Netflix and Amazon and trialed Sling TV. The router will capture all internet traffic that goes through the router. Options are both/up/down, mine is set to both since this is what my isp is also monitoring and will bill me for. There is a area at the bottom of the router page with all the usage information. This is not seen on the link below.It is really a good tool and so far accurate to1% +/- of my ISP’s data usage. Please go here… Read more »
I have 3 kids who hate cable and watch netflix religiously. I have 1000g during the summer and 400g during school..
Okay here’s my problem! Since I have cut the cable my signal is going out constantly making it impossible to watch anything! Another tactic to discourage cable cutters! Anyone else notice this?
M. Washington Are you saying your INTERNET connection is cutting out, after getting rid of CATV? I’ve never heard of that happening to discourage cable cutters. I think that’s illegal (though that hasn’t stopped people before).
Did you find that your Internet cost went UP by getting rid of cable?
We need more INTERNET providers, not cable or phone companies who ALSO have Internet. We used to have good local ISPs.
So far I haven’t exceeded the 300GB per month limit imposed by Comcast in Metro Atlanta. But what about when streaming 4K videos becomes common? Isn’t the data rate roughly 4 times that for 1080 res videos?
Im in metro Atlanta and we cord cut a while back. We are paying $99 for a package deal for tv and internet but that is only because it is 20$ more than just internet… yup 70$ for internet. oh plus the $10 for 50 gb over. Which my wife, 2 kids and myself go over ever month. Last month we were changed $30 additional for overages. I would not consider us heavy users. I would think we are average for a family of 4. We only have two choices AT&T at 4-6 GB or Comcast at better rates and… Read more »
Disgusting isn’t it! We have gone over our usage every month, this month my bill was $115!! For just lousy internet that was supposed to be $50. And crazy thing is, my son has gone back to school reducing his usage on his xbox, and we have gone to using an antenna for tv during the day but miraculously enough, our usage meter keeps going up. I definitely agree with the other person who said that we are being charged for more than we actually use. I’d like to see the FCC jump in and find a way to monitor… Read more »
Hi Kelly, I would like to inform you that Comcast has a promotion called “Xfinity WiFi.” Supposedly you can deactivate it on their website but the button hasn’t worked for ages. I called Comcast and they turned it off on their end after a 2 hour hassle – but it turned back on the next day. Xfinity WiFi runs on Comcast rented EMTAs and routers, and it allows free internet access to any Comcast customers nearby. It runs on a separate SSID from your home WiFi and it may not even be visible, but the channel is always active even… Read more »
The Wifi Home Hotspot doesn’t count toward the data usage of the customer renting the equipment, but to that of the guest user (they have to sign in to use it). If you own your own equipment, you still get access to these hotspots, even though you don’t have one yourself (aside form the other benefits). They also claim it doesn’t affect your speed.
Comcast’s FAQ on the topic:
http://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/internet/xfinity-wifi-hotspots/
I’m aware it’s not supposed to count toward the device owner’s cap, but it sometimes counts toward the cap for both the signed-in user AND the device owner. I’m sure it’s a “bug.” And I can assure you, it does affect download/upload speeds. The device does not pair additional DL/UL channels in order to service the guest. It also broadcasts the Xfinity WiFi on the exact same frequency as the primary SSID. This means no matter what channel you set your WiFi on, it will always experience channel interference. In some cases this self-interference gets so extreme that it crashes… Read more »
As John said, the Xfinity Wi-Fi service does not count towards your cap when someone else is logged into it. Comcast’s Network Gateway puts out multiple Wi-Fi signals — one for your own account for your personal use and a second signal which is open for use by other Comcast customers. Comcast claims there are two discrete networks to handle this traffic — one for your service and another for guest users, so guests cannot impact on your broadband speed or performance. I don’t really have a problem with Comcast offering this service, but it should be fully disclosed and… Read more »
Hi Phillip, I’m aware it’s not “supposed” to count toward the owner’s cap. Thing is, it arbitrarily did for my eMTA back in 2013 when I tested this by burning a lot of bandwidth on BitTorrent. We have two accounts because we live in two different states. Sometimes it would count only the signed-in user, then there were other times it would count the usage of both accounts together. I was told the “box on the pole is faulty” but given how dysfunctional Comcast’s firmware overlay has been nearly every time I’ve used it… Eh, I assumed it was a… Read more »
Kelly and Tim, Thanks for the information. We use less and less each month and our usage still goes up. We went on vacation for 6 days in Beginning of September. I got home on the 10th of the month and we had already used 150gb. No one was home how was that even possible. So frustrated!
I’m in the same boat. Atlanta area and just switched over to Comcast and already pissed off. all the employees were too stupid to tell their new customer about the caps. Every time we call about the data meter being incorrect they tell us it’s malware, but I know that’s sh*t. I monitor all 3 computers in the house and the most I use a day is 5gb.
I just found out that I have a cap on my $200.00 per month comcast bill. I am currently considering cutting the cable. ADDITIONALLY IFOUND OUT AT&T UVERSE USES THE SAME 250GB LIMIT. CAN ANYONE SPELL PRICE FIXING. I also find it interesting that ATLANTANS,the city line is less than about 3 miles from my residence get 300GB VS 250GB I am allotted . I do not normally have to worry about usage but this past month I signed up for financial advice from STANSBERRY investments and most of the advice comes in the form of VIDEOS EMBEDDED IN THE… Read more »
Why is comcast still allowed to charge a data overage fee to a select area of customers? Are we not being discriminated against? Additionally, I thought that the FCC had given Comcast a specific allotment of time to do their studies and that the time had expired.
