Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications in Cable users

Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications in Cable users http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19578399 en Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:37:23 EDT Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:37:23 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20488400 NormanS :

said by moto guy :

On another note I am getting threatened for having an open "proxy" on my computer as they call it. WTF are they talking about?? I had comcast in Philly and never had this problem. They want to suspend my service or pay them $260 to send a technician to my house to fix the problem...

I think it is extortion.

I think you may have an unwelcome visitor. Do a thorough check for malware. Do not just run an anti virus scanner. At the least run Hijack This. You probably also need a root kit detector. Or hire some help. A spamming 'bot infestation is a serious matter. You need to be able to demonstrate that your machine is not so infested.

I wonder if we could bring a class action law suit against the company for denial service??

To what end? A class action suit usually costs the defendant $75 per plaintiff, and the plaintiffs usually only get $5 each in the settlement; the attorneys take the rest. In any case, for you to prove that PTD has unfairly cut off your service, you will need to prove that your equipment is not infested with malware.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20488400 Thu, 15 May 2008 16:44:19 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20166654 anon : i feal if you want to run proxy you run proxy what it is they cant monitor you when running proxy good luck with them i disconnected and went with verizon service and no longer have to deal with the BS ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20166654 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:29:37 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20166466 anon : Personally, i think it is a bunch of BS!!!
Did they have all of the stipulations in contract before you signed up for the service??

On another note I am getting threatened for having an open "proxy" on my computer as they call it. WTF are they talking about?? I had comcast in Philly and never had this problem. They want to suspend my service or pay them $260 to send a technician to my house to fix the problem...

I think it is extortion.
I wonder if we could bring a class action law suit against the company for denial service??]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20166466 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:48:50 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20011872 rody_44 : they make that cap and only enforce it when you go way over it. its what you get when you want a stated cap. its always going to be low. but very few people will ever have a problem if going over it. but once your labeled a bandwidth hog ide respect the limit or figure on getting the suspension. my son who has ptd never recieved a warning and he uses probably 150 a month minimum.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20011872 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:43:23 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19885136 Donkaroo : It's easy to hit those numbers in movies alone. A DVD rip is over 4.4 GB's. 10 movies a month and your already at well over 40GB's. Then if you listen to streaming music, watch streaming videos, send large attachments in email, etc. If you notice, all large companies are going digital. Its no longer 1990 where all people did were basically read text BBS pages.

Anyway, I'm not justifying anything, just noting times change and its not hard to reach these caps anymore. Theres a big difference between running a 24 hour server maxing out bandwidth and just downloading movies. In any event, after receiving 2 warning letters without explaining what the caps were, I called. I was told for the 15/2 tier the caps are 80GB down/45GB up. While I still don't think thats near enough for their top package it is respectable. Now that I know these numbers I can stay within them. Seriously though, they should just put these caps in the contract.

In all honesty I think they just want to push people into the business package. You get half the speed for twice as much. Not only do they recommend the business package in their threat letters(while leaving out the caps) they also recommend it when you call to inquire about caps. And just so you know, you need to sign a 3 year agreement for their business plan. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19885136 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:38:04 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19825326 burner50 : Echolink is done over the net so you can hit a repeaer on the other side of the country (or world)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19825326 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:32:20 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19812946 Fancy_Bob_07 : »server4.engr.ptd.net/login/cable···util.cgi

If you want to know what your bandwith usage is in r/t, click there.

Goto PTD.net-->Customer Suport(click on it, don't look in the drop down menu.)-->The last link in the list right above what your IP addy is. Thats the residential cable bandwith page link, that I posted above.

I don't know how you use that much bandwith, but I also don't use VOiP. However I do know even when I am hitting the bits hard in a month, doing web designs and managing servers, I don't come close to what you are doing. The only time I see numbers like that is when theres file sharing going on.

As far as net-flix goes, you would have to be d/l'ing many, many movies to come close to that number. Even as I type this, I think about the b/w used when I use Skype or Vent. It's very minimal. So you must be watching the movies 24/7 and describing them to an audience...

As far as your health and family usage goes...
(Note: I am not a mean person, but been around the block a few times) You should know better than to not have a land line. I also thought amateur radio required a tower/sb transmitter, not cable. And I think y'all spend too much time on the pc. Go get some sunshine.

