SubscribeComcast has quietly updated its online customer support website to reflect the forthcoming introduction of data caps to the last remaining major regions of the country where it has avoided imposing them for years.
The nation’s largest cable company will debut its 1.2 TB data cap usage plan on January 1, 2021 in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia.
“Customers in select markets can take the months of January and February to understand how the new 1.2 TB Internet Data Plan affects them without additional charges,” Comcast wrote on its new customer FAQ page. “We’ll credit your bill for any additional data usage charges over 1.2 TB during those months if you’re not on an unlimited data plan. It does not apply to Xfinity Internet customers on our Gigabit Pro tier of service, Business Internet customers, customers with Prepaid Internet, or customers on Bulk Internet agreements.”
But effective March 1st, residential customers will begin facing overlimit fees for exceeding their data allowance at a rate of $10 for each 50 GB of excess usage, up to a maximum of $100 a month. Customers will not be credited for unused data, cannot rollover unused data, or be charged less than $10 in overlimit fees, regardless if one used 1 MB or 49 GB over the 1.2 TB allowance.
Customers approaching their usage limit will receive email, text messages, and Xfinity X1 on-screen notifications upon reaching 75% (email only), 90%, and 100% of 1.2 TB of data usage. Overlimit fees that subsequently start accumulating will be noted in email and X1 on-screen notifications for each additional 50 GB of usage over 1.2 TB, up to the maximum overage charge of $100.
Customers can return to the unlimited data plan they had before January 1st by paying an additional $30 a month for an unlimited add-on plan.
Comcast imposed data caps on residential customers in other parts of the country for years, but had avoided doing so until now in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states where Verizon FiOS is a frequent competitor. Verizon does not impose formal data caps on its residential customers. The introduction of data caps by Comcast is likely to result in a shift of some customers towards Verizon, if FiOS is available.
Comcast is certain to be criticized for expanding data caps in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as the number of cases explodes in the United States, pushing more people than ever to work from home. The resulting increased usage will expose a growing number of Comcast customers to overlimit fees, starting at $10 additional a month. Usage caps are also not expected to slow the company’s ongoing rate increases. One of Comcast’s most successful businesses is selling residential broadband, often with no significant competition, and with customers unlikely to drop service there is plenty of room to raise prices further.
Protesters in front of the Time Warner Cable in Rochester, N.Y., protesting the introduction of data caps in 2009.
Fighting Back
The most effective ways to combat data caps are:
- Switch providers and tell Comcast you are leaving because of the imposition of data caps. Reject any arguments that suggest usage allowances will impact only a handful of customers. Ongoing studies show a growing number of consumers are exceeding these arbitrary “allowances”, forcing them to pay unjustified overlimit fees or subscribe to a costly unlimited plan for as much as $30 more a month. Usage caps are unnecessary in 2020. Comcast itself claims it has plenty of capacity across its network, including areas where no caps are currently imposed. But they now think it is appropriate to introduce caps in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Organize a noisy but legal protest in front of a local cable store or Comcast’s headquarters and contact newspapers, radio and TV stations in advance to invite them to cover the event. Be sure to carry signs and designate one or more members to be interviewed by the media about the unacceptability of data caps. We can supply talking points on request.
- Contact your local, state, and federal representatives and complain about Comcast imposing data caps. This is especially effective when tied-in with local protests, which may attract elected officials to the cause. There is precedent for companies backing down if consumers coordinate with elected officials and loudly protest. Tell officials your community’s digital future should not be dictated by Comcast and its unwanted data caps. More competition is needed, and until it substantially exists, ask them to ban “data plans” for home broadband service. Ask them to support municipal solutions, such as public/municipal internet service.
- Remind everyone that internet availability is not the only issue. Affordability is also a growing problem that puts much needed internet service out of reach of low-income citizens. Imposing data caps is just another way of raising prices and deterring innovation.
You realize this will only actually affect a small number of customers. The overwhelming majority don’t even come close to the 1.2TB limit (last six months for me the MAX I have come is 45% of that limit and that’s with my running video in some cases 24/7 on two machines). They are REALLY looking to get the data hogs who in some cases use as much as 5-10 TB or more a month who abuse the bandwidth to where it slows it down for everyone.