Ugh right! How long until everyone gets to share in our pain! The article mentions once they charge thier costumer nation wide then FCC will look into it! What!
Just a side note for information purposes: AT&T only enforces its usage caps on DSL customers. To date, I know of no one actually penalized for exceeding their U-verse usage cap of 250GB. That being said, the only reason providers put usage meters on their website and put a usage cap in the terms and conditions is to impose them punitively later. If you do exceed your allowance with Comcast, check out our article: http://stopthecap.com/2015/08/26/comcast-still-lying-about-its-data-caps-woodstock-ga-customer-misled-to-believe-there-are-none/ We’ve had multiple readers report every time they’ve complained to the FCC about the overlimit fees on their bill, Comcast ended up crediting them in… Read more »
ATTENTION INTERNET USERS:Your right to use the Internet is being restricted by most the major players.
Contact you Internet provider and ask if you will be charged extra if you go above a certain number of gigabytes?
when they answer yes, ask how much you are allotted each month.
then search file an FCC COMPLAINT.
COMPLETE THE ONLINE FORM and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. PRESERVE UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
TO THE INTERNET.
I have been quite frustrated with my internet service, Exede. I see people on here complaining about 300 gigabyte limits. My gigabyte limit is 10. I don’t stream videos or anything like that. I blew through 70% in a matter of 15 days last month. I have complained and complained. I did file a complaint with the FCC and all internet complains must file a response within 30 days. Apparently Exede did file a response and the FCC closed my complaint. The e-mail said that I would receive my response in 3 to 10 days. Why do I have to… Read more »
I filed a complaint with the FCC and was contacted by Comcast via phone today. I was told that they were in the information gathering process. When I asked how this could take 2+ years I was told to feel lucky I lived in Tucson, AZ where the caps are the highest of the “test markets”. The truth of this whole mess is they can do anything they want right now. And as long as they keep their test market just small enough and out of the really large metro areas, it will be very hard to stop them. More… Read more »
That’s exactly why they aren’t doing it! All the articles say they’ll have the FCC’s attention once they roll it out across the US. So how many of us have to pay until the FCC steps in? And how is that fair that the test markets bear the brunt of this greed to enhance lost revenues? Isn’t this a monopoly when we don’t have choices any longer? I’m just outside of Altanta and we don’t have any good alternatives but my brother lives in Jackson MS and he kicked comcast to the curb for data overages. A family of 3!… Read more »
My family has an iMac, I use a 5K iMac for my business, we have two girls, 4 iPhones, 2 iPod touches, and 4 iPads and an Apple TV. Today is July 4, 2015. I’m at 87GB or of my 300GB monthly cap. Netflix is 3GB/ hour for 1080p. 7GB an hour for 4K I realize that’s a lot of hours for one person but if you take the low 3gb per hour divided by 4 people that’s less than 1 hour of usage per day per person. We hit our cap around the 10th – 15th each month and… Read more »
All of this cry foul over CCs data caps — If they tell you there is a data cap, the FCC cannot do anything about it. The ONLY thing net neutrality does is prevent someone from throttling something that is sold as “UNLIMITED”. CC doesn’t say their internet is unlimited — and the cap is in the fine print for the city’s that are subject to it. Look elsewhere for your internet.
Good luck with that. In many places there’s only one high speed company to choose from. Luckily for now I have Time Warner and no cap.
Comcast is the only internet provider in my area, and I was a Comast customer for years before a data cap randomly showed up one month. No notification, just there one bill.
I have a right to be pissed.
It probably doesn’t mean much, but in my own fight against my ISPs data cap policy, the few people I’ve talked to at the FCC have stated that they’ve been getting alot of complaints regarding caps since the whole Open Internet thing, and that it’s “being looked into”. Don’t stop the fight, keep complaining to the FCC, and convince them that an ISP’s ability to limit how much internet you use is just as wrong blocking and throttling. File your complaint here: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Or call them: 1-888-225-5322 I have filed my complaint to the FCC, it was served to my… Read more »
I don’t mind having slower speeds, but data caps of 250 GB are unrealistic and no up to today’s standard. I’d much prefer to see 500 GB limits and rather have data throttling of speeds of 512 Kbps. If they are that worried about people cutting the cord a data throttle is a better solution. Can’t watch much HD Netflix on a connection like that. Much better than getting hit with a highly overpriced $10/GB fee for going over.
