Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| reply to Forbin
Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps
said by anonguy2 :
What's generous? looking at the posts seems that > 80 gig combined is enough to get a warning. Is Cogeco going to start nickel and diming its customers like Rogers?
Generous is not being cut off at EXACTLY your bitcap limit. If you don't want to have problems then plan to stay around your bitcap for your plan.
said by manderson4  :Can you maybe help us out with a little clarification on "We're still being generous with the bitcaps and we're still not charging money for overages but it's tighter than before." I realize I need to upgrade but I am wondering if just the Pro will do it or do I need to look at a small business package. As I said above, if you're not really in the area of your cap then you should probably upgrade. I can't really say much outside of see »www.cogeco.ca/en/high-speed-internet-_o.html and »www.cogeco.ca/en/commercial_serv···s_o.html for more info on bitcaps
said by Snickerdo :I'm not going to change the way I browse the Internet just because Cogeco is financially troubled and trying to find ways to not upgrade their network, since this is the only reason they would ever pull a stunt like this after 10-13 years of offering high speed service. I understand you're upset and your need to find the best provider for your usage and online needs. I don't expect you to believe me and I'm not going to debate it but bitcap enforcement is not an alternative to upgrading capacity, we have a full team dedicated to capacity planning and there are continual upgrades going on network wide.
said by urbanriot :However, I do think it's a little severe if they're disabling users with no warning, since this enforcement is new. We're not disabling users with no warning on purpose, there was a problem this month that caused some people to get no warning and it shouldn't happen again. Also, the enforcement process isn't new, we just changed what we're monitoring.
said by PegLeg :What I find strange is why drop the hammer NOW , IF they are going to raise the 'caps' as stated above by ' DrDog '. I think it would cause less problems to raise the limits first and THEN announce the hard cap ! To my knowledge (which could well be limited) there are no immediate plans to raise any bitcaps.
said by Forbin :
In my case I got two bandwidth warnings in quick succession a couple of days ago. Now my download speed is ~200kbps. Not as bad as being disconnected but it's next to worthless. We do not limit speed...if we take action they you are simply redirected to our suspension page, we DO NOT alter speeds so if you're having speed problems it's unrelated and should be investigated accordingly
said by Forbin :
After 8 years with cogeco (all the while recommending their service to friends) I find this abrupt change of policy disappointing. I too will be investigating DSL options asap. Sad to hear that but I understand that you need to find the best service for your needs, I wish I could offer more but I'm just the messenger here.
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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anonguy2
@cgocable.net
 from:
Krispy
| reply to nydwarf1
got my warning today. 80 gig. so that's the threshold for standard.
I don't believe this is a capacity issue. This is simply Cogeco marketing finding a new way to upsell services.
let's look at this. for the pro->soho package there is an increase of $20 for 100 gig of data transfer. that works out to 20 cents/gig. Markup on that has to be at least 100% so it costs Cogeco, at most, 10 cents/gig to transfer that data.
On the standard package, Cogeco threatens you @ 80 gig, or 20 gig over your limit, which costs Cogeco $2.00 of usage of your $49/month charge. So they threaten you to upgrade. cost to you for that upgrade? $20. CHA'CHING! More profit for Cogeco.
I would guess that on the pro package they start threatening you around 125-150 gig. cost to Cogeco for you going over your limit? $2.50-$5 on your $69/month bill. So they threaten you to upgrade. Cost to you? $20. CHA'CHING! more profit for Cogeco.
We all know 60 gig is too low a limit for usage. Cogeco knows that too, that is why the limits are set where they are so they can easily call you 'a high bandwidth user' and push you up the package ladder. CHA'CHING! More profit for Cogeco.
