Comcast bandwidth cap

[CompuTamer]

Okay, i'm confused. We're halfway through our bandwidth for this month, and i KNOW we're going to go over. We're usually well below the limit, but for the last few months, we've been downloading a crap load of stuff... mostly redownloading actually. Stuff that we lost, and are trying to get back.

Anyway, we're up to 125GB of 250GB this month. I know we're going to break 250GB. I need to know if we should be expecting a call from Comcast... looking at the FAQ confuses me:

Will all customers who exceed 250 GB of data usage in a month be identified as excessive users?

Yes, we set 250GB as the residential data usage threshold for excessive use. Since average consumption of those top users changes monthly, we have chosen a monthly threshold at 250GB so that our high-speed Internet customers have a number that they can stay under and will not receive a call from Comcast. Customers who exceed 250GB and are among the heaviest users of Comcast’s high-speed Internet service may be contacted by us about their excessive use. It’s important to note that this is the same practice we have had in place for several years. We continue to contact only the heaviest users of our service. We are continuing that practice now that the 250GB data usage threshold is in effect.

So, if we break 250 will we be contacted, or if we break 250 several months in a row? I'm confused... i doubt we're a top user... we don't download a crap load of stuff much. Usually about 50GB a month.

I'm confused. :confused:

[glorp]

Assuming the material you're after will stick around for a while, why not just pace your d/l-s so you run it up to 245GB+/- near the end of the month and then stop and pick up again August 1? They provide a monitor so you can tell where you are. I do that pretty much every month.

[Jokerzwyld77]

Comcast limits your bandwidth ?!? Ugh now I am worried as my wife and I will be moving back to my hometown when I finish my degree and Comcast is the provider there. Between PC gaming, PS3 Gaming and a TON of downloading I will bust that limit every month >.>

[CompuTamer]

Assuming the material you're after will stick around for a while, why not just pace your d/l-s so you run it up to 245GB+/- near the end of the month and then stop and pick up again August 1? They provide a monitor so you can tell where you are. I do that pretty much every month.


That's the thing. When it finishes, i'll have about a 50GB headroom. That's not counting anything my brother does, or general use... i know that by the end of the month we'll probably break the limit. Not crush it, but i'm thinking 275GBish looking at past months. . The actual downloads that i have won't be a problem, but if my brother starts anything, i'm a little worried we might go over the limit. I know they'll just call us and tell us to curb the usage, and that's not a big deal. I just want to know if they WILL call us, or MIGHT call us.

[wingman99]

I'm heavy into the broadband forms and they don't send letters when you go over one time. They usaly go for people that continually abuse the cap, i've seen people with 350GB's a month with no letters.:)

[glorp]

That's the thing. When it finishes, i'll have about a 50GB headroom. That's not counting anything my brother does, or general use... i know that by the end of the month we'll probably break the limit. Not crush it, but i'm thinking 275GBish looking at past months. . The actual downloads that i have won't be a problem, but if my brother starts anything, i'm a little worried we might go over the limit. I know they'll just call us and tell us to curb the usage, and that's not a big deal. I just want to know if they WILL call us, or MIGHT call us.

They might. That's what the policy says. Any useage over 250GB in any one month is a violation. Whether they choose to warn a long time paying customer for a one time occurrence is entirely up to them.

[CompuTamer]

Thanks... still not too clear on it, but i guess that there's a chance they won't call.

We've had them for 4 years. Since cable internet was possible out here. So i don't think they can complain about us breaking the limit they put in when we were paying for "unlimited" internet.

[EarthDog]

I guess my take on this is, who cares if they call?

I mean, they call, you tell them the story, and thats that, no?

[glorp]

^^You won't get that opportunity. The first call is a warning. The second time (no matter how long after the first) and they can cut off service. You won't get to talk to a person; the call is a robo-call or you may get a letter and there is no appeal to either one, per their policy.

I'm not, by any stretch saying, that's what will always happen or that that's what will happen at 251GB for one month, but that's how the policy is stated so they can do it if or when they choose. Only Concast themselves know exactly how they really administer it and even then I'd bet they aren't consistent for all geographical areas.

[splat]

my interpretation, and through my own personal experiences with comcast throughout the years, is: they state it so as soon as you do anything they can kill your internet. most likely nothing will happen to you if you break one of their policies once, but it could. Most likely if you break the bandwidth cap once, they won't do anything. It is not 100% set in stone that they give you a grace period. So, if you break the bandwidth cap, expect a letter. If one doesn't come, then great.

My advice: if you think you are in trouble of breaking the cap, then stop downloading for a few days. Or limit your download speed so it takes longer to download stuff, so it might take 45 days to download the 250gb of backup data instead of 30 days. If you think this might happen more than once, then look in to the business class internet which has no caps as an absolute last resort.

[PeddlerOfFlesh]

I would have to agree with others. Unless the stuff you are downloading is going to disappear on 8/1 (highly unlikely) just space it out. Only download 200GB of stuff to leave room for your brother / general usage.

[GotNoRice]

When I got my call back in 2008 they claimed I had used 490gb that month. Most I've heard who have gotten calls have been in that range or above, as in, 400gb+. I really doubt you would get a call for just going slightly above 250gb and especially only for one month.

