[Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps in Cogeco

said by Phorkster

said by Shalimar
Ohh and I'm also investigating satelite for TV as well... eliminating my acct with cogeco completely.
[/BQUOTE

Free To Air, would be the way to go as far as TV is concerned. I'm one step closer to hitting up Tekksavvy for internet, getting a few FTA Dishes. I do however love my Cogeco Digital Phone.

Exactly as I was already thinking.. maybe a HD coolsat setup will do nicely here. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19330566 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:24:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19330158 irishlotus : There is no talk that I've heard of for new resident packages. Now this isn't to say there isn't something working on the upper levels but nothing has been said so far. So, if there is new tiers coming out it will be quite a while that's for sure. Wish I had some better news for those that need the extra bandwidth! =/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19330158 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:18:33 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19330082 Phorkster : [BQUOTE=Shalimar
Ohh and I'm also investigating satelite for TV as well... eliminating my acct with cogeco completely.
[/BQUOTE

Free To Air, would be the way to go as far as TV is concerned. I'm one step closer to hitting up Tekksavvy for internet, getting a few FTA Dishes. I do however love my Cogeco Digital Phone.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19330082 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:06:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19329068 Shalimar :

said by Hamitlon1 :

All these weeks later and still no comment from anyone at Cogeco about any possible new residential packages?

I remember reading that Cogeco's managment were discussing the situation but you would think that after this amount of time we would have heard something if they were actually going to change things.

Oh well I wasn't expecting anything to be done so in the end the only thing I'm disappointed about is I have no one else other than Bell or as I like to call them "HELL" to turn to so I guess I'm stuck at the moment.

Bigwigs and bean counters are never fast to respond.. hence why I am giving them 3 months (my cogeco acct is on vacation hold with a note explicitly saying why) to get a clue.. and if not bye bye cogeco permanently.

In the meantime I have DSL via teksavvy at 5M and it's working nicely.. I miss the added speed of cogeco but this DSL is unlimited and is cheaper as well by a considerable ammount.

As for Symcraptico.. not a chance I'd go near them ever again.. Teksavvy is infintely better!

Ohh and I'm also investigating satelite for TV as well... eliminating my acct with cogeco completely.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19329068 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:23:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19318772 anon : All these weeks later and still no comment from anyone at Cogeco about any possible new residential packages?

I remember reading that Cogeco's managment were discussing the situation but you would think that after this amount of time we would have heard something if they were actually going to change things.

Oh well I wasn't expecting anything to be done so in the end the only thing I'm disappointed about is I have no one else other than Bell or as I like to call them "HELL" to turn to so I guess I'm stuck at the moment.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19318772 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:26:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317477 theninjasqua : Just so you know, Bell has an option for an additional $25 a month on top of any plan, to get unlimited bandwidth. And this is pretty unlimited, they won't start bugging you until you get up into the mid-high hundreds of gigs. You can probably talk them down on that price even and work a deal.

I would love to switch to Cogeco from Bell because of that speed, but that speed eats up your bandwidth so quickly! If you are going to increase speed, you need to up the bandwidth cap. ISP's do not offer enough options nowadays for service. I mean 2 internet packages is not enough, not everyone uses the internet the same. They need more tailored solutions. I would take a speed cut if it meant having more bandwidth a month.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317477 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:38:33 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317351 neko :

said by nydwarf1 :

Just to round out this thread I got my Teksavvy installed, it's fast and stable i'm happy with the service. This week I finally get to call Cogeco and give them and their stupid cap the boot! End Transmission....

Hi nydwarf1, glad to see you made the right decision & voted with your dollars. Like ancodia said, Cogeco are not all about the customer, unlike Teksavvy.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317351 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:21:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317147 anon : Just to round out this thread I got my Teksavvy installed, it's fast and stable i'm happy with the service. This week I finally get to call Cogeco and give them and their stupid cap the boot! End Transmission....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19317147 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:50:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19281065 ancodia :

said by dad_of_3

said by ancodia

said by dan991199

:

this is true, ROCKY has even stated that they dont make any money form heavy users and if things get too out of control they may also implement a cap system, but with lots of warning in advance

So is it unlimited or not??All my downloading is automated, so free time isn't an issue....

if you are referring to Teksavvy, the unlimited package is unlimited - no catches.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19281065 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:14:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19280998 dad_of_3 :

said by ancodia

said by dan991199

:

this is true, ROCKY has even stated that they dont make any money form heavy users and if things get too out of control they may also implement a cap system, but with lots of warning in advance

So is it unlimited or not??All my downloading is automated, so free time isn't an issue....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19280998 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:04:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19275220 ancodia :

said by IH8TR0LLS :

SERIOUSLY go to the teksavvy forum and post on how good they are. All companies will follow suite one of these days with caps. Get use to it because when a company like teksavvy starts getting charged more so will the customer

The only reason Bell/Rogers/Cogeco are implementing caps on the Internet service is to protect their cable tv service. You'll find if you deal with a traditional ISP (like Teksavvy) their attitude towards customers is completely different. Companies that have monopolies on all media in their markets (Rogers/Cogeco/Bell) are NOT good for the consumer. They manipulate all their services to provide the most PROFIT. Delivering what the customer wants is a minor concern. A company like Teksavvy who provides only one service will give the customer what it wants, which is large transfers limits (or unlimited), unrestricted Internet access all at a reasonable price. A single service business MUST provide what the customer wants otherwise it will cease to exist. It shows in Teksavvys PERFECT customer feedback score and Cogecos/Bells/Rogers ever FALLING feedback score. if Cogeco only provided Internet service, they would NEVER pull this kind of crap on their customers. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19275220 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:52:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19275102 aardvvark :

Doesn't mean too much to me. If that were to happen (which I do not think would ever happen across the board to the extreme Cogeco went to, ever), I would still choose the company that treated its customers with the most fairness and respect for their dollar. I can't blame new TekSavvy/former Cogeco users for posting here about their satisfaction. It's a good thing for other consumers (and Cogeco) to know after what's gone down the past little while.

Keep in mind that there are other issues besides simple bandwidth costs that Cogeco is likely considering. Unlike Cogeco, TekSavvy does not offer TV and other competing services, so such considerations do not enter their consciousness.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19275102 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:36:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19274339 ancodia :

said by dan991199

:

this is true, ROCKY has even stated that they dont make any money form heavy users and if things get too out of control they may also implement a cap system, but with lots of warning in advance

He said the average for all users on unlimited was round 55g/month. Users who use >250-300g month start to create a loss. You gotta work pretty hard and have alot of free time to go over 300g in a month!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19274339 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:45:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273878 Shalimar :

said by dan991199

:

this is true, ROCKY has even stated that they dont make any money form heavy users and if things get too out of control they may also implement a cap system, but with lots of warning in advance

I agree.. and in regards to my own BW normal useage will probably remain in the 130gb or so per month same as I was doing on Cogeco. Initial load for me was catching up after cogeco's stupid cap implementation. I'd say anything under 200gb should be within reason. (esp for dl's only).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273878 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:39:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273782 dan991199 : this is true, ROCKY has even stated that they dont make any money form heavy users and if things get too out of control they may also implement a cap system, but with lots of warning in advance]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273782 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:26:31 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273750 anon : SERIOUSLY go to the teksavvy forum and post on how good they are. All companies will follow suite one of these days with caps. Get use to it because when a company like teksavvy starts getting charged more so will the customer]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273750 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:22:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273639 manderson4 : I just got my first warning today I am now on the pro package so I get 100 gigs

Upstream1: 3956
Downstream2: 109126
Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 110 %

And it was sent to all my email addresses]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273639 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:07:09 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273541 Shalimar : Well in the last week or so after being DSL only I can say I miss the added speed of Cogeco... (I was getting 1.2M). However I am getting a steady 5M+ via DSL for just over half the cost.

With the savings I have a premium news server instead of the crappy excuse Cogeco has and it's still slightly cheaper.

For anyone wanting such I have tested some out and found usenetserver.com to be reliable with included SSL and much cheaper than giganews etc. Anyone going there feel free to use me as a referral. Just input my acct# 220866 on the signup page or use this link: »www.usenetserver.com?refer=220866

I have leeched over 135GB in the last week + more the week before. (aprox 250gb so far total since DSL was up and running) and my total upload is only 12gb in the same time frame.

Sorry Cogeco but you're f'd the dog big time on this one since I had been a customer for many many years and was happy with the service. Now to get me back (and a ton of my clients as well whom I have taken with me) you'd have to do more than a simple reversal of your incredibly stupid cap enforcement decision. (especially given 95% of what I download was via your usenet server which has virtually no cost for the bandwidth on your local network only. And for anyone griping about the BW used.. think of how much BW is used for even one On Demand movie in HD...(avg 20-30GB)

Now I'm investigating satellite as a replacement for the cable TV as well and will probably have that up and running before the beginning of Nov. and I'll be taking a bunch of my clients with me for that as well.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19273541 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:52:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19260012 anon :

said by metalman0

:

My my my, this is just plain amazing. I had to sign up to say something. I've been a lurker of this forum for a few years now. However, I'm having deja-vu from the mid 90's when dial-up providers added caps and limited usage.

(snip)

Last thought, since this will hopefully get on a corporates desk. Add a lesser tier speed wise. Something in the 4 to 6 MB range with unlimited usage. Meaning unlimited use in any manner at any time. It makes no sense when no human uses the internet the same way at the same time (at different intervals) and some will use more time and some will use less.

You don't need to sign up to post. I've just typed an anon name in the box and this is the third post I've made.

Anyway, I'm in the 4-6 range (well, usually 4-5 actually) and I would have no problems hitting 100 Gb this month. I'm on pro which is supposed to give me faster speed (which it didn't, but since I'm going to have to watch my usage anyway, who cares). When I used to pay for webhosting the host used to drop one high day a month and give you a three-month average before getting into overage charges. I'm not suggesting that Cogego should drop your high day (cause you can download a hell of a lot in a day), but average usage might be a better idea. It wouldn't penalize those who have an occasional bad month, but would still capture consistent heavy use users.

(I'm a consistent heavy use user, but there was almost no use at all Jan-May as I was out of the country. The sad thing is I should have been asked to upgrade to Pro years ago, which would have provided more income to Cogeco and given me warning that I needed to check my usage. Being cut off gave me a negative feeling about a company I used to be okay with and now I'm looking into Satellite for the TV.)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19260012 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:55:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19258388 anon : Yes I to have just had my first ever Bandwidth warning sent to me, I have been with them for about 8 years and this is the first one I have ever received, I know a friend of mine was suspended for the remainder of the month once but that was years ago, I myself was at 92868 GB down and 21639 up so I was over about 10 GB, but I can understand that they are just enforcing there limits, I think in a case like that they should give you an option to buy more bandwidth, It does not take long to hit the 100 GB mark with today's computers, a few movies and songs and some on-line TV shows and bang your at the limit. I myself would not mind if they say "Hey your at your limit, We can offer more bandwidth at reasonable rates." That would be a nice way to go, or even more plans for us to choose from like a Pro 1, or Pro 2 with higher bandwidth per plan. Time will tell, I myself love Cogeco Internet I have to say that they have been a great ISP, I have had a few issues over the years but still it is worth it for the service and the convenience.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19258388 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 02:21:00 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19256526 Frozty2k :

said by Shalimar

:

To answer your questions

Just got my 1st bandwidth warning:

Upstream1: 4626
Downstream2: 74528
Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 128 %

and 2nd bandwidth warning:

Upstream1: 5056
Downstream2: 84571

Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 145 %

For comparison I just got my first warning a few hours ago,

Upstream1: 26035
Downstream2: 57030

Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 135 %]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19256526 Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:59:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19247176 anon : i am on pro and got 2 warnings that i never got on sept 28 then got cut off i called cogeco and there said they sent out 2 warnings and there was nothing there ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19247176 Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:02:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19246699 metalman0 : My my my, this is just plain amazing. I had to sign up to say something. I've been a lurker of this forum for a few years now. However, I'm having deja-vu from the mid 90's when dial-up providers added caps and limited usage.

After many chats with other internet users I knew at the time, cable was the way to go. The first three years were torturous and yet pleasant at the same time. A few customer care calls, a few free months granted, and all that good stuff. There were limits and caps, but no one human could reach them because the speeds fluctuated from person to person. But when DOCSIS 2.0 came around. Big trouble, the speed arrived and folks signed up overloading nodes, to the happiness of the providers. People had issues all over the place. I was lucky. My speeds were always about 30% less than the given stated speeds, but all was well, no downtime, all downloads and surfing worked accordingly, so no complaints.

Well, not having read an AUP in about 10 years and still assuming this service was unlimited that I signed up for... I see now that it is not. Fair is fair, and sometimes I use nothing in a month and sometimes I could use 10 times as much. First off, I never asked for a speed increase so you should drop my speeds to 5MB or less so you don't freak out and cut off my service because I'm actually using it. Secondly, you never cared how much I used the internet before, so why do you care now? You are placing too much responsibility into my hands to manage my usage accordingly.

It's like, as someone said, speeding, yet you always let me go go go, and then you decide to bust me when it suits you. However, in this case, the "officer" was obviously negligent. I cannot imagine any police officer(s) that ignore the laws of the land and let speeders drive by and then, one day, decide to "go get em" after watching them for years. That is the most insane thing I've ever heard of.

This rant is almost over. I feel the same LOL. I hope that some sanity replaces this crazy change of heart. In the end, the alienation would be worse than that of BELL, whom I thought I'd never have to return to, but it's a crazy planet and poop happens.

Last thought, since this will hopefully get on a corporates desk. Add a lesser tier speed wise. Something in the 4 to 6 MB range with unlimited usage. Meaning unlimited use in any manner at any time. It makes no sense when no human uses the internet the same way at the same time (at different intervals) and some will use more time and some will use less.

Now I feel I need to consume close to or over my max til I get kicked off. What the heck? Some months I used less than 3 GigaBytes, and others close to or over 100. Now it's time to stay near 80 GB me thinks ;) It used to be almost fun! Don't they care the stress that they cause? LOL

I'm curious, does anyone know if there is a petition available that one could sign up on? I think the "6 people" here would like to voice there opinions in a broader forum, plus one of course :)

metalman]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19246699 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:32:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19239738 anon : thanks so much for the info Shalimar.

glad your putting your account on the experimentation table for us who are interested in their caps.

much appreciated!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19239738 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:50:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19232851 Shalimar : To answer your questions

Just got my 1st bandwidth warning:

Upstream1: 4626
Downstream2: 74528
Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 128 %

and 2nd bandwidth warning:

Upstream1: 5056
Downstream2: 84571

Current month's percentage of combined limit used: 145 %

I decided to push it to it's limit since I now have DSL installed and running from teksavvy and have placed my cogeco acct in Vacation mode for 3 months (to give them a chance to pull their heads out of their asses.. and if not it gets canceled.. and yes I explained this explicitly to the cogeco supervisor and had a note put in the acct about WHY this has been done).

Sorry Cogeco but I will not tolerate such pathetic limits.. esp when 95% of what I download is via the cogeco usenet server.. which is LOCAL network for you only and costs virtually nothing (ie: no bw charges from their upstream carriers).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19232851 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:36:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19224591 Frozty2k :

said by edward nigma :

I've only read through so many pages.

Frozty2k says he's at 105% and hasnt recieved anything yet.
What are other members sitting at? perhaps we can estimate what they're capping users at.

From last month people were saying about 30% over, so 80GB on standard was the first warning.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19224591 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:03:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19223773 anon : I've only read through so many pages.

Frozty2k says he's at 105% and hasnt recieved anything yet.
What are other members sitting at? perhaps we can estimate what they're capping users at.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19223773 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:58:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19223412 urbanriot :

said by edward nigma :

can anyone say how much we can go over our limit by?
perhaps even a hint of it?

We already have, in at least two threads now. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19223412 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:01:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19222174 Frozty2k : It doesn't seem like they even send out warnings until you are 110-130% over the limit. Im at 105% now and got nothing.
Seems it would be smarter to send the warning before you go over, not before you get suspended. (If you are downloading fast the difference im sure could be an couple hours.) i.e. It detect how much you are going to go over the cap that month, use that info to email a warning while it still makes sense (assuming the person checks their cogeco email at all).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19222174 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:06:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221653 anon : can anyone say how much we can go over our limit by?
perhaps even a hint of it?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221653 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:30:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221607 Candoo3 : Lucky you :(

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221607 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:13:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221188 neko :

With a 60gb cap, you must be on the Standard pkg, but with a consistant 9.5mb, what the heck area are you in. I can't even get half of that on a good day.

I am in Vine St., St Catharines. I get a consistent 9000 - 9500 all day. I get diggnation, cranky geeks, twit & dl.tv, etc, at over 1100Kbs & torrents at over 1Mbit/s. I can get an 8GB H.264 movie off cogeco's news server in about 2 hours. I love the speed, but hate the caps. I am at 73% on my bitcap already :(

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221188 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:56:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221015 Candoo3 :

said by neko

:

I get 9.5Mbit all the time. it's a great connection for torrents & newsgroups, but with a puny 60Gb cap, it's worthless.

With a 60gb cap, you must be on the Standard pkg, but with a consistant 9.5mb, what the heck area are you in. I can't even get half of that on a good day.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19221015 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:28:37 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220827 neko : You make a lot of good points, ancodia. I too am switching to teksavvy (my 2wire should be coming tomorrow).

I think cogeco are all about protecting their PPV/TV market with this move. They don't want users downloading torrents & forgoing their services.

I get 9.5Mbit all the time. it's a great connection for torrents & newsgroups, but with a puny 60Gb cap, it's worthless.

quote:
If Cogeco gives you concrete numbers, you'll be more inclined to make the decision to leave. With uncertainty, you are more likely to stick it out, see what happens and eventually you'll just accept it and continue to subscribe, maybe even bump up your package

Most of the users on this forum don't like the new caps, but I am not sure that all of them will leave. Most of the users here are very savvy, but are in the minority compared to the overall user population; if even all the users of this forum left cogeco, it would do nothing to their bottom line.

I think cogeco knows this. No matter what is said on this forum , it will have no affect on cogeco management. We are sadly in the minority & I reckon we will be subject to more restrictions in our service & increasing prices.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220827 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:58:11 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220537 Candoo3 :

said by Snickerdo

:

Has anyone in Niagara thought of switching to cable from a reseller? There are resellers in the Niagara Region, though I'm not sure of their policies regarding bandwidth and the like.

IAW Cable High Speed Internet Access provides high speed Internet access through the existing Cable TV Network. It is only available to residential clients only.

How much does it cost?:The startup kit is $90.00 plus taxes. This includes a cable modem that you own and installation. The monthly fee is $39.99 plus taxes. Order Now. If you have more questions please Email us

How fast is it?: Speeds have been reported up to 5Mbps in some areas. We have been advising users that the speed is around 5 - 6Mbps download and 640kbps upload.

SOUND FAMILIAR ?? I'm sure that their caps suck.They don't state the caps, but their DSL caps are ridiculous.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220537 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:15:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220367 ancodia :

said by InFloW

said by ancodia

:

Actually Cogeco is trying to get rid of 2% of it's customers since they claim that 2% is consuming 90% of the bandwidth. Last published report by Cogeco states 261,000 Inet customers. so that's about 5200 people at $50 * 12 months = 3,100,000/year of revenue. That doesnt include other services to which they may subscribe. Plus, Cogeco ticked off alot more than those 5200 people with their suprise mid-month stunt, and you know all those people will have an opinion to give people who ask them about what service provider to go with.
Now we know that external bandwidth costs about .03/gig, or about $10.00/300g over Cogent. Assume those 2% use an average of 100g, add in about $22/user for overhead (which I think is high) equals total cost per user @ $25. take $50/month/average from each person (some on standard, some on pro) equals about $25 profit/per user = 1,500,000+/year of lost revenue (again, not including other services). That's alot of money. Of course Cogeco is gambling that most users won't/can't leave and they'll either cut back on usuage (which really doesn't save on bandwidth costs but does save on upgrade costs - which also shows they've overloaded their network) or they'll upgrade (which going from $50/month to $75/month (average; some go pro;some go higher) equals almost 100% increase in profit on the customer on a successful threat - Cogeco is only really giving them an extra $1.50 in bandwidth) = ONE BIG CASH GRAB :) and big Christmas Bonuses!

This also explains why other companies (i.e Bell) can cap the over charge at $30. $30= almost 1 terabyte of additional external data and nobody downloads that much! (At least I hope not!) So Bell probably even makes money on that $30 overcharge.

I won't even comment on how 5200 people can saturate Cogecos network.

One problem with your theory is that everything goes across cogent and there isn't any other costs associated with the network.

So using some tools
»fixedorbit.com/AS/7/AS7992.htm
»www.lerfjhax.com/as/7992
»www.cidr-report.org/cgi-bin/as-r···s=AS7992
»netconfigs.com/tools/as.htm?as=7992

So based on those they have transit from several providers some being more expensive than others. Also a few peering relationships with some other providers.

Then you factor in the costs of hardware if you now need to push more through routers and switches and things start to add up.

So to me it's not surprising that a small % make up the majority of the costs. This happens with a lot of industries relating to bandwidth. Colocation providers sell cheaper than they used to and the majority of their costs come from the few using their resources. Same with dedicated servers which are extremely cheap now. If the people don't use the resources they make profit if they do then there are problems. So if they were to drop the 5% or whatever it is their profits go way up. But doing so looks bad image wise.

I know my numbers aren't 100% accurate. It was more to show that Cogeco isnt loosing money on that 2%. If that 2% left tommorrow that would cost Cogeco at least $1 mil a year in profit. So there is more at play here than an overloaded network. In my mind, there are only two reasons for all this: 1-quick, easy increase in overall margins in the Internet department and 2-protecting their other business units (ppv/cable). To Cogeco management this is a win-win situation since they achieve 1 & 2.

Cogeco/Bell/Rogers are imposing limits not due to traffic abuse but to protect other business units. Bell charges $30 for an overcharge not because you are using $30 of bandwidth, but because they are assuming you are download illegal content and depriving their other BUs revenue. That $30 is to subsidize the other department. Rogers/Bell/Cogeco management are all thinking this way.

Ultimately Cogeco doesnt want us to leave. They want us to either cut back on use (which helps #1) and/or subscribe to other services (which helps #2). Cogeco management feels FUD is better than dealing with the issue (maybe we'll impose an overcharge, maybe we won't, maybe we'll let you go over 60g, maybe we won't). If Cogeco gives you concrete numbers, you'll be more inclined to make the decision to leave. With uncertainty, you are more likely to stick it out, see what happens and eventually you'll just accept it and continue to subscribe, maybe even bump up your package (and I think the margin increase on the standard->pro is fairly accurate). It's the same formula Bell/Rogers uses. Sure, some of us will say screw that, I'm outta here and switch, but we are a small minority. Most will stick it out because a) it's a pain in the ass to move b) you have no guarantee on what speed you'll get from DSL, so why risk it c) you can't switch (Cogeco market monopoly)

This is a problem growing problem with Internet providers that needs to be addressed. Do you think that if Rogers/Cogeco/Bell ONLY provided Internet service any of this would be happening? I don't. Rogers/Bell/Cogeco are controlling/limiting what you can do on the Internet because they are protecting their traditional services. And that is wrong.

Alot of us are/were long time Cogeco subscribers (I still have the @home t-shirt from their launch St. Kitts). for me, this entire episode ticks me off even more because for 10 years I supported this company and look what it has turned into. I will gladly pay whatever to have Internet access, but it will be to a company like Teksavvy, a true ISP. Otherwise the Internet as we know it will grind to halt (at least in Canada), dominated by bitcaps created solely to protect legacy BUs with outdated technology/business models. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19220367 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:50:00 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19219910 Phorkster : I was an original customer way back when, I left for a bit because I had a disagreement with customer service. At any rate I signed back up with them probably 7 years ago or so. I have to say that this was pretty under handed and shady coming from a service that I have grown to respect.
Now mind you, I don't think it was a mid-month issue, I think it was probably a Sept bill period issue, but most of you were just hitting your caps mid month.
Either way, it was wrong to do it without notice.
Unfortunately for me, I really do not want to do away with the service. I get a rock steady 1MB to 1.2MB DL rate from my usenet provider, and I cant tell you the last time I approached my cap. So while this may affect me later, it doesn't now and I am sticking to it. DSL for me in my area is garbage at best.
Then there is the whole changing email addresses and stuff like that. At any rate if it stays like this I will be happy, if they start lowering cap rates and introducing higher tiers, I'm outta here.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19219910 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:47:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19199181 InFloW :

said by ancodia

said by vuarra

:

I'm giving them to the end of November.... if they don't have more appropriate packages for consumers (other than the one they are asking me to suck), then I'll be looking into Teksavvy as well, and going back to OTA for TV.

I'm taking a bit of time so that -- just in case the petunia brain transplants have a change of heart -- Cogeco can look into a better capping system. I'm also not holding my breath.

The day that cable internet became available, I signed up. Ditto for HDTV. Now, my wife is afraid to pick up the phone for VoIP and going over the combined cap.