10 years I've been with Cogeco. This is my first bandwidth warning. I'm switching. And before you think I'm being cheap, moving to DSL will actually end up cost me more than Cogeco (I'll need to replace their NNTP service with a 3rd party). But you know what, I can't support a company that plays these games. Rogers plays these sort of games with it's customers just to make a buck here and there. I'd rather support a company this thinks a little more progressively than that, not one that is managed by bean counters. |
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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
 ·Cogeco Cable
| reply to Krispy
said by Krispy :said by urbanriot :However, I do think it's a little severe if they're disabling users with no warning, since this enforcement is new. We're not disabling users with no warning on purpose, there was a problem this month that caused some people to get no warning and it shouldn't happen again. Also, the enforcement process isn't new, we just changed what we're monitoring.
You're now doing something you weren't doing before. Maybe it's not "new" if you want to argue semantics, but it's different and completely unexpected since people have been doing things the way they've been doing them for a while without consequence, whether there are rules or not.
I turned on my Cogeco email for the first time in months and noticed I'm now receiving bandwidth warnings... on Pro! And I'm hardly using my connection this month, to the extent I've used it in the past and was hoping to use in the future.
However, maybe I'm jumping the gun on my frustration.. Is Cogeco now enforcing their posted bitcaps? Is 100 Gb combined for Pro account being strictly enforced? |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| said by urbanriot :You're now doing something you weren't doing before. Maybe it's not "new" if you want to argue semantics, but it's different and completely unexpected since people have been doing things the way they've been doing them for a while without consequence, whether there are rules or not. I turned on my Cogeco email for the first time in months and noticed I'm now receiving bandwidth warnings... on Pro! And I'm hardly using my connection this month, to the extent I've used it in the past and was hoping to use in the future. However, maybe I'm jumping the gun on my frustration.. Is Cogeco now enforcing their posted bitcaps? Is 100 Gb combined for Pro account being strictly enforced? Previously we were monitoring upstream bitcap only, now we're monitoring on combined bitcap which falls in line with our change to combined bitcaps a while back. Things change...not saying it's good or bad but companies change their policies or actions sometimes and considering the bitcaps have been in place for sometime it's not totally unexpected. We've been more generous in the past but I've always said that people should stick to their bitcap to avoid interruption - it's kinda like speeding, alot of us do it from time to time and get away with it mostly but sometimes we get caught and sometimes law enforcement decides to crack down more then usual which sucks but we still have to pay the ticket in the end. A few months ago I got a ticket for doing 17km over on a rural road I have driven no less then 5000 times at that speed...extremely annoying but they don't care about my arguments that I've done it 5000 times safely as the posted speed limit is the posted speed limit that's been there all along.
As for what is being enforced, I can't give out exact thresholds but AT THE MOMENT we're not turfing you at exactly 100GB. But again, they can change this at any time so if you go into withdrawal when internet is not available I'd suggest monitoring your @cogeco.ca email account for warnings and checking your usage on the SelfCare site to avoid such as travesty.
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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aardvvark
@cgocable.net
| reply to nydwarf1
Got my first warning. This is unacceptable. We already cut down our bandwidth usage *substantially* (no more large usenet or torrent downloads, trying to keep the connection idling as much as possible) and yet we still receive a warning on the 21st of the month? Am I allowed to open iTunes? What the hell? Can we not watch/download anymore videos until next month? Holy ****. Cogeco, listen: online media distribution is the future, you can't fight it like this. The little dollar signs you see on paper won't pan out in the real world.
Looking into other options now, thanks to all the ISP suggestions in this thread. I don't want to switch, but I will if Cogeco doesn't give us more leeway immediately (again, we feel we've done our part to "help out"). If this policy is here to stay, we are not and will definitely tell everyone we know to avoid Cogeco. TV service will also go (no way would I still support this company).
I know you have to tow the company line, Krispy, but LOL @ the speeding analogy. Oh lord. We're not putting anyone's life in danger and we can't change law enforcement companies. Nice try, though.
As for "internet withdrawal". Please. It's about being able to use a service that we pay for. FYI, the internet is used for a LOT more than mere "entertainment" (VOIP, business transactions anyone? Even a commercial account won't prevent cutoff) these days, so being cut off is definitely a big deal.