I switched to their business service, which gets me 22/5 for ~$100/month and no caps. I downloaded almost 3TB in June.

[MARCI]

Where is the comcast bandwidth monitor? First I've heard of this.

Last I heard Comcast bandwidth limits didn't apply based on the calender month, or the billing month, but on a floating 30 day window.

Essentially 250gb of bandwidth in any thirty days

Download 150gb on june 14th, then another on 4th of july? you're over the limit

[glorp]

The monitor is available as part of your account information at http://customer.comcast.com. Choose "Users & Settings" tab and login. I don't know if it they rolled it out to all areas but we were informed about it in Jan/Feb 2010 IIRC. It also has a three month total useage barchart.

The cap is 250GB per month, restarting at the end of the the last day of the month. I think they use GMT as the meter closes out several hours before midnight on that last day for me.

[MARCI]

Yeah glorp, I did some googling afterwards, then logged in to the account..

last 3 months 384, 379, 393.. and 75 so far this month...

I do use torrents to timeshift alot of my tv shows, might have to tone that down a bit.

[Insane Scyth]

I went a few months hitting ~ 300 gigs of bandwidth. Then one month my house managed to 800 something bandwidth and then we got the call. In general its one warning then they will cut you off the next time.

If you are consistently getting over 250 gigs, it may be worth going for comcast business class. It's about the same cost for the same speed with much better service and no bandwidth. Since it just seems like its this one month, you should be good.

[_s3v3n_]

First of all, thanks for the last poster who revived this thread. Just wanna share my experience here.

I've been with comcast for 10 years now and never had issues with them (but my friend had). I used to rent the 2nd floor of his apartment and he was sharing his internet connection with me (for a small additional $$ in my rent). Long story short, I used to download 10 DVD movies a day (do the math) and even subscribed to a newsgroup just to get more bandwidth since the speed is uncapped in newsgroups and after roughly 6 months, our internet suddenly stopped. My friend called Comcast and they said that his node is hugging the neighborhood bandwidth (they literally said that). So, him, after a couple exchanges of words with comcast, they finally turned our internet on again and I also heard some not-so-nice words from him about it. He also told me to get easy with the downloading so I said, no problem. I stopped downloading for 2 weeks and after that started to do the same thing........
and..... BOOM! No internet at all.

He tried contacting comcast and they said the same thing and for that, they are blacklisting not only his account indefinitely but also the address of the house. Maybe they meant his name. NO APPEALS, NO ARGUMENTS - we're banned! So that means nobody from that address can avail their service. I tried calling them and opening an account under my name and they said they do not offer any comcast service on that address - HUH!

So take it from my experience and from the posters above. That's how comcast is and i guess, will be.


Anyways, I already moved to another place and got the same service. Learned from the previous mistake, but still downloading but not as extreme as before and I checked my data usage for the past 3 months.


84301


As you can see, I exceeded 10gb last April but didn't get anything. No phone calls, no warnings.

I guess it's because I'm not a frequent offender.

[CompuTamer]

Thanks guys, i feel a lot better about this now :)

My downloads all finished a while back. They were mostly finished when i started this. We're up to about 210GB right now, so we may, or may not go over the limit. Last month we pulled down 248GB of data, and the month before that 140, and before that 30.

I don't think they can really complain to us though. Bill's never been late, and we've been using Comcast internet since they rolled it out at 1/.2 so long ago.

[MARCI]

Of course they can complain, they've got a virtual monopoly, and you're just not paying enough

[CompuTamer]

Well, we just broke the limit yesterday. no calls or bells or anything. Everything still works, so i guess they don't really care?

[GIXXERGUY6]

I want to find something like this for my home network.

my netgear has something in it but I think it's just to cap it, not monitor it

[CompuTamer]

Comcast offers a bandwidth monitor. If you need it in the router's firmware, look into DD-WRT as it has a bandwidth monitor. Breaks it down by day, and gives you a running total since last router reboot.

[_s3v3n_]

Well, we just broke the limit yesterday. no calls or bells or anything. Everything still works, so i guess they don't really care?




I think they have a system that monitors excessive bandwidth use. Maybe it flags up when a certain number of consecutive excessive limit reached - like for example if you excess your limit for 4 or 5 consecutive months then that's the time they see it in their system.

[Fr3@k3r]

ive managed a steady 325gigs per month over the past 2 years..

no problems yet.

[_s3v3n_]

ive managed a steady 325gigs per month over the past 2 years..

no problems yet.


The gods must have love you! :thup::thup:

[CompuTamer]

ive managed a steady 325gigs per month over the past 2 years..

no problems yet.

Maybe the Comcast guys have been taking a two year nap in your area.

Lucky. :p

[nd4spdbh2]

ya you may of gone over and ya your stuff may of not slowed down.... this is cus come your bill they wiill get you.

i <3 my fios.... used 296GB's (up + down) in the last 30 days ... and they wont even bother to think about capping my stuff! btw... if you have a wrt54g .... get tomato firmware.... you though dd-wrt was good tomato is so much more efficient!