diskdocx
join:2005-09-26
Burlington, ON
 ·Cogeco Cable
| reply to Celery
Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps
It all depends on what you are downloading, and what services you use.
I'm on a pro account, and usually use ~90 gigs/mo. Last month I was a bit over, at about 105 gigs.
I think the issue was how this was done, and I keep coming back to the question - why not offer a package which is more appropriate?
I would love to hear from Krispy on this. Right now, this doesn't overly affect me, but I expect that bandwidth requirements won't be going down any time soon. As you can see, a lot of users here are upset, so there clearly is demand.
Why set it up so that the only option is to break the TOS? I would have no problem with Cogeco suspending users who exceed the caps, as long as there are alternatives.
Give us a 200, 500, unlimited residential tier, and then let the user decide. |
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Card
join:2001-12-20
Hamilton, ON
| reply to slade
I stream media to my xbox using xbmc and download applications to beta test and I don't appear to hit this limit but if I had more time to stream more HD content to watch, I'm afraid this limit might be reached someday and I would find myself disconnected and not able to monitor my business online. This is too risky for me and as I've stated, monitoring bw because cogeco is deciding to limit average usage is too much to worry about for what I pay. Selling HTPC systems to my residential customers only limits my system's potential for my customers on Cogeco service. Cogeco is clearly not the choice for my progressive customers. |
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okoolo
@cgocable.net
| reply to Celery
Try having 2-3 roommates on a router ..
Also many of us use Usenet which is really fast. Cogeco throttles torrents so you're in effect capped..
On Usenet I get 1.2 Megabytes/sec so it's really easy to go over 100 gigs .. If we knew we have to watch our downloads I'm sure we'd change our usage but this came out of nowhere, when many of us are already over the limit..
Right now I'm sitting in front of my pc and praying that the next website I visit won't be the last one.
(pro account, 107 gigs down , 13 gigs up) |
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technovert
Premium
join:2007-06-14
Canada
clubs: | reply to nydwarf1
To those who are going over 100GB a month on Pro? Why not upgrade to SOHO 16/1 200GB bitcap $89.95 on contract. |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| reply to diskdocx
said by diskdocx  :I would love to hear from Krispy on this. Right now, this doesn't overly affect me, but I expect that bandwidth requirements won't be going down any time soon. As you can see, a lot of users here are upset, so there clearly is demand. I'm not entirely clear on what you're asking me but first off let me say that the final decision is not mine so all I can do is recommend and pass on your comments (which I always do), you guys should also write to Cogeco and tell them what you want as that information does make it's way to the product development and marketing teams.
There are longterm plans that might satisfy some of what you're asking for but I hope you can appreciate that there are a variety of reasons why I can't go into detail on a public forum.
My personal opinion on bitcaps and bandwidth in general is that the industry is moving towards a sorta cellphone billing model wherein you pay an X dollar access fee and then select a package from there -- for example my friend just got a Blackberry from Rogers so pays a monthly network access fee (I believe it's $10 or less) and then he selected a package that gave him X minutes of talktime and Y SMS allotment, etc. I envision multiple tiers of service provided by ISPs and not just bandwidth specific tiers but also platform (for lack of a better word) specific tiers, ie: a gaming tier, a streaming tier, etc where you pick what traffic you want prioritized on your package.
The one thing I've learned about the internet and this industry is how rapidly things can change based on technology. In 1999 P2P was just a sparkle in someone's eye, by 2002 it was pretty much taking over HTTP and NNTP as most prolific traffic, no one saw that coming and ISPs, in particular, got blindsided by it and have learned from that. Some new technologies such as the emerging DOCSIS 3 spec offers a whole world of new opportunities and I've learned from Mr Gates' infamous comment "Nobody will ever need more than 640k RAM!" in 1981 that predicting the future in technology while likely come back to bite you somewhere 
--
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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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
2 edits |  reply to diskdocx
Well, looks like I was just hit with the fucking ban hammer. I can't believe I pay $69 a month and I'm banned on a pro account for 102400 MB.
If someone had given a hint that this might be coming, I wouldn't be so pissed and would have changed my habits, but I took my first day off in a long time and planned on doing some work from home, and BAM this goes into effect today completely rendering my day useless. Sure, it's my fault for not checking my cogeco email, but I haven't used that in months like most people. I'd assumed paying so much, I'd be excluded from anything like this and I'd be treated as a high end customer.
I do not feel at all like a valued customer, and am very discouraged with Cogeco. Sure, I could have checked emails, and sure there were laws already in place that weren't enforced, but that doesn't alter how pissed off I am right now. |
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okoolo
@cgocable.net | reply to nydwarf1
$89 is about a $100 with taxes vs $74 for pro ...
I can probably live with a 100 gig cap if I know about it from the beginning, rather then finding out in the middle of the month when I'm already over limit |
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alamarco
o.O
join:2003-06-18
Windsor, ON
clubs: | reply to Krispy
I'd cry the day ISP's go towards cell phone providers model. It works for cell phone providers because things are limited, but for ISP's where bandwidth is used in large quantities it would be devastating. |
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okoolo
@cgocable.net | reply to urbanriot
102 gigs??? are you kidding?? and they banned you for 24 hours on a pro plan?