What kind of company keeps its customers in fear?

voip uses maybe 8 to 15 kByte/sec? Tell her it's very very little.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19199090 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:44:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19199071 Snickerdo : Has anyone in Niagara thought of switching to cable from a reseller? There are resellers in the Niagara Region, though I'm not sure of their policies regarding bandwidth and the like.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19199071 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:42:11 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19198973 Last Parade : i would become concerned if it was near the end of the month and i had to call 911 on voip.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19198973 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:28:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19197711 vuarra : I'm giving them to the end of November.... if they don't have more appropriate packages for consumers (other than the one they are asking me to suck), then I'll be looking into Teksavvy as well, and going back to OTA for TV.

I'm taking a bit of time so that -- just in case the petunia brain transplants have a change of heart -- Cogeco can look into a better capping system. I'm also not holding my breath.

The day that cable internet became available, I signed up. Ditto for HDTV. Now, my wife is afraid to pick up the phone for VoIP and going over the combined cap.

What kind of company keeps its customers in fear?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19197711 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:37:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19190177 anon : Well personally since starting this thread I am going the way of switching service providers. I will probably get Teksavvy as they come highly recommended, they are cheaper and they have no caps. Right now I have Cogeco HSI, Digital Cable with TMN and I'm paying around 125 with the tax. After all is said and done I will just have the digital Cable which is just over 50/month. This is the only way we have to retaliate against a company when you are disatisfied with their service hit them in the pocketbook.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19190177 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:18:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189704 anon : Does anyone really believe Cogeco's network is saturated after they are already traffic shaping?

I keep saying this, but it bears repeating: they want to limit your access to online digital distribution services in order to keep you locked into their own in-house television service. Digital distribution of everything from television, music, and movies to video games is the way of the future and Cogeco is digging in their heels and starting to fight it.

This is why they are not offering a lower bandwidth/higher bitcap residential plan.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189704 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:05:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189492 ancodia :

said by slade

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

said by Krispy

:

Anyway, I just popped in the thread to let everyone know where they can send their comments as per the request of several posters. So....

Goto »www.cogeco.ca and click the Contact Us link across the top menu then select Contact Us By Email then select Use this form for any questions or comments related to residential services (Cable TV, High Speed Internet, Digital Phone) - the recipients will forward this onto the applicable body.

Its 20 pages of the same 6 people complaining though...I imagine Cogeco has no feelings in 6 power users leave their service.

Actually Cogeco is trying to get rid of 2% of it's customers since they claim that 2% is consuming 90% of the bandwidth. Last published report by Cogeco states 261,000 Inet customers. so that's about 5200 people at $50 * 12 months = 3,100,000/year of revenue. That doesnt include other services to which they may subscribe. Plus, Cogeco ticked off alot more than those 5200 people with their suprise mid-month stunt, and you know all those people will have an opinion to give people who ask them about what service provider to go with.
Now we know that external bandwidth costs about .03/gig, or about $10.00/300g over Cogent. Assume those 2% use an average of 100g, add in about $22/user for overhead (which I think is high) equals total cost per user @ $25. take $50/month/average from each person (some on standard, some on pro) equals about $25 profit/per user = 1,500,000+/year of lost revenue (again, not including other services). That's alot of money. Of course Cogeco is gambling that most users won't/can't leave and they'll either cut back on usuage (which really doesn't save on bandwidth costs but does save on upgrade costs - which also shows they've overloaded their network) or they'll upgrade (which going from $50/month to $75/month (average; some go pro;some go higher) equals almost 100% increase in profit on the customer on a successful threat - Cogeco is only really giving them an extra $1.50 in bandwidth) = ONE BIG CASH GRAB :) and big Christmas Bonuses!

This also explains why other companies (i.e Bell) can cap the over charge at $30. $30= almost 1 terabyte of additional external data and nobody downloads that much! (At least I hope not!) So Bell probably even makes money on that $30 overcharge.

I won't even comment on how 5200 people can saturate Cogecos network.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189492 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:35:41 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189486 Trist : Cogeco did and does well for themselves by responding to anyone who complains about the recent policy change with that canned response. The voice here is a minority. Yes they've lost some of you as customers in the ISP and/or VOIP and/or television markets over this but again in the minority.

If Cogeco had mass mailed all customers and informed them of the policy change in advance it would have assisted some people in that they would have known to manage data transfers and not have been suspended .. and perhaps would have saved some of those customers from leaving the company. (And the losses will trickle on for a while as more customers learn of the change by way of warnings or service interruptions, but always in the minority.)

If Cogeco had mass mailed all customers and informed them of the policy change in advance then a larger group of people would have been frightened by the 'what if I go over the cap?' unknown. More customers would have moved to an ISP that ensured both the speed they required (for the majority less than those here prefer) and the greater or unlimited data transfer freedom almost everyone wants as a safety blanket.

The Cogeco decision to keep everyone in the dark was (intended or not) a great fear of the unknown damage control move.

NOTE: I am not defending Cogeco. I am not defending consumers. I am making an observation.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189486 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:34:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189096 dan991199 : Here is the email i received after sending customer service an email describing my thoughts on the bitcap:

Thank you for contacting Cogeco Technical Support. We appreciate the opportunity to help you resolve any Cogeco issues you may be having.

While we do realize the change in our enforcement was very sudden, there are a variety of reasons we felt it necessary to put them in place. Cogeco has always has bandwidth limitations as outlined in our acceptable use policy located at www.cogeco.ca/aup . Our apologies for any interruptions you may have encountered.

Should you have any further questions or concerns, please call 1-866-774-8888, and select the appropriate menu option for Cable Television or Internet Technical Support. Our representatives are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week for your convenience. You can also contact us through email via our website at www.cogeco.ca and clicking on the "Contact Us" link at the top right side of the page.

Regards,

Cogeco Technical Support]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19189096 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:38:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188952 urbanriot :

said by slade

:

Its 20 pages of the same 6 people complaining though...I imagine Cogeco has no feelings in 6 power users leave their service.

Zing!

However, as has been discussed by users and Cogeco employees in the past, dslreports posters represent an extremely small minority of real world users, so that number should logically be more. I personally know another person evaluating Teksavvy, and another who just signed up with Bell's free Xbox 360 Premium deal.

Mind you, I agree that Cogeco execs probably don't care about those that are leaving due to this new cap and in fact it's probably allowed them to increase their quality of service, and they probably don't care about word of mouth advertising (or detracting) which is far cheaper and works better than paid advertising, since it's not a hard number that can be reported on a statement. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188952 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:09:58 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188744 anon : "But most decisions are made for the betterment of the entire community, not just a few."

Is that some sort of slang term for your wallet that kids are using these days? I don't mean any offense, but to suggest that a company makes decisions for the betterment of anyone other than themselves is preposterous. It seems more like an attempt to appeal to other customers who are not affected by this so that they will shun people who are having difficulties with Cogeco and then be left with very few options once they have these same problems themselves.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188744 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:22:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188547 ancodia :

said by DrDog

:

I am a part of Cogeco, and I have feelings on the matter
I hate to hear that anyone is having issues with their service. I am also a customer as well, and I would hate to be in the same boat.
But most decisions are made for the betterment of the entire community, not just a few.
I am sure that policies are constantly changing as the environment changes, and unfortunately there will be upset people every time there is a policy change

absolutely. everyone agrees with that. but perhaps, when Cogeco decides to change the policy or the way they enforce the policy THEY SHOULD LET PEOPLE KNOW BEFORE THEY DO IT. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188547 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:41:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188466 DrDog : I am a part of Cogeco, and I have feelings on the matter
I hate to hear that anyone is having issues with their service. I am also a customer as well, and I would hate to be in the same boat.
But most decisions are made for the betterment of the entire community, not just a few.
I am sure that policies are constantly changing as the environment changes, and unfortunately there will be upset people every time there is a policy change]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188466 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:22:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188429 slade :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

said by Krispy

Its 20 pages of the same 6 people complaining though...I imagine Cogeco has no feelings in 6 power users leave their service.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188429 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:12:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188165 neko : I called in to see how long it would take to cancel my service; apparently it can be canceled on any day I request, so once my DSL is installed I will cut off Cogeco & be done with them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19188165 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:46:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187967 anon : Better yet just forward them the threads of discontent.
Save a tree or 6. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187967 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:50:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187883 anon :

said by Krispy

How about just printing the 20 pages (400 comments) and leaving it on the right management drones desk. It will send a message in a physical presence versus a low level drone who just reads emails and submit a report every so often.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187883 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:24:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187864 Snickerdo : Well, I for one will say that the first thing I did when I heard about this was cancel the cable TV install at my new home. Cogeco will be not getting a dime from me for TV.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187864 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:01:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187848 anon : I, too, got disconnected last month by Cogeco. I was very surprised by the move because I thought they had solved their bandwidth problems with aggressive throttling of peer-to-peer protocols.

I didn't complain about the traffic shaping because I thought the trade-off between having several protocols virtually unusable and not having to worry about the ridiculous bandwidth caps was worth it. I won't complain now either because I know Cogeco doesn't care, but I will be switching my ISP. I don't much like the idea of having a slower DSL connection because I like cable speeds but it will be nice to be able to use my connection for whatever I want again. Will Cogeco decide to let people use their connection however they please now that it is so severely limited in capacity? I won't hold my breath.

This move probably has nothing to do with clearing up network congestion (of which I noticed none). A large part of Cogeco's business is selling TV services. By strictly enforcing very low bandwidth limits they prevent access to high-quality internet television providers and force people to purchase their shows locally (hopefully from one of their own bundled packages, no doubt). This is a very dishonest and anti-competetive tactic which is similar to the way some cellphone carriers block instant messengers so they can charge you for text messages.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187848 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:46:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187763 Shamans :

said by hopsing :

Thanks Shamans, you where right it seems to be working better now. I did call tech support earlier and I asked that question and his initial answer was 'Yes' but he couldn't confirm this was the case and then he wasn't sure and then suggest I download utilities and so on and so forth. Any way it seems to clear up for now.

Thx.

If you want to test properly, you'd have to use a p2p application that can suck up all your bandwidth.

And if you've tested properly and it shows that you're not getting your speed - then you have to go bug them because...
if it is congested - then it is their fault
if it is throttled - then it should not be since that is not how they do things (and therefore is their fault).

If I remember right, cable is shared within your neighbourhood (unlike dsl). Cogeco is supposed to upgrade the infrastructure of your neighbourhood if there are bottlenecks. Enforcing bitcaps is one way to battle congestion. Don't be afraid to demand that the terms of the service be fulfilled if they're doing the same thing by enforcing bitcaps.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19187763 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:00:04 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186786 anon : Thanks Shamans, you where right it seems to be working better now. I did call tech support earlier and I asked that question and his initial answer was 'Yes' but he couldn't confirm this was the case and then he wasn't sure and then suggest I download utilities and so on and so forth. Any way it seems to clear up for now.

Thx.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186786 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:45:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186659 Shamans :

said by hopsing :

I received a warning letter mid Sept. I was 80GBs collectively on a standard package. After letting my usage reset for October, I am at 1GB and it appears my bandwidth is being throttle. I have no qualms with over usage, but what I do with 60GBS is my issue. Has anyone else notice any throttling.

They do not throttle, they warn/suspend. It's easy to confuse congestion and throttling btw, since they have very similar effects.

Eitherway, if you're sure you're not getting the speeds advertised, go call them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186659 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:20:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186557 anon : I received a warning letter mid Sept. I was 80GBs collectively on a standard package. After letting my usage reset for October, I am at 1GB and it appears my bandwidth is being throttle. I have no qualms with over usage, but what I do with 60GBS is my issue. Has anyone else notice any throttling.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19186557 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:02:30 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19185970 Spine : hmmm - nevermind....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19185970 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:28:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19184511 Krispy :

said by gobisbay :

said by Krispy

:

Gosh...I'm not the head honcho of the Cogeco network (or much of anything for that matter)!!

Anyway, I just popped in the thread to let everyone know where they can send their comments as per the request of several posters. So....

Goto »www.cogeco.ca and click the Contact Us link across the top menu then select Contact Us By Email then select Use this form for any questions or comments related to residential services (Cable TV, High Speed Internet, Digital Phone) - the recipients will forward this onto the applicable body.

I was told that the people that read those emails distribute them accordingly, if that's not the case PM me and I'll investigate and clear that up for you.
--
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
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19184511 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:24:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19184413 anon :

said by Krispy

Thanks Krispy, but every time I use that form to ask a question I get some canned response back to call a CSR which essentially tells me my issue fell on deaf ears. For most of these issues, I already HAD spoken to a CSR with no results.

I know this isn't the forum for this issue, but so many Cogeco customers are here. Can someone confirm or deny that Cogeco has eliminated HD games from the Super Sports Pack? Cogeco won't answer my question which pretty much answers my question, but I have no confirmation. They've been gone for a week and channels 464-466 are labeled NBA League Pass. The NBA season doesn't start for almost a month. 466 was showing a NASCAR Hot Pass channel on Sunday afternoon in SD, but my TV just freezes when I switch to the other two. I'm expecting a tech at my house any minute for an unrelated issue, but I'm sure he either won't know or won't tell me either.

There's a lot of secrecy going on at Cogeco right now, it seems.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19184413 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:06:49 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183887 Evileye : Sorry to misrepresent you Krispy. I took another look at your profile and it states:

"I'm the Network Security Administrator for Cogeco".

As such I still stand by the point I was trying to make. Based on how poorly this change was rolled out it reeks of someone w/little technical knowledge/background going behind the back or above the head of people who should normally be making these types of changes.

Best Regards,
--
If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness must be the father.
--]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183887 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:33:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183770 dan991199 : thanks krispy.
i actually used that this morning because i didnt know if you were comming back in here or not.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183770 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:13:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183759 Krispy :

said by Evileye

:

As the head honcho for the Cogeco network

Gosh...I'm not the head honcho of the Cogeco network (or much of anything for that matter)!!

Anyway, I just popped in the thread to let everyone know where they can send their comments as per the request of several posters. So....

Goto »www.cogeco.ca and click the Contact Us link across the top menu then select Contact Us By Email then select Use this form for any questions or comments related to residential services (Cable TV, High Speed Internet, Digital Phone) - the recipients will forward this onto the applicable body.
--
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
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183759 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:12:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183732 Evileye : Thanks to mattei for the summary. Yes aardvvark you could say that Krispy "replied and defended the policy" by essentially saying that if it is in the company's AUP, the company has the right to provide the service accordingly. However, if you read between the lines here it comes off as more of an explanation than a defense. I think the most telling point is where Krispy says:

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".

As the head honcho for the Cogeco network, if Krispy didn't make this decision, then this was clearly not done for technical reasons and if that's the case then you can bet that the other techs can't be happy about it either.

Cheers.
--
If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness must be the father.
--]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19183732 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:07:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182919 urbanriot : Did you mess up some end quote tags? That's incredibly hard to read.

Oh, nevermind, I see what you're doing]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182919 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:34:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182657 mattei :

said by aardvvark :

Krispy replied and defended the policy. Page 2.

said by boredguy

:

Well as soon as i hit 95 gigs the internet went to crap and everything is super slow. No redirect screen telling me to call customer service though.

Sounds like 95GB-100GB is the new hard limit. Maybe, on the weekend, they throttle a connection instead of cutting it off? Just guessing, as the others posting in this thread have said they were cut off.

It also sounds like someone is still reading this thread.

said by boredguy

:

Called customer service anyways and apparently i have to call network security and they're only there for limited hours.

Why not have a chat with the VIP member in Cogeco Engineering who holds the title of Network Security Administrator?

said by Krispy

:

Well I can see that this thread has turned into venting so I'll leave you to it, if anyone has an actual question about this you can PM me.

DSLR profile: »/profile/536788

Before you try, you might want to browse some background information. Her posts in this thread:

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

:

Ok, things got changed on Monday as most of you noticed. Things also went wrong, as things sometimes do, and some people didn't get the warnings they should have. The problem has been identified and hopefully won't happen again, it wasn't planned to go that way and lots of discussions have/are occurring to ensure it doesn't happen again. I also worked on a bunch of changes over the past few days to quickly alleviate the issue for those affected...probably didn't come fast enough for some of you which kinda sucks but we did what we could as fast as possible.

As for the changes, basically we're enforcing based on combined bitcaps now. We're still being generous with the bitcaps and we're still not charging money for overages but it's tighter than before and if you're transferring tons of traffic you should probably move to a more appropriate package (ie: doing 100GB/mo on a Lite package).

So that's deal.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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 :)

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

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.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

said by Sham :

I have a question for Krispy or others:
How many warnings do I get and at which point do I get suspended?

I believe it's 2 email warnings and then 3 levels of suspends with last one being final (aka: upgrade to bigger package or stay suspended till beginning of next month when counters reset to zero)

said by Sham :

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 ;(

Sorta...it was more that the vendor fixed a bug that disallowed us from enforcing limits on webspace then us deciding to crack down on webspace all of a sudden. We've been working on that bug for some time and the fix finally came through so we applied it.

»Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps

said by Krispy

:

Well I can see that this thread has turned into venting so I'll leave you to it, if anyone has an actual question about this you can PM me.

As for the analogy, I still stand by it - the sign always said 80kph and your bitcap was always posted, one day after 5 years of driving ~97kph on that road I got a ticket for doing 97kph on that same road, one day after years of soft caps you got a warning or suspension. I might be able to knock a few bucks off my ticket (actually I didn't) if I'd argued enough but the judge would still remind me that it's posted 80kph and it's irrelevant that I never got a ticket before. If I started arguing with the judge that the speedlimit should be upped as I always drove that speed or if I argued it was just a money grab he would tell me to go speak to the powers that make the decision. That's all I'm telling you guys/girls.

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182657 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:45:33 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182425 anon : >>Put two and two together buddy. If this was their doing, they would be here defending the policy. Simple as that. The fact that they're remaining silent shows that they are not happy about the way this is going down. Not a single Cogeco tech - and there are a LOT of them here in these forums - has said a single word about this whole issue.

Krispy replied and defended the policy. Page 2.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182425 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:04:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182219 anon :

said by urbanriot

:

where are you that you can get cogeco but not anything else? that's a bit oddball.

Depends on the quality of their phone lines. Some places still haven't upgraded.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182219 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:16:30 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182191 Last Parade :

said by urbanriot

:

Just called in again, talked to a supervisor and they confirmed that high speed DSL is not available in my area, nor is it anywhere near my area, nor is Bell's wimax service available. So it looks as though I'm with Cogeco for the long haul...

I think I'm going to drop down to the lite service and just RDP into the office (where I don't have any silly bitcaps) and download to my heart's content, then ferry data every few days with an external hard drive. That's what I used to do in the days of olde, back when I was on dial up.

where are you that you can get cogeco but not anything else? that's a bit oddball.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182191 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:08:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182147 anon : All the while completely oblivious to Cogeco's change in enforcement all of a sudden... I was cut the other night. for 24 hours. The thing Cogeco does not understand is that we are not it's kids. We simply choose them as the ISP because we think they are greater. Loyalty can change as they will find out soon enough. Their treason has lead their followers to believe that they are being lead by some other system. They are now only a pawn of a bigger system. Why else would they be doing this? Regardless of them wussing out... It's still their decision whether or not they enforce this. There are many loyal customers that would be willing to back up Cogeco if some a**h**e government system threatens to shut them down. I came to cogeco for 3 things. Great speeds, Unl. Bandwidth and anonymity. But slowly everything is being taken away. 2 out of 3 to be exact. The speeds will most likely keep going up and up. But who uses those kinds of speeds that doesn't go over their "cap". Thus it comes down to this. A showdown between Cogeco and it's rebels. Will they step down to make their clients happy (which is what all companies are 'supposed' to do) or will they go down a different hole and start losing valuable customers. The outcome is up to them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19182147 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:00:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181940 Shamans : If you're doing pro and need more bandwidth, you should switch to atleast the business starter package. it's 7 mbit but you could probably stretch your limit to 145 to 150 gigs before you get cut off. Even heavy downloaders usually only need around 140 to 150 gigs.

It's too bad that some of us are in the same boat: dsl isn't available ;(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181940 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:10:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181388 Snickerdo :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

How do you know the network staff at Cogeco is not happy about this? I have not seen any postings from the staff of Cogeco pointing this out. Even in an anonymous fashion.

Put two and two together buddy. If this was their doing, they would be here defending the policy. Simple as that. The fact that they're remaining silent shows that they are not happy about the way this is going down. Not a single Cogeco tech - and there are a LOT of them here in these forums - has said a single word about this whole issue.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181388 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:54:02 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181382 anon :

said by Snickerdo

:

I wonder what we need to do to get this posted on the front page of DSLR as a news item, especially since the network staff at Cogeco aren't exactly happy with this either.

How do you know the network staff at Cogeco is not happy about this? I have not seen any postings from the staff of Cogeco pointing this out. Even in an anonymous fashion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181382 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:51:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181359 Snickerdo : I wonder what we need to do to get this posted on the front page of DSLR as a news item, especially since the network staff at Cogeco aren't exactly happy with this either. The whole screwup with users being cut off without any notification is certainly newsworthy as far as I'm concerned. It might actually do some good to get the word out beyond the forum.

Oh, and nice, Selfcare is down too. So much for being able to check up on the estimated cutoff date.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181359 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:40:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181013 Snickerdo :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

But once one starts paying the business class pricing one would be better with Teksavvy and a 2 line or 3 line dry dsl with mlppp.
Approx $80 to $120 and true unlimited. Speed up to 10 Mb/sec with 2 line and 15 Mb/sec with 3 line.

... not if your loop is only good for a megabit at best.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19181013 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:09:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180974 anon : But once one starts paying the business class pricing one would be better with Teksavvy and a 2 line or 3 line dry dsl with mlppp.

Approx $80 to $120 and true unlimited. Speed up to 10 Mb/sec with 2 line and 15 Mb/sec with 3 line.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180974 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:56:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180936 Snickerdo : Well, this absolutely sucks, but at least with SOHO I don't need to worry about getting cut off until 260GB, which is more than I have ever used.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180936 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:48:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180902 roxx :

said by Snickerdo

:

As much as this pains me, I think I may just end up getting the standard SOHO account from Cogeco. It's not much more than Pro but has more bandwidth which I doubt I'll ever exceed. My hope is also that they may be more lienent on the business customers - not that I ever plan on using 200GB in a month, but you never know. The whole idea of uncertainty is what bothers me.

I've got a lot of stuff to think about, bleh.

Just so you know, they will not be any different just because you are in the business tier. Read my posts on the first and second or third pages.

The constant watching of transfer totals just would not work for me so I had to upgrade to the Enterprise acct. So far so good. Although it does say my bandwidth limit is 500 gigs.
None of the phone techs can tell me why it still says I have a cap in my selfcare page. I am waiting to hear back from Krispy to see if she can find out why.

Good luck and watch your totals, you will get the cut off notices. I did.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180902 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:41:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180440 diskdocx : Don't see any reason why they wouldn't. If you're a business that relies on the internet, and you need more than 200 gigs/mo, then you best be paying for the unlimited tier.

I have seen no indication that Cogeco really cares who's on the other end.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180440 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:26:03 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180390 Snickerdo :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

We do know that ones connection is disconnected when over cap by 30% in the standard and pro consumer line. We also were hoping the pro would have more bandwidth since it was an upscale product. But that was not the case. I could just see the business line also being disconnected at %30 over except the Enterprise which is unlimited. But it is very wallet intensive.

Would Cogeco pull the plug on a business customer? I'm not going outright ask a Cogeco tech to tell me, but if they can hint at this they might be able to keep me as a customer, one that even pays more than they do now.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180390 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:16:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180381 Snickerdo : My Cogeco email addresses are of no consequence. I just want to know if there is any way I can get around the whole idea of being cut off. There's nothing anywhere in the realm of affordability above the SOHO package.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180381 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:15:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180375 anon :

said by Snickerdo

We do know that ones connection is disconnected when over cap by 30% in the standard and pro consumer line. We also were hoping the pro would have more bandwidth since it was an upscale product. But that was not the case. I could just see the business line also being disconnected at %30 over except the Enterprise which is unlimited. But it is very wallet intensive.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180375 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:14:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180358 diskdocx : I'm in the same boat, some months I will probably need just more than 100gigs, but others less. In the past it was fine, and over the year I average less than 100gig/mo.

But I know certain months, typically Sept-Nov tend to be higher usage.

Still, I can't see that usage will not increase slowly over time. 2 or 3 years ago, I couldn't have imagined needing 100gigs/mo. Also never thought I'd have 3Tb of hard drive space :P

For me the make or break issue is going to be the email. If I can't keep .ca or forward the .ca to .net then its a no-go.

I'll probably end up downgrading to lite, so my wife can keep her business email, and add a second isp like Techsavvy.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180358 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:11:56 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180322 Snickerdo : As much as this pains me, I think I may just end up getting the standard SOHO account from Cogeco. It's not much more than Pro but has more bandwidth which I doubt I'll ever exceed. My hope is also that they may be more lienent on the business customers - not that I ever plan on using 200GB in a month, but you never know. The whole idea of uncertainty is what bothers me.