I strongly disagree, especially given the reality of the pandemic. In my household we have 1) one public school educator teaching remotely, 2) one seventh grade student learning remotely, 3) one college freshman learning remotely, 4) one individual working remotely as a social media strategist in the non-profit sector, and on occasion 5) one college senior completing coursework remotely. Getting above the 1.2TB benchmark every month is pretty easy given 4 users on Zoom during the day, and streaming content in the evening. We are already paying close to $100/month for 400/20 internet access, so anything above that puts a… Read more »
I completely agree with you Howard. Though I’m more shocked they haven’t gotten a class-action lawsuit against them over their practices. They’d have a valid argument. Comcast is double dipping. Not just are they charging for how fast you want your internet, now they’re wanting to charge you for how much data you use. All that really happened at Comcast is, they realized a dip in their profits, and said, “How else can we rip the consumer off and steal more money from right under their noses?” Even the mobile carriers aren’t that bad when it comes to charging people… Read more »
Wait, do you really pay 100$/month in the US for internet access, and not even get optic fiber for that astonishing price ? That sounds so wrong to my ears.
For reference, I’m about to move house and I can get 1000/600 unlimited connection for about 30$/month.
And also, with my 25$/month cellphone subscription, if I were to go on vacation in the US (I live in Europe), I get 50Go of 4G download, then unlimited 3G access. Granted it’s not the fastest, but I mean, it’s not where I’m paying my subscription for, and it’s still unlimited.
Where in Europe do you live? That’s incredible compared to the US. Maybe I need to move to your area!
For reference, I’m paying $83.95 for 100/5 to Comcast in the Northeast Region. Personally, I don’t believe it’s worth more than $40/mo, but after hearing your prices, I’m revising my estimate to $10. There’s (finally) a single competitor that is trying to install their own hardware and move into my area. As fast as they’re moving, they’re still going very slowly (there’s a lot of area to cover), and aren’t anywhere near me, yet. They’re advertising $85/mo for 250/250. My parents already signed up, but it sounds like Dad’s not super impressed. This company IS installing fiber, and offers 1000/1000… Read more »
I agree. That said, when they make “Data Cap” announcements they should disclose the percentage of customers that would be subject to any “overage penalty” across a one year time period. If 95% (2 standard deviations) of all customers do not go over the limit across 12 monthly billing periods they likely sized the data limit correctly.
From an article on a different site “Comcast says that only about 5% of customers use more than 1.2TB of data in a month.” Not sure if I believe them though
*study performed in 1999.
/s
definitely a lie. i am not even a extream case either. between alexa devices, ring blink zoom calls and tv watching (thanks comcast for convincing use to use rokus instead of cable boxs) on top of 1/2 the household being gamers. we use about 2x the cap.
Fake data provided by a multi billion dollar corporation. Would trust data they provide with a grain of salt.
You might be interested in my reply above, but also, datacaps are artificial limits, even in networking equipment. Theres no concept of “1 TB total” connection, its all done on processing speed. Any arguement about other customers hogging bandwidth is the fault of the ISP overprovisioning their available bandwidth, and these data caps shift the responsibility of making up for any losses due to overprovisioning over to the consumers who are paying for the service, instead of to the companies with the resources to add additional equipment to handle the capacity they sold to customers in the first place. Networking… Read more »
Walt must be a Comcast employee of the month, moron…
I’m a family of 3, we did almost 1TB of data last month and. My wife works from home, our 4 year old streams sone movies on her iPad or does messenger with friends and family. I game after work and watch movies occasionally on my pc. We have cable tv thru Comcast so stuff like amazon, Hulu, and Netflix are used thru the cable box. So yea, I think it’s possible for a lot of people to go over occasionally at least a few times. Combine this with the following: internet speeds are getting faster and faster. And broadband… Read more »
Bandwidth is what we already pay for. If a company with as many resources as Comcast, cannot supply their customers without overprovisioning, it’s a fault of the company, not of the customers using the service. The amount of data transferred using said bandwidth has no effect on the amount of bandwidth available. It only means that you’re using what you’re entitled to use, since it’s what you pay for. Any cap that exists is putting a limit on how frequently you’re allowed to use the bandwidth that you pay for. (The exception being a cap equal to, or greater than… Read more »
Then time for them to stop over provisioning. The real problem is they saw a dent in their profits and want to pull another money grab.
I’m honestly surprised that a big class action lawsuit hasn’t come up over it yet. Should call my attorney. Who wants to sue them for good, make them end the practice in a settlement and make their bank account cry money?