...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19812946 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:37:07 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19777711 anon : I feal for you i know what your going thru with kids in the family and bandwidth issue's and pentel data dont want to hear it they will disconnect you for 30 days if you do not adhearing to there letters and there cost of comerical accounts our crazy priced i went back to DSL verizon there going to be running fiber soon in our area and pentel data will loose more customers in the long run fiber will win over cable anyway and verizon does not have a cap ;) ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19777711 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:49:03 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19777087 Donkaroo : I just received my second warning letter as well. My letter didn't include what my data usage was on my 15/2Mbs account though. Both letters just said that my usage is too high. It also included that my service may be suspended.

This would be all well and good IF they told me what the cap was. I cant keep under a number that is not given. I reviewed my contract, a single piece of paper, and it made NO mention of a specific number. It did say what an above poster mentioned that its in their sole discretion of what is considered abuse. That alleviates them from any legal standpoint but does nothing for the customer.

If I knew what the limit was I could monitor it and make sure I stayed within the limit. Hard to do when I have no idea what this cap is, and I've heard limits from 20-150 GB's/month. Which is correct??

What really irritates me is that they keep mentioning their commercial plans that I should switch to. That would be fine if they didn't rape my wallet. I had OOL in Jersey and signed up for their Boost package which offered 30/5Mb with no caps. It was great. PenTeleData wants $180 for 10/1Mbs! Ridiculous.

I use my internet service for exactly what they advertise in their commercials. Download music,movies, and use a VOIP line. It eats bandwidth, I know this. But if it weren't for music/movies/games hardly anyone would need nor want broadband. I do everything I can to ease the strain on the network. I download mainly overnight, and I even put a cap on my download speed as to not saturate the line and bring surfing to a crawl. As much as I think its wrong to limit the amount I download I would even adhere to that, IF they told me what amount to stay under!

I'm at the point where I really wish broadband would be regulated. I'm so tired of the monopolies and getting charged exuberant rates with no alternatives. I don't even have access to normal DSL here.

After 6 months of living here I had multiple outages, speed drops to a crawl, very high latency that makes my VOIP line act crazy, and a few other problems but none of that matters and never gets fixed. Why cant I suspend my payments when my service is degraded or non-existent like they can suspend my service for downloading too much?? It just plain sucks not having reasonable alternatives. /End rant]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19777087 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:44 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19741577 dodgetech2 : I average about 70-80 Gb down and 15-20 up each month.......this is with 4 computers and a single VOIP line......I gotta say, 120-130 sounds like a lot, but I could see how it would be easy to do.

I have the 15/2 plan and have 2 teenagers in the house that are on the net and the phone 24/7..:)

you can monitor your use on their website, when you get hooked back up keep an eye on it...try and see where your heavy usage is...and be sure your kids are not running bit torrent clients...that will chew thru bandwidth like crazy. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19741577 Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:53:41 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19656826 anon : Just took at the paper we signed at installation.
All we received when we had Service Electric's PTD.Net was a yellow single page saying we bought the Gold plan.
With 4.5 up and 467 down. Nothing about Bandwidth caps.
So we called SE. The person's did not know the answer or what ever I was talking about. We then called PTD.
I was on the phone with them for 45 minutes before we got some answer. 50GB up and 50GB down no matter tier or product we had.
I asked him to note it in my account that I called. If he did I don't know. We watched a bunch of NetTV and netfilx
on free trial basis.
We are now at 48, GB up. So I'm glad I called.
But, after reading these posts. We are tempted to go over 50 instead of shutting down to see if a letter is generated.
There is nothing but a warning notice about going over the BW caps but no more data or numbers on their site. Even the person I talked to said he's been trying to get the badwidth caps added to the website for the past 6 months with no luck.

I would say. If SE or PTD did not send out those 4 letters warnings.
You would have a good reason to contact a lawyer.
You could have written back, Asking. Where is the BW cap data on your website? Or have your lawyer do it.

Anyway.
Good Luck With DSL.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19656826 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:27:24 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19601227 burner50 : Last I knew VoIP was not condsidered a lifeline service, but an entertainment service.