I've got a lot of stuff to think about, bleh.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19180322 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:04:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179850 Snickerdo : Read a little more closely next time.

said by Snickerdo

:

So they crack down on bitcaps, and I can't even download from usenet at a full 10Mbit/s, seem to be stuck at 3 for the last three days yet still seem to be pulling 10 from everywhere else? What a bunch of crap this is.

said by Snickerdo

:

I stand corrected, they don't seem to be throttling the Usenet protocol (thank god!) but whatever routing from Peer1 to AT&T they're using absolutely sucks balls.

--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179850 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:53:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179837 Scrappy2 : See what above ???
I've been reading all 19 pages?
throughout the last week.
I'm still with Cogeco not teksavy yet.
Cogeco newsgroup sucks. I pay for one (newshosting).
Are you telling me cogeco is capping usenet speed now????]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179837 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:51:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179496 Snickerdo :

said by Scrappy2

:

Anyone else getting slower than usual speeds?

See above.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179496 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:56:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179297 Scrappy2 : Wow been using my newsgroup and speeds are all over the place started good 700 800 kb/s
now levelled off at 150 kb/s.
Guess everyone was waiting for the month rollover.
before THE BITCAP I had no problem pulling a steady 900 to 1000 kb/s off newsgroups.
Anyone else getting slower than usual speeds?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179297 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:26:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179110 urbanriot : Ah, you said nntp, as in all nntp traffic is limited to that speed. I don't care about their news server, I have my own. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179110 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:02:02 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179001 ancodia :

said by urbanriot

said by ancodia

:

nntp is capped at 125KB/sec

Whoa, whoa, whoa... per connection or as a whole your nntp traffic is shaped?

by default Teksavvy only supplies you with text newsggroup access. for $4/month they will give you a static ip and binary access (binaries from www.usenetserver.com - which I think is around 100 days retention). catch is that $4 only gets you a 1mbit unlimited nntp connection (125 KB). if you want faster you need to buy it yourself from somewhere else. astraweb or newshosting is a good choice for unlimited. Personally, I like Easynews because its got a great search engine, loyalty gigs and whatever you dont use rolls over to the next month. Mind you, you could also p2p since they don't shape the traffic.

If Cogeco was smart they would do they same thing. For an extra $10 month you get unlimited local NNTP access. but then, that would be progressive thinking... They even own the server! It's like Cogeco has a modern state of the art network and it's being controlled by management still stuck in 2001. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19179001 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:45:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178895 Snickerdo : The 200GB business account is 16Mbit/s for $89.99? I've never gone over 200GB, so this may be an absolute last resort alternative if DSL doesn't work out due to distance.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178895 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:25:41 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178888 neko :

said by diskdocx

:

Does Techsavvy provide a 'free' news server? If so, how is the completion/retention.

Personally, I'd be more likely to switch to the 200gig Business account, with Cogeco's own news server, than to switch to a slower ISP, and pay for an add-on news service, esp if the traffic is that restricted.

I managed to avoid any warning last month, but was 2.5 gig over the pro cap by the end of yesterday.

This month I'm already 4 gigs into my bandwidth, and getting more paranoid by the moment.

I believe they do offer the news server as part of their service included within the monthly price. I *think* it's usenetserver that provides it for them, with 120 day retention.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178888 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:24:01 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178859 diskdocx : Does Techsavvy provide a 'free' news server? If so, how is the completion/retention.

Personally, I'd be more likely to switch to the 200gig Business account, with Cogeco's own news server, than to switch to a slower ISP, and pay for an add-on news service, esp if the traffic is that restricted.

I managed to avoid any warning last month, but was 2.5 gig over the pro cap by the end of yesterday.

This month I'm already 4 gigs into my bandwidth, and getting more paranoid by the moment. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178859 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:18:34 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178842 neko :

said by ancodia

said by neko2 :

So how is the Techsavvy service? How long from initial inquiry to actual service started?

That sounds great. I don't mind the 1Mbit download cap on the news server, as you say that's 10Gb a day which is far more than I use on a daily basis anyway. It would suit me fine :)

I ordered the 2wire a few minutes ago from Canada Computers so I should have it in a few days, then I will look at cancelling my Cogeco service.

Thanks for the info.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178842 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:14:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178839 dan991199 : if you are a heavy newgroup user you might wanna checkout a seperate provider such as newshosting for better speed, but also better rentention]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178839 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:14:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178812 urbanriot :

said by ancodia

:

nntp is capped at 125KB/sec

Whoa, whoa, whoa... per connection or as a whole your nntp traffic is shaped?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178812 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:10:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178733 ancodia :

said by neko2 :

So how is the Techsavvy service? How long from initial inquiry to actual service started?

took five days to get dry-dsl installed. I get the full 5-meg service which works out to about 525k/sec downloading. nntp is capped at 125KB/sec, but that's ok with me (works out to about 10gig/day). I have an Easynews account which I'll use for stuff I need to get right away. One thing I did notice when I switched over from Cogeco to dsl is that my Primus VOIP service dramatically improved. I used to get weird echoes and sometimes only one person at a time could speak. Works great now (finally got the stamp of approval from the wife)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178733 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:52:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178661 neko : So how is the Techsavvy service? How long from initial inquiry to actual service started?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178661 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:38:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178621 ancodia :

said by neko

:

Is this the correct one:
»www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph···d=NT.541

Looks great for $20!

yep, that's the one. Some people are reporting that some of them are defective, but my first one worked fine. If it is defective, they won't charge to swap.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178621 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:31:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178564 neko : Is this the correct one:
»www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph···d=NT.541

Looks great for $20!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178564 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:20:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178444 ancodia :

said by neko

:

I am currently in discussion with Techsavvy about getting DSL service at my apartment. Initially I will need to buy a modem from them but after 6 months my monthly bill will be $46 (includes tax) for unlimited use, dry line, static IP & newsgroup access.

I am pretty much sold on it as I will save $6 a month compared to my Cogeco service & with no caps.

So it looks like I will be leaving Cogeco sometime this month. I am gonna blow my cap first, though & grab what I can from their news server.

You should pickup the 2wire modem from Canada computers. $20. I'm using it and it works fine. I think after 6 months away from Cogeco you become elegible for their promos again, so if in the future they raise/remove their caps, you can signup with Cogeco again and get a good price.

edit : yep, 6 months : '1 This is a limited time offer. Offer is for Cogeco High Speed Internet Standard service and is limited to new customers or those who have disconnected for more than six months'

So you get to give a big FU to Cogeco and cancel and either way things go you win out (either Cogeco wakes up to their mistake and you sign back up at a discount or you stick with Teksavvy and get unlimited Internet and Cogeco doesnt get any of your money). ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178444 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:01:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178407 neko : I am currently in discussion with Techsavvy about getting DSL service at my apartment. Initially I will need to buy a modem from them but after 6 months my monthly bill will be $46 (includes tax) for unlimited use, dry line, static IP & newsgroup access.

I am pretty much sold on it as I will save $6 a month compared to my Cogeco service & with no caps.

So it looks like I will be leaving Cogeco sometime this month. I am gonna blow my cap first, though & grab what I can from their news server.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178407 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:55:26 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178246 SuperCM : Joost went public today as well (no need to be invited), so I guess caps on all major Canadian ISPs isn't going to help them much.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178246 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:31:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178235 Scrappy2 : I'm using my newsgroup and eatting up a bunch of Bandwidth.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178235 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:30:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178218 Trist : I think Krispy, in one of the earlier posts on this topic, said the implmentation began on the first of last month. The middle of September was when people began to post they'd been warned or banned without warning due to the then broken warning system.

ASIDE:

How much is everyone transfering today, eating it up or being cautious? So far I've stuck to light viewing of web pages only and am at 11MB (according to Bandwidth Monitor).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178218 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:27:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178157 dan991199 : i think you're right scrappy]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19178157 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:19:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177874 Scrappy2 : I think we will be seeing an influx of negative Cogeco posts by third week of October.
Not everyone was aware or effected by the caps last month as they took effect near the end of September.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177874 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:40:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177402 anon : gotcha]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177402 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:25:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177354 Airwolf : The congestion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177354 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:16:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177305 anon : >>Cogeco corrected things and I do have the option to switch.

What did Cogeco correct? The (low) caps and suspensions are still there, the arrogance is still there. I have yet to receive an apology in my inbox for the abrupt, without notice change from soft to hard caps. The trust is gone.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177305 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:08:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177252 Airwolf : Cogeco corrected things and I do have the option to switch.

I have had DSL before, it sucked big time for my area. Bell told me that they would upgrade the area in 2 years. No Hell in chance I was going to pay for 1.5Mbps service (sync problems as well) when others in the city were getting 3Mbps+

I'm not a Cogeco fanboy. It just works for me. Plus, it's cheaper when bundled with Digital cable.

When I first got 1 Mbps DSL from Sympatico, I thought it was the most neato thing. I loved it. So at one point I did enjoy DSL. I hope others are enjoying it as well because I'm enjoying Cogeco.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177252 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:01:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177081 dan991199 : Ugh, I'm a little late getting in here, but i would also like to state my frustration with Cogeco. after being a customer of the internet service for 8 years i will no longer being utilizing their services. I move in a little less than a month, and i will be either making the switch to Teksavvy or to Sympatico 16Mbit service. i will also no longer be utilizing cogeco's Tv service as the only reason i had it was because i also used their internet service. I really hope cogeco realizes what they have done, and the amount of customers they have pissed off and corrects things for those who don't have the option to switch.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19177081 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:30:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176573 urbanriot : Just called in again, talked to a supervisor and they confirmed that high speed DSL is not available in my area, nor is it anywhere near my area, nor is Bell's wimax service available. So it looks as though I'm with Cogeco for the long haul...

I think I'm going to drop down to the lite service and just RDP into the office (where I don't have any silly bitcaps) and download to my heart's content, then ferry data every few days with an external hard drive. That's what I used to do in the days of olde, back when I was on dial up. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176573 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:01:21 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176556 Trist :

second month. I am cancelling as well, never really came close to going over 60gb before for bandwidth however this kind of has me scared as if I did go up that high for some reason I would be cut off

I understand what you mean. I've been with Cogeco's internet service through at least 3-names that I recall for years. Looking at the past two months I don't go over the cap (100Gig/Pro) but this morning for the first time ever I'm thinking to myself do I really need to load that web page? I'm checking how much data loads from a page here in the forums. I'm wondering about page reloads. No enjoyment in that (and I haven't even considered a real file transfer or web activity yet).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176556 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:58:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176549 Snickerdo :

said by urbanriot

:

]I was also told my address was rated for 1.5, and I couldn't get the better packages. Should I try it anyhow, and see if they're wrong? I live in a rural area so this wouldn't surprise me if it's only rated for 1.5.

A crapload of RSLAMs have been installed in rural Niagara over the last 18 months. It might be worth a try. I know I'm going to try with DSL as my personal experience with Bell's estimates has been sketchy.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176549 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:57:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176450 urbanriot :

said by Snickerdo

:

Bell's database says the address is only good for 1.5, but they also said that my downtown address was only good for 2 when it was good for 8.

I was also told my address was rated for 1.5, and I couldn't get the better packages. Should I try it anyhow, and see if they're wrong? I live in a rural area so this wouldn't surprise me if it's only rated for 1.5. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176450 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:39:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176090 anon : I am a new Cogeco customer got 3 months free and currently in my second month. I am cancelling as well, never really came close to going over 60gb before for bandwidth however this kind of has me scared as if I did go up that high for some reason I would be cut off from the net and I need the internet, if I did not need it why would I even have it. DSL is not that bad in my area as I had that prior to getting Cogeco and I was doing speedtests as 5200kb down and 680 up. Cogeco, what were you thinking?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19176090 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:20:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175498 anon : I don't know much about this, but it's October now and I'm still getting a 6kB/s bitcap with P2P downloads. My bandwidth was never great before, but this is getting annoying.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175498 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:52:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175271 anon : You didn't get the memo Usenet throttling starts this month oh also Cogeco gets your first born child after your last warning.
Joking
But I'm sure throttling Newsgroups is coming(although maybe not. They want as many people to go over the limit so they can pressure you into a more $ package.
I really would have gladly paid more money for unlimited through Cogeco but since they don't offer this.
I can't]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175271 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:20:23 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175227 Snickerdo : I stand corrected, they don't seem to be throttling the Usenet protocol (thank god!) but whatever routing from Peer1 to AT&T they're using absolutely sucks balls.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175227 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:52:03 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175056 anon :

said by Scrappy2

:

I'm going to use my 60 gigabytes limit and dump my shitty cogeco.

My bandwidth counter has reset, yet I have an almost useless internet connection. I hope that resets soon also.

I will not be punished like this month after month. I am also going to use this months bandwidth and then switch to a honest and technical ISP. Techsavvy fits the bill.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19175056 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:25:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174994 Snickerdo :

said by PegLeg

:

If you think the bit-cap screwup was bad , wait until they start this - »AT&T Censors Customers' Negative Opinions?
Unannounced and retroactive , of course ! lol

Thankfully, our Charter and the current interpretation of Freedom of Expression has been applied in a much more broad sense, including situations like ours.

I'm in the process of arranging to have DSL installed at my new address to test line conditions. Bell's database says the address is only good for 1.5, but they also said that my downtown address was only good for 2 when it was good for 8. I want to be rid of this hellhole of an ISP ASAP.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174994 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:04:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174968 PegLeg : If you think the bit-cap screwup was bad , wait until they start this - »AT&T Censors Customers' Negative Opinions?

Unannounced and retroactive , of course ! lol ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174968 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:58:56 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174930 Shamans : 380 gigs... on standard, dude that's wicked ;)

my counter just reset btw.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174930 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:47:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174894 Scrappy2 : I'm going to use my 60 gigabytes limit and dump my shitty cogeco.
The stupid selfcare page says my estimated overage usage for October will be 11+ terabytes.
Seems the numbers all screwed up because didn't even get close to 300 gigabytes last month downloaded since half the month I was only allowed to use my bandwidth on was my email and web browsing(which I only browsed this page(half the time I even had the computer off).

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174894 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:31:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174890 Snickerdo :

said by Shamans

:

try multiple connections...if you haven't yet (and if your software allows it)

Haha dude, while I appreciate your offer for assistance I am not a noob when it comes to this. I have also ruled out the server as the cause as I'm downloading something at ~850KB/s on my Mothers' Rogers connection. The only conclusion I can come to is that Cogeco has gone from the best to the absolute worst in the country.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174890 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:30:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174882 Shamans : try multiple connections...if you haven't yet (and if your software allows it)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174882 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:27:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174697 Snickerdo : So they crack down on bitcaps, and I can't even download from usenet at a full 10Mbit/s, seem to be stuck at 3 for the last three days yet still seem to be pulling 10 from everywhere else? What a bunch of crap this is.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19174697 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:43:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173702 Frozty2k : Someone suggested this software as having a lot of display options »www.plixer.com/products/free-netflow.php (free version) It's made to take Cisco NetFlow data, but you can use pfflowd which converts OpenBSD PF status messages to the NetFlow datagrams.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173702 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:05:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173618 Trist : There is a Windows based programme that claims to (among other things) monitor internet usage by day and month and to warn at a user set MB/GB usage target. Name is "Bandwidth Monitor". At www.bwmonitor.com .. has a 30 day trial. Seen it on usenet too if that's easier for you.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173618 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:49:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173588 urbanriot : Like you guys, also patiently waiting for the 1st so I can start doing some work from home (need some distro ISO's and drivers).

For command line, bmon is simple to view and easy to use.

I use mrtg for some of my bsd boxes, but you might also want to check out nagois. I'd be interested if anyone has any other *nix based bandwidth monitors that generate HTML reports. (netstat + perl doesn't count). ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173588 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:43:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173175 Frozty2k :

said by neko

said by Frozty2k

said by Hamilton1 :

I'm putting in a new firewall/linux box where I will be able to keep iron clad logs on usage for every computer and I will be able to see what's what for next month ;)

What distro are you using & what are you using to log the bandwidth?

I haven't had one of these box's setup for a few years, used IP Cop back then. I looked around and am going to try a firewall called pfSense that has a lot of features and should be able to do what I want. It runs off FreeBSD and has a lot of addons/modules that can be added to do the trick.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19173175 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:21:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172994 neko :

said by Frozty2k

said by Hamilton1 :

I'm putting in a new firewall/linux box where I will be able to keep iron clad logs on usage for every computer and I will be able to see what's what for next month ;)

What distro are you using & what are you using to log the bandwidth?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172994 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:43:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172992 Shamans : It's reset on the 1st of every month so far on selfcare, no reason why it wouldn't in 5 hours ;)

But the constricting limits people are experiencing this month is still gonna happen next month too heh - unless you've upgraded your package or switched to another isp.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172992 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:43:01 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172950 Frozty2k :

said by Hamilton1 :

I certainly hope that when 12:00am rolls around later this evening that my counter resets to zero and I can download again because the last thing I want to do is have to upgrade to a different package.

Yes I certainly hope so. For over a week since I got back online I haven't been able to download anything :( It's going to end up me using more than usual to get caught up then having to cut back for the rest of the 3 weeks of the month.

On another note, for people who say how it's easy to cut back or not use so much. In the last week the largest thing I downloaded was like 6MB. Everything else has been just web traffic and I think someone was on youtube for a bit. Over that time selfcare say's I've used about 2gig download. Seems like an awful lot, I'm putting in a new firewall/linux box where I will be able to keep iron clad logs on usage for every computer and I will be able to see what's what for next month ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172950 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:34:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172903 neko :

I hope so too, as I only have 150Mb left on my account.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172903 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:24:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172886 anon :

I hope it is true also. We are only guessing and hoping since Cogeco still has not released any formal information. They just love keeping their customers in the dark.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172886 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:22:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172763 anon : I certainly hope that when 12:00am rolls around later this evening that my counter resets to zero and I can download again because the last thing I want to do is have to upgrade to a different package.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172763 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:59:04 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172078 anon : >>A service techie told me that a small charge could be enforced if I was to ignore a warning and continue consuming bandwidth after the warning.

Boiling frog.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19172078 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:47:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171987 anon : I had the standard package and got a few warnings that I was reaching my bandwith cap , so I upgraded to the pro package. I've never had another warning , but I don't think I ever exceeded my cap. A service techie told me that a small charge could be enforced if I was to ignore a warning and continue consuming bandwidth after the warning. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171987 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:25:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171723 urbanriot :

said by ancodia

:

This should concern people who plan to regulary go over the 60gig cap.

That won't be possible with the enforced disconnects.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171723 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:29:03 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171570 ancodia :

said by reno :

Hi

Not really responding to your post in particular but just wanted to give you some food for thought. I first started service with cogeco in 1995. At that time it was like coming out of the dark ages,from a dial up connect. I am a fairly heavy bandwidth user and have the same concerns that you do with these caps being enforced. I just wonder, that when bell and other DSL providers learn that cogeco is starting to enforce their bandwidth limits, that their bean counters decide to do the same thing. I switched to bell a few years ago and just didn't like their speeds.

Bell has caps, but they tell you up front what they are and what happens when you go over them. Cogeco decided one day to just start enforcing caps without prior notice which is what upset everyone. For YEARS Cogeco staff told us, in this very forum, that the caps were 'softcaps'. That said, Bell caps the overcharge at either $25 or $30. Though Cogeco doesnt currently overcharge, they have the power to do so *at anytime*, and there is *no limit* to the amount they can charge you. This should concern people who plan to regulary go over the 60gig cap. Cogeco can easily turn around to those people and charge them (for instance, they tell you to upgrade, you say no I'm cancelling, they turn around and charge you an overcharge). You agreed to that in the AUP. One has to wonder why Cogeco would go through the trouble to outline the overcharges if they never plan to use them. The Cogeco reps told us many times they never planned to enforce caps and look what happened.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171570 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:58:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171327 anon : Hi reno,

There are other providers besides Bell. Teksavvy (the one I'm looking to switch to) being one off the top of my head. You can also take a look at listings at www.canadianisp.com]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171327 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:06:09 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171282 anon : Hi

Not really responding to your post in particular but just wanted to give you some food for thought. I first started service with cogeco in 1995. At that time it was like coming out of the dark ages,from a dial up connect. I am a fairly heavy bandwidth user and have the same concerns that you do with these caps being enforced. I just wonder, that when bell and other DSL providers learn that cogeco is starting to enforce their bandwidth limits, that their bean counters decide to do the same thing. I switched to bell a few years ago and just didn't like their speeds.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171282 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:56:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171243 neko :

said by ancodia

said by neko

:

I am cutting it really close; I am on 99% & have 170Mb left for the rest of today. The cap resets tomorrow anyway, so it looks like I have made it through this month :)

the question now is, how many more months will they let you get away with that?

Yeah, I know what you are saying. Technically I *am* staying under there cap, so there shouldn't be any problems.

It wouldn't surprise me, though, that they do contact me forcing me to upgrade to a more expensive package just because I am getting close to 100% every month, but as long as I am technically staying under the cap they shouldn't be able to touch me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171243 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:49:30 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171209 ancodia :

said by neko

:

I am cutting it really close; I am on 99% & have 170Mb left for the rest of today. The cap resets tomorrow anyway, so it looks like I have made it through this month :)

the question now is, how many more months will they let you get away with that?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171209 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:38:37 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171135 neko : I am cutting it really close; I am on 99% & have 170Mb left for the rest of today. The cap resets tomorrow anyway, so it looks like I have made it through this month :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19171135 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:23:17 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19170688 anon : Did we ever get an email address or snail mail address that we could write to and state our thoughts on this bitcap matter?

If Krispy is still around I would love to know who I could contact and if you have a phone number that would be even better.

Thank You

Dave]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19170688 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:46:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169975 urbanriot :

said by Scrappy2

:

Seems like ever since I was told not to use my Bandwidth , my digital cable tv has been pretty crummy(meaning not good).
Anyone else having this problem now too ?

The two issues are unrelated. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169975 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:45:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169970 urbanriot :

said by Last Parade

quote:
what do you use your bw one ?
do you play online games use newsgroups dnld music

yes, but I also enjoy the English language

hahah... some of my best posts were done Saturday nights while under the influence.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169970 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:42:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169800 Scrappy2 : Seems like ever since I was told not to use my Bandwidth , my digital cable tv has been pretty crummy(meaning not good).
Anyone else having this problem now too ?

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169800 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 02:00:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169537 Last Parade :

quote:
what do you use your bw one ?
do you play online games use newsgroups dnld music

yes, but I also enjoy the English language]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19169537 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:27:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168920 Scrappy2 : reply to Pepsi
I don't know i've only used 10% of my bandwidth this month. you guys are pretty hardcore
what do you use your bandwidth on ?
Do you play online games?. do you use newsgroups, download music?.
60 gigabytes really is way below HARDCORE. There are people downloading 300 400 gigabytes a month.That is what I would consider hardcore.
Of course none of these people downloading 300 400 gigabytes a month are on Cogeco.
Better teacher?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168920 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:02:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168671 anon : I enjoy online video. Thanks to the caps, I can't download and watch Diggnation, iFanboy, TekZilla, NoobToob or GigaOm until next week. And no, I'm not making this up. These are all great iptv shows.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168671 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:12:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168614 Last Parade : i dunno, i've only used 10% of my bandwidth this month. you guys are pretty hardcore.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168614 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:59:33 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168043 anon : I think right about now and until Oct. 1 Cogeco will notice that their peak bandwidth use is up. I know I checked my bandwidth and I am now running it off. This could cost them more than no bitcap. If they are billed on the percentile like all other ISPs it is possible that the peak could occur right now. This will truly defeat the purpose of the bitcap. Could also congest the local nodes. But I am receiving my full 16 Mb no problem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168043 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:41:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168023 Scrappy2 : i'm excited to see how October plays out as it'll be the first full month of these BS caps.
The basic feeling I get from Cogeco is if you don't like it too bad what are you going to do?
Which is true either people will have to continue to pay a company that could care less about customers more about the bottom line.
Or move on to a different company.
Either way these caps are here to stay at least for the forseeable future.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19168023 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:38:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19167629 hse : Just got myself the 24 hour ban.

Since I got the warnings I had made sure I didn't download anything, just regular internet surfing, yet I still get cut off a few days later. How fair.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19167629 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:59:11 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165738 Ignite : Lovely maths but there is the minor issue that the HD content is broadcast, not unicast (google it) so it costs Cogeco the same whether an HD customer watches a channel or not, while to service your internet needs requires bandwidth dedicated to you rather than bandwidth broadcast to the entire node regardless of use.

Just as you don't get charged extra for watching more SD TV the same goes for HD, apart from Video On Demand and even then that uses frequencies dedicated to it so cost of servicing VoD requests remains constant.

I believe the acronym is RTFM.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165738 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:17:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165735 ancodia : »www.canadianisp.com/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165735 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:16:31 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165655 anon : After thinking about this and trying to decide if I should go to the standard Business for $55 which is $12 more than the $42.95 I pay now I decided that I'm not going to give in to Cogeco's blatant extortion tactics.