Lets do it ! At 65 i am so sick of these frickin companies screwing all of us . I pay over 200 month ,no premium channels just the 6 yes six channels I love ! i dont want any sports -NONE yet i pay 2 or 3 fees monthly for sports broadcasting. I have 2 of those small boxes on other tv’s i got them 6 yrs ago , .99 cents a month , these same exact boxes are now 6.99 per month !! They are pissed because people re cutting the cord and their fat wallets are taking… Read more »
Sorry bro but umm… I was working 15+ hours a day (and driving 4-6h) and never home. I was the biggest consumer of bandwidth at my house, however, since cutting cable years ago and running 2 smart TVs in the house off and on, those ate up bandwidth like no other. After the first month of getting charged for that bullish!t, I instantly went to unlimited, and never looked back. I don’t know what you’re doing. Maybe reading ebooks? In this age of digital media, that cap is far too low, and they are banking on people like you to… Read more »
They’re doing this while still only offering 15Mbit upload speeds. It’s the dark ages here. Imagine wanting to watch movies in 4K, download all your PS5/Xbox games digitally, game online, use smart devices, or god forbid – use an alternate TV provider, you are going to be bleeding money with Comcast. I used to have municipal fiber and I’ll miss it dearly, as I’m stuck with Comcast. I’m paying more for 300/15 cable internet than I did for 1000/1000 fiber. They even charged me $100 just to turn the signal on, despite me providing my own modem. Comcast is the… Read more »
That’s not really the point, though, is it….
Walt Gekko = Comcast shill
Still it doesn’t matter, thing is in this day and age with all the internet streaming devices, data caps should be a thing of the past. Especially with the Pandemic. More and more people are streaming through their smartphone, their smart TV, They subscribe to services like, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, AT&T TV NOW. I live with my wife and 2 friends and between us we use a LOT of data each month as im a gamer and so is my roommate, i’m glad i ditched Comcrap and went to FIOS almost 2 years ago. I am paying 79.99 for 1gb… Read more »
I wish we had FiOS here, we still have slow aDSL with caps or Comcast, which is getting a cap
I think Verizon DSL does not have a cap. I am thinking about switching since we have cut cable so we watch a lot of TV over the internet and more than 1/2 the household are gamers.
start watching netflix or amazon using your stb by pressing the microphone button and saying netflix. bing watch a few shows and then get out your credit card as you hit your limit.
Sadly your response misses critical points. There is only one reason for Comcast to do this.. because they can. There is no true economic loss to comcast.. they don’t lose money on internet.
The intent is for more money and to punish or scare cord cutters from leaving Comcasts delightfully profitable cable tv side.
Since generally in regions there is zero competition ISP’s can pretty much do whatever they want since they are functional monopolies.
Walt: like many, I’d like to know if a 1.2TB cap really would only impact a small, vocal minority. I don’t think we’ll ever get an accurate answer from ISPs, though. Roughly speaking, if you have a 1080p stream going 24/7, that alone uses just under 800GB a month. Consider a household of 5 people, throwing in Netflix at 4K for several televisions and I find it hard to believe that only a small percentage of people hit their 1.2TB cap. The numbers just don’t correlate.
Not remotely correct. I have to stream video each day and use 4-5TB a month on that. With the PS5 and Xbox coming out, 4K HDR video streaming, and lockdown requirements, people will be using far more data than they ever have before. Including you.
You should first realize, its a money grab by a monopolistic industry. Second, there is no such thing as a data hog slowing down the network for the other 98% of users. Its predatory and it erodes your rights over time. The internet democratized information and this is one more step on the road to control access. You boil the frog, starting with a pot of cold water.
“abusing the bandwidth to where it slows it down for everyone” is absolutely impossible.
Wired internet connections are not comparable to mobile networks. Congestion, by design, cannot happen unless a provider is showing artificial bandwidth numbers.
My family has the internet essentials plan and we routinely exceeded this even before they raised our speeds from 25/2 to 35/3. My disabled and my daughter is learning from home. Being disabled, I used my internet more hours/day than most people because I am usually home. My internet connection keeps me from getting cut off from the world, including doctors, support groups, news, etc. The usage fees could result in my bill being 6x-11x (plus tax) There is NO technical REASON for these caps. The data hog is a myth. This is just corporate greed. I would also add… Read more »
Maybe a few years ago that was true, but now Comcast is offering service speeds where you can download 1 GB in 8 seconds. Their website even states that their network is “well ahead of future demand”. So not only do they have plenty of bandwidth for today’s usage, they have flat out told us that they feel confident that they have enough bandwidth to be relatively future-proof. https://corporate.comcast.com/our-network As a gamer, getting a 120GB update pushed used to mean I’d spend half the day downloading it. Since upgrading to Gigabit speeds, I have gone over the 1.2TB limit 3… Read more »
You would have to be really uninformed if you think that most people won’t hit the data cap during this pandemic. Comcast could be pulling their 95% stats from somewhere that doesn’t have a lot of tech employees.