I too filed with the FCC and Comcast contacted me but did nothing but point out that is their policy. I live outside of Savannah, GA not in the metro Savannah area on 2.5 acres, supposedly this is to limit bandwidth hogs but there isn’t hardly anyone around me that even has Comcast. What can we do? I have 3 kids as well as my hubby and I are gamers, we stream movies, etc. The kids are out of school for the summer, within a week of the usage starting over and we are already at 300 GB??? Something isn’t… Read more »
http://www.newamerica.org/oti/artificial-scarcity/ Something’s gotta come to a head. I contacted the guy whose name was attached to the copy of the response my ISP had sent to the FCC, and this literal cartoon villain seriously laughed through our entire conversation, because I had the audacity to complain about their data cap policy. As unprofessional as he was, he was atleast well trained in throwing out every single excuse under the sun as to why they use data caps. Totally threw me off guard. If they weren’t pretty much my only option for decent internet for my family, I would’ve cancelled. My… Read more »
I cut the cable to stream to not only save on entertainment, whilst still paying for it, but to view what I want when I want. When I hit the 300 gig data limit in the middle of the month, in Nashville TN, I was extremely irritated and felt considerably wronged. Considering I went with Comcast’s extreme 105 which gives me down speeds of 146 mb/s. but considering I am paying for faster internet with the same cap as the 50 mb/s users I am appalled and discouraged from using Comcast altogether. But due to them being the only ones… Read more »
The data cap issue is ridiculous. It is just another way that Comcast can cash in on their customers. According to their latest quarterly report, Comcast has 22,525,000 video customers and 17,550,000 high speed Internet subscribers. If the data cap was to go nationwide then the 17 million subscribers would be subject to this $10 overage charge. If in one month every subscriber was to go over their limit then comcast would cash in over 175,500,000 extra dollars a month, plus the ammount they already charge for internet usage per month. They are making so much money off of internet… Read more »
By calling Comcast for the Gallatin, TN area I have found out they don’t care that we use the 3 pcs on a daily 2 ipods ,2 xbox and cellphones in 3 days we have already used 1/4 th of the allowed 300 gb by this rate I will be paying about $50-$70 more a month for service that is needed for this time in technology. When speaking to the Customer Service Rep. it was sorry you feel that way but we have no other options there is a cutoff for your area …” Is there anything else i can… Read more »
The FCC doesn’t care about us. Not sure if anyone else noticed but the “test markets” are some of the poorest cities in the poorest states in our nation. Comcast has a monopoly and can therefore rape their customers however they want. If their goal is to provide a quality experience they have repeatedly failed at doing so. They do what they want, say what they want, show up when they want or not at all. It’s by far the worst company I’ve ever dealt with for anything. Now the data caps are another way to extort pennies from the… Read more »
I too have been over charged month after month for this garbage. I contacted the FCC once and it was of little help. I intend on reporting them again in the next day or so. My bill averages 20$-30$ higher and somehow last month when I tried to cut back we ended up going over 600gb. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we go from here? They have my area monopolized, and even bought out the local FIOS competition. Way to go verizon. We have ATT but they have an even lower cap and their speeds are pathetic… Read more »
Same thing happened to me. We cut back but our usage went up. Explain that Comcast!
I filed a complaint with the FCC and in return got a call back from comcast where the security rep told me that “You shouldnt be using so much data, from what you describe your family is smaller than mine and we dont use that much. Perhaps your network has been compromised by malware. ”
So in light of that, time for another complaint to the FCC and the BBB. Ill keep at this until they get the message that im not letting this slide any longer.
I am going out of town in about a week and no one will be home on a certain day. I am going to be checking my usage that day and see if anything is up.
Is it me or is no one really seeing what’s going on here? A few years people in congress wanted to ‘tier system’ the internet. In response Google ‘censored’ its site and shut it down for 24 hours. Americans deluged their congressmen with angry protest, demanding their new legislation regarding such be abandoned. They acquiesced. Now, here comes the new law (and it is one) imposing extra fees for using data you’ve been using all along with no changes in usage patterns. Overcharging, blatant lies, etc. Enough is enough. We’re not Stoopid!!!
Make noise. LOTS AND LOTS OF IT. Your state representatives. Public Utilities commission, social media, the companies trying to impose their profiteering will upon you. If we’re gonna impact these companies…a coordinated “attack” can work. Call in and leave their services…bail on them, force them to accept less money to keep you as a customer. They rely on customer numbers to maintain their stock values and reporting. They KNOW a lot of people will piss and moan about how evil they are and then turn right around like the sheeple they want us to be to enjoy our youtube and… Read more »
I agree. We successfully fought off usage caps with a concentrated campaign directed at both Frontier Communications and Time Warner Cable. Both companies shelved caps permanently. I personally think the most effective way to deal with this issue is to get the media involved. Get 10-20 friends, make some signs, and let the local TV media and newspapers know you will picket Comcast’s offices two days or so later. The TV news will show up if they have good video for the audience. It doesn’t take a huge protest to get them interested because everyone hates the cable company and… Read more »
Hi Phillip,
How can one organize a protest in Fort Lauderdale, in front of Comcast’s offices????
Any ideas? thanks, any suggestions appreciated
Mark,
If you do it or get a group together, let me know – in the Ft Lauderdale area as well and I’ll bring along anyone I can get to come.