If you stop to think about this any of Cogeco's HD customers are reaching 66Gb's worth of content in just over 8 hours or TV viewing. I bet your wondering how I got this number right? Well a High Def PVR will how approximately 20Hrs worth of HD contect on a 160Gb Hard drive, so if you break that down you end up with 8Gb=1Hr so 8Gb x 8Hrs = 64Gb of HD content. Now the really big kicker to this is what do these HD customers acutally pay well I don't want to take the time to do this math but considering HD is about $20 bucks more than regular Analogue as long as you have purchased the HD box then these customers are getting GB's worth of content for just Pennies a day, and we are being asked to pay around $45 dollars for just 66Gb's worth of content.

The long and the short of this is I guess I better see if there is a better alternative where I live and find out what they have to offer.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165655 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 09:57:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165097 boredguy : Well as soon as i hit 95 gigs the internet went to crap and everything is super slow. No redirect screen telling me to call customer service though. Called customer service anyways and apparently i have to call network security and they're only there for limited hours.
--
What would Jesus do for a Klondike bar?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19165097 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:55:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19164385 anon : re: Upload limits

Well Cogeco doesn't say anything about upload limits being different from download limits. They're COMBINED limits from everything I've read.

So If you've uploaded 58gigs and downloaded 1 gig, you're still under your 60gb cap.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19164385 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:06:41 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19164353 plutoz : My connection got cut off earlier this evening. 85GB down this month - I'd guess at least half of which came from Cogeco's own Usenet servers!

Not to mention I had my Usenet client set to throttle at 200KB/sec (1/5 of my full d/l speed) for the entire month.

I signed up with TekSavvy earlier this afternoon after receiving the 2nd bandwidth warning. Screw Cogeco, I don't need this hassle. I'll take slower speed anyday over this BS.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19164353 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:01:23 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19162537 anon : NYDWARF1 :

That's exactly it, it's a money grab. LIke I said previously, the few high-usage people aren't degrading the network at all.

But wow.. you actually got Cogeco's phone service!? Ouch. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 mile pole. Not with how many problems we have with net/TV service.

But DOOUBLE WOW.. going over your internet usage causes your PHONE to be shut down too!? That is just absolutely incredible. The 2 should be separate services.

What's next with Cogeco? Counting talk-time towards your monthly bandwidth allowance?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19162537 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:55:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19162510 anon : I received my first notice / cut-off today. Well, it was my "third" notice. Apparently the first 2 went to my Cogeco email which I haven't used since day one (7 or 8 years ago).

I got into my email after calling them and getting my login/pword (after having to provide driver's license #) and saw the 2 emails waiting there.

I was on their 10mbps / 60GB cap, and was at about 97GB when I was shut down (sent to a redirect page).

I was told I'd have only 1GB to use until the end of the month when the bandwidth was reset.

I decided to go with the 16mbps/100GB per month at $64 bucks a month (an extra $22 from what I was paying).

Why they do this to p1ss off a few high usage users when their network is still FLYING along, I have no idea. I could see if it was to the point where there was so much extra usage that it was slowing things down, but I often get over 1100kb/sec when downloading.

I agree it's their right to do whatever they want with their own network, and run it any way they see fit. But why not just keep EVERYONE happy if the few high-usage people aren't having any negative effect? GRrrr.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19162510 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:50:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19161563 anon :

said by neko

:

This is what I am holding out for too. I really hope they offer a package like this...

You might be holding out for quite sometime. I don't expect a company to change its packages so rapidly after this newly enforced bitcap. They are going to sit and wait for the results before making another move. Best case for you is in 3 months. Worst case is 1 year.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19161563 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:58:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19161260 neko :

said by Hamilton1 :

I guess I'm going to have to watch what I download and hope that Cogeco will offer a similar service to their standard business package which gives 120Gb at 7mb's and only costs $55 on a one year contract. For those of you who switched to the standard Business Package what has it been like are the speeds ok nad DID YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOU EMAIL ADDRESS?

I'm hoping (ya I know more like dreaming) that they will offer a residential package of 130Gb for around the price of $59 or $55 with one of there package deals.

This is what I am holding out for too. I really hope they offer a package like this...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19161260 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:12:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19159410 anon : I guess I'm going to have to watch what I download and hope that Cogeco will offer a similar service to their standard business package which gives 120Gb at 7mb's and only costs $55 on a one year contract. For those of you who switched to the standard Business Package what has it been like are the speeds ok nad DID YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOU EMAIL ADDRESS?

I'm hoping (ya I know more like dreaming) that they will offer a residential package of 130Gb for around the price of $59 or $55 with one of there package deals.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19159410 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:16:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19158771 ancodia :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

said by R0CKY

:

Right now the average is 55GB on the unlimited side.... So it costs us $1.75 per user in Transit right now over top the Bell fees. On the flip side, the premium's average is at 17GB or $1.06ish/user. Now, $0.70 doesn't look like much, but multiply it over a few thousand connections and it adds up in a hurry. When we scratch the 100GB average we're going to need to start looking at it a little more seriously. There's a reason unlimited is being eliminated from many of the ISPs... Transit prices aren't coming down proportionately to the increase of speeds.

I think Teksavvy has around 20k users. Cogeco, according to their 2006 year end report, has 260k+ Internet subscribers, so the pricing to Cogeco would be alot less than what Teksavvy pays. It probably costs Cogeco more to have a csr call you about going 20 gig over your cap than it would for them to just pay the transit cost (unless with that call they can sucessfully threaten you into an upgrade!) Again, everything points to someone in management thinking this would be a quick and easy cash grab for Cogeco. Year-end for Cogeco was August. So starting in September they figure we'll threathen 'high-bandwidth' people to either upgrade or leave. They'll have one year to replace the lost customers so it still looks good on the numbers sheet come Aug 2008, and they've increased the income without increasing the prices (which in a round-about way they did, bean counters are sneaky that way). So the investors are happy, bean counters are happy and the marketing department is happy. Only people not happy are the customers who are paying more and getting less (but as all marketing departments know, customers will complain for a couple weeks, but eventually most of them suck it up and pay).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19158771 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:53:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157999 anon :

said by R0CKY

That was posted in the Teksavvy forum by ROCKY a VIP. A lot of interesting infomation in that quote. It looks like premium peering cost is double to Cogent.
So about $20 for 300 GB month or per 1 Mb purchase per month on the premium. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157999 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:43:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157804 Frozty2k :

said by ancodia

:

edit : one of the owners on Teksavvy was talking about bandwidth costs and stated : "...Cogent that it costs us $10 per 300GB". Food for thought. They are nowhere near the size of Cogeco, so imagine what Cogeco gets their bandwidth for. really puts the true cost of the 60 gig cap into perspective.

I just read that, really is interesting as you never can get any straight numbers on that stuff. I'm sure there is lots to take into account, I think cogent is a cheaper peer, higher ping etc. And I'm sure they are billed in much large chunks, so they have to average it out.

Still, any way you put it, with the bulk deal cogeco could get I'm sure the can get a deal at least as good as that if not better.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157804 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:56:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157788 Shamans : yeah, bandwidth doesn't cost that much and I have no idea wtf cogeco is doing. I sure hope that they put that money into actually increasing bandwidth caps.

If anyone needs to do a lot of uploading, renting a virtual server/ server is always a good option.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157788 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:53:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157097 ancodia :

said by ancodia

said by diskdocx

:

Now you're starting to get it :P

I got my DSL installed today. 5 days, exactly like Teksavvy promised. I cancelled my Cogeco. They don't require 30 days notice as stated in their agreement. I told them I was cancelling because of the caps and suggested they create another tier that is slower but with unlimited downloads. If they do that I'd be first in line for their service. She said she would send my comments to the marketing department and record my reason for cancelling. Very friendly. I've always liked Cogeco, such a shame it's being ruined by someone in management who is too busy worrying about the pennies not realizing its costing them dollars.

edit : one of the owners on Teksavvy was talking about bandwidth costs and stated : "...Cogent that it costs us $10 per 300GB". Food for thought. They are nowhere near the size of Cogeco, so imagine what Cogeco gets their bandwidth for. really puts the true cost of the 60 gig cap into perspective.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19157097 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:47:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19156452 thez0r :

said by Frozty2k

:

Don't throw everyone together with that statement. Switching takes some time, DSL is at least 5 days usually. People were cut off then told on the phone, upgrade now or don't use the internet for the rest of the month. Wasn't much of a choice for some people. (Myself I'm trying to let the rest of the week play out using very little until the cap get's reset :p)

Its extortion, no doubt about that. Anyone with a brain that has non-Cogeco VOIP service that was interputed by Cogeco should be writing the CRTC and documenting it as predatory behaviour to Cogeco VOIP competitors (something the CRTC would be interested in).

Anyway, upgrading to "pro" gives Cogeco a monetary reason to do what they are doing. If they can replace every customer that leaves with a customer paying double for what they were already getting then they are financially ahead of the game.

I got my first high speed connection from Bell in 1998. Four years later in '02 they tried a cap at 5GB and charging $7GB per 1 GB overage with no limit. They lost big time and they have never recovered their subscribers, even to this day. Did their cap policy change? It sure as hell did.

How will Cogeco's cap policy change if everyone decides its a good idea to start paying them double for the same service?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19156452 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:53:34 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19156082 anon : This is a quote from a totally different topic on Slashdot. But I do find it fits very well in regards to company arrogance towards their customers.

said by KingSkippus (799657) :

Companies kill me, it's a corporate lifecycle that we see again and again, and very few seem to learn from it. Once a company gets so big, it gets it in its head that it's invulnerable. It thinks that it can do anything it wants, and people will flock to it because it's the latest and greatest offering from the King of the (Whatever).

We see it now with Microsoft and Vista. We're also seeing it from Sony on its Playstation 3. Sony thought, "Of course people will buy the Playstation 3. It's a Playstation, for crying out loud!" Anyone remember when Hayes thought that they had the modem market locked up tight? Or when IBM didn't treat clones as serious competitors?

Usually, companies like this end up either going out of business, or at least eventually become relegated back down into the fray because they stop asking themselves, "What do our customers want?" and become totally focused on "What do we want?

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19156082 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:51:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155811 mattei :

said by Scrappy2 :

Mattei wheres this ?

said by mattei

:

So, how's this playing out on the Cogeco employee forum at rabble.cogeco.net? Thread 2585 looks popular...

Right where I said it was.

said by neko

:

I would *love* to know this as well...

Don't get your hopes up. The thread is likely used for tracking Internet or just DSLReports "exposure." If you or one of your employees answers a question on a public forum, it's generally a good idea to keep track of it and any responses. It could also be a news, commentary, or policy thread - I don't see 25+ posts being made in a single-topic discussion before someone posts this URL. Heck, it could also be a simple ranting area, similar to the "No, I Will Not Fix Your #@$!! Computer" administrative whining club here (complete with your last angry support call available as an MP3) :D.

I was curious about the type of response my post would generate. The result was unexpected but not surprising. The source of this and other super-top-secret, eyes only information is available to all registered members at the top of most DSLR site pages.

said by Scrappy2 :

And kindda hard for them to respond to questions on here to since I doubt they were in the know either until the day they were told to enforce the cap.

That's probably true for some here, definitely not all.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155811 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:05:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155750 Frozty2k :

said by thez0r

said by trodge

:

Waaay back in May there was a discussion about us getting upgrades to our service.
September and Standard will be 20Mbps. I hope this is true.

Don't throw everyone together with that statement. Switching takes some time, DSL is at least 5 days usually. People were cut off then told on the phone, upgrade now or don't use the internet for the rest of the month. Wasn't much of a choice for some people. (Myself I'm trying to let the rest of the week play out using very little until the cap get's reset :p)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155750 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:56:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155686 Shalimar :

just heard that we, Pro , will be going to 32Mbps down by September and Standard will be 20Mbps. I hope this is true.

This was a quote that started that discussion. What are the chances that is still going to happen? Especially since the caps have now been enforced. And if they do upgrade us that high, they will have to seriously revisit the cap limits. Can anyone comment on this potential upgrade? Thanks.

Great!!! More speed... which is even more useless with the bitcaps... once again showing Cogeco's marketing dept is so far out of touch with reality it truly is sad. (Even Symcraptico is doing better... and that is sad indeed!)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155686 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:44:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155610 thez0r :

said by trodge

:

Waaay back in May there was a discussion about us getting upgrades to our service.

I just heard that we, Pro , will be going to 32Mbps down by September and Standard will be 20Mbps. I hope this is true.

Well, September is almost over so its not bloody likely.

All the idiots upgrading to pro enstead of switching ISPs are giving Cogeco a financial incentive to degrade the current services, not expand it. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155610 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:29:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155412 anon : Just because someone didn't read all 14 pages of this post does not mean they are a troll. I find it amusing how often you people say others are trolls when you might possibly be one yourself. I switched to Cogeco recently from Sympatico at home and find the speed great.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19155412 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:56:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153760 urbanriot :

said by slowgeco :

And what about pro, has anyone been slammed for going over on pro?

It's proper etiquette to read a thread before contributing to it, or asking questions that have already been answered in depth.

Probably just an anonymous troll, stirring up the pot a little, which is unfortunate because it detracts from the credence of those of us that are registered users contributing criticism.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153760 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:42:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153742 exseven : it resets on the 1st

and slowgeco? you DL 90 gigs in a month a call it slow?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153742 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:39:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153494 anon : I just got slammed this morning for abuse. 5 gigs uploaded, 90 gigs downloaded. I am pissed. The only downloading I do is off usenet, and my counter shows that I have only downloaded 60gb this month. thats a 30gb discrepancy! Systems back online now but does anyone know what the new bandwidth cap is until the end of the month? And what about pro, has anyone been slammed for going over on pro?

Cheers
SLOWWWWGECO]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19153494 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:55:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151838 urbanriot :

said by Lazy2Login :

Are you sure it's reset on the first and not on your billing date (one I'm looking at ends on the 3rd and begins on the 4th)?

Yes, it resets on the first.

Unless Cogeco arbitrarily or randomly changed their policy. :p]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151838 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:38:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151262 Shamans :

said by Lazy2Login :

"it resets on the 1st whether residential or business"

Are you sure it's reset on the first and not on your billing date (one I'm looking at ends on the 3rd and begins on the 4th)?

That's what they said...

@ trodge, your questions have been answered already if you read previous posts.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151262 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:28:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151034 neko :

2) When do the warnings reset? Or do they go on forever? Lets say in Jan 07 I get a warning, August 07 I get another. Then let's say in April 08 I get another. Will my service then be cut? Or do you get reset back to 0 at the end of the year?

If you get multiple warnings they, Cogeco, will look at your account & may decide you are abusing their service & through multiple infringements they may cut you off completely.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19151034 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:50:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150721 trodge : Waaay back in May there was a discussion about us getting upgrades to our service.

I just heard that we, Pro , will be going to 32Mbps down by September and Standard will be 20Mbps. I hope this is true.

This was a quote that started that discussion. What are the chances that is still going to happen? Especially since the caps have now been enforced. And if they do upgrade us that high, they will have to seriously revisit the cap limits. Can anyone comment on this potential upgrade? Thanks.

I don't like how the roll out was done of the cap, but I can't say I disagree with it. I've had a good ride for a long time. I am a heeeeaavy downloader, I'll just have to watch what I'm downloading from now on. I'm surprised I was able to get as much as I have been getting for this long.

A couple of questions I have about the cap now.

1) Are they going to look back at our histories and try and bill us on those? I have a few months that are damn high. Like over 250 gig.

2) When do the warnings reset? Or do they go on forever? Lets say in Jan 07 I get a warning, August 07 I get another. Then let's say in April 08 I get another. Will my service then be cut? Or do you get reset back to 0 at the end of the year? ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150721 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:53:41 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150715 anon : "it resets on the 1st whether residential or business"

Are you sure it's reset on the first and not on your billing date (one I'm looking at ends on the 3rd and begins on the 4th)?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150715 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:53:01 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150318 hse : One thing I'm noticing is that it seems almost as if they are throttling based on website. Currently I have received two warnings this month.

I transfer a lot of my monthly transfer to and from my personal server.

On the IP that the most of the protocols (HTTP, FTP) run on, I get pings of about 150 at peak hours.

On any of the other IPs which I don't transfer much data to, nor access much, the ping times are a normal 50-60!

I have pinged both simultaneously and to have one IP showing 150 and the other 60, while both on the same physical box is a bit disconcerting.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150318 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:48:43 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150161 neko : .]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19150161 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:24:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149908 anon : Mattei wheres this ?
reply to nydwarf1

I feel bad for the cogeco techs that are on the forum.
I mean I know it wasen't their idea to enforce the cap.
And kindda hard for them to respond to questions on here to since I doubt they were in the know either until the day they were told to enforce the cap.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149908 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:40:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149613 ancodia :

said by hse

:

Sure, but the problem is that the lines in the area (or at least at my house) are not great, so I'm on interleave.

you should still check with Teksavvy. Supposedly Bell has been doing upgrades over the last year installing remote dslams to get ready for adsl2+ they might have done your area which means improved lines. doesnt hurt to ask.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149613 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:46:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149548 hse : Sure, but the problem is that the lines in the area (or at least at my house) are not great, so I'm on interleave.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149548 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:36:07 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149515 Shalimar : You can get 5mbit from teksavvy which is much better than symcraptico IMO. I'd never ever go back to Bell in my lifetime.. as for options though cogeco has really f'd the dog on this one.. 5mbit is slower.. but it is unlimited and it's cheaper as well so with the savings I can add a premium news server into the mix.. and just let it DL in the background.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149515 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:31:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149466 hse : Great, now I get 2 warnings with Selfcare showing 90GB down and 5 up (although I know I used more than that).

This is simply pathetic. I do almost all downloading at night, after 10 or 11. So not only is it offpeak, I also do not upload much.

I don't understand what was wrong with the previous policy. Clearly the network is built for downloading and not uploading, so why not just go after excessive uploaders?

I've been with Cogeco for 18 months now, and to go back to 1-1.5mbit with Bell would be simply horrid, but I'm not sure what I can do.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149466 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:20:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149401 Shamans :

said by okoolo

:

do they reset usage counters on the 1st ..

About a week ago I switched to a business starter .. does my counter reset too?

it resets on the 1st whether residential or business.

and as far as i know, it resets immediately when you switched from a residential to business plan (or vice versa). I don't know if switching between residential plans or between business plans will get it reset.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149401 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:10:23 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149189 anon : " 1) Cogeco can do whatever they want and 2) I need to give 30 day notice to cancel my service"

1/Yup they are too big (they think) now.
2/Tell them you sent them three emails
kindda like how they sent me three warnings that never arrived(I checked my junk mail too).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149189 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:29:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149174 anon : Cogeco Canada's version of US'S Comcast ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149174 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:26:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149172 okoolo : do they reset usage counters on the 1st ..

About a week ago I switched to a business starter .. does my counter reset too?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149172 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:25:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149171 ancodia :

said by diskdocx

:

Now you're starting to get it :P

The problem is I can't download anything cause I'm over my limit and the DSL doesn't get installed until tomorrow. So I figured I'd actually take the time to read the contract and I learned two things 1) Cogeco can do whatever they want whenever they want and 2) I need to give 30 day notice to cancel my service :(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149171 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:25:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149135 diskdocx : Now you're starting to get it :P]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149135 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:18:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149106 ancodia : interesting.

According to this terms of conditions for residential services here :

»www.cogeco.ca/en/terms_and_condi···s_o.html

"16. COGECO may propose to change, modify, add or remove any provision of this Agreement (including the Acceptable Use Policy referred to below, if applicable) at intervals of at least 30 days. Such changes may include, without limitation, modifications, additions to or removals from the Services, their features and charges, or the terms and conditions upon which COGECO distributes and the Customer receives the Services. COGECO will provide written notice to the Customer at least 30 days but not more than 90 days before the effective date of change, modification, addition or removal, which notice may be sent via e-mail, mail or any other means of providing written notice."

The AUP Krispy pointed us all to says it was modified in July 2007. Did anyone get a notice? Does anybody know what they changed? Appears they are changing things and not telling anyone. By doing that, in my opinion, and IANAL, they are breaking one of the conditions of the contract. So doesnt that void the contract and the AUP we all agreed to when we signed up??

edit :

forget it, they covered themselves here :

"22. The failure of COGECO to enforce this Agreement, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of any right to do so at any time. The Customer agrees that if any portion of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect."

Why even have a lengthy contract, they just need to have :

1. We, Cogeco, can do whatever we want.

But it does show they are changing the contracts and knowingly not telling the customer, since their own contract states they are supposed to notify us all of all changes.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149106 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:11:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149027 Snickerdo :

said by ancodia

:

do you know how much they charge and what the min/max time allowed?

No charge. Minimum is two months, maximum is 12 months if I recall. Ask for a "Seasonal Disconnect" when you call and tell them you'll be out of the area for a while.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19149027 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:59:43 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148520 anon : Well all Cogeco managed to do was get me to get rid of my cable internet service, hd cable box and my digital phone.
And basically not recommened Cogeco to anyone that asks.
Good job indeed.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148520 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:33:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148254 ancodia :

said by Snickerdo

said by Shalimar

:

Q., If a Cogeco acct is put on "vacation hold" what is actually deactivated? I can't see them actually physically disconnecting the connection (too labor intensive). They just "turn off" the cable modem and/or cable tv box?

They'll put a filter on your line and deactivate the MAC of the modem. Email addresses keep working, though.

do you know how much they charge and what the min/max time allowed?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148254 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:48:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148243 Snickerdo :

said by Shalimar

They'll put a filter on your line and deactivate the MAC of the modem. Email addresses keep working, though.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148243 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:46:26 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148237 Shalimar : Q., If a Cogeco acct is put on "vacation hold" what is actually deactivated? I can't see them actually physically disconnecting the connection (too labor intensive). They just "turn off" the cable modem and/or cable tv box?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148237 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:45:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148195 ancodia :

said by SuperCM

:

...ouch, $200. Wait, does Cogeco even have a maximum limit?

their AUP doesnt state one. So the only limit would be at whatever point they decide to cut you off your service for going over your account limit, which, according to Krispy, can change (currently around 20-25 gig on the 60 gig plan). I would guess that if you repeatedly go over your limit they would start charging you, otherwise whats to stop you from pushing the envelope and seeing how much over 60 you can get every month for free. Since it looks like the bean counters are now running Cogeco, giving you a 20 gig allowance every month is basically $200/month of lost potential revenue, or $25/month if they can successfully threaten you into an upgrade. So I can't see them being that generous for much longer. Bell charges. Rogers is also in the final steps of enforcing overcharges. So it would seem that Cogeco is now putting the final pieces in place. I could also see them simply using the threat of an overcharge to force you to upgrade your package. Pay us $200 or upgrade to Pro. What would you take?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148195 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:38:43 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148076 Shamans :

said by gobisbay :

said by Shamans

:

I disagree, charging for overusage is a bad idea. It doesn't do anything for the customer except makes it more expensive (in support costs). If cogeco has a cap for overcharging, it will probably be an expensive cap, not a cheap one - considering how sensitive they are to bandwidth usage currently.

So you'd rather just get cut off the moment you hit the cap?

All these people posting that your work and non-Cogeco VOIP is too precious to lose for even a day, what would you choose?

Personally, while I said I'd take reasonable overage charges, it probably would make financial sense for me to switch to an unlimited DSL provider if that actually happened. I never said I wouldn't cancel Cogeco, I just said I could handle the overages if they were reasonable.

Yeah, I'd rather be cut off at some cap rather than be charged $10/gig....I mean that's what it says in their AUP so far.

And yes, I use non-Cogeco VOIP as the home phone.

Their warning/suspend policy is far better than a $10/gig policy (It's not a strict cutoff btw...you just can't download anything, you can still browse, e-mail, voip, and game). And while I would like the option to switch to some DSL provider, I don't have that luxury. If I could, I'd be trying TekSavvy now.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148076 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:20:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148041 anon :

said by Shamans

said by Asawulf

said by SuperCM

...ouch, $200. Wait, does Cogeco even have a maximum limit? [/BQUOTE :

Cogeco isn't charging anything... So hard to say...

That would make it a limit of 0 wouldn't it ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148014 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:11:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148012 Asawulf :

said by SuperCM

...ouch, $200. Wait, does Cogeco even have a maximum limit? [/BQUOTE :

Cogeco isn't charging anything... So hard to say...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19148012 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:11:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147961 Shamans :

said by gobisbay :

I'm okay with being charged for overages too, as long as I know it's going to happen beforehand.

That being said, $1.00 per 100 MB is a little much. $10/GB is simply outrageous, when most Internet providers are charging no more than a couple bucks per GB for overages.