Call your local phone company and get a local line set up. They usually have a "lifeline" package for around 10-15 per month.

As far as cutting your usage, i would say the best bet is to get another modem and set up a second account in your home. You will however be doubling your bill for internet access. Also download and install something like NetMeter on all of your computers. That allows you to monitor and log your bandwidth usage individually and you can set up custom alerts when usage hits a pre-determined level.
--
--Semi Trailers belong on Rail cars

--Giving you un-biased opinions about Mediacom, BBR, and life in general]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19601227 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:10:16 EDT Re: PTD.net http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19583503 MadMANN : They changed the wording since I have read it. When I left, they were capped at 20Gs!! It specifically read as much in the agreement. They obviously upped their cap and re-worded their contract.

Either way, the OP f'd up here.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19583503 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:58:19 EDT PTD.net http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19581741 JeepMatt : It looks like they followed their rules with you to the T (especially the 2nd paragraph)

Here it is in writing directly off of PTD.net's site:

Broadband Bandwidth: PenTeleData and your broadband service provider offer multiple tiers of high speed Internet access with different speeds and bandwidth usage limitations (not all packages are available in all areas). Customer acknowledges that any quoted bandwidth rating/transfer rate for broadband Internet Service is a maximum rate and are not guaranteed. PenTeleData and your broadband Internet provider reserve the right to manage its networks to provide for maximum efficiency.

As a user, you must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user’s use of the service or PenTeleData’s ability to deliver and monitor the service, or our network resources and do not represent (in the sole judgment of PenTeleData) an unusually large burden on the network itself. Users found to be (in PenTeleData’s sole judgment) in violation of this policy may have their accounts terminated, suspended, or upgraded to a higher level of service, subject to the appropriate fees. PenTeleData will use reasonable efforts to notify a customer prior to service termination for excessive bandwidth use.
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!"]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19581741 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:54:12 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19581080 briangawenus : i checked my agreement papers and there is nothing stated as a cap of 80 gb any where even on there site there is nothing stated at all in there policys this is my arguement with them i even have downloaded the policys from online and still does not state that 80 gb is the cap. i have talk to there managers and i know it my fault for not answering the other notices but come on i even said to the managers is this a money issue if i used service over and above of my normal i would be willing to pay for my extra usage and still would they did not want to hear it im still suspended for 30 day and if you read in there letter that they have sent me there is nothing stated about a cap of 80 gb only that i have excessive usage. from what im gathering i guess money dont talk with them only staying under a undesclosed cap, to me its sound a little shady of doing business]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19581080 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:01:48 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19580653 MadMANN : I am sorry about your ailments. However, this is clearly a case of someone who has been warned and didn't listen. Playing the "I'm really sick" card comes off as someone who is looking for pity because it really has nothing to do with your agreement with PTD. They are an ISP, not a utility.

Despite your physical weaknesses you obviously have some intellectual strengths. Anyone with serious ailments should never be left without a backup communication. It's not PTDs responsibility to make sure you have phone service from a third party.

Also, I know from experience installing PTD internet in the past for another cable company, that they have you sign an agreement with the 80G cap stated clearly in the terms of service. You obviously signed it and didn't care.

I personally do not blame you for switching and being upset that they have this cap in place. But there's nobody to blame for your situation other than yourself, since you were given notice in writing several times and still kept your main communication source on a voip line. If you would have used your common sense, you would have made the switch a long time ago, since it seems that PTD could not handle your needs and you knew about it since June.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19580653 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:57:19 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19579335 JeepMatt : Wow-
That's the most physical ailments i've ever seen in one post. ;)

C'mon now Brian - PTD clearly lays out their bandwidth caps. Shit, my mom gets emails about them all the time.

They sent you 3 or 4 warning letters, you did nothing, and now you're pissed?? Lol...
--
"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!"]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19579335 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:23:28 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19578399 Rombus : Just a point:

If its a mater of life and death if you cant dial out, you should ALWAYS have a backup, VOIP phone service should never be used in a lifeline situation.