Ok so I went out of town this weekend and was going to check the data usage on a day when I knew no one would be home and there should be no data usage, however when I get back and go to check the daily usage, there is no way to do it. The only usage I can see is the total for the month, so when I call I find out there is no way to check your daily usage. How are we to know they aren’t padding it or someone isn’t jacking it? I am filing again… Read more »
The only options that I have for internet service is dial up or satellite. TRYING LIVING ON 10 GB PER MONTHS. For some reason I live in a bubble and cannot get Xfinity, when my next door neighbor does, five foot steps away. That is crap. I have tried AT&T and the only thing that they can offer is dial up. I have been in a battle with my satellite service about the cap and am waiting on their response regarding my complaint with the FCC. Apparently, these satellite companies think that it is luxury to have satellite, no that… Read more »
I would really like to subscribe to Netflix, Hulu or have the ability to stream music or videos whenever I want but the Comcast data cap is preventing me from using the Internet in a way that I would like – unless I am willing to pay more for overage fees. Strangely in the past several months my data usage keeps reaching the limit although I am not doing anything different than I used to. I think that Comcast is inflating the numbers to serve their own agenda. I have filed an FCC complaint – I hope more people do… Read more »
So… It’s official. I got an email from Comcast stating I’m going to be part of a ‘trial’ and capped at 300GB. I reached out to Sara/Sarah at Comcast (I have her ID# but not placing it here) on 9/2/2015 at 8AM and I was informed it’s for ****ALL**** Comcast customers. How can a trial be for ALL Comcast customers? This is their sneaky way of implementing it and putting off the fight. Any advice on the best way to write to the FCC to provide the details I’ve obtained?
Forgot to include/mention the metropolitan area. South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale/Miami) area.
I live in Miami, and got the email today too!!! I WORK FROM HOME for the State of Florida, and Comcast is my only option – i live 12 feet too far from the AT&T’s DSLAM for Uverse internet. I can see my usage increasing the cap by midmonth. And I am NOT a large family, it’s just me. FCC, here I come.
I believe the main reason for Comcast to do this is to slow down the rate for people who cancel cable TV and use streaming services only. 300GB a month may seem a lot if you just using it for browsing the web. But, it’s only allow you to stream about 2.5 hours of HD videos or 1.5 hours of 4K videos from Netflix per day. If you have a family of 4 or more, that’s hardly enough. What is even worse is Comcast has a promotion where they included free HBOgo when you signup for Internet service. If you… Read more »
Comcast isn’t the only company with data caps – Cox has them, even tiny little ComSouth (formerly Billy Bob’s Cable) has them where we live, and we have no other option for broadband that ComSouth… Work from home? Nope, not on ComSouth Subscribe to Netflix? Enjoy it, but you’ll need to go somewhere else to use it. Not on ComSouth Take photos of the kids/grandkids with a modern camera? Can’t upload them on ComSouth Got HD video of the kids/grandkids or other event? Can’t upload ’em on ComSouth Want a business account with no cap? Not on ComSouth (Perry, GA,… Read more »
Verizon also has these caps. I line in the middle of the country where NO ONE offers Internet. Our only solution for Internet that actually takes less than 2 minutes to load a page is Verizon, but we have a 30 GB cap, and if you go over its $10 for every GB you go over. I swear Verizon throttles because I can do so much of something at home and use x GB, but when I go to my grandparents who have TimeWarnerCable (unlimited) and do the exact same stuff + more I use less than what I do… Read more »
If the cable TV offered better choices more people would be watching but obviously it is terrible because everyone is streaming movies and shows. I have 300 channels of crap for nearly 200 a month. So, now in addition to the crappy cable we will be charged more for a our son getting to watch Amazon video’s we already paid for and shows on Netflix. So, if you purchase a movie from Amazon you will have to continue to pay for it every time you watch it. Isn’t that like renting movies. Why not just go back to DVDs.
In addition to prohibiting data caps, perhaps the FCC should actively encourage competition and disallow contracts with cable companies that are longer than one month. The only question that remains is WHO does the FCC serve? If it is the people of the United States then the answers to just about all of the questions that arise are simple. Do we want the free flow of information at a reasonable price made available to the largest number of people or not? This issue should NOT be about what is good for Comcast or other providers or their share holders. Don’t… Read more »
My cable company Blue Ridge Cable in PA just started enforcing hard caps and overage fees. What a coincidence that I used 100 GB’s on the first day- and I wasn’t even home. If I hadn’t complained about it, they would have gotten away with it. If these companies want to impose data caps, and overage fees- then there should be oversight to insure that their usage meters are accurate. If cable companies want to act like utilities- they should be regulated like utilites. Users should not have to face “surprise” charges on their bills because cable companies are trying… Read more »
Just got slapped with my surprise notification that I am at 270GB of my (previously unknown) 300GB cap with Comcast. I too, cut the cord last month, and switched from AT&T to Comcast due to the leap in speed. These are my only 2 choices of ISPs. I am furious and will wait to hear from the FCC and Comcast (yeah right) but I am prepared to at least make a lot of noise once hit with overage fees. Thank you for the info and I am sharing to social media.
Sign the Whitehouse.gov Petition — https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/push-fcc-stop-comcast-internet-data-caps-and-ban-unlimited-usage-fees
File a complaint with the FCC — https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38824
So now I see when I log in to check my usage with my cable ISP Blue Ridge Cable/PenTeleData, that it is *not* even them doing the monitoring. WTF? They have contracted usage monitoring out to a third party using Cloud based software: http://openvault.com/ If you take a look at their site, it’s all about managing bandwidth for maximum monetization. So as a customer, I have to wonder- in addition to lack of oversight regarding meter accuracy- is ALL MY DATA accessible to this third party? I DID NOT agree to this, and I am NOT comfortable with it. Maybe… Read more »
Don’t get me wrong, I hate caps (and I live in a capped area), but be careful what you wish for… What’s stopping Comcast from changing their service to metered? After all, the FCC and the Obama administration are pushing things toward considering Internet a utility like water and power. I don’t know if it’s different here than elsewhere in the US, but my water and power bills go up depending on how much I consume. So what if they change it so there are no caps, but you pay $1/GB? That would help the people who use less Internet… Read more »
I don’t think people who use less should be supplementing people who use more. However, I do believe that making the internet a utility will make less expensive not more. I highly doubt anyone is going to charged a dollar a GB, COX is only charging about 30 cents a GB now. I would guess in the long run we would all be better off if we took the “for-profit” out of the Internets. Publically owned utilities do not throttle people, over charge and have to ask for increases, best of all they do not cheat their customers.