I disagree, charging for overusage is a bad idea. It doesn't do anything for the customer except makes it more expensive (in support costs). Fixed plans can eliminate many bandwidth disputes as well as help ISPs with bandwidth management. If cogeco has a cap for overcharging, it will probably be an expensive cap, not a cheap one - considering how sensitive they are to bandwidth usage currently.

said by Scrappy2 :

Well what really pisses me off about the whole thing to is they have no problem getting their Cogeco promotions email to us.
But I got NO WARNING EMAILS as they stated.
The page popped up and said that I had recieved 3 warnings through email.Which is a lie as I check all the time.
ALSo said the sup would be calling which they never did?
So if they can manage top get the prom emails to me each month why lie about the warnings?

Check your junk mail, maybe it's there lol.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147961 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:02:34 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147946 SuperCM :

said by gobisbay :

That being said, $1.00 per 100 MB is a little much. $10/GB is simply outrageous, when most Internet providers are charging no more than a couple bucks per GB for overages.

Here's an excerpt for Rogers Extreme Plus:

Speed
Enjoy our new fastest residential service available. Speeds of up to 18 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. Speed for individual customers will vary due to several factors including computer processors, hardware and networking equipment, operating systems and other software, congestion on the internet, website traffic and other factors.

Price
$99.95 Monthly Service Fee (plus $3.00/mth modem rental or $99.95 modem purchase plus taxes)*. Save up to 15% when you bundle with Rogers Better Choice Bundles. A 90GB monthly capacity applies to Extreme Plus. The service will include a $1.25 per-gigabyte charge once monthly capacity is exceeded, up to a maximum of $200.00.

...ouch, $200. Wait, does Cogeco even have a maximum limit?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147946 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:00:58 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147927 anon : Well what really pisses me off about the whole thing to is they have no problem getting their Cogeco promotions email to us.
But I got NO WARNING EMAILS as they stated.
The page popped up and said that I had recieved 3 warnings through email.Which is a lie as I check all the time.
ALSo said the sup would be calling which they never did?
So if they can manage top get the prom emails to me each month why lie about the warnings?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147927 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:58:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147916 anon : I'm okay with being charged for overages too, as long as I know it's going to happen beforehand.

That being said, $1.00 per 100 MB is a little much. $10/GB is simply outrageous, when most Internet providers are charging no more than a couple bucks per GB for overages.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147916 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:57:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147671 Snickerdo : I remember Krispy mentioned a while ago that if they do start to charge there would be a lot of warning beforehand. While I would like to believe her, this whole situation certainly won't make me hold my breath on that, not that it would be her fault or anything.

I have no problem with billing for overages, and would in fact prefer it over suspensions, so long as they do what Bell does and cap the maximum amount that can be billed. $30 as a maximum is a fair price for piece of mind, and far better than suddenly finding yourself without an Internet connection till the end of the month.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147671 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:28:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147606 Shamans :

said by scaredyman4 :

heh heh heh you guys think you're freaking now? wait till you see the overcharges on your bill for having gone over the limit

I called last night to ask. They said that their current enforcement policy currently is to warn + suspend and not to bill for extra usage.

If they decide to bill for extra usage in the future, they better have a pre-notification well ahead of time.

They should also ideally e-mail all main accounts whenever the AUP changes (and perhaps all secondary accounts too).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19147606 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:21:25 EDT I'll never leave now! http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146811 anon : On Monday I went home for lunch to find that in my mail there was a small package from Cogeco.

I excitedly tore it open to find a keychain remote control that works on a TV and cable box, with buttons for volume up and down, channel up and down, mute, and setup.

I pay $225 a month to Cogeco for TV and Internet. My non-HD box is experiencing video drops on half the channels (probably have to swap it). My Internet was suspended with basically no warning and apparently they're now enforcing their bitcaps.

But I got a keychain universal remote worth about $5.

Thanks, Cogeco. Way to reward customer loyalty.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146811 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:39:49 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146674 dad_of_3 :

said by ancodia

:

do you think they are going to tell you that they are starting to charge for going over 60 gig?

I guess I'm just a "the glass is half full kinda guy". I was just as miffed with the recent enforcement as anyone else, more so with the non-notice aspect. Life goes on, I'm not going to give up the speeds I get with cogeco, just so I can "show them whose boss" and switch to an ISP that can't touch their speeds (tecksavvy 7 mbits max??, or Bell..arghh,gag!!Don't get me started on Bell). That being said, Ancodia does have a valid point, they can charge for overages, they can do a lot more as well if they choose to. The AUP is very broad and covers other subjects such as copyrighted material, etc..anyway, if they do charge, you are right we will all be freaking out a lot worse for sure..I personally doubt they will...my 2 cents..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146674 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:18:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146499 urbanriot :

said by twizlar

:

Switching to bell wont solve much as they have caps and overage charges now as well.

Someone mentioned previously that if you pay a set fee for going over, you now have the ability to go 'unlimited'. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146499 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:49:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146483 anon : >>Switching to bell wont solve much as they have caps and overage charges now as well.

For a lot folks, there are solutions other than Sympatico. :-) Teksavvy and others have been discussed in this thread.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146483 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:47:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146478 ancodia :

said by dad_of_3

said by Krispy

:

As for the changes, basically we're enforcing based on combined bitcaps now. We're still being generous with the bitcaps and we're still not charging money for overages but it's tighter than before and if you're transferring tons of traffic you should probably move to a more appropriate package

said by scaredyman4 :

heh heh heh you guys think you're freaking now? wait till you see the overcharges on your bill for having gone over the limit

Hmmm......beleive an anon poster or someone that knows what's actually going on..(Troll, methinks)

they have the right to charge. This is from their AUP (which, btw, was updated in July 2007 without any notice to any of their customers). Now, given how they changed the AUP without telling anyone, began enforcing the policy without telling anybody, do you think they are going to tell you that they are starting to charge for going over 60 gig? People are thinking they are safe because Cogeco lets you go over the cap by 33% before getting cut, but it's only a matter of time before they start charging you for that privilage.

USING THE NUMBERS FROM THE COGECO AUP, they reserve the right to charge you $10 per gig over 60 gig. So that 33% over 60 would equal $200. They could charge you AT ANYTIME and hide behind the AUP. Even Bell caps their overcharge at $25 and people think that is too much!

Their AUP also protects them in the event they cut your service and your 3rd party VOIP service doesn't work. Can't call 911? Not Cogeco's problem, you downloaded too much!

People need to realize what type of company they are supporting by continuing to use Cogeco. Is this the type of Internet service you want? is this the type of business model you want to support?

---------------

COGECO, in its sole discretion, may, at any time and without prior notice, take any actions deemed
appropriate if the Customer exceeds the prescribed bandwidth limitations set out in Schedule A or to
preserve the integrity of its network. Such actions include, but are not limited to, the imposition of the
additional charge mentioned in the attached Schedule A, temporary or permanent removal of content,
cancellation of newsgroup posts, discontinuing access to any Usenet newsgroup, filtering of Internet
transmissions, and the immediate suspension, discontinuance, limitation or termination of the Services.
COGECO will not incur any liability for any such responsive actions.

--------------

Schedule 'A'

BANDWIDTH LIMITATIONS RESIDENTIAL BUSINESS
There are Gigabytes combined upload / download limits:
Upload is traffic from the Customer’s PC to the Internet, such
as uploading files to a remote FTP site or web site.
Download is traffic from the Internet to the Customer’s
computer, such as downloading files from a remote FTP site or
web site.
COGECO monitors the amount of traffic to and from all
modems to identify usage above the bandwidth limitations. If
the Customer exceeds this limit, the Customer may be charged
up to an additional $1.00 per 100 Megabytes for both upstream
and/or downstream traffic.
For Tips on how to reduce unnecessary bandwidth usage,
please go to:
»www.cogeco.ca/en/res_bandwidth_tips_o.html
Lite Package: 10 Gigabytes
Standard Package:
60 Gigabytes
Pro Package: 100
Gigabytes
Business Starter:
120 Gigabytes
SOHO: 200 Gigabytes
Enterprise: Unlimited]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146478 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:46:33 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146444 anon : I don't see him as a troll, just someone trying to warn us about possible scenarios the future. Cogeco surprised us by suddenly enforcing something in the AUP once already, what's to stop them from enforcing overage charges in the future? Nothing.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146444 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:40:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146266 dad_of_3 :

said by Krispy

said by scaredyman4 :

heh heh heh you guys think you're freaking now? wait till you see the overcharges on your bill for having gone over the limit

Hmmm......beleive an anon poster or someone that knows what's actually going on..(Troll, methinks)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146266 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:13:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146088 twizlar : Switching to bell wont solve much as they have caps and overage charges now as well.
--
AMD Athlon64 4000+ @ 2723mhz - mountaincable.net wireless Intarweb |
Ipods SUCK]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19146088 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:41:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19145359 anon : heh heh heh you guys think you're freaking now? wait till you see the overcharges on your bill for having gone over the limit]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19145359 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:37:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143527 Shamans :

said by bullwinkle123 :

Anyone try »www.acanac.ca/DSL.html ??

Upto 5 MBPS ADSL umlimited DL ..

Looks to be avbl in our area .. $18.95/mnth first year ..

Their free online pc thing seems very tempting. I didn't know hosting this cheap existed (with canaca.com), much less in Canada.....

Sounds like a fluke.................If you read the reviews for canaca (their parent company), their web hosting is very very very very bad.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143527 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:41:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143238 Snickerdo :

said by Trist

:

I recall only the one who Cogeco gave a hard time to and removed phone service and am pretty sure Krispy took over to remedy that situation. And that she said phone and internet should exist each on it's own.

... and this just further goes to show how poorly executed this whole endeavor has been.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143238 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:53:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143145 anon : Anyone try »www.acanac.ca/DSL.html ??

Upto 5 MBPS ADSL umlimited DL ..

Looks to be avbl in our area .. $18.95/mnth first year ..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19143145 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:37:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142944 Trist : If you read through this whole mess of a topic again I _think_ you'll see all but one of those who have suffered phone loss are with companies outside Cogeco. I recall only the one who Cogeco gave a hard time to and removed phone service and am pretty sure Krispy took over to remedy that situation. And that she said phone and internet should exist each on it's own.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142944 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:01:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142251 Snickerdo : No phone access after a bandwidth ban?! And they claim to offer fixed-service telephone service with E911 support? Is this even allowed under CRTC regulations? What's next, cutting off your TV service due to a bandwidth ban? My god what a clusterfu*k!

I'm actually going to write a letter to the CRTC about this when I get home from work. Something smells extremely fishy about this.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142251 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:03:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142148 anon :

said by PaulP :

I beg and plead for them to turn my connection back on, nope they won't (I don't have 911 service nothing they don't care). They say its impossible until I go through my 24 hour ban.

This proves that this new enforced bitcap policy was created over a business lunch meeting. Cogeco will lose customers. But it will take time. This policy is going to piss a lot of people off. Specially the ones with Cogeco Voip. No phone access!!!

Somebody should get fired for this type of policy without any planning. Just imagine the liability just on the 911 issue.

WOW F-ing Clueless.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19142148 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:46:11 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141270 Shamans : 7 mbit ;P

If I got anything less, I'd be mad bec. I had higher before that.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141270 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:18:23 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141240 neko :

said by Shamans

:

I recently switched to the Business Starter Package.
Speeds are a bit slower (7 mbit) but I have some room to breathe. You have to switch e-mail addresses although your old ones will remaine alive for atleast 90 days they tell me. Same with webspace.

What sort of speeds are you getting on the 7Mbit?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141240 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:13:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141173 Shamans : I recently switched to the Business Starter Package.
Speeds are a bit slower (7 mbit) but I have some room to breathe. You have to switch e-mail addresses although your old ones will remaine alive for atleast 90 days they tell me. Same with webspace.

No other ISP is available in my area for some reason (I only live 3 to 4 KM away from downtown oakville). Many other areas of oakville have dsl. I was told by teksavvy that there's a house 500 meters away that has dsl.

Oh yeah, I'm on another IP space (used by their business/commercial users).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141173 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:59:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141107 anon : I've been reading this conversation with rapt interest and haven't commented until now. I'm also a father of three and received one of these bandwidth warnings last week. My wife had a freakout and instead of my entire family watching every move we make we've instead opted to switch to Bell high speed internet. I'm home on my day off installing it and so far I'm quite pleased with the level of knowledge of the sales staff, the speeds and my four port router/modem combo unit.

Like Dad_of_3, our three kids are only using the web and email activities, occasionally using iTunes but nobody in this house is committing any illegal acts whatsoever. Further we had the pro account as well and it was suggested to us by a Cogeco rep after we discussed my family's usage scenarios and he stated we would never have to worry about going over any sort of limits.

It is really bothersome to me that some Cogeco employees and other users are insinuating that these limits are reached by illegal acts. Also the attitude of some of the Cogeco phone support folks was somewhat condescending with their insistance that my family was committing illegal acts. This attitude further influenced my decision to switch from Cogeco to Bell. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19141107 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:45:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140990 anon : I run an online business so the internet is extremely important to me.

I run my phone lines through my internet connection so my whole business relies on Cogeco. This usually isn't a problem until last week.

All of a sudden my internet goes down and I get this message that I went over my bandwidth limit. I got 0 warnings I always check my Cogeco email address.

I beg and plead for them to turn my connection back on, nope they won't (I don't have 911 service nothing they don't care). They say its impossible until I go through my 24 hour ban.

To quote the Cogeco ads I see on TV, I put in 110% into my business, Cogeco left my high and dry.

They basically forced me to pay for a higher service. This is just a money grab from them and its really sad. After over 12 years of having Cogeco I am looking for another service provider.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140990 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:25:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140593 urbanriot :

said by Evileye

:

I doubt very much that they have eased anything off at all.

I doubt very much you realize how much bandwidth is consumed by teenager oriented web sites.

I've also eased back considerably and used up 10 GB since Friday, as I said a few posts up. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140593 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:24:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140585 dad_of_3 :

said by Evileye

:

This should help to ensure you remain w/in the 1GB buffer of bandwidth (till the end of the calendar month) that was allotted to you when you were reconnected. Keep that up for a few more days and you will be reset to zero on October first.

Cheers.

Intereting...I just find it odd that I've been able to rack up another 10 gigs since last tues and not receive anymore warnings]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140585 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:22:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140579 urbanriot :

said by Trist

:

I've seen one person on Pro say they were suspended at 130GB. On Pro, at what percentage or in GB would you recieve a first warning (if anyone actually recieved a first warning)?

Since 100 GB is the limit, it stands to reason you'd receive your first warning at 100%. This is inline with the date of my first warning.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140579 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:21:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140452 Evileye : I doubt very much that they have eased anything off at all. It sounds like you are practicing the actions that the network security representatives at Cogeco preach when you have bandwidth issues. Continue to surf the net on a casual basis, use email, some online games are probably ok, but do not download. This should help to ensure you remain w/in the 1GB buffer of bandwidth (till the end of the calendar month) that was allotted to you when you were reconnected. Keep that up for a few more days and you will be reset to zero on October first.

Cheers.
--
If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness must be the father.
--]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140452 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:56:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140395 dad_of_3 : [BQUOTE=Trist
I've seen one person on Pro say they were suspended at 130GB. On Pro, at what percentage or in GB would you recieve a first warning (if anyone actually recieved a first warning)?
[/BQUOTE

I'm on Pro.I recieved my only warning (which was mistakenly called the 2nd warning) at 127 gigs on tuesday the 18th. I was away last week, the wife clicked on the button that re-enabled our connection. I stopped all downloading and am still surfing normally, playing online games and emailing etc. etc. (I have 3 teenagers at home!!) I now sit at 137 gigs and no new notices....yet.....Perhaps Cogeco has eased things up till the end of the month???

also, my speeds have not been affected, still blazing fast]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140395 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:43:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140192 Trist : "In other words, first suspension on a standard account at 80GB."

That's half way to the next level, Pro service. I thought they were suspending people right at just over the 60GB limit for that package but that's pretty generous.

I've seen one person on Pro say they were suspended at 130GB. On Pro, at what percentage or in GB would you recieve a first warning (if anyone actually recieved a first warning)?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19140192 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:10:34 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139911 urbanriot :

said by Snickerdo

said by urbanriot

:

Maybe you haven't been paying attention, but a few of us have already posted hard numbers on warnings and disconnections. Some have received warnings at or just past 100% and I was personally suspended at 130%.

In other words, first suspension on a standard account at 80GB. Useless.

Second throttle at 140%.

Yes, I have pro and had my first disco at 130 MB. A kindly Cogeco employee reconnected me and now 10 MB later, at 140 MB, I'm throttled again after a few days of standard internet use. I share my "pro" account with my sister, so it's possible with her MySpace use, and my RDP'ing and a little WoW'ing that we went over the limit.

To those thinking this might go away - Cogeco employees are now asking for an Email address to attach to your account, even though they obviously have your Cogeco email address on file. This is so they can ensure that you're receiving your bandwidth warnings on whatever account is your "main" email account.

To their benefit, at least they don't outright disconnect you and do give you enough bandwidth to complain online, or do minimal web browsing and email checking:

Apparently I'm supposed to see a reconnect page and be completely disconnected, but thankfully I don't see that and had a chat with a friendly Cogeco guy who reconnected me.

After your first suspension, upon second suspension you're supposed to have a 24 hour suspension and 1GB to work with for the remainder of the month. Third suspension, 1GB, a 72 hour suspension and a chat with a network security person. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139911 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:15:47 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139546 anon : Scrappy, teksavvy.com serves Kingston]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139546 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:45:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139422 anon : My New Neighbour.

So a few days ago I get a new neighbour. After the usual first few pleasantries he asks what the Internet situation is like on this street. They have three teenagers. If only he'd moved in a couple weeks earlier I would have said "Go COGECO!" No brainer. Guess what I told him instead. It seems timing really is everything. This morning on the way out the door to work he informs me he is going DSL, and thanks for the warning.

I don't dispute COGECO's right to police their network. Their bat. Their ball. Their rules. But changing a long-standing de facto policy in the middle of the month without prior warning is unethical. And listening to some corporate flak hiding behind AUP legalese to justify it about makes my blood boil.

Unfortunately there is a growing trend among ISPs of all stripes to treat customers like crap, or cash machines. There are probably also enough sheeple out there who will sit back and take this so that the genius who thought it up will finally get that key to the executive washroom he's been after.

No, I'm not over the limit myself. No, I haven't received a warning or suspension. But after this stunt I will never recommend COGECO to anyone ever again. Call your broker and sell your COGECO stock. I have seen the future and it's as simple as ABC. Anything But Cable.

See you on the other side.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139422 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:01:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139250 boredguy : I'm on standard and got my 2nd warning at about 95 gigs. So, no downloading anything for me now, just surfing the web.
--
What would Jesus do for a Klondike bar?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139250 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:11:01 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139158 anon : Looks like you guys are gettimg the same shaft we are.
Hopefully they lubed it for you guys.
Here in Kingston Ontario we got zero warning (although the tech was stedfast that we reciieved 3 warnings via email.
We were cut off and got the "A Sup will be contacting you page in the browser(which he never did).
We had to call to the tech telling us we were over our limit and they would reconnect us only if we used no bw(i scratched my head too).
Anyway I was also told if we abused the bw again we would be cut off for 72 hours next time.
Here in Kingston we have very few options Bell wireless(which i can't get because i'm in an apt and not allowed to have a dish(or anything attached to the building)
And Cogeco as far as I know.
Until this hurts Cogeco in the pocketbooks there will be no changes I'm guessing.
I'm calling around to see if theres anyway to get other companies in our area.
Rogers is a no since Cogeco and Rogers are pretty one in the same.
This really eerks me since I know a few people in DC who have FIOS and pay 60 a month for unlimited.
I think i'll be turning in my cogeco stuff next month(after 25+ years of being with the same cable company(even through name changes and such).
Too bad they did not at least inform the consumers of their news policy upfront.
Shame on you Cogeco]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19139158 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:29:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138802 yupislyr : Luckily, I had already started the process of dumping Cogeco by the time this crap hit the fan but hearing all this now tells me I might have made the right choice, and just in time.

Anyway, I was another one those guys with Cogeco since they were @Home and was overall pleased for a very long time. I was aware of the caps from the beginning, but I never had a problem, and me and everyone else sharing the connection used it as we saw fit and never had a problem, even despite increased bandwidth usage as the years went on. (I was a heavy downloader of bootleg music and DVDs in particular) That all changed up about three years ago though. Despite the fact that my usage had been cut by over 50% (due to less users sharing the connection), just the simple act of moving had us getting bandwidth warnings left and right. But, we had been with the same ISP a long time, and really, I'm reluctant to change, so we adapted to their demands as best we could by cutting down transfers and watching bandwidth. We ended up getting few to no warnings, and the ones we did get were usually on the last few days of the month anyway. Now, despite the fact my monthly bandwidth usage this month is about half what it normally is, we have already received a warning this past weekend. Horrible.

What really pissed me off into switching though is the continued blatant lies and denials on the part of Cogeco and it's staff in regards to bittorrent and bandwidth throttling. I wanted to seed a homemade concert DVD I made via bittorrent for a band message board (with the band's permission might I add, therefore a perfectly legitimate use) and guess what? It didn't work very well. It took all day just to send 100 megs. Today however, I tried it again using my newly activated DSL, and lo and behold, I can suddenly use the full connection I am paying for! What a novel concept.

As for the company shill posts above, I found this part the most amusing...

said by LayZieGirl :

is it really worth going DSL over a rule that you knew you all agreed upon at the beginning and continued to break that law however small or big it was over the months, years and cogeco has not once charged you an additional fee for it

What Cogeco says is law folks. Hah.

As for your question, the answer is yes, it is. I've always found your bandwidth rules Draconian from the beginning (wasn't the original rollout bandwidth cap something like 5Gigs combined?), but the very fact that you were extremely lenient in their enforcement was what kept me, and I'm sure many users subscribed to your service.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138802 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:24:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138742 Shamans :

said by Snickerdo

said by urbanriot

In other words, first suspension on a standard account at 80GB. Useless.

I believe urbanriot has the pro, I have the standard. So first suspension was around 95 GB. It's low for me but being able to hit 75 GB might be good enough for some people.

Also, I almost never upload on p2p. My family just uses a lot of internet (voip, online backups, etc)....and then there's my downloading ;)

We've been with cogeco since the dawn of time (well, not literally)...so maybe they were nicer to us....that and my previous month was at around 135 gigs combined so maybe they took pity at my newfound situation.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138742 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:02:21 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138735 vuarra :

said by OneTimeOnePlace :

Since cable is limited to a low number on the upload in a neighbourhood it would really get their panties in a knot if it was done all on the upload versus download.

That's an interesting point of view, since my U/L and D/L numbers are about equal, each around 12 GB or so... but that's also with a wife who thinks that a VoIP telephone should be surgically attached to her ear.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138735 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:59:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138729 anon :

said by Shamans

:

I wonder if they care more about users downloading or users uploading.

Since cable is limited to a low number on the upload in a neighbourhood it would really get their panties in a knot if it was done all on the upload versus download. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138729 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:57:48 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138723 Snickerdo :

said by urbanriot

In other words, first suspension on a standard account at 80GB. Useless.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138723 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:56:21 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138713 urbanriot :

said by Shamans

:

It's hard to say when you'll get your warnings, but I'll revise my estimates to 120%, 140%, 160% for first warning, 2nd warning, 1st suspension.

Maybe you haven't been paying attention, but a few of us have already posted hard numbers on warnings and disconnections. Some have received warnings at or just past 100% and I was personally suspended at 130%.

said by Shamans

:

I wonder if they care more about users downloading or users uploading.

As has been discussed, and listed on Cogeco's self care web page, it's a combined bandwidth limit. Downloading or uploading is irrelevant. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138713 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:54:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138691 Shamans :

said by vuarra

:

Okay, after reading the document available at »www.cogeco.ca/en/res_bandwidth_tips_o.html , I have found that Cogeco are charging 1 CAD per 100 MB. Has *ANYONE* seen any evidence of this on their bill?

I saw that last week too. I'll call their billing department tomorrow and see if anything's happening with that this month. I'm nearly 40 gigs over and I don't wanna be paying $400.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138691 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:49:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138675 vuarra :

said by Shamans

:

It could also change month to month depending on the month's bandwidth conditions.

In other words, we have to guess at what they are doing, and it's possible they don't know what they're doing?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138675 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:48:13 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138648 Shamans :

said by Snickerdo

:

Okay, so then my question is how much bandwidth can I use before Cogeco makes the extortion request?

It's hard to say when you'll get your warnings, but I'll revise my estimates to 120%, 140%, 160% for first warning, 2nd warning, 1st suspension. It might also depend on your package because maybe it does not work on a % basis, or maybe it also depends on your previous history.

It could also change month to month depending on the month's bandwidth conditions.

Since I absolutely have no other ISP serving in my area, I have no choice but to upgrade...I'm just hoping that there's a more reasonable package for residential so that I can atleast keep the residential ".ca" e-mails. I wonder if they care more about users downloading or users uploading.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138648 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:41:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138613 Snickerdo : Okay, so then my question is how much bandwidth can I use before Cogeco makes the extortion request?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138613 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:30:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138573 Shamans :

said by alamarco

:

Definitely not 1 GB between warnings. My first warning was on the 20th and I've definitely done more than 1 GB (through normal usage) and haven't got a second warning yet.