We didn't choose to have our service upped to 10MB down only to have the hand of God come smashing down. I would have preferred slower speeds (5MB is fine) over a hard cap any day, but you didn't give us the choice. Thankfully there seem to be companies out there that will. |
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gobisbay
@maxess.ca
| reply to nydwarf1
I completely understand getting disconnected if I'm at twice the limit. However, had they simply warned me at the 60-80 gig mark I would have reduced my usage over the rest of the month.
Oddly, now that I'm reconnected, my connection seems to be much faster. Obviously, I haven't really downloaded anything (other than Norton updates), but surfing has definitely been speedier.
I'll have to keep track of my usage, and possibly move to the Pro package.
BTW, thanks for the info Krispy. |
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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
| reply to Krispy
This is very unfortunate news as there's no way I can fall inline with a 100 Gb bitcap. In fact, by today's standards, that's insanely, brutally low.
When asked in the past by others, (and I've directly influenced 4 people to switch from Bell in the past month or two) Cogeco was a clear choice. It felt as though you could do no wrong, unless you were excessive, and I could happily suggest that people make the switch immediately. I'm not being dramatic, but I'm making the point that a lot of people that are heavy users, or possibly "Pro" users are savvy people who often make recommendations to others.
My light usage this month is 135 gigs, and the month isn't even over yet. |
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okoolo
@cgocable.net
| reply to nydwarf1
Why haven't they announced the change of rules at the beginning of the month so we would have a chance to adjust our usage patterns .. If they did that people would decrease their usage without being cut off and cogeco would save bandwidth without resorting to drastic measures
Changing the rules in the middle of the month when many people are already over the limit is just plain stupid
Perhaps Cogeco did that to send many of us into a state of panic and force us to upgrade our package to avoid another cutoff ..( I did that right after I was suspended for 24hr..) |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| reply to aardvvark
said by aardvvark :
I know you have to tow the company line, Krispy, but LOL @ the speeding analogy. Oh lord. We're not putting anyone's life in danger and we can't change law enforcement companies. Nice try, though. You are entitled to your opinion but just to clarify something...I'm not towing a company line with the speeding analogy, I honestly see no difference between getting upset over sudden enforcement of longtime posted bitcaps and sudden enforcement of longtime posted speedlimits. I'm not saying that exceeding bitcaps is akin to a speeding car, I'm just trying to illustrate that it's hard to get legally upset over exceeding a posted limit. As always, I strongly encourage you or anyone to try and change things you don't agree with.
said by aardvvark :
As for "internet withdrawal". Please. It's about being able to use a service that we pay for. FYI, the internet is used for a LOT more than mere "entertainment" (VOIP, business transactions anyone? Even a commercial account won't prevent cutoff) these days, so being cut off is definitely a big deal. I'm not saying everyone has the same usage requirements, I'm just giving you my personal perspective here - I spend ALOT of time on the internet, have roommates that do so as well (both spend time transferring audio files for their work), XBOX is online (download demos from time to time), work from home occasionally, VOIP, friends stop by and connect their laptops or IPAQs or whatever to my network and my honest-to-goodness usage as of this hour for this month is 1.13GB upstream and 3.34GB downstream, last month it was 5.82GB upstream and 10.18GB downstream. I'm not suggesting anyone is doing anything wrong by using more, I'm just giving my perspective that not everyone using small amounts of bandwidth is just casually using email or not getting their money's worth.
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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gobisbay
@maxess.ca
| reply to nydwarf1
I just thought of another question, maybe Krispy can answer this one:
Now that I've been suspended and reconnected, what kind of usage is allowable for the remainder of this month? I'm certainly not about to start downloading large files, but I don't want to get cut off again due to surfing or watching a YouTube video. |
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okoolo
@cgocable.net
| reply to Krispy
Does Cogeco have a right to enforce their bitcaps? I don't think anybody is questioning that.. However the manner in which those bitcaps are being enforced is questionable ..