We should get an idea if they are lying in Comcasts 2021 Q2 revenue numbers. Compare them to 2021 Q1. Just need to have an idea of how many internet customers they have.
Yup. If customers go down but Internet revenue is up, there’s the proof. Even if they have no internet growth but profit goes significantly up, proves it right there.
There is ZERO reason for this other than another money grab. You have 4k, online gaming, etc and 1.2 TB is not that much. Throw in a couple of kids and a wife all working from home and streaming video/music and it’s easy to go over 1.2 tb. So, speak for yourself sir, you clearly have no clue what you’re talking about.
Are you one of those stupid Comcrap employees? Sure sounds like it. All this is is a way for the Concrap crooks to exploit everyone and price gouge them.
Seriously ? Do you know how much data UHD streaming uses? With today’s watching movies, tv shows, video games, working from home, phones, cameras, devices even Comcast has digital tv online to watching over the internet, social media and also quality of videos in general becoming heavier and better quality a data cap itself is pointless. Every month I come close to going over. I have to make all my streaming platforms lowest quality to just not go over the stupid cap. Everything is fine today the net. If 1.2 TB is enough then why are making millions from it?
Don’t worry, Walt. In time, you’ll be in a different group of “small number of people” and then you’ll think again.
Okay, looks like we have a comcast employee here
Walt, I’m afraid you are talking nonsense. All of this usage is already supported and the “hogs” are not even being stopped, just being asked to pay more. They are still there and any imaginary impact they are having doesn’t go away by adding charges. With 2 kids Zoom streaming school all day and 2 adults working at home, gaming off hours and streaming movies I just reached my limit for January (it’s the 19th today). Comcast’s arguments don’t hold water, if such a small % of people are going over then why charge at all. The chances of going… Read more »
I disagree as well. It effects a large group. And its a gouging technique. Especially to all families with children and those working from home during the pandemic. We live in an electronic age , where everything is connected to the i internet even light switches and appliances. Im sure they will include the xfinity wifiy which is so horrible yoi cant ise it any way. It is horrible un ethical and illegal. We need our law makers and representatives to back us. Who stands for us. I still remember when corps and companies had to stand by there services… Read more »
That is not at all accurate. Since the covid lock down I have both kids at home doing school and we are over our 1TB data cap every month (stuck with AT&T). The whole this will only affect a small amount of data abuser lie is just that, A lie.
Sony and Microsoft are selling versions of their game consoles that are digital only and selling just as well as their disc models. Can you imagine the shock that some people will have when they find out Comcast is going to charge them extra for downloading games?
Either way it has to download the game itself regardless if it’s disc or digital.
GREEDY MFers with a monopoly in my area.. 80 dollars a month for 3rd tier service..
something to consider… * a high quality 30 minute 1080p video is around 1GB to 1.5GB in size, takes quite a while to chew up that limit if only one person is doing it… that’s clearly not going to happen, it takes about a minimum of around 800 episodes of these to break the limit * 4K is 4 times more dense than 1080p and that scales accordingly (4-6GB now), it only takes about a minimum of around 200 episodes to break the limit * your game library, this one is probably a big one, unless you’re only plan on… Read more »
Such a slimy move. I hate the monopoly they have in certain areas of massachusetts, if there was anything else available I know many people who would gladly switch. Down with Comcast
So now do you Spectrum customers in NY see why Charter petitioned the FCC to be able to implement caps earlier than they agreed to as a condition of the Time Warner takeover?
Another tax on the poor.
You should do better research. Comcast has had a 1 tb data limit for years… YEARS. With the pandemic, they increased limit up to 1.2 tb. Breaking news, lol, more like struggling to meet a deadline with a story and gotta put some s**t out to keep your job.
Many markets, especially ones where they compete directly with ISPs that don’t have caps (FiOS) had no Comcast data cap. They’re now unilaterally applying the cap to all markets. Maybe you should do YOUR research better.
