CenturyLink → Re: [Qwest] CL Data Caps are REAL.

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.

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.

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

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Supposedly I have violated the cap every month since august on some months using as much as 30 terabytes.

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...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. :|

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.

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.

It is enforced on the FTTH product in Iowa.

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)

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.

only the cisco modem/router has lasted for me

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.

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

More like Comcast does not, currently, enforce caps. From the Comcast forum:

»Re: Thinking of dumping AT&T for Comcast (broadband only)

According to thier website and the tech I spoke with they have removed caps and have no intention of bringing them back... I assume this is to lure customers such as myself where legacy DSL has caps. The caps were removed in november... I will go with them as long as there are no caps... If they bring them back I will make other arrangments... The removal probably has to do with the customers they lost when the started capping. They are also under FCC pressure sinceh they fully acquired NBC/Universal.

Comcast caps used to be 250 GB on residential accounts. They suspended caps while evaluating where to set them; supposedly projecting an increase to 350 GB.

Comcast does not have caps on the pricier business plans. Many Comcast users upgraded to business class accounts for that reason. I should think that would be an incentive to restore enfocement; one of the Four Secrets of Life: More Money!

My DSL provider does not have caps.

I sent a message to them as recomended and never heard anything from them.