Disconnecting someone without any warning is totally unacceptable as many of us need internet for school/work
If you do not enforce a policy you shouldn't be surprised when customers do not follow it and you cannot claim that the customer "should have known better".
When I'm driving I know that the speed limit is enforced, but Cogeco has never enforced strict "bitcaps".. and should have warned us earlier that it's about to.
Again I ask why hasn't this "change" been announced/implemented on the 1st of the month so we would have time to adjust ?
I'm curious, is Cogeco still advertising their service as "unlimited"? |
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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
| reply to gobisbay
Just got off the phone with Teksavvy and Bell (two phone calls I never thought I'd be making), and it looks like it would be in my best interest to have an unlimited DSL account for downloads and bump down to Cogeco lite from my current Pro for low ping gaming.
So I can have Tek Savvy unlimited @ $30 a month + Cogeco Lite at $30 a month = $60 a month. Plus I get two internet providers in case one drops.
Does Cogeco have any future plans to actually offer the service myself and possibly others are willing to pay for? |
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AceOfHertz
join:2007-06-16
Hamilton, ON
| reply to okoolo
said by okoolo :
Does Cogeco have a right to enforce their bitcaps? I don't think anybody is questioning that.. However the manner in which those bitcaps are being enforced is questionable ..
Disconnecting someone without any warning is totally unacceptable as many of us need internet for school/work
If you do not enforce a policy you shouldn't be surprised when customers do not follow it and you cannot claim that the customer "should have known better".
When I'm driving I know that the speed limit is enforced, but Cogeco has never enforced strict "bitcaps".. and should have warned us earlier that it's about to.
Again I ask why hasn't this "change" been announced/implemented on the 1st of the month so we would have time to adjust ?
I'm curious, is Cogeco still advertising their service as "unlimited"?
As Krispy said before, we had some issues implementing this enforcement this month. Things will go a lot smoother in October with all warnings issued as they are required. |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| reply to okoolo
said by okoolo :
Disconnecting someone without any warning is totally unacceptable as many of us need internet for school/work Absolutely agree 110%. There were issues this time around that resulted in some people being suspended without warning and all I can say is that I've done my best to ensure that won't happen again.
said by okoolo :
Again I ask why hasn't this "change" been announced/implemented on the 1st of the month so we would have time to adjust ? Honestly I don't know and it's a lame answer for me to give you but it's the only one I have which is "wasn't my decision".
said by okoolo :
I'm curious, is Cogeco still advertising their service as "unlimited"?
Bitcaps are plainly viewable on TOS/AUP and »www.cogeco.ca/en/high-speed-internet-_o.html and »www.cogeco.ca/en/commercial_serv···s_o.html but I notice the residential package pages does also indicated 'Unlimited' Time Limits
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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okoolo
@cgocable.net | reply to AceOfHertz
This all could be avoided if this was done at the beginning of the month ...
Out of curiosity .. anyone has an idea how many users had their service suspended? |
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Card
join:2001-12-20
Hamilton, ON
| reply to urbanriot
$30 a month for unlimited with Tek Savvy eh?
I'm nowhere near my bw limit with cogeco standard acct. (currently less than 45%)but I think I might make the switch anyways. I use my internet mainly for business but love to stream media (revision3, joost etc.) every now and then. I have enough to worry about in my day to day, than monitoring bw usage. I'm not a heavy user but I certainly don't like the idea of having to worry about being one. This also seems like a cheaper alternative than cogeco.
I currently support my surrounding area with both residential and business computer solutions and have recommended cogeco to every single one of my customers and both in office and home have made the calls to switch them, personally. This will never happen again. Cogeco has just went from best to worst overnight. Those bell customers who receive crappy service? Tek Savvy is the new solution. I imagine Tek Savvy will get a LOT more business from my recommendations alone. My customers get the best service from my company and rely on my personal recommendations to make their technical decisions.
With the amount of business cogeco will lose, I hope this will open up more competitive avenues from other providers for the other services cogeco provides, such as digital phone and HDTV/cable service.
