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Title: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Frimp on August 29, 2008, 06:26:37 pm http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080828/comcast_internet_cap.html?.v=2
Comcast is going to put internet usage caps on its customers at 250 gb per month. But, read this: Quote 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 Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: bsfins on August 29, 2008, 06:36:18 pm They're trying to stop the peer to peer networks...Down with the Man! Rebel!.... :D
Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: MyGodWearsAHoodie on August 29, 2008, 07:17:34 pm to deal with the half a percent of subscribers that use 1000+ gb which slows everyone else down.
1% of the users use 90% of resources is that fair? Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Frimp on August 29, 2008, 07:22:01 pm I can see the point, but why not make it 10 or 15 gb? That would have more of an effect, I think.
Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: MyGodWearsAHoodie on August 29, 2008, 07:26:57 pm I can see the point, but why not make it 10 or 15 gb? That would have more of an effect, I think. Comcast has probably figured that this level would disrupt the fewest customers while solving the congestion problem. And lets say you are at someone who uses about 6gb. Being told you are limited at 10 might make you a bit worried. If you use 6 and the limit is at 250 you won't be sending nasty letters to comcast. Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: fyo on August 29, 2008, 07:42:46 pm I think there are two issues here:
1) Comcast already had a cap. They just didn't tell people. Plenty of customers have reported receiving calls or letters - and even outright being terminated for "abusing" their connection. Publishing this cap might just be an attempt to minimize bad publicity and possible lawsuits. 2) HD movie downloads. At about 4GB a pop, there's still a long way to 250GB, but with TV shows also increasingly also available in HD and via downloads... well, look at it at 2GB an hour. That's about 30 hours of HD TV a week. Still a lot, but if you're looking at a household of 4-6 people, it becomes somewhat more likely. I'm not saying it's commonplace, but even a single percent would hurt Comcast. Especially considering they would rather have you paying THEM for your HD content. Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Dave Gray on August 29, 2008, 11:54:46 pm Frimp, it's all about stopping people who are just farming movies...always having computers running download and serving movies. A cap that large would only limit the people who are clearly in violation of this, but wouldn't come close to hurting any legitimate users.
I use a lot of bandwidth running reports from home, so I'd like to make sure that the limit was high. ...also, gaming online (with XBOX, etc) uses bandwidth. It's not just using emails. Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Frimp on August 30, 2008, 12:23:46 am ^^^
That makes sense. Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Dave Gray on August 30, 2008, 01:44:46 am I hope they give an option to exceed that limit, rather than just cut it off if you reach it, though. Also, bandwidth is going to keep increasing, as we move to high def and incorporate computers more into our daily entertainment centers.
Title: Re: Ok, well then what's the point? Post by: Defense54 on August 30, 2008, 09:44:19 am The Internet is about 15 years old and didn't really take off to about 10 years ago around 1998. Its been relatively the wild west out here. Almost anything went. People are recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of the World Wide Web. Everything form Kiddie Porn to Terrorist plots, Peoples personnel information, and how to make a bomb is available to anyone. Be prepared for this thing to start getting policed as well. While this move by Comcast is purely a business move to better serve its customers , look for other stop gaps as well. :-\
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