I said between suspensions, not warnings. They said it depends on how much you're over. But if you're over a lot already, then it's more or less 1 GB.

This is just a heads up to the people who've gotten warnings already so they know what to expect.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138573 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:18:26 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138520 vuarra : Okay, after reading the document available at »www.cogeco.ca/en/res_bandwidth_tips_o.html , I have found that Cogeco are charging 1 CAD per 100 MB. Has *ANYONE* seen any evidence of this on their bill?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138520 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:05:26 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138443 alamarco : Definitely not 1 GB between warnings. My first warning was on the 20th and I've definitely done more than 1 GB (through normal usage) and haven't got a second warning yet.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138443 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:48:49 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138365 Snickerdo :

said by Shamans

:

It seems the 2 warnings followed by 3 suspensions is true. When you ask tech support, some of them may not know how the whole thing works though. From what I've gathered, it starts with 2 warnings. When the suspensions hit, you tend to have very little in terms of leeway until the next one could hit - especially if you're over a lot already. So when the first suspension hits, you have maybe 1 gig left.
First suspension you can reactivate yourself effective immediately. 2nd suspension you can reactive yourself effective 24 hours later. 3rd suspension brings you a talk with network/security staff in cogeco.

... so in other words, you're fu*ked until the end of the month if you even get one notification, since you only get 1GB each time. The more and more I read this thread the more and more I want to vomit at the thought of paying this company money.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138365 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:31:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138313 Shamans : Well, I got myself suspended just to see what it would be like since it's near of the month and all and I like to know what I'm getting myself into.

They probably don't want me talking about their enforcement policy since some people may try to play against it. But hey, eventually people will know and the customer has to be educated so they know what's ahead of them.

It seems the 2 warnings followed by 3 suspensions is true. When you ask tech support, some of them may not know how the whole thing works though. From what I've gathered, it starts with 2 warnings. When the suspensions hit, you tend to have very little in terms of leeway until the next one could hit - especially if you're over a lot already. So when the first suspension hits, you have maybe 1 gig left.

First suspension you can reactivate yourself effective immediately. 2nd suspension you can reactive yourself effective 24 hours later. 3rd suspension brings you a talk with network/security staff in cogeco.

On my first suspension, I noticed that I got transferred into another "virtual" network and received a IP address starting with 10.*.*.* with a similar gateway. I assume that that's where a server sits and serves you a page telling you that you were suspended. I was unable to access the page (or any page), so I had to call them to get it reactivated.

I subscribe to VOIP with primus, so that went down as well. I had to borrow a cell phone to call them. So....I'm not looking forward to a 2nd suspension and I'll take their word for it ;) that it'll probably happen if I download more than 1 gig.

They said that the warnings and suspension reset each month but that they take a look at your history if you've been abusing month after month.

The moral of the lesson is to remind the competitors while times are good to get service into your area. Damn, now I have no choice ;(. I'm still waiting to see if I have to decide between more bandwidth and keeping my e-mails (You lose your cogeco e-mail if you upgrade to business packages).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138313 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:17:27 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138005 Antonin : Unfortunately, where the Cogeco marketing department DIDN'T do their job is around customer knowledge. There is nothing that will make people more nervous and upset than having to deal with unpredictability. There are so many reasons why one can exceed the caps. Some of them are easily controllable by the customer, and some of them aren't. And people who are nervous and upset tend to vocalize to their friends and colleagues. And that can make those friends and colleagues nervous also. Bottom line - this should have been really thought through and well communicated before launching things off.

Furthermore, since Cogeco has already redefined their limits once, and unilaterally decided to enforce them, what is there to stop them from changing the limits again. Or deciding to get even more draconian with how they deal with "offenders". Oh, sorry, we have their word on that.

To me (and confirmed by other posters in this forum) speed is less important than predictability. I'd rather have a slower connection than no connection at all! I am fortunate enough in my area to have DSL service available as an option (which most of my neighbours are on) and I've already set the wheels in motion. A shame - the wife and I were talking about finally going to HDTV for the NFL season. Not now!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19138005 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:20:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137362 anon :

said by Frozty2k

:

I think you will find most would not like to switch to DSL or something else (I don't). It's not a change of heart; it's just a fact that with these limits being enforced I can no longer user the internet as I require. If cogeco is unable to give me a suitable package for a fair price, then I will look elsewhere. Poor customer service, down times, higher ping, slower speeds, If that's what it takes for me to be able to use the internet the way I see fit then I have no choice but to take it.

Yes, DSL has higher ping, slower speed, down times, poor customer service. The very reason I switched to Cogeco. But none of those reasons matter as much as the bandwidth cap. I would have never thought that bandwidth was more important than the above reasons. Hence the reason I will be switching back to DSL.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137362 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:35:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137282 anon :
said by Snickerdo :

If Cogeco offered a service where the bandwidth limits didn't apply or were significantly relaxed during off-peak hours, none of this would be a problem.

It is not only an idea. It works very well. Magma did this. I believe it was from 11pm to 9am. Just had to set up your news reader to auto for those times. It also makes sense because ISP are charged to the 90 percentile and that never happens during offpeak hours even in the Magma situation of allowing unlimited bandwidth during those hours.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137282 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:22:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137255 anon :
said by Chunky6 :

Oh lord. I just had my Cogeco account hooked up on Wednesday - the phone/TV/Net bundle. And here i am, at 45% of my monthly usage already.

What a pain the ass, I just paid hook up fees and everything and now I have to change ISPs all over again. Frankly, Cogeco is nice and fast but I refuse to mess around with caps - I honestly can't risk having my connection turned off if I'm not careful enough.

I was just enjoying how fast it is too...despite being an online gamer, not sure what good speed does me overall if I can't actually use it.

I am in the exact same boat as you. I just got Cogeco hocked up on Thursday. Found out about the caps after I was installed. I didn't have net access until I was installed. I always do my homework and read the forums and the reviews. But this time I really got burned. Cogeco really pissed me off. I am quitting them only after 1 week of being installed. Speed is great. But the caps make it useless. I feel like all I am not doing is web surfing to avoid being shut off. This cannot continue. A huge F U goes out to Cogeco for the lost of my install fee.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137255 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:17:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137031 neko :
So, in summary, please offer a residential package that has slower speeds or variable speeds (like slower during peak hours), a large cap that is around 140 to 160 GB combined, ability to retain current e-mail addresses, and hopefully is not expensive.
I agree. They should offer a 5Mbit tier with 150Gb cap.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137031 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:36:46 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137018 urbanriot :
said by Snickerdo :

If Cogeco offered a service where the bandwidth limits didn't apply or were significantly relaxed during off-peak hours, none of this would be a problem.

Now there's a thought... ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19137018 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:34:00 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136997 Snickerdo : If Cogeco offered a service where the bandwidth limits didn't apply or were significantly relaxed during off-peak hours, none of this would be a problem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136997 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:30:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136955 Shamans :
said by LayZieGirl :

...

To Cogeco Representatives,
1) When I signed up, there were no limits. The AUP is forced on us and, as mentioned, can be change at will by Cogeco. There is no previous agreement, only today's. What scares me further is the part of the AUP that says, and i quote COGECO monitors the amount of traffic to and from all modems to identify usage above the bandwidth limitations. If the Customer exceeds this limit, the Customer may be charged up to an additional $1.00 per 100 Megabytes for both upstream and/or downstream traffic. When is that going to be enforced and will we be pre-notified (because bandwidth enforcement didn't have any pre-notification)?
2) TekSavvy offers a $30/month (or about $40/month if you don't have bell home phone) for 100 gigabytes or unlimited. Your plans are not competitive for customers that require more usage over faster speeds.
3) Transferring to a business package will require my family to change e-mails that they use with cogeco...

So, in summary, please offer a residential package that has slower speeds or variable speeds (like slower during peak hours), a large cap that is around 140 to 160 GB combined, ability to retain current e-mail addresses, and hopefully is not expensive.

If I have to change my e-mails, why don't I just move over to another ISP (although my family should've started to use 3rd party e-mails a long time ago).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136955 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:25:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136887 Chunky6 : Oh lord. I just had my Cogeco account hooked up on Wednesday - the phone/TV/Net bundle. And here i am, at 45% of my monthly usage already.

What a pain the ass, I just paid hook up fees and everything and now I have to change ISPs all over again. Frankly, Cogeco is nice and fast but I refuse to mess around with caps - I honestly can't risk having my connection turned off if I'm not careful enough.

I was just enjoying how fast it is too...despite being an online gamer, not sure what good speed does me overall if I can't actually use it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136887 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:14:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136840 ancodia :
said by Frozty2k :

said by ancodia :

said by Snickerdo :

I just checked, St. Cats is actually Band B. $30+9 isn't too bad, that's what I would expect to pay anyway. My only worry is what I should expect from the sync rate. I'm hoping they can give me an idea of what I'd be looking at.

i think max is 5 meg, but some people have been reportedly getting 6. over in the Teksavvy section the owner said they are expecting pricing on the 7-16 mbps services from Bell soon, and hopefully be able to offer it. Regardless, 5 meg is stil 450k/sec. and without any limits you can't go wrong. I've been thinking of putting my Cogeco account in vacation freeze for a while and waiting to see what, if anything, Cogeco will do about all this. I haven't called Cogeco to get a price/length of time on doing that.

If speed is REALLY an issue I've been thinking about getting 2 lines and hook them up to a load balancing router which should give me ~10meg. With that route I could go for the premium for better pings for games etc, 200GB/mo should be enough for the future. I already have bell phone so it would be $30x2 which is about pro price for double the cap / bit lower download speed.

Even without load balancing, could get an unlimited and connect it to one PC for just downloading and a second that's premium for my regular usage. Or even cogeco regular for the games/web browsing, two providers should be more reliable.

»bonded dsl is it ever going to be an option for us?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136840 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:04:56 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136827 Frozty2k :
said by ancodia :

said by Snickerdo :

I just checked, St. Cats is actually Band B. $30+9 isn't too bad, that's what I would expect to pay anyway. My only worry is what I should expect from the sync rate. I'm hoping they can give me an idea of what I'd be looking at.

i think max is 5 meg, but some people have been reportedly getting 6. over in the Teksavvy section the owner said they are expecting pricing on the 7-16 mbps services from Bell soon, and hopefully be able to offer it. Regardless, 5 meg is stil 450k/sec. and without any limits you can't go wrong. I've been thinking of putting my Cogeco account in vacation freeze for a while and waiting to see what, if anything, Cogeco will do about all this. I haven't called Cogeco to get a price/length of time on doing that.

If speed is REALLY an issue I've been thinking about getting 2 lines and hook them up to a load balancing router which should give me ~10meg. With that route I could go for the premium for better pings for games etc, 200GB/mo should be enough for the future. I already have bell phone so it would be $30x2 which is about pro price for double the cap / bit lower download speed.

Even without load balancing, could get an unlimited and connect it to one PC for just downloading and a second that's premium for my regular usage. Or even cogeco regular for the games/web browsing, two providers should be more reliable.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136827 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:01:11 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136740 ancodia :
said by Snickerdo :

I just checked, St. Cats is actually Band B. $30+9 isn't too bad, that's what I would expect to pay anyway. My only worry is what I should expect from the sync rate. I'm hoping they can give me an idea of what I'd be looking at.

i think max is 5 meg, but some people have been reportedly getting 6. over in the Teksavvy section the owner said they are expecting pricing on the 7-16 mbps services from Bell soon, and hopefully be able to offer it. Regardless, 5 meg is stil 450k/sec. and without any limits you can't go wrong. I've been thinking of putting my Cogeco account in vacation freeze for a while and waiting to see what, if anything, Cogeco will do about all this. I haven't called Cogeco to get a price/length of time on doing that.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136740 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:44:30 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136738 Frozty2k :
said by LayZieGirl :

For those customers that are thinking of changing or are in the process of changing, I am truly sorry you felt that you had to make a change in ISP providers due to this recent re-enforcement aka reminder, but I urge all of you valued customers to really consider one last time prior to changing, is it really worth going DSL over a rule that you knew you all agreed upon at the beginning and continued to break that law however small or big it was over the months, years and cogeco has not once charged you an additional fee for it, knowing full well you went over your cab limit, just consider that.
First of all, I remember the service being 'unlimited' when I signed up. At the time I signed up there was no way I could use this much bandwidth, but times change. I wont pretend I didn't know, I don't think anyone who understands bandwidth could not have known what the caps were; after they were added/changed. The fact is that Cogeco never charged us, and that's the reason we stuck with Cogeco; and A reason it was an excellent service.

said by LayZieGirl :

If you have a residential Tier Internet service and you mostly use your internet for business purposes, I urge you to look into the Commercial HSI tiers as soon as possible.
Many of us do not use our accounts for any business purposes, and yet to get a higher cap we are forced to pay for a commercial account. An account that just doesn't represent our needs. (we don't care or want to pay for priority tech support, extra e-mail addresses, more webspace or a static IP) As someone else has already said, speed is good but it means NOTHING if we have reached our cap, since we can no longer user our service.

said by LayZieGirl :

I urge all of you who have been affected by this recent "update" to consider staying with cogeco. Some of you said so yourselves, you have been with the company for many yrs, why all of a sudden have a change of heart all because a reminded was posted, isn't that a positive thing? Would you rather we cut off the service altogether?
I think you will find most would not like to switch to DSL or something else (I don't). It's not a change of heart; it's just a fact that with these limits being enforced I can no longer user the internet as I require. If cogeco is unable to give me a suitable package for a fair price, then I will look elsewhere. Poor customer service, down times, higher ping, slower speeds, If that's what it takes for me to be able to use the internet the way I see fit then I have no choice but to take it.

said by LayZieGirl :

Krispy informed you that we have 2 email reminders and 3 different suspension types, before you have the service suspended forever.
It's a fair system, can't argue there. You can't very well do much more feasibly without high cost or just annoying people. Fact is that the warnings come very close to the cap or after. People don't check their e-mail every day (cogeco one at least, when it's not used by some people) and the fact is in this event, I heard about the cap when I called in to find out why my internet was down all day. It also came off fairly cheap when CSR's tell you that you can no longer use your internet very much for the rest of the month unless you upgrade your package right this minute. Felt like a shake down to me. Want to use your internet anymore this month? Going to cost you extra.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136738 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:44:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136715 Snickerdo : I just checked, St. Cats is actually Band B. $30+9 isn't too bad, that's what I would expect to pay anyway. My only worry is what I should expect from the sync rate. I'm hoping they can give me an idea of what I'd be looking at.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136715 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:39:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136690 ancodia :
said by Snickerdo :

Anyone here know what I'd be looking at in dry loop fees from TekSavvy? I'd like to give them a call tomorrow and see what kind of sync rate I can expect out of my new address.

they can tell you the band rate based on your phone #. I believe St. Kitts is band c , so the rate would be 29.99 for the dsl line + the band rate for c (I think 10.62)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136690 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:35:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136642 Snickerdo : Anyone here know what I'd be looking at in dry loop fees from TekSavvy? I'd like to give them a call tomorrow and see what kind of sync rate I can expect out of my new address.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136642 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:26:02 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136586 anon : Honestly LayZieGirl you have if anything just shown again why we should not stay. Regardless of what the company line is they pulled this stunt on many loyal long term customers.. and knowing full well that even the stipulated limits are extremely low.. and w/o even planning to offer an unlimited res option... f'ing stupid is an understatement.

I have been with Cogeco since I moved into their service area 6 yrs ago... and had no real complaints.. till this.

However I arranged for a new ISP today and am investigating satellite options so I can kill my Cogeco service completely.

Sorry but any company with management this short sighted doesn't deserve my $.

New DSL service for me starts this Friday.. which is slower but has unlimited bandwidth and costs me less than cable. In fact with the savings I am adding a premium news server as well and still saving $.

I'll be canceling my cable next week... so only way in hell you're saving me as a customer (and many others) is a 100%+ reversal on this new decision.. and changing the rules on paper as well to be more realistic.

So.. in effect you have one week.. somehow I doubt your management will grow a brain in that time however.

Oh and also of note.. I work in the industry and have sent hundreds of clients to Cogeco... you can be quite sure they are all hearing about this stupidity and will be switching away from Cogeco as well.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136586 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:15:49 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136474 ancodia :
said by LayZieGirl :

quote:
Violation of AUP
Although COGECO has no obligation to monitor the Services and/or the network, COGECO reserves the right
to monitor bandwidth, usage, and content from time to time to operate the Services; to identify violations of
this AUP; and/or to protect the network and COGECO Customers. Any correspondence that COGECO may
want to deliver to the Customer with respect to bandwidth usage, violation of this AUP, or protection of
COGECO network will be sent to the primary contact e-mail address attached to the account.
COGECO, in its sole discretion, may, at any time and without prior notice, take any actions deemed
appropriate if the Customer exceeds the prescribed bandwidth limitations set out in Schedule A or to
preserve the integrity of its network.

This is in response to ancodia. The part in bold clearly answers your question.

hmmm. I wonder if Sympatico used the same type of clause when they decided to start charging people without prior notice in your example. So what does that say about Cogeco? Are you saying its right to make changes to a level of service that people, *over a # of years*, have grown accustomed to, without any notice? Is that how Cogeco shows its customers respect? By hiding behind an AUP clause people accepted many, many years ago? And then you ask those same customers not to move to an alternative company?

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136474 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:54:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136405 anon : I just pasted a section of the COGECO HIGH SPEED INTERNET SERVICE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY a.k.a AUP, which was last revised on July 27, 2007.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136405 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:41:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136390 anon :
quote:
Violation of AUP
Although COGECO has no obligation to monitor the Services and/or the network, COGECO reserves the right
to monitor bandwidth, usage, and content from time to time to operate the Services; to identify violations of
this AUP; and/or to protect the network and COGECO Customers. Any correspondence that COGECO may
want to deliver to the Customer with respect to bandwidth usage, violation of this AUP, or protection of
COGECO network will be sent to the primary contact e-mail address attached to the account.
COGECO, in its sole discretion, may, at any time and without prior notice, take any actions deemed
appropriate if the Customer exceeds the prescribed bandwidth limitations set out in Schedule A or to
preserve the integrity of its network.

This is in response to ancodia. The part in bold clearly answers your question. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136390 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:39:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136358 thez0r :

said by LayZieGirl :

Believe it or not, we as a company care about our customer's and we do not want to inconvience anyone and I certainly wouldn't recommend DSL over CABLE Internet in any lifetime.

What is exactly the difference beetween having slow unlimited DSL or lightning fast cable with a cap where you can't use anymore bandwidth than a grandparent, soccer mom or simpleton would?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136358 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:33:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136329 anon : To Mr. Cogeco apologist (mole?) gnome:

>>I challenge you to find any Canadian ISP that offers a residential 10+MB service with bitcap over 100GB... holding a company up to a standard that doesn't exist isn't exactly fair.

Odd challenge; I have no need at the immediate moment for such an ISP. It's not my fault Cogeco kept upping the speeds and not the caps or infrastructure to keep pace. I certainly never asked for it. I'll take 5Mb-7Mb without caps any time. And I will. ;-) This little bit of math from the review section puts this situation into perspective:

"60 GB/mo at 7.5 Mbps is less than 2.6% monthly utilization. Lets think about that: The bitcap means you can use your line less than 20 hours per month at the maximum transfer rate. How absurd!"

P.S. This has been repeated to death, but Cogeco's usenet server (which many have pointed out does not cost Cogeco when we use it) is not P2P. Legal movie and TV downloads (big in the US, soon to break out in Canada) are not P2P. Revision3 (shows soon to be in HD) is not P2P. Videoplay is not P2P. Stage6 is not P2P. Google video is not P2P. Welcome to 2007, it's only going to get better. :-)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136329 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:28:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136317 urbanriot :

said by LayZieGirl :

a rule that you knew you all agreed upon at the beginning and continued to break that law however small or big it was over the months, years and cogeco has not once charged you an additional fee for it, knowing full well you went over your cab limit, just consider that.

And consider that many users continued to use Cogeco, and promote Cogeco, based on the fact that they weren't enforcing these ridiculous rules. Both users and Cogeco employees alike did not take these rules seriously, and I'm sure quotes from Cogeco employees can be dug up whereby Cogeco employees outline how users can stay in Cogeco's good books, and avoid being disconnected that belie these rules.

It's insulting and offensive that you suggest we felt we were "getting away" with breaking the rules; we were using a service we assumed we were paying for. A few Cogeco employees had even said that these limits were "out of date".

This is more than just a light hearted "reminder", as you put it. As I've said in a previous post, over my 10 years being with this service it is a complete change of policy regardless of rules, agreed to or otherwise.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136317 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:26:51 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136116 ancodia : wow.

all that text and she (they) never once explain why, mid-month, out of nowhere, they decided to enforce the caps, leaving a number of their long term, loyal customers with crippled Internet service for two weeks which is the #1 reason most people are pissed off. Ironically she (they) makes reference to Sympatico doing something out of the blue with no prior notice as a reason you wouldnt want to do business with them.

stunning.

said by LayZieGirl :

Some of you would be surprised to hear what former DSL users switching to COGECO say about the DLS services they get from smypatico etc. Additional charges on credit cards applied without prior warning.

Please take the time add your review. You can always change your review if/when Cogeco changes their ways.

»User reviews - Cogeco Cable]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136116 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:52:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136090 anon : aardvvark

quote:
I know it's your job to tow the company line (in other words, to defend their position in your own way), but sorry, Krispy, your justifications are just ludicrous. So you and your roommates don't consume online video on a regular basis, great (based on your example, maybe Cogeco should go down to a 30 or 40GB cap, then?). I don't get it. It's just the way YOU guys use the internet. Others enjoy experiencing the leading edge of progress. Are we somehow below you because we consume more bandwidth? Are we weirdos in your eyes? Why bring up your own low bandwidth use if you don't see us that way?

I'm sorry that you felt offended by "Krispy" but I don't think he/she meant to offend anyone here by posting his low bandwidth usage.

As an employee of Cogeco Cable, we appreciate and value all of our customer's equally.

Customers, employees all had to have went through this page upon signing up your Cogeco HSI Internet,
»www.cogeco.ca/aup, even myself.

If you have a residential Tier Internet service and you mostly use your internet for business purposes, I urge you to look into the Commercial HSI tiers as soon as possibile.

The user who said that 100GB combined for upload/download is too little due to the fact that your work can't survive without the internet, then its time for you to seriously consider upgrading to Commercial HSI.

The following Cabs were a policy and was agreed by each and every user who signed up with cogeco HSI.

HSI Lite;Upload / Download Limitations 10GB COMBINED

Hsi Standard Upload/Download 60GB COMBINED Upload/Download

HSI Pro 100GB COMBINED Upload/Download, they have always been in place.

The company just sometime last year upgraded the CAB LIMIT for standard tier from a combined 15GB to 60GB, pro went from 60GB to 100GB, thats quite a change in my opinion.

Cogeco is always looking the best and affordable ways in serving their customers. We are in a customer service business.

For those customers that are thinking of changing or are in the process of changing, I am truly sorry you felt that you had to make a change in ISP providers due to this recent re-enforcement aka reminder, but I urge all of you valued customers to really consider one last time prior to changing, is it really worth going DSL over a rule that you knew you all agreed upon at the beginning and continued to break that law however small or big it was over the months, years and cogeco has not once charged you an additional fee for it, knowing full well you went over your cab limit, just consider that.

Some of you would be surprised to hear what former DSL users switching to COGECO say about the DLS services they get from smypatico etc. Additional charges on credit cards applied without prior warning. Elder and non so tech savvy customer's aren't educated enough about the terms of bandwidth or what bandwidth is.

We take pride in serving our customers and again, I urge all of you who have been affected by this recent "update" to consider staying with cogeco. Some of you said so yourselves, you have been with the company for many yrs, why all of a sudden have a change of heart all because a reminded was posted, isn't that a positive thing? Would you rather we cut off the service altogether? Think about it.

I was glad to have read so many positive comments from customers who have had the service for 5, 6, 7yrs without any problems and I don't see this as a problem, this is just a reminder from your ISP provider informing you not to go over anymore. Krispy informed you that we have 2 email reminders and 3 different suspension types, before you have the service suspended forever. AGain, we take every measurement to make sure that doesn't happen, but it does, we are not just an internet provider, we are a cable and phone provider as well and bandwidth usage has to be equally distributed among all the service, not just the one service aka DSL.

Believe it or not, we as a company care about our customer's and we do not want to inconvience anyone and I certainly wouldn't recommend DSL over CABLE Internet in any lifetime.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19136090 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:46:17 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19135661 Shamans :

said by underpantsgnome :

...

You're describing an ISP that wants to provide access, but not the bandwidth capacity. All these things you're describing - world of warcraft, file sharing - they are part of the reason why people get internet access. Yes, ISPs profit from all these activities. ISPs are starting to discriminate bandwidth-intensive services, P2P or not. For example, my brother recently (last month) subscribed to a backup service called mozy where you can backup your entire computer (He paid $100 for 2 years I think). It's not P2P, it's a perfectly legal service and it requires lots of bandwidth.

