7 ms·

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast p

by naner 15y ago

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast policy, got a warning, and then broke the policy again. I'm not surprised he got cut off. I do not recall details on how long the cut off would be, likely because I spent the next few minutes working with the service agent to add notes to my record about my detailed displeasure with Comcast's policy here. I specifically noted (and asked that it be recorded) that if this happened again I would contact the FCC, various news organizations, and otherwise make a stink. The CS agent was polite and reactivated my broadband. Wha? Why would the FCC or news orgs care that you exceeded your broadband cap? And why are you threatening the service rep? This whole thing stinks of irresponsibility and entitlement. This guy ignored or didn't care about the whole data caps thing (which was announced a long time ago), didn't pay attention to his warning from Comcast, and now he got burned by it and suddenly decides unlimited broadband is his right. Too late.

Dylan16807 15y ago
The problem isn't comcast's policies themselves, it's the monopoly situation. And that seems like an FCC situation to me.
- rudle 15y ago
  What, exactly, does Comcast have a monopoly on? Basic internet access might be considered a necessary utility, but an unlimited 15MB line is certainly not. Also, http://www.google.com/search?q=high+speed+internet+seattle+wa http://www.google.com/search?q=high+speed+internet+seattle+w...
  - paran 15y ago
    So why stop the service, charge more for more data use. Or perhaps throttle your speeds. I think he means monopoly in the terms of disallowing service, I guess he should be ok if they charge him more money for more data usage. Either way I believe there is a monopoly where as locations and service providers are concerned and many a times caps such as 250GB are extremely arbitrary. I mean really whats the technical reasoning for a uniform cap of 250GB whether you are in downtown NY of Seattle? Also I would read this... Extremely thought provoking... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2709834 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2709834
    - bgentry 15y ago
      It's cheaper for Comcast to cut off a few "problem" customers than it is for them to actually invest their record profits in upgrading residential infrastructure.
  - Raesan 15y ago
    I live in Capitol Hill (right in the middle of Seattle), and Comcast is the only ISP in my area that offers a connection faster than 5mbps. It's a legitimate problem.
    - jamesaguilar 15y ago
      Even if internet access is a right, internet access >5mbps certainly is not.
      - sorbus 15y ago
        Just because something is not a fundamental human right does not mean that it's not possible to have a monopoly over it. Monopolies are a problem, regardless of what they're providing.
    - Bobby_Tables 15y ago
      5mbps? You're lucky. I live in a densely populated area of another major city in the US, and I can't get anything faster than 3mbps from anyone, no matter how much I'm willing to pay...
- naner 15y ago
  Assuming Comcast is the only ISP in his area, can he sign up for a Comcast business account? It appears he doesn't just want his account reinstated but he expects unlimited data use.
  - jarrettcoggin 15y ago
    I was in the exact same situation this guy was in (except they hadn't cut my service yet), and this is exactly what I did. There is no cap for Business Class Internet and the Customer Service is MUCH better. On top of that, you can get Static IPs that you cannot get with a residential account.
    - lesterbuck 15y ago
      I investigated Comcast Business Class in my area, and the contract I was offered was totally outrageous. The worst clause was early termination, where they claim 75% of the cost of the service for the rest of the contract (1yr, 2yr or 3yr) even when the service was terminated. I re-evaluated my needs and realized with cheap VPS proxies and smarthosts, I could do just fine with one dynamic IP. My contract is simple month to month. From my research, it seems that Business Class has a soft limit of 750GB, too, though apparently not enforced. If you want to have some fun, take the standard Comcast Business Class contract, find the Comcast URL that they include by reference about terms of service and bandwidth usage policies, find the 800 number referenced on those pages to obtain the actual documents, and enjoy the totally blank response you get from the drone that answers that phone number. If you have ever actually obtained the Business Class policy documents referred to in their contract, I'd love to get a copy. (Yes, I actually read their 14 page terms of service. The few, the proud...)
  - simcop2387 15y ago
    The problem may also be that Comcast (and a few other cable ISPs) may refuse to give someone in a residential area a Business account. In my area they refuse to do it ostensibly for zoning issues (which really have nothing to do with it). It's one of the big reasons that I do not use any of the online backup places.
- orky56 15y ago
  What if there was another ISP in the area offering a similar service but also had the same restrictions? The problem would be exactly the same and this guy would be in the same situation. Competition and having options wouldn't really change anything. It ultimately comes down to the data cap restriction first and foremost.
crs 15y ago