The big issues are: (i) costs don’t reflect “per gigabyte” usage, and (ii) public corporations play this “Alice in Wonderland” accounting game. For instance, the major economic problem in getting good broadband to people is that you need to make a large initial investment in “last mile” infrastructure. To make this economical that investment has to spread out along a large numbers of customers. Once the infrastructure is there, the marginal cost difference to serve an extra GB is tiny, to the point where gigabit service (as opposed to 30MB/s) costs only a few dollars a month more to the… Read more »
It would seem to me you are talking about the difference between business use and private use. Why would a comparatively small download from Netflix at 8pm cost more than a large one ten times bigger in the middle of the night?
What’s the use of lots of bandwidth like 150Mbs or more when you have caps. To reach the caps faster and have to pay penalty charge?
I have not seen anyone complaining about ads sucking up bandwidth. I monitored my bandwidth for 1 – 43 minute tv show streamed from abc. At a cost of 852MB I had to endure 27 commercials which used up 104 MB of the 852 total. Now we are having to pay to watch commercials. Go to a website that automatically streams ads, like foxnews and tons of others. They should be required by the FTC to allow streaming ads to be turned on by the user, not streamed automatically. This is a problem that no one is discussing.
to be honest i have not seen anything against data caps from the FCC even though Comcast and so many others are putting out data caps. From what i see internet companies are un avoidable monopolies why would you build in some places pay for building it up just to go up against another provider and split the profits and hold all the loss i do understand it. Though they seem to have 0 self control over pricing and taking advantage of it. That and many online companies are damaged by data caps this would be like going to New… Read more »
Well I just got my letter yesterday! Comcast put me on a data cap of 300GB and suggested I “upgrade” my internet to an unlimited plan for $30.00 more … LOL … I already pay $84.95 for the so called Blast+ and now my bill is likely to become $114.95 because I use internet across many devices and computers. They have been trying for the longest to bump my bill with TV and Alarm System and I kept telling them that I did not need any Cable Box because I am using Netflix, and alarm wise I am using ADT.… Read more »
So, I suspect that Comcast/Xfinity is pulling a bait and switch. I signed up for the Quad-Play (Internet, TV, Phone and Home Security). When I signed up (and I have to take a look at the contract), there were no limits. So, this seems like Comcast is simply trying to tack-on more fees as a new revenue stream. Also, in order to stream their own content/videos, you have to use their Internet (which is part of the CAP scheme). How can this be measured or separated so that regular internet is separated from Comcast related services (which would be double-billing).… Read more »
fm, you are 100% spot on.
I forgot about the useless ads we are forced to watch and then pay for (when these Internet CAP schemes are implemented). This definitely takes up considerable bandwidth on Youtube, Apple TV and other streaming devices or mediums.
It’s as if you go to a restaurant, pay for a steak and then they serve you garbage on the same plate as the steak…and by the way, you have to eat it and pay for it.
Like I said, I’ve already filed an FCC Complaint. Next is Homeowners Association, FL Attorney General and Finally Politicians.
Unfortunately the FCC is doing nothing, I’ve filed complaints twice and all they did was have Comcast contact me which did nothing. I’m not discouraging you against filing with the FCC because the more people do that the more it has a chance of something being done, but they aren’t doing anything right now. For the guy that was offered unlimited internet for $30 more is that just in your area? We haven’t been offered that and I would be willing to pay that because it is less than what we are paying now with the overages and I could… Read more »
Has ANYONE here found the actual clause on the agreement terms which states that there is a data cap on Comcast service? I’m in Miami and this fact was never told to me either when I signed up, or after I paid, and could not find it while filtering through their terms agreement. How sneaky are they to send me a notification about a data cap now that my 30-day money back guarantee has passed. I contacted Comcast and it looks like the reps have been instructed to just try and sell the $30 unlimited internet… which is 117% more… Read more »
Same here. I have already filed a complaint with both the FCC and the BB of South-East Florida. The FCC has already sent me a confirmation email stating that Comcast has been notified of the complaint and that they have 30 days to contact me and see why I actually filed such a complaint. And I sure hope so that someone will start a Class Action Lawsuit against these illegal and abusive practices.