I'm screwed then. (120) |
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okoolo
join:2007-09-21
Windsor, ON | reply to urbanriot
what was your actual usage?
I just checked and 102400 is the allowed limit .. |
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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
| said by okoolo :what was your actual usage? I just checked and 102400 is the allowed limit .. Hahaha I'm a dumb head. You're right, I was looking at the limit. I'm actually at 133207. |
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anonguy2
@cgocable.net
| reply to urbanriot
I was just sitting here thinking about upgrading to pro figuring they would let you go to 120-150g, but I guess not. I'm sitting here @ 80 gig on the counter with 1 warning and I can't download anything for fear of being locked. This is nuts. So I called Teksavvy. Unlimited dry-loop dsl, 5 meg profile, installed in 5 days with a static-ip for 44/month. 10 year customer with Cogeco going DSL. I never thought I'd see the day this would happen, but I refuse to let a bandwidth monitor decide what I do on the Internet. For people who cancel please be sure to tell them why. Teksavvy is month to month @ $44, so if Cogeco realizes the error of their ways I'll switch back. |
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okoolo
join:2007-09-21
Windsor, ON | reply to urbanriot
I was thinking about switching to the basic business starter which has a 120 gig limit ... pretty much for the same price ...but it's only 7mbs ...
Anyone has any experience with it ? do they enforce bitcaps on business plans too? |
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okoolo
join:2007-09-21
Windsor, ON | reply to anonguy2
business starter is $54 with a 1 year contract and 120 gig limit .. but only 7 mbs
not sure if they enforce caps on business plans .. |
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okoolo
join:2007-09-21
Windsor, ON | reply to anonguy2
do they ban after the first warning? |
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urbanriot
join:2004-10-18
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
| reply to anonguy2
said by anonguy2 :
Teksavvy is month to month @ $44, so if Cogeco realizes the error of their ways I'll switch back.
Yea, I called Teksavvy this morning, unfortunately two problems with them:
1) Their service isn't available in my area.
2) Their absolute theoretical maximum is 5M residential, 6M business.
I was all set to go Teksavvy / Cogeco split, and lower down from the pro but I can't get either Teksavvy or Bell DSL where I am.
I think I'm kind of stuck in an impossible situation right now, but come next billing period I'll be lowering back to standard. It's extremely ridiculous to have a premium ultra-high speed account where a few days of downloading can get me disconnected. So, I suppose, I'm forced to curtail my habits until I have another alternative... Heck, I'd pay more for an ultra-premium, no issues account. |
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diskdocx
join:2005-09-26
Burlington, ON
·Cogeco Cable
1 edit | reply to Krispy
said by Krispy :I'm not entirely clear on what you're asking me but first off let me say that the final decision is not mine so all I can do is recommend and pass on your comments (which I always do), you guys should also write to Cogeco and tell them what you want as that information does make it's way to the product development and marketing teams. What I am saying is, right now the maximum residential package available is 100gigs. I'm not looking at the business packages, and really don't want 200gig SOHO at 6MBPs anyway.
Before implementing this drastic change, it would have been nice to warn some users who are typically over, and suggest an upgrade to the PRO pack, if they aren't already on that.
And probably it would be a good idea to very quickly introduce a higher residential tier. Possibly 250 gigs, 16MBPs. I'm sure many would pay for it if the price isn't unreasonable.
There are clearly a number of users who are affected by this decision. These aren't all anonymous, first time posters, but many 'regulars'.
Again, while not directly affected ATM, what option is there if I want 200gigs/mo, at 16MBPs? |
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Sham
@cgocable.net
| reply to nydwarf1
Well, I got my 2nd warning. I guess the first one wasn't a bluff/glitch 
I have a question for Krispy or others:
How many warnings do I get and at which point do I get suspended?
I've been with Cogeco for about 8 to 10 years, even when they were a crappy service in the beginning. I'm pretty sure this is all about getting more money from the customer for all those upgrades, excess usage, as well as for profit.
Oh well, it's time for new competition to roll into the Oakville area because there's going to be a few people who will want to jump ship. |
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Sham
@cgocable.net | reply to nydwarf1
Oh yeah, I'd also like to add that bandwidth isn't the only thing being enforced. A few months ago, they enforced the caps on the web space ;( |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| reply to diskdocx
said by diskdocx :Again, while not directly affected ATM, what option is there if I want 200gigs/mo, at 16MBPs? Well it is a business package but that just means you get priority tech support and service calls along with ability to run servers and static ip IF you wanted to utilize those things but if you don't it doesn't matter.
SOHO STANDARD
Speed Download* Up to 16 Mbps
Speed Upload Up to 1 Mbps
Data transfer/month (bitcap) 200 Gbytes
$90-100/mo depending on contract stuff
And for those of you that never want to worry,
ENTERPRISE
Speed Download* Up to 16 Mbps
Speed Upload Up to 1.5 Mbps
Data transfer/month (bitcap) Unlimited
$190-210/mo depending on contract stuff
As for making something a bit cheaper without the priority, server and static bells and whistles and making knocking the price down a bit...I'll suggest it and suggest you write to them suggesting it also and maybe they'll get something in gear depending on demand.
--
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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