This is just being introduced in January 2021 to some of the largest markets in the Northeast. Check your facts. I’m not sure the argument that they have done it before and gotten away with it has any validity whatsoever. They are also a monopoly in some of these markets.
i can say every month i go past that cap, household data usage is about 2x that limit. but on the flip side, i have the gigabit service because i know the household uses a lot of data as that is highest plan available before going to business level. household is 5 adults 3 children. between online class daily, game playing, streaming every tv since they convinced us to use rokus to watch tv instead of a cable box. it all adds up fast. especially when 4 of the members are online gamers with games constantly updating.
First of all I work for Comcast in their indirect sales department. Very few customers actually go past the 1.2 TB cap. People want “Unlimited” but don’t really realize what they actually use does not even come close to the cap. Comcast offers XfI Advantage, which for $25 per month offers the modem along with unlimited data. Considering the standard modem rental rate is $14/mo the unlimited option with the leased modem is only $11 more per month. Sure nobody wants data caps, but this effects very few people. Also consider in areas that had a 1 TB CAP, this… Read more »
I would leave comcast in a heartbeat, if anything else becomes available, I will. In the meantime the cap is Crap.
This is a total slime move. All in favor, say F**k Comcast.
They pay for unlimited. How does Comcast have the right to charge over $80 or more a month for unlimited and complain. This is not the time to change any plans right now. I think they are trying to recoup monies from several ppl cutting the cord . It is not fair
Data caps are 100 percent profit, and allows an ISP to over provision without adding equipment, witch adds more profit. Expecting an ISP to be fair to a customer in 2020 is pure fantasy. I’ve bought about a dozen used modems and set them up for family and friends because my local ISP is constantly adding new fees to everything they can. The analog to digital tv transition was in 2009, and every few months when they call to convince me to add tv service to my internet, I say no thanks I use an antenna. Every time they say… Read more »
Actually, for me there’s nothing worthwhile to watch on broadcast TV, and darned little worth watching on cable either. Before we cancelled cable, I realized much of my cable viewing wasn’t selecting specific shows, but rather turning the TV on and flipping through the multitude of channels looking for something even vaguely worth watching. And at that time we were already subscribed to Netflix and (eventually) Crunchyroll too. But I’m working from home, as I have been for the past 5+ years. My choices here are Crapcast or Verizon DSL. VZ sold the fiber lines to some other company that… Read more »
Nobody wants your damn modems either.
You’re an absolute joke. Comcast has been shutting down their 2g and 10g pipes all over the country for the past 3 years. They’re not losing money on bandwidth. I provide them with bandwidth for a living. They’re corporate profiteers. If consumers use so little bandwidth, then they shouldn’t need any data caps at all. They have to slash their network down to pieces to even claim that they need a data cap. This is out of nowhere.
They should only apply the caps to 5% top users then, and have that number shift with the actual usage
Data caps are nothing less than a scam. Anyone who has taken even one networking class knows that’s not how networks work. They might as well be charging you for all the Truffula trees it costs them. I don’t know why anyone even tries to compromise on this. The cost difference between using 1 Mb and 1 PB of data a month is an amount of electricity so small that trying to measure it would cost more electricity than the data would.
This is not some unavoidable thing that has to happen or an attempt by Comcast to manage their networks fairly, this is Comcast taking what should be a commodity and imposing artificial scarcity to extract more and more money from Americans with arbitrary limits trust aren’t in place in almost every other industrialized country in the world. Also, the usage rate is constantly increasing and will be exploding over the next decade. Comcast knows this and that’s why they’re putting these in place now, while they have a friendly fcc chairman that gives them everything they want. It’s immoral, is… Read more »
Consider this. The only reason a company does anything, is to make money. If it was truly 1%, they wouldn’t be doing it as 1% of customers overage at the Max overage cost doesn’t get them a lot of money.
Anymore the average usage now, sits at about 1 TB. The true 1%, is at the 2+ TB of usage. Yes I said 2+ TB.
Only affect a small number of customers? People who ABUSE the internet?? Who do you work for Walt? Comcast😂
I think this data cap is a joke. Especially with being home more with covid. Its enough to drive an hour to a bigger town, and covid in Illinois, especially winter. Work and watch tv. Trying to save, cut $140 a month on dish, comcast just alerted me of overage, so added $10. On to my $53 just for internet. Have a roku which I love, but have to pay for some local tv, or get a package with popular channels. . Try to save, but they get you some other way.
