Comcast to make monthly Internet use cap official NEW YORK - Comcast Corp., the nation's second-largest Internet service provider, Thursday said it would set an official limit on the amount of data subscribers can download and upload each month. On Oct. 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250 gigabytes of traffic per month, the company announced on its Web site. Comcast has already reserved the right to cut off subscribers who use too much bandwidth each month, without specifying exactly what constitutes excessive use. "We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive," the company said in a statement on its Web site. Customers who go over the limit are contacted by the company and asked to curb their usage. "We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage do so voluntarily," the company said. Comcast floated the idea of a 250 gigabyte cap in May and mentioned then that it might charge users $15 for every 10 gigabytes they go over, but the overage fee was missing in Thursday's announcement. Curbing the top users is necessary to keep the network fast and responsive for other users, Comcast has said. Comcast stressed that the bandwidth cap is far above the median monthly usage of its customers, which 2 to 3 gigabytes. Very few subscribers use more than 250 gigabytes, it said. A user could download 125 standard-definition movies, about four per day, before hitting the limit. The cap is also above those of some other ISPs. Cox Communications' monthly caps vary from 5 gigabytes to 75 gigabytes depending the subscriber's plan. Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing caps between 5 gigabytes and 40 gigabytes in one market. Frontier Communications Co., a phone company, plans to start charging extra for use of more than 5 gigabytes per month. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828...nternet_cap;_ylt=Ai9z.vAmgYsD7CURd13zCRes0NUE
A 250 GB doesn't bother me even a little bit. But 5 GB? Come on. That's ludicrous. Your average Joe could go over that regularly.
250 GB clearly isn't a problem to 99.99% of people. I'm fine with it. But this is only the beginning and the screws will be tightened. How far down will they go?
They lied to you... you're actually just playing with yourself on your own connection, isolated from the world... just... watching... playing with yourself... just... chillin'... just playing... with... yourself... watching... chillin'... Dang, that didn't sound right.
Dude, I don't know. I don't know jack squat about online gaming. Ask some other type of geeks... I'm not the gaming type of geek...
Ok, I will take that deal, now why don't you give us more HD channels that we are sorely missing in Houston compared to EVERY OTHER COMPETITOR???
Im not a huge gamer, but it is my understanding that the amount of traffic games use isnt as high as you think....most of the graphical work is done on your machine, it needs to send data to know what to display on your screen, but the graphic files themselves are on your computer and dont have to be transmitted every time they are used. unless you are on warez newsgroups, you should be fine with the 250G cap...torrents are too slow for you to get that much data in one month imo, you would have to be using a high speed newsgroup server to pull that much down in one month.
Totally fine with this. I get close to that a month, but turning off the Hard Drives for a couple of days will save me.
Yeah, this is my only concern. Sneak in at 250 GB right now, but who knows where it goes from there... Other than that, I doubt most people will worry about 250GB.
Its no problem for me but I am a little irked that they are instituting a limit now. I mean I am paying a pretty steep monthly premium for High speed. I just don't like the direction we are headed.
