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groebke5
join:2013-02-03

groebke5

Member

[Qwest] CL Data Caps are REAL.

We received a rude awakening Thursday when we discovered our Internet access not working. After several calls to CL, it was determined, we had exceeded our 250GB per month data cap three times, and not three consecutive months, over the last year, and our PPPoE was shut off due to this. I was also informed I have one week to upgrade to a business level plan to avoid having the xDSL service shut disconnected completely. At double the cost.

Anyone else?

codyyy
@embarqhsd.net

codyyy

Anon

ive herd of a few people being warned going over there cap but i dont see how centurylink has the right to enforce this without giving Customers the ability to check there total data
Technicholas
Premium Member
join:2010-11-11
West Des Moines, IA

Technicholas to groebke5

Premium Member

to groebke5
I agree I have not seen any ways to measure how much data I am using. So they should not cut me off if I cannot tell even how much data I used.

Nicholas
TheMayor
join:2002-05-09

TheMayor

Member

You could get a router that can use DD-WRT. It was a meter that tracks WAN usage
said by Technicholas:

I agree I have not seen any ways to measure how much data I am using. So they should not cut me off if I cannot tell even how much data I used.

Nicholas


Boss302_1970
join:2009-12-11

Boss302_1970 to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
they should inform you if you do go over the cap and possibly inform you if you're close to going over the cap. demanding you upgrade to a business class tier, would prompt me to dump them asap and get another provider. unless of course they have a monopoly in your area. just be glad they aren't charging you for the usages you went over that cap at so much $ per gig.

Brehus
@spcsdns.net

Brehus to groebke5

Anon

to groebke5
I have seen many people talk about the data cap, but I never seem to get any kind of warnings about usage even tough we have people in the house that stream and do online gaming.
Our of curiosity I called embarq Centrylink today and inquired about this data cap and they told me they absolutely don't have a data cap even on their slower speeds. I had two people I talked to there today that they didn't have a data cap. I either they are straight out lying to me or it is in just some areas

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin

MVM

CenturyLink has Data Caps written in to their Terms of Service. This is the first reported instance, that I am aware of, where they have made the effort to enforce them.

CenturyLink is made up of multiple companies that ran with different policies and procedures. Former Embarq areas did not have to deal with Data Caps, and very few of those were using PPPoE. Former Qwest and CenturyTel areas were different, and more likely to be setup to monitor Data usage.

brehus07
@embarqhsd.net

brehus07

Anon

said by billaustin:

CenturyLink has Data Caps written in to their Terms of Service. This is the first reported instance, that I am aware of, where they have made the effort to enforce them.

CenturyLink is made up of multiple companies that ran with different policies and procedures. Former Embarq areas did not have to deal with Data Caps, and very few of those were using PPPoE. Former Qwest and CenturyTel areas were different, and more likely to be setup to monitor Data usage.

My DSL connection is using DHCP instead of PPPoE. I feel bad for the people who have to deal with the data caps. I am sure it is very easy to go over the cap for families larger then 2 people.
Sometwo
join:2008-12-28

Sometwo to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
I heard with a cable ISP that if you have two accounts there aren't any caps. Is that the same with CenturyLink?

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

1 recommendation

NormanS

MVM

said by Sometwo:

I heard with a cable ISP that if you have two accounts there aren't any caps. Is that the same with CenturyLink?

Most ISPs offer a business class service with higher, or no data caps at a higher price. I have never heard of an ISP allowing two accounts with no caps. At the best, if you can get two accounts from a single ISP, you can split your usage between the accounts; such that 475 GB is divided between two 250 GB caps, so neither account goes over.

Boss302_1970
join:2009-12-11

Boss302_1970 to Sometwo

Member

to Sometwo
said by Sometwo:

I heard with a cable ISP that if you have two accounts there aren't any caps. Is that the same with CenturyLink?

That's news to me.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

Member

i have went over the cap a few times last year. and have not seen a thing.

cap is for download only. last time i check. upload is not counted

dondude
join:2005-09-15
Lehigh Acres, FL

dondude to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
So if I'm on DHCP connection my usage is not monitored?

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

said by dondude:

So if I'm on DHCP connection my usage is not monitored?