Tell me, why would it be cheaper for some ISPs to provide "unlimited" capacity to a smaller customer base rather than limited capacity to a larger customer base. The law of economics says that it should be cheaper to provide "unlimited" capacity to a larger customer base.

The quality of service in my area has been constant for the past 5 years. Why would they suddenly be unable to serve me at the same capacity I have been served for the past 8 to 10 years? Why would they increase the download speeds if they were not able to keep up with the capacity? In fact, by increasing the download speeds, they were encouraging people to download more since it has no benefit in e-mails and no benefit in web browsing (except for high quality flash video).

I'm fine with paying more for capacity but their prices are already more expensive than other ISPs in Ontario for the same amount of capacity. Frankly, I don't need the speed - even if it costs them nothing to offer me better speed. Let me quote something I said on my updated review:

"DVDs cost 6 cents a gigabyte.
Harddisks cost 22 cents a gigabyte.
For $48, Cogeco Standard speed costs 80 cents a gigabyte.
For $100, Cogeco High speed costs 70 cents a gigabyte.
A $50/month - 3 mbit / 256 kbit dsl unlimited connection with 8 hours of full usage per day costs 13.8 cents a gigabyte.

From a bandwidth perspective, it would cost me less to buy a hard drive, send it to any major city in the world and back than any of their residential packages."

Now, I have to go decide on which business package I have to get because I have no other choice. My urban/suburban area (which is less than 3 kilometers from downtown oakville), for some reason, has no dsl access yet.

And for those contemplating the business package, you have to change your e-mail addresses since they use a different domain.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19135661 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:41:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19135049 ancodia :

said by SuperCM

said by nydwarf1 :

It will only be easier after Oct 1 when Cogeco raises the price of internet only from 47.95/month to 52.95/month.

What?! How about for those who bundle with their TV service, will it stay at $43 a month or is that rising too?

this can't be true, I didnt get a notice saying anything about a price increase. they need to give at least 30 days notice.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19135049 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:01:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134882 SuperCM :

said by nydwarf1 :

It will only be easier after Oct 1 when Cogeco raises the price of internet only from 47.95/month to 52.95/month.

What?! How about for those who bundle with their TV service, will it stay at $43 a month or is that rising too?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134882 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:40:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134778 anon :

said by BackInTime :

*** Welcome to 2004 ***

LoL ya really. How many years ago did P2P take the internet by storm? September this enforcement takes place. September, kids go back to school. Coincidence??? I think not! This is Cogeco being unable to serve the back to school kids as things were and everyone else on the network suffering so Cogeco can make a buck trying to support everyone! Youtube, MySpace, music downloading...... regular student internet usage and Cogeco cant support it!!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134778 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:23:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134743 anon :

said by underpantsgnomeOne thing is certain, P2P did blindside pretty much every ISP out there [/BQUOTE :

*** Welcome to 2004 ***]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134743 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:15:21 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134686 anon : "Secondly, as Krispy notes, P2P blindsided ISP's. Well it is clearly and firmly a reality, that being said P2P is the driving force behind bandwidth usage (not youtube)and 100 GB is simply not enough."

One thing is certain, P2P did blindside pretty much every ISP out there and it IS a reality, however, those of you saying that P2P is the future and ISPs need to get in line with that are quite simply, wrong. It's clear that those of you who think this don't understand how P2P works. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE bittorrent and its ilk, i'm a regular pirate of sorts (i've gotten six iso's this month, 11 albums, 2 movies, and done tons of surfing and streaming, yet all without breaking 60GB....hmmmm..) yet I dont see why any ISP should allow even the tiniest amount of P2P traffic, ESPECIALLY legitimate P2P traffic (the World of Warcraft updater program being one of the clients I see used often as an example). Traditionally for a company to host thier file they have to pay for a server with enough bandwidth and capacity to accomodate the demand for said file. What P2P does is allow them to offload that cost; by having users host files via P2P they force ISPs to shoulder the load of that traffic without the ISPs getting any say in the matter, or compensation. To use an analogy (as they are clearly so popular here :p) Imagine you own a trucking company, when one day you see that all your trucks are going out on deliveries without there being any orders or directions from you. When you look into it you find that Acme Sprockets has decided that they are going to use your trucks to ship thier sprockets. Now, since all of your drivers have agreed to this without your input Acme Sprockets wont be paying you, and in fact you will also have to pay for gas as well as maintenance on the trucks. This is EXACTLY what P2P does to ISPs. Can anyone out there honestly say that this is fair? Now this scenario only covers legitimate P2P downloads, if you're upset that you can't download the latest screener or PC app or some such from your favorite torrent site because you've already gotten 120GB worth of ISOs MP3s and AVIs then it's time for a reality check.. you're stealing and getting away with it; Being told you can go ahead and steal, but only X amount per month hardly qualifies as a valid grievance. Count your blessings and go away.

The only really valid argument I have seen in this thread is the fact that there was little to no warning before they started enforcing the long posted limits. This was poorly handled and absolutely there should have been alot more warning for customers before this bitcap enforcement was started, and Cogeco should make ammends for that. Offering high capacity packages at residential rates is, of course a great idea, but if the network infrastructure was in place to do that I'm sure most ISPs would offer that already. Upgrading lines isn't just a matter of stringing up some new lines any old time, yet most ISPs are contantly upgrading thier networks bit by bit (cogeco has upgraded thier service tiers 3 times since i started using them in 2002). As Krispy said earlier, bitcap enforcement is not an alternative to upgrading capacity; higher capacity lines will still require bitcaps to maintain even service across the network. This is a simple fact, but many people seem to consider it a ploy to shrug off customers and make more money, but it remains that the truth doesn't change simply because people don't want to believe it. Alot of people are also saying that Cogeco has somehow fallen behind by only offering a 16MB/100GB residential package as an alternative and that 100GB is somehow "pitifully low". What have they fallen behind on exactly? certainly not other ISPs, I challenge you to find any Canadian ISP that offers a residential 10+MB service with bitcap over 100GB... holding a company up to a standard that doesn't exist isn't exactly fair. As far as those limits go, changing ISPs will do you little good, the only ones without any limits tend to be small ones without enough customer base to need limits, which is great, but eventually if enough people join the service they will have to impose limits to maintain quality of service to its customers, that is simply the way the underlying infrastructure that powers the internet works. If they DO maintain unlimited service then good on ya! keep it secret, keep it safe! :) There was one excellent suggestion in the thread here, that Cogeco offers packages with higher bitcaps at slower speeds; That should definitely be suggested to them by someone.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134686 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:05:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134280 ancodia :

said by delenn13

:

Right now I don't have the time. But I will be adding comments regarding this matter to my review of Cogeco. And I suggest everyone doing the same and also going to Digg.com and making a statement. Make your voice heard.

Please take the time to enter a review here :

»User reviews - Cogeco Cable]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134280 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:00:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134120 anon : Well the caps are here and no amount of complaining is going to change that fact I guess. People will just have to switch to another provider. The sucking noise of people taking their money elsewhere is the only noise they can hear. It will only be easier after Oct 1 when Cogeco raises the price of internet only from 47.95/month to 52.95/month.

Also be aware beginning October 1st accounts that have been suspended for the 3rd time will not be unsuspended immediately and will have to wait until the 1st of the following month or upgrade their internet tier to have their suspensions removed.

Time to switch is now, you also might want to think about choosing an alternate provider for your television services before Cogeco starts telling you that you watch too much TV and disconnects your service.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19134120 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:31:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19133941 delenn13 : I just added my 2 cents to Digg.com and it wasn't very nice. I appreciate the employees of Cogeco that come here and help us and my comments in no way were directed at you. You have been a shinning light and I know now you are between a rock and a hard place.My beef is with TPTB and their manner of handling this situation with no announcement of what was to change and leaving residential customers with NO options.

Right now I don't have the time. But I will be adding comments regarding this matter to my review of Cogeco. And I suggest everyone doing the same and also going to Digg.com and making a statement. Make your voice heard.
--
"Dismissed. That's a Starfleet expression for 'Get out.'"
Capt. Kathryn Janeway
We CAN Cure Alzheimer's and Cancer. JOIN US HERE]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19133941 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:57:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132440 anon : system axx fees LOL good luck guess u wanna be sued like the phone companys are goin be]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132440 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:38:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132105 neko :
said by Snickerdo :

said by Persona :

The fact that there's no sort of structure in place for bandwidth users other than corporate plans...
This was my point earlier. it's pathetic they don't have other plans for residential customers other than the 100Gb pro package. With downloadable HD video & other high bandwidth services coming online Cogeco have lost the plot.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132105 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:34:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132000 anon : hello Vuarra,

I've been contemplating about this since it 1st happened and I have to say you have damn near summed this up in a neat pkg.

One must also take into acct that anyone having HD TV on demand (as you did and/or do) uses on avg 20-35GB per movie they are not lacking local capacity... it's as you said.. execs being to be blunt.. fucking stupid.

Given the advent of not only P2P (including huge legal purposes such as Blizzard's updates) but also other major BW uses such as Steam game sales and other online video uses 60gb won't last me at all...

Now I have monitored my UL since that is the hardest on the network and costs cogeco the most.. but even my dl is 90% via their usenet server which is internal only and in essence costs them zilch. (Not couting the pathetic retention and unreliability of the server... I have had them reset it an avg of once a week... must still be a win95 box!)

This latest in effect has taken cogeco from highly recommended (and I work in the industry) to a rating of zero.. sorry guys but what you have done is beyond a special kind of stupid..

I'm investigating alternatives after many yrs.... and my cable TV $ will go with me as well for that matter (esp since you have utterly failed miserably on that front of allowing any other PVR device besides that which you sell/rent at stupid rates).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19132000 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:16:04 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131468 vuarra : Even though I'm glad (for my own part) that I'm nowhere near the caps, I would think that a change of policy should be communicated to the customer.

Why, if I download more than 100 GiB, is there no other way to keep any internet access than to go with a business class connection?

In other words, Cogeco does not have the infrastructure available to accommodate the policy change. While I hold the techs blameless, someone in the corporate circle needs to have a brain transplant with a petunia, and I'd think the flower would get the short end of the deal.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131468 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:48:04 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131356 Persona : I have observed this behaviour before in other aspects of Cogeco's dealings with its customers. The word finally comes down from the top and all the rumours are finally realized and it is implemented...little softening of the blow.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131356 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:25:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131288 Persona : Yes, as I understand it, out of control uploads is the marker for someone who's owned and has been made a bot.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131288 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:12:00 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131156 Snickerdo :
said by Persona :

My issue is that Cogeco execs have not made recognition of this fact and provided a logical alternative...residential customers contemplating business plans in order to maintain their internet behavior, that's absurd and quite simply a very poor business practice on the part of Cogeco.
Well, as I've said a good three of four times in this thread, a policy change like this should be planned over more than a corporate luncheon. The fact that there's no sort of structure in place for bandwidth users other than corporate plans and the fact that people were booted off the network without warning shows that there was absolutely no planning involved with anyone who knew what was going on.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131156 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:48:06 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131055 urbanriot :
said by Persona :

but it strikes me that even though a company has a certain policy in writing if they behave differently (for years) that in fact becomes the policy...
About 10 years, for me, since we were reselling Wave and @home in this region. Since then I've always maxed out my Cogeco connection and only had issues when they called about my uploading... and was told about Cogeco's policy, and what they look for, by two Cogeco tech support personnel. Since then I've stayed within those bounds until the recent policy change. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19131055 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:19:55 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130911 Persona : I will also join the throng in not being impressed. I am not a lawyer, but it strikes me that even though a company has a certain policy in writing if they behave differently (for years) that in fact becomes the policy...if we were in the States the class-action law suits would have started days ago. Secondly, as Krispy notes, P2P blindsided ISP's. Well it is clearly and firmly a reality, that being said P2P is the driving force behind bandwidth usage (not youtube)and 100 GB is simply not enough. My issue is that Cogeco execs have not made recognition of this fact and provided a logical alternative...residential customers contemplating business plans in order to maintain their internet behavior, that's absurd and quite simply a very poor business practice on the part of Cogeco.
--
Quid si prisca redit Venus

Horace]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130911 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:48:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130692 urbanriot :
said by Wraith600 :

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.
Not exactly... when you deal with a local DSL reseller or a company like TekSavvy, you're calling local support and have someone that can speak clear, understandable english. That's Bell's biggest downfall, and an area where Cogeco shines.

The lines themselves might be owned by a facet of BCE, but the providers themselves, including Bell, are all different... with different policies (such as unlimited downloading). ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130692 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:55:15 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130631 Wraith600 : Just as an FYI, I had an interesting conversation with a "network security" person at Cogeco after I locked my self care out because it's been like forever since I checked my usage.

This lady argued flat out that I had a 13 gig upload and 600 meg download showing on their end as of this month. I aruged with this employee and said there is no way this is possible at all. She then told me that I MUST have file sharing software (I don't) and that I was wrong. Well after she reset my password incorrectly, I called back in again and gained access. This idiot employee was wrong, and in fact I had 13 gig down and 600 meg up which should have been right and what I was saying it was at.

Perhaps, we all should watch what their claims are because they obvoiusly can't read as it is.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130631 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:43:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130234 Snickerdo : I just updated my review regarding the draconian bitcap enforcement. I encourage everyone else to do the same as well.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19130234 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:09:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129997 anon : What really bugs me is how Cogeco went about to enforces the caps. They showed no respect for their customers. Still no formal announcement. Just verified by an employee after the fact of people starting to wonder what happened to their net connection.

I would of loved to seen some honesty. A press release or email to all customers. The beauty of Internet web forums is that information wants to be free.

We know that 30% above your cap is the cutoff. We also know by logic the caps are in place for increase profit.

Suggested Official Release:

On Nov. 1, 2007 Cogeco will finally enforce the bandwidth caps. After 10 years we have finally been able to get our software working to do automated bandwidth abuse enforcement. If a customer goes over the official bandwidth allotment by 30% their connection to the Internet will be terminated. The primary reason for this action at this time is to increase profits on behalf of the Cogeco investors.

------

Wow. That would of blown my pants off. I would have given Cogeco props for that. Not that I would have stayed. But to treat customers with respect and honesty. That really goes a long way. But as we have seen Cogeco seems to think they are a company from the 80's. Leave everybody in the dark is their policy.

TRUTH will out!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129997 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 15:11:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129845 neko : I am thinking about upgrading to the business starter package as well.

I think it is stupid that users needing extra caps are having to upgrade to commercial accounts which are not aimed at home users. As such, they are more expensive than residential high speed.

Cogeco should update their tiers aimed at higher bandwidth users, but keeping the variety of speeds on offer; I don't need 16Mbit, I am quite happy with 10Mbit.

Just my thoughts...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129845 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:34:09 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129808 PegLeg :
said by urbanriot :

said by ancodia :

btw, those who are unhappy with Cogeco's recent business decision, please take the time to fill out a review and let other potential customers know the pitfalls of Cogeco.
Excellent idea! Also, be sure to update the five-point rating score you give them as well.

»User reviews - Cogeco Cable

1st - Good Idea.

2nd - An interesting read . When I read the 1st page , the top half had been updated in regards to the 'Bitcap'. The rest (older) had at least one common complaint 'Expensive/Costly' . ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129808 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:26:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129318 urbanriot :
said by ancodia :

Someone on pro mentioned they got their first threat just after passing 100g.
I was disco'd at about 130% over, if that helps anyone. Not sure about my first warning, since I didn't realize I had any until Friday.

said by ancodia :

btw, those who are unhappy with Cogeco's recent business decision, please take the time to fill out a review and let other potential customers know the pitfalls of Cogeco.
Excellent idea! Also, be sure to update the five-point rating score you give them as well.

»User reviews - Cogeco Cable]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129318 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:45:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129219 ancodia :
said by Shamans :

said by neko :

At what point do Cogeco give you notice you are approaching your limit? Is it like 95%, 99%? Does anyone know?

If I had to guess, it would be at 125%, 150%, 175%. But that's just my guess...

I got my first threat @ 80 gig, so that is 33% above the cap, but I think Krispy mentioned earlier that threshold is adjustable, so I'm sure they'll move it closer to 60 as time progresses.

Someone on pro mentioned they got their first threat just after passing 100g.

keep in mind that it's a combined cap, so in reality you only get to download around 55-56 gig since the other 4-5 gig will be used up in the upstream to do the transfer process.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129219 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:24:28 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129180 ancodia :
said by Shamans :

said by ancodia :

I picked up a dsl modem at canada computers for $20.
Which model did you get?

I got the refurbed 2wire 2700hg. They aren't on display so you'll need to ask at the counter for one. The actual modem was in a+ shape & comes with just a power adaptor - no manual. Easy to config (just enter your dsl name/password). It's actually a dsl modem/firewall/wireless-g unit (supports wpa-psk). A really good deal for $20! Plus it's your modem so if you switch dsl providers in the future you can still use the modem, and it's adsl2+ so it's future proof.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129180 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:17:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129123 Shamans :
said by ancodia :

I picked up a dsl modem at canada computers for $20.
Which model did you get?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129123 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:07:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129118 Shamans :
said by neko :

At what point do Cogeco give you notice you are approaching your limit? Is it like 95%, 99%? Does anyone know?

If I had to guess, it would be at 125%, 150%, 175%. But that's just my guess...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129118 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:06:19 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129079 okoolo : On a pro I was getting 1.2 MB/s .. this one I'm getting 850-900 KB/s.. I made the switch yesterday .. not sure if the speed's gonna come down (hope not)

but at least the usage counter got reset...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19129079 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:59:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128929 ancodia :
said by Quince76 :

said by okoolo :

I urge everybody to consider the switch
No thank you. Instead i considered the switch to TekSavvy, if it wasnt for Cogeco giving me a bandwidth notice and this thread i never would of heard of them. Another guy at my work got the notice too and I told hiim and everyone else about Teksavvy. I just snagged a cheap modem off Ebay and i'm off to the races next week.

Lets see Teksavvy @ $59/month for unlimited
or
Cogeco @ $54.95/month for 120GB limit
no brainer!

same here. I picked up a dsl modem at canada computers for $20. Tested it on another DSL line and works perfectly with Teksavvy. I ordered my dry-loop dsl on the 21st and Teksavvy says they'll have it working by the 27th. $4 static ip with Teksavvy gives you nttp binaries from usenetserver (limited to 1 mbps transfer speed but no data caps), but with the canadian dollar at par with the us I can get a unlimited news subscription for $15. So with tax my dsl is $47. I get 5 mbps, unlimited bandwidth usage, a static ip and *uncapped p2p transfers*. In a way I'm glad Cogeco enforced the caps otherwise I wouldnt have discovered the benefits of switching :)

btw, those who are unhappy with Cogeco's recent business decision, please take the time to fill out a review and let other potential customers know the pitfalls of Cogeco.

»User reviews - Cogeco Cable]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128929 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:29:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128912 urbanriot :
said by okoolo :

Just "upgraded" from pro to business starter
said by okoolo :

I'm getting about 850 KB/s for pretty much the same price as pro but with a 120 limit
said by okoolo :

down speeds are slower by about 400 kB/s but I urge everybody to consider the switch ..
Okay, I'm confused. What speeds are you getting?

Web site is listing Business Starter as being 7 Mbps, is that not what you're getting? If you just had your account changed over it might take a day or so to adjust the speeds accordingly based on your account.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128912 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:25:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128876 neko : At what point do Cogeco give you notice you are approaching your limit? Is it like 95%, 99%? Does anyone know?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128876 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:20:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128811 okoolo : how fast is it?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128811 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:08:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128796 anon :
said by okoolo :

I urge everybody to consider the switch
No thank you. Instead i considered the switch to TekSavvy, if it wasnt for Cogeco giving me a bandwidth notice and this thread i never would of heard of them. Another guy at my work got the notice too and I told hiim and everyone else about Teksavvy. I just snagged a cheap modem off Ebay and i'm off to the races next week.

Lets see Teksavvy @ $59/month for unlimited
or
Cogeco @ $54.95/month for 120GB limit
no brainer!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128796 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:03:08 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128752 Snickerdo :
said by SuperCM :

True, but where exactly are we going to go? The only other major player in the game is Bell Sympatico, since there's usually only one cable operator in any given area, and they've done away with Unlimited since the spring.
Well, there is the potential for the Rogers overbuild in Burloak and Milton. That's going to be VERY interesting. No doubt if it is successful in Halton they will also investigate doing the same in Hamilton, Niagara and Windsor.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128752 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:52:31 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128740 okoolo : Just "upgraded" from pro to business starter
The usage on selfcare counter reset to 0!!!
I'm getting about 850 KB/s for pretty much the same price as pro but with a 120 limit .. And 120 Gigs available until the end of the month..

down speeds are slower by about 400 kB/s but I urge everybody to consider the switch .. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128740 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:49:21 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128480 anon : This is getting very intesting. I'm just outside of Gwelf, and also got a first warning. What mystifies me is what Cogeco's motivation is.

- Customer complaints? Unlikely, if it's in numerous locations. In my neighbourhood. Most folks are already on DSL.
- Conserve bandwidth to allow more digital cable and voip? Unlikely, but possible. Everyone who wants digital cable already has it, and voip is catching on slowly, and is problematic in some situations that I've dealt with.
- Pressure from investors to increase revenue. Very likely. I don't see Cogeco being able to increase their subscriber base in a huge way through normal expansion, and they've already seen the rate of take-up for digital cable and voip. And if Rogers is going to overbuild them in some locations, then they'll need to react in some way. And that will cost $$$.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19128480 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:41:23 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19127094 Frozty2k : If anyone has seen the iphone bills from at&t they might see that telephone/cell phone bills don't work for bandwidth very well. Not to mention if im not mistaken, iphone moved to an unlimited plan itself for data transfer.

(paper iphone bills are 20-60 pages trying to list every data transfer that takes place.)

I can understand having bandwidth limits, but peoples data usage is only going to go up. Cogeco needs to be more flexable with their packages and they also need to start following their customers.

Someone was talking about p2p catching the cable companies off guard, well maybe they were sleeping and that was the wake up call. If they pay attetion now and see where this trend is going, then they should be raising bit caps, not start enforcing ones they set years ago because the number of people that have started to pass them is increasing.

*edit

Another thought on the issue, if im forced to upgrade my package to an expensive business one because cogeco is holding tight to the bit cap. Then they better belive that im going to hold them to their speeds. Download wise i've probably never gotten more then 5-6mbit (on the 10mbit package), but I've never complained. Good thing business packages get priority tech support, i'll be calling a lot.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19127094 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:40:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126977 SuperCM :
said by faust_bargain :

Remember companies only understand dollars. We must quit so they understand. No amount of begging will change their view. We have the POWER. Use it!!!
True, but where exactly are we going to go? The only other major player in the game is Bell Sympatico, since there's usually only one cable operator in any given area, and they've done away with Unlimited since the spring.

Last year when Sympatico brought in Optimax service and Rogers create their Elite tier, these all came in with caps. I think Videotron is also dropping their Unlimitedness as well.

Whoever said it earlier seems to be on the right track. They seem to be migrating over to a cell-phone model where you pre-pay for a certain package. If it doesn't suit you, then you pay overages or cut off and have to upgrade.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126977 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:16:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126499 anon :
Further, I feel we should avoid using analogies because they never translate perfectly to the topic at hand and end up inciting people due to their inaccuracies, and people end up arguing the analogy more than discussing the topic.
But analogies are fun!

Let's continue with the car analogy. Let's say I speed down the same road to and from work every day, until one day I notice a police officer on the side of the road. It's too late to slow down so all I can do is hope he doesn't bust me. To my pleasant surprise he gives me the thumbs-up. He's there again the next day, and every day after that, and his only response to my routine speeding is a wave or a nod. This goes on for years until a meeting is called down at police HQ. They've decided it's time their officers start enforcing the law. By this point the officers are no longer comfortable in wielding their authority. So every day you go speeding by the police officer on your way to and from work and every day he gets cold feet and lets you by. Finally, about three weeks after the meeting at police HQ, the police officer gets up the nerve, stops you and warns you that you were speeding. You're flustered, but understanding. He then proceeds to write you a ticket. You're slightly aggravated, but you'll get over it. Then he pulls out twenty tickets he's been saving up all month. And suspends your license without specifying how long it will last. Then he warns you that if you so much as go one iota over the limit again for the remainder of the month your suspension will be extended, though he's a little fuzzy on those details, too.

That's a little closer to the situation, I think.

The idea that "the customer is always right" has come up a few times. I don't think anyone in their right mind would consider this to be an objective statement. What I've always felt it means is that the customer always feels he or she is right, and if you don't buy into that as a business person you won't be getting his or her money. I used to work retail, and we never intentionally pissed off a customer unless it was absolutely necessary (eg. they were destroying merchandise). Apparently losing one angry customer will result in the loss of five more due to bad word of mouth. Taking into consideration that one complaint received is probably equal to well over 100 unvoiced, I would guess that Cogeco has many thousands of dissatisfied customers, at least a few of whom will be making a switch and many more who will warn off their friends. Whoever made this decision probably assumed that it would only be a few out-of-control techies getting riled up, but most of them are probably "the computer person", the one all their friends and family go to when they need computer help. I know I'm that guy for at least two dozen people, and at this point I'm letting them all know to avoid Cogeco at all costs. And it all could have been easily avoided.