Actually if you read his post from a day ago, you will see him state he stopped the open access point. He took steps to stop what he thought was the issue. It was not until the cap was broken a second time that he realized it was his backup system uploading to a 3rd party service. That is not entitlement at all. If anything it was ignorance of the fact that your upload data is also measured against the cap. I agree with him about going to the FCC. The fact that he has no where to turn to purchase a competing service means that Comcast can dictate peoples internet usage behavior. My question would be is does the 250g data cap apply when they are watching TV/Movies online via Comcast (XFinity) provided services?
- naner 15y ago
  Perhaps if he was more civil with the service reps and just explained the mistake he would have been given a reprieve. Regardless, it doesn't sound like he's willing to cut back his data use.
  - martianpenguin 15y ago
    you've obviously never dealt with comcast's "customer service"
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Yeah, maybe if he bought them a cake and rented a hooker, everything would be peachy!
  - seanp2k 15y ago
    Dude, have you ever talked to a comcast rep? One dude told me that I needed to get access to my apartment telco room because it was MY fault that the apartments were mislabelled (presumably done by one of THEIR techs). The problem was that they unplugged my internet when my neghibor didn't pay. No credit given to me for the time I was down or anything either, and dood wouldn't let me talk to a supervisor. Supervisor called back 5 hours later in the middle of the night (~3AM) and I was sleeping. WTF.
- recoiledsnake 15y ago
sp332 15y ago
Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his public access point, they still cut him off for a year with no appeal. This mirrors what happened to me. I was given an automated warning. I called the security number but they wouldn't tell me what sort of traffic I should be looking for. They didn't even have a bandwidth meter rolled out in my area at the time! I had to guess what my bandwidth usage was for the next few months. I even called to make sure that I was under the cap, but they wouldn't tell me anything at all. "I'm sure you're fine" the rep said. And then they cut me off. (Turns out it was a misconfigured bittorrent client, but at least I knew that upload counted toward the cap.) I at least managed to switch to a business account, which isn't too much more expensive and has no cap. Last month I pushed over 1TB, no complaints.
- danudey 15y ago
  >Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his public access point, they still cut him off for a year with no appeal. He obviously wasn't that careful. There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using; it's trivial to set one up, watch your throughput, and start killing off apps until you see what's doing all the work. He seems to be technically-minded enough to understand core concepts, so why wouldn't he understand that uploading all of his content (his images, his music, etc.) to the cloud is going to use up his bandwidth? It seems obvious to me.
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    > There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using Sure, for that machine. So I suppose he could go out and bet a new box, set it up as the router, and then monitor traffic. Just like I have to install my own electric meter... wait. Or like how I have to install my own flow measuring va... wait again.
    - mikeryan 15y ago
megaman821 15y ago
Comcast has a geographic monopoly in his area and like every other monopoly should be under some sort of government regulation. What Comcast should do if they are actually under bandwidth constraints is lower his 15Mb connection to 1Mb after he passed the 250GB cap. What they actually did was drop a customer because their profit margins weren't as high as the wanted them to be.
- billswift 15y ago
  >What they actually did was drop a customer because their profit margins weren't as high as the wanted them to be. So what else is new. Greyhound fucked over a lot of small cities 5 to 6 years ago by cutting service to them. I'm now a $80 cab ride to any public transport except Amtrack; and Amtrack is really limited both in times and where it goes.
j79 15y ago
You're right; He broke their policy. However, to be fair, Comcast isn't very "open" with regard to the policy. You log in, see a graph, click "details" and get some mumbo jumbo about only 99% of users exceeding the cap. Clicking "Learn more" takes you to a page that is filled with questions that will deter many users (similar to a EULA - who "really" reads those?!) Up until this blog post, I had absolutely no idea they counted upstream against the cap (I thought it was just downstream)! Sure, it's my fault -- I didn't dig deep enough to find this line in the FAQ: "Data usage, also known as bandwidth usage, is the amount of data, such as images, movies, photos, videos, and other files that customers send, receive, download or upload over a specific period of time." Then again, maybe they should just plainly state that on their site somewhere that both uploads and downloads count against my cap? As a Comcast subscriber, in a similar situation where I am uploading a LOT of data (for work, and cloud based services), this was a rude awakening. Fortunately for me, I'm not using nearly as much bandwidth as he is (last month, I hit 100GB) - but I still wish Comcast was more open. Especially with the world moving towards a more "cloud" based computing (with on demand video!) I mean, their "typical/median use" is laughable in this day and age: Data usage changes over time as our customers use the Internet and the services and applications available for it. Currently, the median data usage by XFINITY Internet customers is approximately 4 - 6 GB each month (these numbers may vary on a monthly basis). This reflects typical residential use of the service for purposes such as sending and receiving email, surfing the Internet, and watching streaming video.