I don't see why CL wouldn't monitor usage of their DHCP customers. Cable is mostly DHCP, and the cablecos definitely monitor their customer's bandwidth usage.

dondude
join:2005-09-15
Lehigh Acres, FL

dondude

Member

My IP changes from time to time. Right now it says I'm with savvis when I do a speed test? Wasn't sure since I have my own modem?

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

said by dondude:

My IP changes from time to time. Right now it says I'm with savvis when I do a speed test? Wasn't sure since I have my own modem?

Having your own modem makes no difference. Your ISP assigns your IP address. Some (many) DSL providers use PPPoE, some use DHCP. When I signed up, I requested a static IP address. I received an e-mail with my assigned IP address, the service gateway IP address, and the DNS servers. I had to enter them into the appropriate fields of the modem.

If you get a Saavis IP address once, you should get one all the time. While DHCP IP addresses do change from time to time, they should always be assigned from a pool allotted to your ISP.
luckmann
join:2004-06-27
Albuquerque, NM

luckmann to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
Yes, the caps are indeed real. I got a termination letter Saturday (2/16/13) stating that as of 2/27/13 my internet would be disconnected and advising me to call technical support to resolve the problem. Called the number, talked to support, and was told that though there was no tool for customers to monitor bandwidth I had received three warnings including this letter. Two of the warnings were in the form of popups on the screen. The difficulty is that I am blind and use a screen reader (WindowEyes) and was unaware of the warnings. After getting the run around about the fact that there is no tool to monitor bandwidth I was told that the only option was to upgrade to a business class account for both phone and internet. Supposedly I have violated the cap every month since august on some months using as much as 30 terabytes. I am on a 40mb/5mb connection, and even downloading at full speed it would be nearly impossible to download that much in one month. After speaking to several customer service reps including customer retention I was told that my only option is to upgrade to a business account at a cost of $255 per month. I am a blind college student and internet is necessary for my schoolwork as well as my connection to the outside world. I have been a customer of Qwest / Centurylink for a little over seven years and have not changed my habits at all concerning the internet and now they would rather lose a customer than be flexible. I was even told that it was individuals like me that they did not want using their service. In my opinion, this is a quest for more money but I cannot afford the exorbitant price of business class internet. I cannot believe there is no other answer than go broke paying for internet or kiss off. I also wonder how they can hold a customer responsible for bandwidth that even the company cannot monitor properly. When I asked one rep how much I had used this month I was told that he had no way to access that until the following month. According to Centurylinks own AUP I am still in quest territory and fall under the Quest AUP. As a final step, I have contacted the Public Regulation commission to see if there is anything they can do. I cannot believe CL would sacrifice a customer of seven years just to get more money. Sorry for the rant, but I hope someone from CL reads it and can hopefully make it right.

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin

MVM

There is an online support team that may be able to help you. Send a detailed message with your DSL phone number to: talktous@centurylink.com

demot
@qwest.net

demot to luckmann

Anon

to luckmann
I, too, find it ridiculous there is no way to track bandwidth usage besides using for example, a router flashed with DD-WRT.. It would be quite easy for them to add this in a future modem firmware but they choose not to..

Personally I have not gotten any mean letters/ popups/ phone calls which i'm surprised of. I have 3 teenagers that are constantly on Youtube or watching Netflix/Hulu movies or are video chatting with friends on Skype.. Several months though I've gone over by 50-100gb.. Granted, I am in a Qwest area and it's likely a low pop node because I constantly get full speed no matter the time. So likely they aren't really monitoring it.

@datnabber.. It sounds like it would be cheaper if you have no alternative to just get another connection and just switch between them.. but if you're using as much as 30 terabytes it wouldn't be any use.. I'd hate to see that bill if they charged per GB overages though lol.
player
join:2005-09-28

player to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
I went over the cap shortly after the Qwest merger and received the redirected web page stating I was 265 and the cap is 250. I called them and they said that my 7MB is all I can get and that there is no upgrade from that. They have never bothered me since then about the data cap. I go over it every month, but not by much.

I installed a pfSense router behind my dsl modem and it runs Squid proxy for caching. It saves some bandwidth on normal websites, but it is not going to help with streaming or gaming. I do not have it setup in transparent mode, because transparent mode seems to break things more than it helps. pfSense is not for people who don't understand networking and it might be a little too much for average users.