Fact is, VOIP and Echo-link arent causing your bandwidth issues, im betting its Netfilx or something you might not know about going on. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19578399 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:26:05 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19577753 briangawenus : no i did not call them i was on the phone with 4 differant people today and they said it will be terminted for 30 days andy they only allow 80 gb per month bandwidth and im disabled with a breathing machine at night time and diabetic plus im providing a public service to a local cluub i have local weather for our area to the carbon county amateur radio club also and they did not want to hear it and i have 2 phone lines thru vonage also i was on the phone most of the morning complaing to them and it did not help and i am also on a medical note from the doctor where they can not shut off my electric also i am totally discusted with there service and policys that im swithching to verrizon dsl service that we have in the area]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19577753 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:26:32 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19577283 claydean : Did you call them after the initial notice?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19577283 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:58:49 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574936 briangawenus : the other letters Just said to cut back the bandwidth they did not say that they were going to suspend my service also i Just got off of the phone with customer service with penteldata and they only allow 80 gb per month any thing over that is excessive. and my service will be temporaly suspented for 30 day]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574936 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:30:40 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574503 JeepMatt : Well,
It also looks like you ignored their 3 previous communications to you.

What's the excuse there?
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!"]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574503 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:13:00 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574425 saber11 : You may have a leg to stand on here. Since you have vonage if you call them and explain that suspending your account can cause harm should an emergency arise your phone will not work.

Also get them to define their bandwidth limits
--
Educating the masses, since about 2:15
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19574425 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:00:11 EDT Re: 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19573293 daveinpoway : Perhaps your ISP offers the ability to sign up for a business account at a residential address. Be aware that business-class service will likely cost considerably more than you are now paying.

Another possible option (again, if your ISP will permit it) is to split the cable and install more than one modem/account at your address; distributing the computers among more than one modem will mean that each account will have less usage. Again, considerably more cost will be involved.

Only inexpensive options will be switching to another ISP with larger usage limits (if there is one in your area) or reducing the amount of data you are sending/receiving. Like it or not, your ISP has set the rules for what they allow (and it seems you were warned more than once that your usage is excessive). ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19573293 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:21:32 EDT 30 day suspension from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19572972 briangawenus : read below is a copy of the email i received from my internet service provider stating that I'm going to be suspended for 30 day because of excessive usage

;)could some one tell me ;) the usage that I'm using is it really excessive?? i have 5 computers hooked up with 2 voip phone lines thru vonage the kids like to play pogo and i like to watch movies thru netflix online streaming and on occasions i use echolink voip for amateur radio communications also. is our family excessive in usage??

we have the highest cable service they provide also with 15000 kb/s download and 1500 kb/s upload.

read the letter i received below from penteldata in Jim Thorpe PA

December 5, 2007

Dear Mr.

RE: PTD ACCT #

Please read this critical system message from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications regarding the excessive usage statistics that continue to be recorded for your residential cable Internet service.

PenTeleData previously informed you about excessive bandwidth usage through your cable modem account.

6/11/07 – First notice for May ’07 usage sent – 136.6 gigs down & 49 gigs up
8/6/07 – Second notice for July ‘07 usage sent – 139.95 gigs down & 41.14 gigs up
11/7/07 – Re-sent second notice for Oct ’07 usage – 88.22 gigs down & 21.93 gigs up

After careful analysis of recent usage data on your account, it was determined that your cable Internet account continues to consume bandwidth in excess of what is considered normal for the cable package that you are paying for. We asked you to please review your computer system(s) and your usage patterns for any activity you thought might cause your account to exceed the acceptable usage totals. We also asked that you sharply reduce the bandwidth utilization for your account or upgrade to a higher speed package. Today, your cable Internet service account remains identified as utilizing an excessive amount of bandwidth.

Your bandwidth utilization for the month of November ‘07 was 91.56 gigs down & 25.34 gigs up. As a result, on December 12, 2007, your Internet service with Blue Ridge Communications / PenTeleData will be suspended. The account will remain closed for a period of 30 days. If you would like to have your service reactivated in the future, you may contact your local Blue Ridge Communications office after (30 days) to request account reactivation.

If you choose to reactivate your service after the 30 day suspension and you continue to use excessive bandwidth, your account will be terminated.

PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19572972 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:40:22 EDT