by naner 15y ago

Dylan16807 15y ago

The problem isn't comcast's policies themselves, it's the monopoly situation. And that seems like an FCC situation to me.

rudle 15y ago
What, exactly, does Comcast have a monopoly on? Basic internet access might be considered a necessary utility, but an unlimited 15MB line is certainly not. Also, http://www.google.com/search?q=high+speed+internet+seattle+wa http://www.google.com/search?q=high+speed+internet+seattle+w...
- paran 15y ago
  So why stop the service, charge more for more data use. Or perhaps throttle your speeds. I think he means monopoly in the terms of disallowing service, I guess he should be ok if they charge him more money for more data usage. Either way I believe there is a monopoly where as locations and service providers are concerned and many a times caps such as 250GB are extremely arbitrary. I mean really whats the technical reasoning for a uniform cap of 250GB whether you are in downtown NY of Seattle? Also I would read this... Extremely thought provoking... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2709834 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2709834
  - bgentry 15y ago
    It's cheaper for Comcast to cut off a few "problem" customers than it is for them to actually invest their record profits in upgrading residential infrastructure.
- Raesan 15y ago
  I live in Capitol Hill (right in the middle of Seattle), and Comcast is the only ISP in my area that offers a connection faster than 5mbps. It's a legitimate problem.
  - jamesaguilar 15y ago
    Even if internet access is a right, internet access >5mbps certainly is not.
    - sorbus 15y ago
      Just because something is not a fundamental human right does not mean that it's not possible to have a monopoly over it. Monopolies are a problem, regardless of what they're providing.
  - Bobby_Tables 15y ago
    5mbps? You're lucky. I live in a densely populated area of another major city in the US, and I can't get anything faster than 3mbps from anyone, no matter how much I'm willing to pay...
naner 15y ago
Assuming Comcast is the only ISP in his area, can he sign up for a Comcast business account? It appears he doesn't just want his account reinstated but he expects unlimited data use.
- jarrettcoggin 15y ago
  I was in the exact same situation this guy was in (except they hadn't cut my service yet), and this is exactly what I did. There is no cap for Business Class Internet and the Customer Service is MUCH better. On top of that, you can get Static IPs that you cannot get with a residential account.
  - lesterbuck 15y ago
    I investigated Comcast Business Class in my area, and the contract I was offered was totally outrageous. The worst clause was early termination, where they claim 75% of the cost of the service for the rest of the contract (1yr, 2yr or 3yr) even when the service was terminated. I re-evaluated my needs and realized with cheap VPS proxies and smarthosts, I could do just fine with one dynamic IP. My contract is simple month to month. From my research, it seems that Business Class has a soft limit of 750GB, too, though apparently not enforced. If you want to have some fun, take the standard Comcast Business Class contract, find the Comcast URL that they include by reference about terms of service and bandwidth usage policies, find the 800 number referenced on those pages to obtain the actual documents, and enjoy the totally blank response you get from the drone that answers that phone number. If you have ever actually obtained the Business Class policy documents referred to in their contract, I'd love to get a copy. (Yes, I actually read their 14 page terms of service. The few, the proud...)
- simcop2387 15y ago
  The problem may also be that Comcast (and a few other cable ISPs) may refuse to give someone in a residential area a Business account. In my area they refuse to do it ostensibly for zoning issues (which really have nothing to do with it). It's one of the big reasons that I do not use any of the online backup places.
orky56 15y ago
What if there was another ISP in the area offering a similar service but also had the same restrictions? The problem would be exactly the same and this guy would be in the same situation. Competition and having options wouldn't really change anything. It ultimately comes down to the data cap restriction first and foremost.

crs 15y ago

Actually if you read his post from a day ago, you will see him state he stopped the open access point. He took steps to stop what he thought was the issue. It was not until the cap was broken a second time that he realized it was his backup system uploading to a 3rd party service. That is not entitlement at all. If anything it was ignorance of the fact that your upload data is also measured against the cap. I agree with him about going to the FCC. The fact that he has no where to turn to purchase a competing service means that Comcast can dictate peoples internet usage behavior. My question would be is does the 250g data cap apply when they are watching TV/Movies online via Comcast (XFinity) provided services?