DD-WRT and an openfirmware router from NetGear should give you the stats you need for counting your cap.

Brett C
join:2004-08-03
Olathe, KS

Brett C to luckmann

Member

to luckmann
quote:
Supposedly I have violated the cap every month since august on some months using as much as 30 terabytes.
...30 TB a month? That would have to be continuous data transfer on download and upload day in and out for that to be true, and even then - 30TB?? In a year, I can consume upwards of 3TB total. This is data pulled from my pfSense box RRD graphs. I actually broke just past 3TB (3.02TB to be exact!) this past year - which is averaging about 250-260GB a month.

As of this year thus far, I appear to be on track of exceeding the previous year (2012) due to family using netflix/hulu/video HD streaming much more often. So far for 2013 alone, I've already exceeded my monthly data cap in Jan 2013. 264GB downloaded, 17.5GB uploaded, which in total is 282GB, just for Jan 2013. For Feb thus far, already at 130GB.

Unfortunately, these low caps are just a method for a company to net in more money; It's pathetic really. However greed consumes all, I guess. Rather upgrade their network and continuously feed in new innovative ideas, the "high-ups" decide to hoard the profits and keep old legacy hardware and upgrade when things go into a disaster situation, e.g.; flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, pretty much any natural disaster that can potentially total equipment and/or transmission lines.

either way, I am having a hard time understanding how one could use up 30 Tera bytes in a month. :|
luckmann
join:2004-06-27
Albuquerque, NM

luckmann

Member

The only thing I can figure is that they are reading every bit of data that goes through the router... I do a lot of data transfer between computers on my local network (10.10.xxx.xxx) and I am wondering if that is counting against my cap.
njt462
join:2006-11-28
Troy, MO

njt462

Member

Do anyone know if the cap applies to Centurylink Fiber customers?

I am one of the lucky customers that has FTTH I think that is right meaning it comes to my house the fiber is ran to the green box in the side yard two house down the fiber was ran to each house to the little box on the side of the homes.

So I was wondering do I need to monitor my usage on a Fiber connection?

Right now I get around 80Mbps Down and 40Mbps Up.

clones
join:2005-04-18
Ankeny, IA

clones

Member

It is enforced on the FTTH product in Iowa.

name
@embarqhsd.net

name to demot

Anon

to demot
1. I have a Netgear DGN2200 modem/router and it has a traffic meter. It has quite a few options too like letting you know if your close to your cap.

2. What does it matter if there is a data cap since CenturyLink is down half the time anyway ? (I kid, but not really)
luckmann
join:2004-06-27
Albuquerque, NM

2 edits

luckmann

Member

That's the funny part, I have been a Qwest / Centurylink customer for seven years and have lost interent service once. I will say I have been through thirteen of thier leased modems and they are crap... I have added a Netgear N600v2 and have had better wireless performance and am happy with it... I have decided to give centurylink the boot since they choose not to have me as a customer and switch to comcast as they no longer have caps. Admitidly I loose 10mb of speed... I go from 40mb/5mb to 30mb/5mb but the total cost with unlimited phone is about 1/2 of what I was paying with centurylink so we will see how it goes.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

Member

only the cisco modem/router has lasted for me
luckmann
join:2004-06-27
Albuquerque, NM

luckmann

Member

I started out with a Westell. When that crapped out they sent me Q1000 modems and those worked ok but they usually crapped out about every three or four months over the years I have gone through about 13 of them. Then just recently I picked up a C1000a and it has worked ok for about the last two months and it crapped out... I went back to a spare Q1000 that was in the closet I will use it until they cut me off on the 27th of this month.... Then when the cable comes on I will bridge thier modem and use my own Netgear N600 router.

Boss302_1970
join:2009-12-11

Boss302_1970 to groebke5

Member

to groebke5
CL modems do suck i had actiontecs and went thru them about every month. since i'm on a slow plan i picked up 2 old cisco 678s from ebay and man what a difference they never drop.
joe_h
join:2010-05-26
Las Cruces, NM

joe_h to luckmann

Member

to luckmann
Does Comcast still have unlimited data? I thought they were 350Gb everywhere now.