From what I’ve read the unlimited they are offering is only available in Florida, all of this is such BS! It makes me mad every time I read about it. Why isn’t the FCC doing anything other than fielding our complaints back to Comcast? I would love to join a class action lawsuit. I have no choice but to have internet through them where I live, it’s the only cable internet here and I have to have it to work from home.
this is pretty Nauseating. Ive read most of everyones comments. Even those of the xfinity wifi, and turning that off Living in south florida, apparently we are a test market for this data cap, at 300g. I am not happy about this at all, and no where was I provided a written statement or document that this was going to change There is nothing in my contract that states that it will change at their will. THEY have to provide something in writing delivered by snail mail, because it is a change in a contract. Imagine if your insurance wanted… Read more »
I am grateful to have found this forum. I received a letter from Comcast regarding the cap/upsell last month. I almost didn’t open it as it looked a lot like the junk mail they routinely send. I received a voice mail and an e-mail today informing me that we have exceeded the 300 GB’s for the month and they have automatically added a block 50 GB’s. Upon looking at my account online I saw the following ” You have three monthly courtesy overages available. After using all three overages, you will be charged $10.00 for each 50GB of additional data… Read more »
The Best thing that everyone can do is continue to write to the FCC. I filed a report with FCC over 7 days ago. I got a call today from a Comcast Manager. Apparently they were either notified by the FCC or Comcast is monitoring my emails and it’s content. The Comcast manager said he was really concerned and understands “how it may look inappropriate”. I basically had nothing to say to him since he was really trying to get info from me for damage control. Since I have not received any acknowledgement from the FCC, I can only suspect… Read more »
great timing on putting a cap on data when the school system has ipads now for text books i have a honor roll stuxent who for highschool tames at least 1class a semester online and with 2 kids in school can rack up allt of data. why is it onlybcertain areas are billed for data and just 1area has the unlimited option. im gonna have to.dump tv just to be able to.afford internet that we have to have for.kids school work. comcast has consumers backed into a corner cause there is no one else to switch too if they had… Read more »
Phillip,
I am a military member stationed in Japan where an American owned internet provider, Americable, has a monopoly to provide the base residents with internet. They just recently started a cap program with an additional $10 fee per 50GB over. I feel this is incredibly unjust. Do you know of anything we can do?
Respectfully sent,
William Cobb
The most important thing to do is to file a complaint with the FCC. I just recently filed a complaint about the cap and another complaint due to 2 days with outages on the service and comcast sent me the full invoice like if nothing had happened. Today I just saw that comcast gave me a credit for the outages, so I understand they fear the FCC.
Since Comcast put a data cap on my internet services, they have been abusively violating my privacy by creating pop-up notification on all my computers and devices, warning me about going potentially over my data cap, then telling me i went over it, and trying to sell me their “unlimited solution”. These annoying windows have prevented my wife and my daughter to work efficiently on their home work and it has been very inconvenient for myself while trying to perform sensitive administrative tasks over the internet. Moreover, repetitive phone calls including on Saturdays and even Sunday morning at 8:00 Am… Read more »
Before the caps went in
JULY–96GB Used
AUG–156GB Used
SEPT–216GB Used
Welcome Cap
OCT 20, 2015 Email states I have used 270GB and I have 30 Left
OCT 21, 2015 Email states I have no cap left and have used 302GB
How is it humanly possible for a stay at home mom to use 30GB in one DAY!!!!
Don’t feel bad- my scummy ISP deducted 100 GB’s from my account the first day the hard caps went into effect. I don’t even think it’s possible to download 100 GB’s in 1 day on a 15 Mbps connection… On top of it all the usage meter is run by a third party data mining operation called OpenVault. They are collecting ALL our data and selling it to advertisers and other “interested” parties. Comcast is bad, but my ISP is in a league of it’s own of scumminess. 4 complaints- count ’em- FOUR- to the FCC and they have done… Read more »
They keep trying to play these games. I think that since they don’t know how to stay under the radar with their already exorbitant costs that the FCC needs to go after them for a net neutrality violation. Not the usual one though. They need to reclassify the entire bandwidth of the cable line into your home as internet. Since cable tv is already a digital IP based technology it is effectively internet. It just has its own box rather than being decoded by your computer. Once you reclassify the whole cable as internet the amount of bandwidth available for… Read more »
Copy of Open Internet / Net Neutrality complaint sent to FCC at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38824 Without prior warnings or notice, received a message from Comcast this month that we had exceeded a data amount for the month and would be charged additional fees to cover. When we contacted Comcast to discuss, where told they could not show us a copy of data limit notices that might have been sent out in the past 24-26 months in our area, just that they had recently updated equipment in our area that could track individual accounts data usage and thus the wave of recent issuing… Read more »
Reading over these forums has been informative, and I share with everyone’s pain. I have only one thing to add. Pure corporate greed!!! And, literally millions of users who have absolutely no choice. Yes, complain to the FCC and BBB. However, the politicians will still get their “donations” and not a thing will be accomplished. Its the American way. At least gas is cheap now.
WOW I just can’t believe the FCC hasn’t tackled this problem yet. I feel so glad we were able to fight off Caps by TWC here in Rochester. I don’t want the Charter Cable merger and I’m sure if that happens we will have caps in 3 years. I recommended a Massive coordinated assault toward the FCC to do something with Comcast. Get media involved and get the politicians involved.
1st Data usage caps are a front. The actual design is to cut down on illegal downloads, AND squeeze extra money out of the people who participate. Also to squeeze out a little extra money from streamers. It is all about money-that is-getting more of it from customers (sigh as always more more more freakin money) . 2nd, they are unfair, the companies do not have a way for users to control their own data, limit data per user on their network or a good system to help users prevent overage, the data usage reporting is always behind-even by 1… Read more »
It ain’t easy to boycott them when they’re the
only game in town…
My regional ISP is a monopoly, and they’re
pulling the same crap.