naner 15y ago
Perhaps if he was more civil with the service reps and just explained the mistake he would have been given a reprieve. Regardless, it doesn't sound like he's willing to cut back his data use.
- martianpenguin 15y ago
  you've obviously never dealt with comcast's "customer service"
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Yeah, maybe if he bought them a cake and rented a hooker, everything would be peachy!
- seanp2k 15y ago
  Dude, have you ever talked to a comcast rep? One dude told me that I needed to get access to my apartment telco room because it was MY fault that the apartments were mislabelled (presumably done by one of THEIR techs). The problem was that they unplugged my internet when my neghibor didn't pay. No credit given to me for the time I was down or anything either, and dood wouldn't let me talk to a supervisor. Supervisor called back 5 hours later in the middle of the night (~3AM) and I was sleeping. WTF.
recoiledsnake 15y ago

sp332 15y ago

Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his public access point, they still cut him off for a year with no appeal. This mirrors what happened to me. I was given an automated warning. I called the security number but they wouldn't tell me what sort of traffic I should be looking for. They didn't even have a bandwidth meter rolled out in my area at the time! I had to guess what my bandwidth usage was for the next few months. I even called to make sure that I was under the cap, but they wouldn't tell me anything at all. "I'm sure you're fine" the rep said. And then they cut me off. (Turns out it was a misconfigured bittorrent client, but at least I knew that upload counted toward the cap.) I at least managed to switch to a business account, which isn't too much more expensive and has no cap. Last month I pushed over 1TB, no complaints.

danudey 15y ago
>Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his public access point, they still cut him off for a year with no appeal. He obviously wasn't that careful. There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using; it's trivial to set one up, watch your throughput, and start killing off apps until you see what's doing all the work. He seems to be technically-minded enough to understand core concepts, so why wouldn't he understand that uploading all of his content (his images, his music, etc.) to the cloud is going to use up his bandwidth? It seems obvious to me.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  > There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using Sure, for that machine. So I suppose he could go out and bet a new box, set it up as the router, and then monitor traffic. Just like I have to install my own electric meter... wait. Or like how I have to install my own flow measuring va... wait again.
  - mikeryan 15y ago

megaman821 15y ago

Comcast has a geographic monopoly in his area and like every other monopoly should be under some sort of government regulation. What Comcast should do if they are actually under bandwidth constraints is lower his 15Mb connection to 1Mb after he passed the 250GB cap. What they actually did was drop a customer because their profit margins weren't as high as the wanted them to be.

billswift 15y ago
>What they actually did was drop a customer because their profit margins weren't as high as the wanted them to be. So what else is new. Greyhound fucked over a lot of small cities 5 to 6 years ago by cutting service to them. I'm now a $80 cab ride to any public transport except Amtrack; and Amtrack is really limited both in times and where it goes.

j79 15y ago

You're right; He broke their policy. However, to be fair, Comcast isn't very "open" with regard to the policy. You log in, see a graph, click "details" and get some mumbo jumbo about only 99% of users exceeding the cap. Clicking "Learn more" takes you to a page that is filled with questions that will deter many users (similar to a EULA - who "really" reads those?!) Up until this blog post, I had absolutely no idea they counted upstream against the cap (I thought it was just downstream)! Sure, it's my fault -- I didn't dig deep enough to find this line in the FAQ: "Data usage, also known as bandwidth usage, is the amount of data, such as images, movies, photos, videos, and other files that customers send, receive, download or upload over a specific period of time." Then again, maybe they should just plainly state that on their site somewhere that both uploads and downloads count against my cap? As a Comcast subscriber, in a similar situation where I am uploading a LOT of data (for work, and cloud based services), this was a rude awakening. Fortunately for me, I'm not using nearly as much bandwidth as he is (last month, I hit 100GB) - but I still wish Comcast was more open. Especially with the world moving towards a more "cloud" based computing (with on demand video!) I mean, their "typical/median use" is laughable in this day and age: Data usage changes over time as our customers use the Internet and the services and applications available for it. Currently, the median data usage by XFINITY Internet customers is approximately 4 - 6 GB each month (these numbers may vary on a monthly basis). This reflects typical residential use of the service for purposes such as sending and receiving email, surfing the Internet, and watching streaming video.