I hope cogeco drowns in this decision to enforce this. Perhaps cogeco employees reading this will consider Tek Savvy for a new employer if they should find themselves unemployed because of cogeco cut backs. I sincerely believe this is going to hurt cogeco a lot more than they anticipate, even if they decide to reverse the decision of enforcement. I know all my future customers will be Tek Savvy customers and not Cogeco customers. The enforcement of bw caps aren't going to change that aspect. Good luck Cogeco, you may just need it. |
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Wraith600
join:2006-12-08
St Catharines, ON
1 edit | reply to nydwarf1
Cogeco doesn't care, we are all kidding ourselves that they really care. I have been trying to get them to dig the temp cable run they did when I paid for the installation for over 5 months now. I have 5 , yes 5 dig orders in and every time they say they are coming, they don't and I have to call back in to hear the exact out of book response I get every time.
The only thing they should have any concern for is a majority of these users are computer people in the industry. We are the ones that recommend who and what connection to business's and home users what to get.
Bell shoots themselves in the foot on a daily basis so everyone is finally waking up their games and switching over to cable. With "back to school" in effect and all the new college/ university users jumping on and doing mass file sharing and music downloads Cogeco can't support this bandwidth. Hell, they can barely support it as it is now.
DSL = Bell, no matter what way you look at it and who it comes through, the company still pays Bell in the end. Cable = the one and only provider in the Niagara Region.
I can't believe a 10 - 15 year old policy is being put into effect. Who in the upper management decided this was a good idea? Bandwidth has increased due to more legit ways of getting your tv shows, movies, and music and they enforce a policy that was written when back when 80 percent of the internet users where on Dial up.
Someone needs to be fired that's for sure. |
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Celery
join:2004-01-19
St Catharines, ON
 ·Vonage
| reply to nydwarf1
As I read this thread I keep seeing people screaming over 60GB or 100GB a month usage... What the heck are you people downloading to hit that much???
I'm extremely happy with the service that's provided and considering that I'm probably in the ~90% that's under the 60GB/month for my Standard HSI service, I still can't see how people can hit that limit. (Yes, I've tried to hit that amount with a total of 24GB of torrents, keeping a 1:1 ratio, along with my regular internet usage and using Vonage phone, but still aren't able to hit that limit)
Are there that many of you that (from what I can see) are impatient so as you MUST download what you want NOW and be damned with having a bit of patience? Prioritize what you want, set limits on downloads and uploads and stretch things out. I'm pretty sure that if you just set limits on your upload and download and just have a bit of patience, you'll get what you want and stay within the limits.
I don't mean this as a troll, but I'm genuinely confused as to how some of you consistently require over 100GB of information transferred each month. |
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slade
join:2007-06-16
Burlington, ON
| reply to nydwarf1
What is going to happen when say 20 000 people suddenly jump ship and go to Teksavvy from Cogeco? Teksavvy is going to be overpopulated and they will magically have a bit cap that will be enforced as well. Its how business works.
I monitor my bw so that I am not to get suspended for any reason because I enjoy having my internet at home. If I didn't care then I would go nuts and download every torrent that I see.
What could people possibly be downloading to use over 100gig a month? Im sure everyone on here is downloading legitimate copies or backups of the software/music/dvd screeners. |
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AceOfHertz
join:2007-06-16
Hamilton, ON
| said by slade :What is going to happen when say 20 000 people suddenly jump ship and go to Teksavvy from Cogeco? Teksavvy is going to be overpopulated and they will magically have a bit cap that will be enforced as well. Its how business works. I monitor my bw so that I am not to get suspended for any reason because I enjoy having my internet at home. If I didn't care then I would go nuts and download every torrent that I see. What could people possibly be downloading to use over 100gig a month? Im sure everyone on here is downloading legitimate copies or backups of the software/music/dvd screeners. Yeah, I actually just checked my selfcare bandwidth usage. 29% of my 60 gigs, and I do a lot of streaming on my xbox and computer. |
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