As a family that has “cut the cord” to get away from the ridiculously overpriced TV packages that Comcast was imposing, we’re now looking to have our internet only cable bill double. Basically, Comcast has told me, “Tough s**t for cutting the cord, you’re going to regret it now.” In a family of 4 adults and 2 under 13 children, we’ve been over 3TB most months BEFORE the pandemic, and now with virtual schooling and working from home, we’re usually in the 3.5-4TB range. Our only other option for internet is dial-up. Is there some kind of class-action suit that… Read more »
Any chance there’s a class action in the works? Some people had contracts that they signed for service. Any chance we can hit em where it hurts legally? If not I say we just start throwing bricks at the Comcast building.
This sets a bad precedent. Even if you don’t exceed the 1.2TB now, you might in the future if Comcast refuses to continually increase the limit.
This is BS!!!! Here are my last 7 Months data used and I have gone over the 1.2 TB each month. 2562 GB, 1650 GB, 1625 GB, 1837 GB, 1416 GB, 1582 GB, 2014 GB.
The real kicker is that it is Xfinity that is causing me to go near or over the caps. If you have xfinity 4k box hooked up to a 4k tv then when you watch amazon or netflix using your stb it automatically streams at 4k and there is no way to lower the resolution of your stream using your xfinity stb. so if you watch amazon or netfix thru your stb you will hit the data cap very fast. how convenient for comcast
There is one of the big problems, isn’t it? So many services will automatically expand to the fastest speed/highest resolution. But it’s useless for me to fetch a 4K stream, when even my televisions can’t handle anything anywhere near that. And laptops or tablets? 720p would be sufficient there. If I need better I’ll buy the DVD… Oh, that’s right, we’re no longer allowed to buy physical media.
I am by NO MEANS defending their behavior because I’m an Xfinity customer right now sitting at about 1.4 TB used out of 1.2 TB. I’m on my 1st and final “grace month” – oh gee thank you Xfinity for allowing me to use my 500Mb connection I’m paying plenty for already…but, I believe if you stream those services via an Xfinity STB, they MIGHT not count that data against you. I could have sworn that was part of their whole zero rating strategy to encourage/force people into using their equipment. If someone knows for certain that’s not true otherwise… Read more »
If I had to guess, it counts when they want it to count. There’s a long history of people comparing data usage numbers given by their router to the number given by Comcast and the Comcast number is always higher.
If the data cap was actually about network management, Comcast would only apply it to uploads (where they have less capacity), or would offer throttling to, say, 5% of committed speed after you go over the cap. I’d say “or offer deprioritization above the cap” like cell providers do, but Comcast has so much capacity on their last mile these days that no one would notice when they went over. Thing is, dropping speeds to 5% of advertised would still leave folks with enough bandwidth that they might not be able to tell they had gotten throttled. That’s how high… Read more »
As a network tech with a friend who’s a network engineer at an ISP, I can definitively say data caps are purely greed. It’s a cash grab with logic so flimsy that only people with no idea of how networks work would fall for it.
There is no difference between upload and download capacity on a network. This is an artificially imposed limit since residential users typically need much higher download than upload speeds. There’s no such concept on an actual data network, it’s all 2-way. There are in fact capacity limits on any network but they are for concurrent throughput not total download volume.
Comcast is a greedy monopolizing pig company. They exist primarily to Nickle and Dime Americans. Some local jurisdictions (counties, municipals and cities) are to be blame because they refused to allow other provider to setup shops. Comcast hates the fact that consumers are cutting cords and switching to online providers. Don’t believe their false narrative about abuse of bandwidth. It’s a lame discredited attempt to cover up the intent of their action, which is bigger profit for this humongous conglomerate.
Booo Hooo. if you don’t like their cap and want to “stick it to them” then cancel and get sattelite internet and see what a data cap is really like. Pay $120/mo for 30GB (that’s right GIGA bytes). You will have enough data to watch maybe 3 or 4 movies in HD each month (if you do nothing else but that). Then when you do hit the cap in about 3-4 days if you are lucky, you will be THROTTLED to a speed comperable to dialup in the 1990’s for the rest of the month. At that speed in the… Read more »
So your argument in favor of worse, more expensive internet that places Americans at a disadvantage to every where else in the world is that even worse, more expensive internet exists? That’s some remarkable reasoning there, genius.