Much of the debate on the side of Cogeco's actions seems to hinge on their right to do this and how those who used a high amount of bandwidth should have known better and/or shouldn't have used that much. That's largely irrelevant, at least to my grievances. I was given no warning before my connection was suspended for 48 hours. The message I received concerning the disconnection popped up when I opened a browser. Given that they are willing to send messages in this manner, wouldn't it have been wiser to have a different message pop up before disconnecting someone's service? Here's a possible example, gratis!

"Dear loyal Cogeco customer. Starting the month of September we will be enforcing bitcaps. Our files show that you are nearing your capacity. Please be warned that your connection may be suspended should you exceed your limit. To see how close you are to that limit, please check below. If you would like to upgrade to a package with a higher limit, or if you have any questions, please contact us at, etc. etc."

After my first suspension I decided I may as well upgrade to Pro. I made the switch and they told me that 24 hours later I would have 40Gb on top of what I previously had. Great, right? Well, not only did my speed get cut in half, but within 24 hours I was suspended again. Here's the rub. I called them to ask how this could happen and they told me that after the first suspension I only had 1Gb to last me the remainder of the month. I asked if the switch to Pro had gone through, in which case this should have been avoided. They assured me that it had gone through, but that the 1Gb limit was still in place. So I was effectively paying over $30 more for 40Gb, only 1Gb of which I could access.

Like I said before, I worked retail for years and I have plenty of friends who work at call centres, so I can empathize with the corporate footsoldier whose job it is to shield their bosses from the mob after they make a stupid decision. If you do have to deal with someone over the phone, remember, as much as you want to rant at them, they're just canon fodder for a pack of out-of-touch idiots who make decisions without taking the possible ramnifications into consideration.

Thanks for the years of service, Cogeco. It was great while it lasted. I would have stuck around, even with the stronger enforcement, but I refuse to be insulted. Next time you initiate a new program, I advise you treat your customers with common sense and respect.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126499 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:49:30 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126346 anon :
said by Forbin :

I would like to remain a cogeco customer. The old cogeco, not the new one. I hope your management corrects it's error before I sign up with another ISP.

Do not hold your breath. Or you will lose your life. Take a look at history to get an idea of how long this will play out. Sympatico intruded caps the first time around. It must of taken at least 1-2 years before they reverted the policy. Now they are back in the game with caps. Of course the caps this time around are more like bank fees.

Unless the bleeding from people leaving Cogeco is massive. You will be changing ISP. Make no mistake many people reading this will be changing ISP. It is the only way for a company to understand a truly bad policy created by a bean counter.

Remember companies only understand dollars. We must quit so they understand. No amount of begging will change their view. We have the POWER. Use it!!!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126346 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:16:52 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126239 anon :
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.
said by Krispy:

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
Interesting - before calling cogeco support for the 200kbps issue I connected my computer directly to the cablemodem (to bypass my lan) because that's what they would (or should) ask anyway. That's when I finally got the redirect page, but intermittently. So it looks like this method of redirection has a few holes in it.

Anyway I'm back up and running. Question is for how long. Will I get canned at the first sign of activity?

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.
said by Krispy:

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.

No need for the boilerplate response Krispy. In any case your presence here is greatly appreciated. Thank you. I can just hope you are conveying our frustration to the folks responsible for this bad policy change and it's incompetent execution.

I would like to remain a cogeco customer. The old cogeco, not the new one. I hope your management corrects it's error before I sign up with another ISP.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19126239 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:55:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125770 anon :
said by thez0r :

I was away all last week and my usage was at about 90GB's when I left on September 15th. I didn't get any warnings when the warnings started getting sent out on the 17th.

I have a seperate Primus DSL connection for downloading torrents since Cogeco actively sabotages torrent traffic.

I was experimenting with Azureus yesterday on my Cogeco connection to test out what I read on Azureuswiki about RC4 encryption and bang. 12 hours later after seeding about 20 MBs of encrypted traffic (seeding the Azureus updates that are automatically downloaded) I got emailed a "2nd warning" despite not getting a first warning.

So either Cogeco is a week behind in handing out warnings or have a strong dislike for customers trying to use encrypted torrents.

If my Cogeco service was frequently disconnecting and having schizophrenic speeds like my Rogers did way back when in Mississauga than I would know evil "hogs" like myself are causing congestion. My service has been rock solid without a single speed/sync issue or even a disconnect in 3 years. I am in Burlington now and Cogeco has a near monopoly here as most people out this way have no idea what DSL even is.

If these temporary suspensions are being followed by someone demanding you pay double for your service than this strikes me as nothing more than an upsell strategy.

Hopefully Cogeco will be calling up people like my grandparents who use about 200 MB of bandwidth a month and offer them rebates. I'll be holding my breath on that one.

Sorry to go a little off topic here, but how is Primus? is it unlimited? I also heard that the nntp feed is uncapped and unlimited? I know you do p2p but just wondering if you know. thanks]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125770 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:16:49 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125626 thez0r : I was away all last week and my usage was at about 90GB's when I left on September 15th. I didn't get any warnings when the warnings started getting sent out on the 17th.

I have a seperate Primus DSL connection for downloading torrents since Cogeco actively sabotages torrent traffic.

I was experimenting with Azureus yesterday on my Cogeco connection to test out what I read on Azureuswiki about RC4 encryption and bang. 12 hours later after seeding about 20 MBs of encrypted traffic (seeding the Azureus updates that are automatically downloaded) I got emailed a "2nd warning" despite not getting a first warning.

So either Cogeco is a week behind in handing out warnings or have a strong dislike for customers trying to use encrypted torrents.

If my Cogeco service was frequently disconnecting and having schizophrenic speeds like my Rogers did way back when in Mississauga than I would know evil "hogs" like myself are causing congestion. My service has been rock solid without a single speed/sync issue or even a disconnect in 3 years. I am in Burlington now and Cogeco has a near monopoly here as most people out this way have no idea what DSL even is.

If these temporary suspensions are being followed by someone demanding you pay double for your service than this strikes me as nothing more than an upsell strategy.

Hopefully Cogeco will be calling up people like my grandparents who use about 200 MB of bandwidth a month and offer them rebates. I'll be holding my breath on that one. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125626 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:40:57 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125139 Trist : Not knowing about the change is the biggest problem here.

Personally this policy change has no immediate stunning negative effect on me. This month I am, as usual, below the Pro CAP. I did, while watching a football game over broadband for the first time ever yesterday wonder how much data was being transfered. And I checked to see what I am using for only the second time since that's been available. So short term the shift made me a bit unconfortable and aware of my usage.

This change should help people like me who live near a university and student housing areas to maintain year round stable speed so in the end I like the policy change.

The technical problem(s) aside, the way Cogeco handled this policy change was wrong. Customers should have been pre-informed that enforced policy was coming. But that I stumbled into this topic only to see why all the activity I would not have know anything about this.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19125139 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:56:00 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124934 anon : Don't lay down and "change your habits", change providers if at all possible. Speak with your wallet. It's your money, never forget that.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124934 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:06:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124839 anon : yea a free ride at $50 a month!? you want to talk cars? we now have a six lane highway here with a 30 km/hour posted limit with cops everywhere. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124839 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:48:37 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124801 dad_of_3 : Just to throw in my 2 cents..I agree with Krispy, and her speeding analogy.Those of us that have gone over the caps before, have basically been getting a free ride, and now the ride is over..so sad too bad..I also have gone over almost every month, not by much, but yes it was over..

It would of been nice to know that this change was coming, I would have changed my habits, now I'm sitting on a pincushion till the end of the month

:(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124801 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:39:02 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124201 urbanriot :
said by technovert :

The commercial tier 2 account on a 12 month contract fit the bill. $90 is not too much to pay for decent internet.
This looks the route I'll have to travel... expensive but I don't seem to have much of a choice until I have more options.

I just want to add that a 100GB cap on a "pro" account is draconian and not "forward thinking". Even most US cities offer a standard internet service with an unofficial cap higher than this, let alone a pro service, and the US is often criticized for lagging behind in broadband development.

Further, I feel we should avoid using analogies because they never translate perfectly to the topic at hand and end up inciting people due to their inaccuracies, and people end up arguing the analogy more than discussing the topic. A car is a motor vehicle with the ability to kill people. The internet is a delivery method for data. The two are completely unrelated.

My loyalty to Cogeco has dropped to 0 and I'll be jumping ship as soon as I have the option, and will no longer be recommending their services to those considering making the switch or signing up. While Cogeco has some really great folks working for them (as we've all seen on these forums), someone at the top is making some really stupid decisions that are completely unreasonable in this day and age.

... and that's all I'll say further on the subject. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19124201 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:20:58 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123927 anon : >>$90 is not too much to pay for decent internet.

In your opinion. Outrageous in mine. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

>>The bitcaps have ALWAYS been publicly stated. You were paying for a service that included X GB of internet transit at up to X mbps/X kbps they have never promised unlimited use of the connection except on the highest commercial tier.

I don't recall these caps being there 9 years ago or so when I signed up, maybe they were but I don't recall. I definitely don't recall people being cut off for wanting to take advantage of modern internet technology (not talking about rampant piracy). See my previous posts for examples.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123927 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:12:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123850 technovert : I got the call and wanted to continue with Cogeco at a plan that allowed enough bandwidth for my usage. The commercial tier 2 account on a 12 month contract fit the bill. $90 is not too much to pay for decent internet. I a bit annoyed I got shut off without a verbal warning or a written warning, but still wish to continue doing business with Cogeco. So far as the service itself it rocks.

The bitcaps have ALWAYS been publicly stated. You were paying for a service that included X GB of internet transit at up to X mbps/X kbps they have never promised unlimited use of the connection except on the highest commercial tier.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123850 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:56:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123745 Trist : Sorry to read Krispy had to leave this topic but as to that analogy, Cogeco's speed limit was written yes, but never enforced. Speed limits don't sit 5 or 10 years unenforced. A written rule that wasn't enforced as long as that one should have been invalidated. Repealed. Squatters rights given to Cogeco customers on the data highway. Common sense Statute of Limitation imposed and the words expunged.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123745 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:31:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123669 Krispy : Well I can see that this thread has turned into venting so I'll leave you to it, if anyone has an actual question about this you can PM me.

As for the analogy, I still stand by it - the sign always said 80kph and your bitcap was always posted, one day after 5 years of driving ~97kph on that road I got a ticket for doing 97kph on that same road, one day after years of soft caps you got a warning or suspension. I might be able to knock a few bucks off my ticket (actually I didn't) if I'd argued enough but the judge would still remind me that it's posted 80kph and it's irrelevant that I never got a ticket before. If I started arguing with the judge that the speedlimit should be upped as I always drove that speed or if I argued it was just a money grab he would tell me to go speak to the powers that make the decision. That's all I'm telling you guys/girls.
--
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
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19123669 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:05:39 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122940 anon : All of MNSi's packages have unlimited bit caps.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122940 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 02:22:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122692 Snickerdo :
said by nydwarf1 :

So my question now, after being disconnected without warning and being given misleading information by 3 different technicians, is when was Cogeco bought out by Comcast??
Haha so true. I wouldn't even expect incompetence like this from Rogers. I don't care if it was a mistake or whatever, something as serious as this should never happen. Again, refer to my comment about the cart before the horse.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122692 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:54:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122651 AceOfHertz :
said by nydwarf1 :

So the next day I opened my browser to do something offline and I received a different page asking me to click to restart my service so I did and after some finagling got my service restored. Hooray I was back online.

So my question now, after being disconnected without warning and being given misleading information by 3 different technicians, is when was Cogeco bought out by Comcast??
As Krispy said before, things happened that we weren't expecting. The reason you ended up in the redirected page was that a lot of people were getting 3rd suspensions without the first two. Therefore, the option to automatically reconnect without the 72 hour callback was instituted.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122651 Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:43:14 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122479 Asawulf :
said by nydwarf1 :

...after being disconnected without warning...
I thought Krispy was already clear enough on the fact that there was errors about the warning system and that she resolved it...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122479 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:59:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122075 anon : And just to add to my original post. I called Cogeco the same night my service was cut (without warning) and was told by 2 different techs that I would receive a call the next day to get my account started again. I did not receive a call the next day so I called them. The woman I spoke with told me that it's policy that I would be called within 72 hours not the next day. So the next day I opened my browser to do something offline and I received a different page asking me to click to restart my service so I did and after some finagling got my service restored. Hooray I was back online.

So my question now, after being disconnected without warning and being given misleading information by 3 different technicians, is when was Cogeco bought out by Comcast??]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19122075 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:35:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121763 Snickerdo :
said by AceOfHertz :

They don't cut a break for you speeding because everyone else does. They cut you a break for speeding because it's your first offense. When you get caught speeding repeatedly, there's less sympathy for you and therefore, less breaks offered.
Actually, it's neither, they cut you a break because it costs less money to do a plea bargain for a lower fine/charge than it is to go to court even if they win, but that's well outside the scope of this discussion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121763 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:31:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121753 AceOfHertz :
said by Snickerdo :

It's gross incompetence, simple as that. Someone needs to be shot, and the speed limit analogy crap is even worse, because if you're caught speeding the Crown always cuts you a break if you ask because everyone else is speeding anyway, identical to what Cogeco was doing with the soft caps. The fact that they pulled this stunt without any notification about its impending implementation is one thing, but the fact that they laid down the hammer without even notifying customers that their accounts were in jeopardy is absolutely beyond disgusting.
They don't cut a break for you speeding because everyone else does. They cut you a break for speeding because it's your first offense. When you get caught speeding repeatedly, there's less sympathy for you and therefore, less breaks offered.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121753 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:30:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121745 anon : One of the problems is that the large download speed is irrelevant with small caps to the heavier users.

I can max out the 60 GB standard cap within 14 hours of the first month.

If I had a wishlist, it would be this...
a new residential plan that:
1) offers lower download speeds
2) offers slightly higher upload speeds
3) has a much larger cap
4) more web space. Who uses less than 10 megabytes for their web space.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121745 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:29:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121727 PegLeg :
said by Snickerdo :

.... the speed limit analogy crap is even worse, ....
Ya , I agree with you on that .
Because even the OPP give 'advance' notice that the following weekend/week(s) will be zero tolerance !!

My second thought about this , is I find that paternalistic ( ie - lets roundup our spoiled brats and spank them for their own good)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121727 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:25:53 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121657 Snickerdo :
said by anonguy2 :

That said, the way they began enforcement of their caps is disgusting. After years of 'soft-caps' they decide mid-month to enforce them and now we are all stuck with a 1.5 weeks of limited Internet access. I'm beyond pissed. At least I'm lucky enough to have an alternative. I feel bad for the people who don't. I've been a customer of Cogeco since the @home days and I'm shocked by this behaviour from them. I don't know who ended up in charge of the company that feels this is the way to lead the company into the future, but they need to be fired.
It's gross incompetence, simple as that. Someone needs to be shot, and the speed limit analogy crap is even worse, because if you're caught speeding the Crown always cuts you a break if you ask because everyone else is speeding anyway, identical to what Cogeco was doing with the soft caps. The fact that they pulled this stunt without any notification about its impending implementation is one thing, but the fact that they laid down the hammer without even notifying customers that their accounts were in jeopardy is absolutely beyond disgusting.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121657 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:12:22 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121644 anon : I think the problem is they offer multiple services. They assume high bandwidth users are downloading movies/tv programs and that cuts into their other lines of business. It's really a conflict of interest for them for the Internet department to provide unlimited bandwidth for that kind of use (assumed use). if you are using their internet service to get everything, why would you ever want their analogue/digital/ppv services? you wouldn't. Which is why they caps are so low. You want that stuff and one way or another Cogeco/Rogers/Bell is going to make you pay for it.

That said, the way they began enforcement of their caps is disgusting. After years of 'soft-caps' they decide mid-month to enforce them and now we are all stuck with a 1.5 weeks of limited Internet access. I'm beyond pissed. At least I'm lucky enough to have an alternative. I feel bad for the people who don't. I've been a customer of Cogeco since the @home days and I'm shocked by this behaviour from them. I don't know who ended up in charge of the company that feels this is the way to lead the company into the future, but they need to be fired.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121644 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:10:16 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121372 Snickerdo :
said by urbanriot :

So if I understand that correctly, you pay for the regular service and if you go over, you pay a $30 fee and you can use as much as you want?
The $30 is the maximum overage fee. They basically charge you something like $1 or $2 per gigabyte over the limit, up to a maximum of $30. Seems fair to me.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121372 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:17:09 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121332 urbanriot :
said by Snickerdo :

At least Bell, who charges for bandwidth, allows you to use as much bandwidth as you want for $30.
So if I understand that correctly, you pay for the regular service and if you go over, you pay a $30 fee and you can use as much as you want? ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121332 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:09:10 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121241 Snickerdo : This is a gigantic clusterfu*k on the part of Cogeco. Customers who may have never received a single warning after nearly a decade of service are now being cut off or slowed down to near-useless speeds. This is not the Cogeco that I boasted for years about serving my neighbourhood.

It is also absolutely pathetic that there is no ability for someone to actually go over their usage and either pay, or be upgraded to a higher account after a request, etc. At least Bell, who charges for bandwidth, allows you to use as much bandwidth as you want for $30. The response from Krispy about the whole "you need to find the ISP that's right for you" was pretty much corporatespeak for "Please switch ASAP, we don't want you as a customer." This is horribly planned, horribly executed and changes my entire opinion about the organization. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

My usage isn't bad during the summer, but in the winter months it gets higher. I am also moving into a house with three other people sharing the connection, so that stresses things further. The first letter or slowdown or suspension I get, I'm done and will never come back. I will go to Bell, get 7M DSL and pay $50/month until I go over their 60 or 80GB cap, and then pay a maximum of $30 for as much bandwidth as I want.

After seven years as a happy subscriber and Cogeco fanboy, I am truly shocked and dismayed. Thanks for nothing.
--
I swear that I will faithfully and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121241 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:52:54 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121196 PegLeg :
said by roxx :

The tech on the phone also said it is unlimited.
Hehe , ya right , sucker ... lol]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19121196 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:44:24 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120869 anon :
said by Krispy :

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.

Krispy,

Unfortunately I could not go without internet for the next couple months, since I had gotten the warnings so quickly and back to back. I just upgraded to this Enterprise package to see how things go. The tech on the phone also said it is unlimited. But, when I look on the bandwidth monitor page it shows a combined cap of 512000mb. The tech said the website is slow to update etc, but it clearly shows that I am now in the enterprise group. Any info you can shed on this would be appreciated. If it is truly unlimited as they have told me it should not have any hint of a possible cap being issued. Perhaps you can offer a little more clarification since the phone tech could not. Thanks for the help.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120869 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:44:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120555 anon : I know it's your job to tow the company line (in other words, to defend their position in your own way), but sorry, Krispy, your justifications are just ludicrous. So you and your roommates don't consume online video on a regular basis, great (based on your example, maybe Cogeco should go down to a 30 or 40GB cap, then?). I don't get it. It's just the way YOU guys use the internet. Others enjoy experiencing the leading edge of progress. Are we somehow below you because we consume more bandwidth? Are we weirdos in your eyes? Why bring up your own low bandwidth use if you don't see us that way?

Online media distribution is the future; see my previous posts. I am NOT referring to rampant piracy, either. See my previous posts. What will happen when iTunes starts selling movies and TV shows in Canada?

Being cut off is a big honkin' deal. We pay for access. Having our accounts suspended with no ability to use VOIP (sorry, not going to use Cogeco's VOIP), check email or conduct business (even a commercial account won't prevent this) is a big deal. I'd much, much rather be slowed down than have zero access. Why can't this be an option for Cogeco? Please don't joke about "internet withdrawal" when people's financial and personal lives are now locked into the online world.

Implementing (pitifully low for 2007) hard caps and suspending people to freak them out may work to squeeze more pennies out of a few, but for those who can slow down for a minute and realize what's really going on and what our true options are, it won't. I feel we've already given your company more than a few inches and it's only encouraged you to crack down more. Why did you give us 10 megabits if "most people" only use the internet for the examples you cited? Oh, that's right... it looks good on your glossy admail.

Finally, as a consumer, I'd much rather not have to ask myself "omg, have we used too much bandwidth??? Can I download this or that? *worry, worry, worry*" every month. I don't have the time or energy to worry about such nonsense. It's the internet, let us use it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120555 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:50:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120437 anon : sorry, the above post was for urban riot ...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120437 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:30:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120430 neko : "I'll suggest it and suggest you write to them suggesting it also and maybe they'll get something in gear depending on demand."

Who would I e-mail, Krispy? Would I just send an e-mail to support, or would that not be forwarded to the appropriate person?

If I e-mail cogeco, I want to make sure it gets to the right person. The basis of my e-mail would be to suggest cogeco offer more tiers with better bandwidth.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120430 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:29:18 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120428 anon : Yes, 5m is the limit, but residential is being upgraded to 6m. yes, slower than Cogeco but right now I paid $50 for 10mbit service from Cogeco and I can't download anything. so you could say Cogeco is 0 mbps until the end of the month.

For those thinking of switching I found out you can purchase a refurb 2wire dsl modem from canadacomputers for $20 bucks. Also, you need to get a static ip to get newsgroup binary access from Teksavvy (courtesy of usenetserver). Catch is they cap @ 1mbps download, but that's enough to get a couple iso's a day. that works for me since I just ssh into my machine from work and tag files in newsbin for download anyways.

my how things can change in just a week!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120428 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:28:35 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120418 slade : Streaming from your PC to your XBOX via XBMC will not use your bandwith, unless your running through a switch of course..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120418 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:26:59 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120369 urbanriot :
said by Krispy :

I believe it's 2 email warnings
My second warning was sent yesterday... between then and now I downloaded a 300m file and was disco'd today.

So, for those with two warnings, you're on the edge. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120369 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:16:29 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120278 anon : @Krispy, do the warnings reset after every month?

Like, if I got 2 warnings this month, would they be erased at the start of next month?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120278 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:00:02 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120215 Krispy :
said by Sham :

I have a question for Krispy or others:
How many warnings do I get and at which point do I get suspended?
I believe it's 2 email warnings and then 3 levels of suspends with last one being final (aka: upgrade to bigger package or stay suspended till beginning of next month when counters reset to zero)

said by Sham :

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 ;(

Sorta...it was more that the vendor fixed a bug that disallowed us from enforcing limits on webspace then us deciding to crack down on webspace all of a sudden. We've been working on that bug for some time and the fix finally came through so we applied it.
--
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
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120215 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:50:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120200 DedMeet : This is completely shocking. I have been a customer of cogeco since "the wave" and have never had any type of issues. Speed was always decent, never had upload / download issues when it comes to bitcaps, never had any modem or disconnection issues.

I recieved a letter as well and stopped downloading right away. My business would not survive with out internet access. 90% of the business comes in from webleads, no internet, no leads, no money! I have a free dialup account I use if my modem was to ever go out but I do not want to have to rely on this and have to monitor what download every single month.

I also sell a lot of computers to customers and recommend cogeco to everyone I sell to. In the past 5 years i would have to say i have converted or started up at least 50 people on cogeco internet service. Weather it is lite, standard, or ultra is regardless. They are customers that cogeco never had before.

If I get cut off from my service there will be a major roar from myself, I will never recommend, or convince people that cogeco is the "premuim" service in the area. DSL will be the way to go.

It is pretty bad when it has to come to this and very disappointing. Im disgruntled, pissed off, and curious all at the same time. WHY did things change? Who made this stupid decision, and what are they going to do to fix this! 100GB a month is not enough offer something else, or do something before you make a lot more people pissed off.

Unbelievable.!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120200 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:48:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120194 Krispy :
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
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120194 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:47:40 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120193 anon : 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 ;(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120193 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:47:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120169 anon : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120169 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:44:56 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120136 diskdocx :
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?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19120136 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:40:25 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119884 urbanriot :
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. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119884 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:58:42 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119633 okoolo : do they ban after the first warning?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119633 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:19:50 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119612 okoolo : 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 .. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119612 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:17:20 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119584 okoolo : 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?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119584 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:14:36 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119569 anon : 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. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119569 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:12:38 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119559 urbanriot :
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. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119559 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:10:44 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119392 okoolo : what was your actual usage?
I just checked and 102400 is the allowed limit ..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119392 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:41:58 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119327 anon : 102 gigs??? are you kidding?? and they banned you for 24 hours on a pro plan?

I'm screwed then. (120)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119327 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:33:45 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119320 alamarco : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119320 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:32:12 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119305 anon : $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 ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119305 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:30:05 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119280 urbanriot : 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. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119280 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:26:32 EDT Re: [Niagara] Cogeco Bitcaps http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19119279 Krispy :
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. A