It’s all well and good to boycott a company
IF you have another choice of provider. :-/
What do you mean IF they plan to go nationwide?! Why should only some states suffer the higher fees for the unlimited data they were already getting at a lower cost?! That’s extortion! Wanna keep that unlimited data you had at $60/mo? Well now that’ll cost you $95/mo. Our family had to stop using the internet for streaming tv, music, videos becuse of the new data cap. A family of four can go over the 300gb easily in one weekend of watching movies. Plus ALL internet is “data” but much of what we consume, we have no control over like… Read more »
You’re right. It’s a money grab.
It’s a way to shore up their failing cable tv as people flock to online
providers like Netflix.
I am capped as well, but I still plan on cutting the cord in January.
I would rather go back to listening to radio and reading books
than continue to pay my hard earned money to the cable monopoly
for lousy overpriced tv with endless commercials and crappy programming.
When will I be able to buy anyone elses service over these crooks lines?
I set up my router to track total used data just so I’d be prepared when they decided to move data caps to my area, and guess what, we use an average of 301.25 GB a month, so over the limit… Luckily I am close enough to Chattanooga to get EPB fiber optic, goodbye Comcast, hello 100-10,000mbps with a ping of like 2
here is the real deal about data caps I think a lot of you are missing, especially when your not thinking in terms of throughput broadband speeds that the ISP is falsely advertising when they say 7MB per month download.. 7mb at I think 250gb or so data cap runs out in 1.4 days when running continuous netflix streaming at 7mb. you DO NOT get 7mb for the entire month. This is FALSE advertising when they fail to put the data cap next to the speed on the advertising sales pitch.. See if they put the two numbers on the… Read more »
Hit the Comcast 300g data cap last week and get the repeated emails your over the 300g, your 10% over,…. Unfortunately for them there is no alternative provider in my area, YET! (come on google fiber).. So they now have a pissed off customer (no that they have any other type) that will be vocal. Evidently they hired some of the ‘x’ employees from the airline industry and they are charging for anything and everything they can. Just wait till they add a service fee for paying online, paying in-person, for using cash, for using debit card, for looking at… Read more »
Why wait for it to be nationwide? If should be looked at now!
Got the email warning last night that I was at 90% usage. Had no idea that there was a 300gb data limit. Comcast sells you on the speed but doesn’t disclose that they have a monthly limit. This needs to be looked into.
I am in Miami and they are also implementing the Data Cap here. When I first signed up with Comcast two years ago, nobody told me that there was a data cap. As a matter of fact, Comcast CEO, just recently stated in a business conference that this was “a business decision.” Of course, it is a business decision to strip more money from their customers. I was recently informed of such cap, when I called their headquarters to complain about their abuse in implementing a data cap. My argument is based on the fact that data caps should only… Read more »
I am a Comcast user for 17 years. I also have a 300GB max internet use as others. We only went over our limit one time in our history. We watch our usage very closely. It appears the internet/cable companies are not only making increased costs on internet, but also in all the fees and other charges on their TV cable. In this last year my bill has increased 80% to $144 without any upgrades. Now I am retired at 75 years young and can no longer afford these cost increases. Is there a way for me to get back… Read more »
Yes, you can stream. All you have to do is turn off the cable TV, keep or buy internet service and purchase a streaming device – I have a Roku, but there are others on the market and you can also stream via a computer attached to your TV if you have a recent model television. I also am retired and living on a limited income, I cut out Cable TV about 3 years ago. To tell you the truth I would rather get my daily entertainment streaming than via traditional TV, I find much more high quality entrainment. I… Read more »
I’m very lucky to have moved out into a rural area a number of years ago, and now I’m free from the criminal activity of many of these cable companies! I just read an interesting article today in which the CEO of Sling TV claims Data caps could ultimately crush the internet TV concept. That would be SO unfortunate because they brought TV offerings that viewers clamored for years over but the behemoth cable companies basically laughed at! Here is the link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/sling-tv-ceo-blasts-comcast-data-caps/ Anyhow, I’m really impressed with the FCC’s efforts in recent years of keeping these renegade cable companies… Read more »
We were forced by c-cast to upgrade in November, data usage skyrocketed from ~6-7Gig per month to 200 (two hundred). Hot spot “disabled”, but gateway still actively communicating with someone or something on separate, third network which I’m unable to control and comcast flatly denies existence of such undocumented network and adamantly refuses to provide any explanation at all. I own modem if any one has smart ass comment about that.
Glad I am in timewarner area comcast sucks feel for you guys.
i went with Google fearing when charter gets timewarner they f it up too.
I use sling for my tv too its not bad for the money.
In Hyderabad India whole city has free WiFi…
You have to take control of your land or else profiteers will do it.
It is not just unreasonable. It is a fraud. I shut down my cable modem 2 weeks ago. My data usage, according to the Xfinity website, was increased by 90 GB. It is definitely something fishy. So
1. I don’t use comcast internet at all
2. Even if I use it, it cannot be 90 GB
The comcast cap isnt even bad compared to mine. I have Hughesnet Gen4 (All I can get in my area) and I have a 20gb a month limit with an extra 50 in between 2am and 8am. Going over this has them throttle you to a halt. On top of all this their speeds are FAR below standards. Hughesnet advertises 15 mbps, but right now after doing a speed test I sit at 0.14 mbps. The fact that this is legal is just absurd. Its essentially a monopoly where I live and I’m going to need fast and unlimited internet… Read more »
My smaller cable company Suddenlink (1.4M customers) started the same thing. 250GB cap with with their medium speed of 50mbps. They are only doing this to stop people even thinking of just getting rid of TV and having internet only for their viewing.
