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Comcast Rolls Out Nationwide 1TB Data Cap (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Comcast's home internet data caps are going live for a majority of customers starting November 1st, the company announced today. Called the "Xfinity Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan," the cap restricts the amount of data you consume in your home to 1TB per month regardless of the speed of your plan. Comcast claims 99 percent of customers use less than 1TB per month, but it does now offer an unlimited option for $50 more per month. Back in April, Comcast bumped its data cap from 300GB to 1TB after consumer backlash and renewed regulatory concern from the FCC. And until today, the plan has been active in select markets for 16 states. But starting November 1st, the list will add 18 new markets, bringing the total number of states with the terabyte data cap to around 30. Notable exceptions include New York and nearly the entire northeast. For a full list of included markets, check Comcast's online FAQ.
No cap for me, I'm using the neighbor's open xfinitywifi for free. Thanks, Comcast is fuckin awesome!
The chocolate ration has gone up to 20 grams a week!
I use about half that now every month. I use Netflix and MLB.tv daily, among other things. I see this as future-proofing for when 4K becomes the standard.
Of course not. 2GB of data on mobile is virtually the same price (if not more) on AT&T and the like as it was 10 years ago.
How much congestion can these people be causing if it only costs at extra $50 to "fix" it?
...movies per month. That's assuming that each 4K movie is compressed to around 100GB each on average. So on top of paying for your movies, you'll also have to pay a $50 per month surcharge.
Unfortunately it is true, Comcast is the only ISP in my area with speed over 25Mbps i get 75Mbps + basic cable for around $90 a month US through comcast.
Now i have to worry about Data caps???
At my fucking house???
THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF PAYING FOR THE FUCKING CABLE!
I have 5 people in the house who all use Youtube/Netflix/Hulu/Steam/Origin/Xbox/Playstation/Wii/+ 5 cell phones and 5 desktops 1 laptop 1 tablet 2 smart TV's ect...
Plus i contribute to a open source project that requires me to regularly perform large git-pull's.
And my flight simulator that downloads world scenery on the fly.
So WTF! Comcast.
We already know for a fact that there is no point beyond Greed and $ for you to implement Data caps on your network.
Fuck you Comcast.
Sincerely, a pissed off customer.
Perhaps your usage is in that top percentile of users that will go over 1tb. If you are really in the top 1% of users, I think paying another $50 a month is justified. (Also, doesn't git have some kind of rsync type capability?)
Sign up for business Internet.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
but these caps seem reasonable for now.
Oh please.
I'm on a 25Mbps DSL and I can easily hit 2TB in a month. Thank goodness Comcast doesn't operate in this area.
We use about 350g/month. Switching to 4K video might blow 1TB out.
If only that were true: http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...
And the ruling that blocked the FCC from mandating competition? It was a suit filed by NC and TN.
I am now blocking ALL ads.
Your adverts now cost me money.
I am also going back to ripping BluRays and storing them on a NAS. Screw Netflix and other services if I am now being punished for using it by the ISP.
Comcast is forcing me to do all this, so if Anyone is angry, please call 1-800-COMCAST and complain.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Perhaps your usage is in that top percentile of users that will go over 1tb. If you are really in the top 1% of users, I think paying another $50 a month is justified.
The truth is that the marginal cost of a 1TB of data is on the order of a few dollars. In which case $50 is massive overkill considering that the average bandwidth usage is just 190GB/month.
Here's what wholesale bandwidth costs today:
Bulk IP transit costs:
10Gbps: $0.85 -- $1.10 Mbps
20Gbps: $0.75 -- $0.95 Mbps
40Gbps: $0.62 -- $0.80 Mbps
75Gbps: $0.55 -- $0.70 Mbps
100Gbps: $0.45 -- $0.60 Mbps
1mbps, running flat-out 24 hours per day for 30 days is just a tad under 1TB.
So multiply by 10 to more than compensate for peak usage and all other overhead.
That works out to $6/TB or less at the kind of wholesale prices that big ISPs pay.
Lets say your internet bill is roughly $60/month. Even with all the fixed overhead for hardware and support staff, that leaves a ton of margin since most customers are only doing 190GB/month.
Data caps are nothing more than abuse of monopoly status.
Even now, after adding most of the USA to this data cap -- they've avoided the entire Washington DC metro area (Northern Virginia and Maryland included). I'm very thankful for that as a MD resident stuck using Comcast for broadband .... but am I the only one who suspects this is on purpose? Comcast probably figures they won't get push-back from angry legislators as long as they make sure all of THOSE folks aren't affected by the changes.
One thing Comcast's plan doesn't cover is that based on current internet usage and popular applications (Netflix, Pandora, etc.) their research suggests 1TB is a reasonable cap for 99% of customers. But what happens when more rich applications come out, video resolution goes up and don't forget that new fangled Internet of Things (IoT). Are they going to adjust the caps based on what "reasonable" is on an ongoing basis? I bet not. That in and of itself is not reasonable. Comcast's PR firm has gone to great lengths to present this in agreeable terms on the basis of reasonableness and they did somewhat of a good job but it still looks like there is an opportunity for an unethical cash grab it's just it will be in the future not in the present.
Fortunately, we have a system that deals with this called free market competition. On that note, Google Fiber/Verizon FioS where you at? I'm ready to switch if you want to become a competitive force in this market space. Get your game on.
We'll make great pets
That is nice for you, but the vast majority of the country does not and will not be covered by FIOS as verizon has completed their roll out.
http://gizmodo.com/after-billi...
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Except almost nobody is actually using H.265 for two reasons. One is devices without hardware acceleration for H.265 decoding. The other is the larger royalty associated with H.265 payable to multiple patent pools.
and changes to the terms, in most states, also gives you a way out of the contract, too.