No I am just pointing out how silly it is to complain about a 1.2TB cap when others are saddled with much worse and have to pay much more for that lousy service. How about everyone pay $120 a month for 1.2TB. That would be heaven. You guys crack me up complaining when your internet bill goes up $5 or they place a reasonable cap when there are people who cannot get the service simply because of where they live. If you are hitting 1.2TB a month then you might want to subscribe to Dish network for your TV like… Read more »
Ridiculous argument. “I have it worse, therefore other people should have to suffer my situation as well.” How about we just agree that ANY data caps are the problem and stop pretending we should accept them from any company? I’d argue even transfer rates are silly to market, but at least that’s a viable and reasonable throttle they can use based on what a customer is willing or able to pay. Ideally these companies should stop trying to do “creative costing” and just say here you go, Internet connection is $X and you can go as fast as we technically… Read more »
Tell me this, Why is internet service any different than your electric bill or your gas bill? You get charged for what you use. People seem to this that “data” comes out of thin air because it isn’t a physical thing like gas is. Imagine if th gas company had an “unlimited plan” what people would be doing. Their thermostat would be set to 80 degrees while leaving the windows and doors wide open. Think about if the electric company had it too. lights left on 24 x 7. That is what is happening with internet right now. from wasteful… Read more »
Here is why your analogy does not work (or in other words, why broadband is different than electric/gas, etc.): When you fill your vehicle with gas,you burn the commodity as you drive and need to replace the used fuel with ‘new fuel.’ Electricity/gas to the home actually works on the same principal, except most of us don’t have our own 24/7 generation plants, so we remain mostly unaware of the materials replenishment process to continue generating electricity. Also, you don’t drive your vehicle 24/7, and you can turn off a light without disrupting other things going on in your home.… Read more »
I agree with most of what you said but I think you missed one thing. I think that what is missing is the fact that the “backbone” of the internet is being stressed (this is how Spectrum, Comcast, Verizon, etc. connect to each other allowing a user on Comcast to stream a show hosed on a content provider who uses Verizon. That is what is being stressed right now. This problem shows up as traffic jams during “peak hours” when people are all home “streaming”. This jam affects us unserved people more than others due to latency (600ms min with… Read more »
I didn’t ‘miss’ that. But I don’t agree that the issues you are experiencing are due to that stress – as that stress really doesn’t exist in the way you are assuming it does. Peak usage is spread out over time zones … in other words, there may be a ‘peak’ usage time in NY, but it is not the same peak time as CA, etc. There can be localized stresses depending on how an ISP distributes servers/switches, etc., but a slow-down in my neighborhood is not because someone else 500 miles away on another ISP is sucking down data… Read more »
How ISP’s advertise their “services” is another issue across the board. When people shop for home internet, they have been conditioned to look at “speed” and not data allocations, caps. At the beginning of the pandemice we had an influx of subscribes signing up for sat internet to supplement or replace their “slow” DSL at 1MPS only to be shocked with the data cap. Take a look at the sat internet tech support forums from that time. They would see the “up to 25MPS” adverised and think with 1MPS I could stream with one device at a time with 25…wooo… Read more »
Honestly, I don’t think the picture you are painting is complete. I will only use my household as an example, but I know that there are many others where analogous pictures can be painted: 1) Working from home … a) a public school educator who is part of the remote learning team, on Zoom from 7:30 a.m. until after 3:30 p.m. teaching over 100 students, b) social media strategist/consultant working on websites, social media, webinars, etc. 2) Learning from home … a) one seventh grader learning remotely, b) one college freshman learning remotely, c) one college senior who works/learns remotely… Read more »
Funny you should mention electricity and phone build outs to rural areas. They were funded by a Tax for users receiving the service. There’s that $30/mo charge that you are saying would “break your bank”. Remember the “line charge” on the landline bills of the past. The other problem faced here is that these ISP’s take mony from the government for “buildouts” and then build into a “plump” (densly populated) area already served by their competitor (which is great for the people in that area who simply take advantage of “introductory offers” from each company and switch back and forth… Read more »
I understand your frustration – and also the concerns that ISPs are not building out to underserved areas due to technicalities. That certainly needs to be addressed, as I have already said.
But the issues you are having are due to the ISP’s policies and the type of connection you have. It has nothing to do with other users on other ISPs … and blaming other users for slowdows, etc. at your end (aside from other SAT users), is just misguided.