Okay I am in no way sticking up for this practice however I am going to explain something to all that do not know how this little game works. Let me start my saying that I am a Network Manager of a small FTTH (Fiber to the Home) Telco/ISP. We are considered a Tier 3 ISP meaning we peer with no one, we have to pay for transit to the backbone. While I do not currently put usage limits on my customers it’s a constant source of conversation among myself and my peers. While we all likely think there is… Read more »
This current trend of pure greed is insane! Unlimited data is just that, not charging extra. On top of that, it is extremely unfair to force certain customers of certain geographical areas to pay for the extra uses, while others do not. Example: you would charge customers in the Miami area for this extra usage, while others on the north western area of the country do not have this cap? it is a known fact that Miami is one of the poorest areas in the country, while the some of the other areas of the country that do not have… Read more »
Each time my cable company gets a bur in their muffler, they claim someone has exceeded the data cap! Data Caps should NOT be used on DSL or Cable Internet. As a matter of fact, it’s time to make these companies END the caps. When they take a notion to hike your bill, they do it with 3 to 8 gigs. I am sick of the threats from my cable company. This is the second time they have done this to me. I upped my Internet so I wouldn’t exceed. But now, they tell me I am exceeding again! Bollocks!… Read more »
I sent this to Tom Wheeler, the FCC chairman. I figured I’d contact him directly since I’m not a Comcast customer, but am just furious of this precedent, as well as their monopolistic practices. Subject: Data Caps and Net Neutrality Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 20:33:22 -0400 From: L G To: [email protected] Hello Tom, My name is Len Gray and I’m just a concerned citizen who is quite upset about “data caps” on broadband internet. Comcast has introduced a data cap that in my opinion, is a targeted “punishment”, or “deterrent” for internet TV users (Netflix, HuLu, AppleTV, Amazon TV… Read more »
Seriously? You all are complaining about 250 and 300GB caps? I live in a rural area, pay $70/month for capped data of 10Gb/month. 10. If I go over that, I get throttled to speeds so slow, it would be faster to walk to the source of the information I’m trying to access and write it down by hand. A 300Gb monthly data allowance looks like luxury from where I’m sitting. That being said, I am sick unto death of ISPs simply being able to claim how much data you used and not provide any records (preferably breaking down usage by… Read more »
HEAVY government regulation. Congress is neglecting the 9th amendment by not updating the protections for our new form of communication.. internet. Email should have the same protections as post, and the internet should be looked at and treated like the new phone line, since this is our primary communication method as was the phone. Tracking, hacking and trolling should carry the weight of wiretap violations, and email is more like e-post cards.. wide open for anyone to read. Google and others regularly and unethically scan and parse them as if this were somehow ok. The pioneers of the email system… Read more »
Paula, you sound like a republican. I disagree with you. Data Caps on internet service is not okay. Anything you do counts toward data that any ISP monitors and imposes usage based fees on how much data we use. We need to regulate the prices that ISPs like Comcast is charging not the data we use.
Finally, effective 06/01/2016, Comcast has decided that the 300GB/Month Cap got enough blow-back and customer dis-satisfaction that they’ve increased it to 1TB/Month effective 06/01/2016 for the so-called test markets (Ft. Lauderdale, FL being one of those markets). I checked and saw the change in my account. I think this is a good middle-ground until we start seeing other types of hi-quality video which takes up the GBs. I also found out that Comcast counts their TV App internet streaming (of their own content) towards the 1TB allowance. This is double-dipping since they are charging for TV and also for Internet… Read more »
I agree with you. I don’t see this getting better with private companies acting as “gatekeeper”. I think cities should run fiber as they run power lines and plumbing. Hire a private maintenance company, but run ISP as a utility. It’s too damn important. Also, the conflict of interest is appalling.. they’re selling us tv service (or trying anyway), and trying to cap our data allowance so we don’t use competitors like Netflix, Hulu, Android, apple.. etc.. Remember, these internet connections are also our phone lines nowadays. Here in SW Florida, they are apparently scamming the elderly as well. Do… Read more »
Try satellite Internet. What a horrible overpriced joke. As someone else said, the satellite companies treat you like it’s a privilege to pay through the nose for their tiny caps. Exede offers 10, 18, and 30 in my area. In some areas they offer 150 for less than we’re paying for 18, which is simply maddening. One person went through the entire 18 GB in a single week just by using an online forum that has images. He wasn’t even downloading tiny movies or anything — just dealing with highly-compressed jpegs and pngs. They throttle now as soon as you’re… Read more »
No matter what the FCC wants to do, they still have to contend with the political scene in Washington, D.C. where politicians are bought and paid for by the lobbyists representing Corporate America. This is due to the way they gain financial support for their election and re-election campaigns. Since advertising uses a lot of bandwidth, then we should have the ability to turn it off in our browsers and TV sets because advertising consumes bandwidth. Then let Google, Facebook, the TV networks and other companies who depend on advertising revenue put pressure on the politicians. Only by putting the… Read more »