It is you with your < 5ms latency fiber connection that doesn’t understand the effect that latency has. For you, a congested path might mean a 10ms latency that you never notice. For me with a 600-1200ms latency that means timeouts, incomplete page loads, buffering, etc. Yes “other sat users” affect that (usually pushing it towards the 1200ms mark) but my connection has to go up to the sat and then back to the ground before it even connects to the real internet (600ms one way trip due to the laws of physics). That connection between the ground station and… Read more »
First of all, you are making assumptions about my service. I do not have fiber to the home (although there is fiber to the pole – or at least the nearest neighborhood drop.) My latency generally ranges from about 10ms to 20ms. Nothing to complain about for certain, but still significantly higher than the assumption you made. Your issue with latency is because of the type of service you have. It stinks, but as you pointed out, physics can only be cheated so far, and getting a signal from your home to the satellite and back certainly could take around… Read more »
I’m really enjoying this discussion. However, you misinterpret what you are buying with your 400/200 connection, You are basically buying a larger pipe than a person with a 200/100 connection. You are not buying the capability to download as much as you can at the 400/200 speed. You are basically buying a larger pipe to deliver a commodity (data) through it. Think of it as water for a minute. Say it takes 3 days to fill a swimming pool with your current water service and you don’t want to wait that long to go swimming so you order the “high… Read more »
You’re absolutely right. We can thank Idjit Pai for gutting the FCC and letting these a$$clowns do whatever they want to people who literally have no alternatives. Internet service should be regulated as a utility. Fiber to the premise should be standard and high speed cell towers or similar to cover areas where running lines isn’t really feasible. ISPs should be like web hosts. They hook you up with DNS servers at minimum and extra bells and whistles like email piecemeal or in reasonable bundles, for those who want it. These days, who even uses their ISP for email anyways?… Read more »
Our family of 3 regularly exceed 1.2TB each month.
Also, are you aware that it is impossible to get customer service as a person. They have further diminished their services by utilizing robots who cannot comprehend the service issues. If you do get a human the best and only way is via billing and new accounts. That’s right, they want your money. Then it is by by! They are crooks and totally incompetent besides. I thought Verizon was bad. Com Cast is one of the worst, if not the worst consumer corp. in the USA. In some areas they have a monopoly. No competition. They don’t want to hear… Read more »
We exceed this proposed cap every month. I work from home and we stream our media. I can’t help but think this is a money grab because there are more and more people who stream instead of using cable. They tried to do this years back to companies, in many of the ‘net neutrality battles, but when they lost that battle they came after the citizens.
All this is is a bunch of losers at Concrap exploiting everyone for their own pockets. They never cared about their customers. Only how they can better rip everyone off.
Comcast you all are a bunch of freaking greedy money hungry crooks!!! As if you dont profit enough money already you still want to up your charges?!! Really?!! Why don’t you get your head out of your tight rich asses and become a real life human being living in a hard working world, and stop thinking only about your pockets!!! You charge enough already and you still want more??!!
You need to think about lowering your charges already!! I think the entire united states should boycott your service!! Really c’mon!!
Comcast is scared. Once Starlink is up and running and widely available, Comcast will lose a lot of subscribers. Already people are wising up and ditching the TV services due to the outrageous additional fees. As a result they raised their prices on internet service, and charging way more than is sensible. Now they are adding a cap and charging an extra fee to get unlimited that you had previously. Dirty business tactics. They know they’re in trouble is they finally get competition from Starlink in areas where they currently have a monopoly. Unfortunately Comcast is the only high speed… Read more »
@ Chris – You are correct. Comcast lost over 1 million TV service subscribers (cord-cutters) in 2020. And it’s likely that a majority of those customers did keep Comcast’s internet service, like we did. Starting this month, I now pay $95.79 a month for their Performance Internet service (100mbs speed). If I choose the Unlimited Data plan at $30 / month, my cost is almost back to the cost I was paying with a full TV service subscription. Comcast’s constant raising of their rates for their TV packages is the reason I stopped that TV service in the first place… Read more »
I would love to see a class action suite against Comcast! Where are the lawyers! Why aren’t municipalities clamoring to bring in competition? The small towns with only one provider will be hurt the most! This sucks!
This is insidious, if you watch just a handful of movies on one weekend you’ll be near the data cap in a week. I’m cancelling this BS and switching to Verizon.
I’m all in for a class action against comcast. I went from averaging 500 gbs a month to 500 gbs in weekend. Comcast can make the numbers look any way they want. The worst thing is they are the corporate bully, and there isn’t much recourse right now. We need suggestions on this page on what product works better.