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Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely

Member

[ALL] Disconnected for overusage

Hello,

Today I received my first email from Cox saying that I was over my data usage limit. I had a HDD crash and reinstalled all my Steam games at once, and I am about twice over my limit. I've read varying reports on the internet of different ways they handle this with the ultimate threat/punishment being getting kicked off the cox network and or periodic disconnections for going over the limit.

Has this actually happened to anyone though? Has anyone actually disconnected or had their service actually terminated for going over the limit? I cannot find any confirmed cases of this happening so I figured I'd check myself.

It's frustrating because I have the preferred speed which is all I need. I get 25-30mb/s for download and ping between 6-25 on most servers when I play games. This is the first time in the 4 years I've been with Cox that I have been over my usage significantly, never more than a couple of gigs tops before this (and according to their data meter over a year since the last time I did that).

I'm worried they're going to start jumping on me if I go over the limit even by a gb even though the number is basically arbitrary. Anyone have any personal experiences or advice they'd like to give? I don't really have any reason to go up another tier because I generally don't use the entire amount, and the speeds/pings I get from the preferred package are just fine with me.

AnonPhx
@68.231.70.x

AnonPhx

Anon

Very very very rarely would Cox disconnect a paying customer for using their service too much. The caps are mainly just a marketing tool used to try to get people on faster connections which I feel is a fair tactic.
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely

Member

That's what I was thinking. I have the personal email of our local head manager guy, and I was thinking about emailing him. But I think I'll just ignore this email since my downloads have finished (177 games, 242.6 gigs holy crap) and my usage should drop back down to normal levels after this. Thanks for the response.

Still though if anyone has actually been DC'd or terminated by Cox please let me know. I'm just trying to flesh out my options and figure out how I should handle the situation. I don't want to call and scream and yell and give them a hard time if all they're trying to do is sign me up for faster internet.

chrisf8657
join:2002-01-27
Glendale, AZ

chrisf8657 to Squirrely

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to Squirrely
You need to invest in an external HDD and start backing up
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely

Member

I had done that actually. External is what corrupted. I got most of the bigger games (like 20-30gig games) downloaded back onto so I didn't have to redownload those. But I just got a new rig actually so it was more having to download all the 6-7gig games to the new one. I'm looking into using a backup utility (like a cloud save thing) for my Steam folder but its hard to find one that is affordable for the size I need. Cox offers me 5gigs with my current plan and that's like.....10 indie games or half a AAA game.
screenname
join:2004-08-12
Irvine, CA

screenname to Squirrely

Member

to Squirrely
What does the letter actually say? Does it even use the word disconnect?
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

1 edit

Squirrely

Member

No, it's a marketing letter more than anything. I was just wondering based on the other forum posts and things around the net that says they move towards threatening disconnect or termination.

Termites
@174.79.1.x

Termites

Anon

This is why i dont like caps.
lilstone87
join:2009-04-09
Chesapeake, VA

lilstone87 to Squirrely

Member

to Squirrely
Did the OP actually get disconnected? Because if not, the title of his/her thread is very misleading, and should be changed.
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely

Member

No if you read the thread I'm asking questions about disconnection. Sorry if it mislead you.
Maltz
join:2011-01-08
Fayetteville, AR
Calix 844G
Netgate SG-2100
Ubiquiti U6-LR

Maltz to Squirrely

Member

to Squirrely
said by Squirrely:

I had done that actually. External is what corrupted. I got most of the bigger games (like 20-30gig games) downloaded back onto so I didn't have to redownload those. But I just got a new rig actually so it was more having to download all the 6-7gig games to the new one. I'm looking into using a backup utility (like a cloud save thing) for my Steam folder but its hard to find one that is affordable for the size I need. Cox offers me 5gigs with my current plan and that's like.....10 indie games or half a AAA game.

I might point out that if you back up your steam folder to the cloud, you'll still be re-downloading it off the internet, and will still use up your cap, just as if you were downloading it from Steam.

I do have off-site backups, but I exclude anything that I can just re-download from Steam/Blizzard/etc. If I have an HD failure and I go over cap for a month, meh. I actually don't even back that stuff up to my local backup. I'd rather do a full reinstall after a major data loss event anyway, just to have a fresh copy.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

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A coworker got disconnected for going over by 1 GB on I think a 250 GB plan. He challenged them due to the fact that they had not followed the warning process according to Cox TOS. No warning e-mail, physical letter, or telephone call stating he had violated the monthly cap and admonishing him to make a good faith attempt to stay under the cap. Cox admitted the process was not followed and restarted service.

If you work at it I am sure you can be a good subscriber , and stay under the monthly cap for the next 365 days. That should keep you out of most problems with Cox. If you manage to stay under the cap for the next 1461 days(4 years, including a leap year of 366 days) you will be completely back in the good graces of Cox.

It seems from all my readings and conversations with Cox subscribers that you can ignore the up-selling, marketing, warning letter. From what I have read, people have occasionally used 250% of the monthly cap with no cutoffs of service.
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely

Member

I mean I'm not going to really change my usage habits. It's not something I plan on watching or trying to keep a lid on. I was just curious as to how serious they were with their threats.

The only things I have ever seen is "a friend/coworker/friend of a friend" got disconnected. I haven't been able to find first hand accounts. It seems detrimental to disconnect people since a disconnected account means they don't get paid. That's the card I plan to play if they decide to disconnect me, I'm just curious if they'll even try.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

If you leave peer to peer connections running 24/7/365 along with other continuous usage, thus using approximately 16 TB(TerraBytes) of data per month, I am sure you will have your service disconnected. Less than 1.6 TB of total usage and you might be OK. There is some real limit, not explicitly stated in the Cox TOS, that once exceeded will probably get you disconnected. You know, the top 1%, of the top 1%, of the top 1% of subscribers in terms of amount of data transferred per month. So 99.9999% of subscribers are probably safe from possible disconnection. Cox has approximately 4 million internet subscribers, so approximately 4 subscribers per month, 48 per year, would face possible disconnection. I think they might go quietly, thus we have not heard directly from them.

Sig551
@82.221.131.x

Sig551 to Squirrely

Anon

to Squirrely
The pathetic Cox data cap strikes again!

You aren't even downloading pirated material, or doing anything unreasonable. Why *should* a user have to backup data like that locally?

What state are you in? I've downloaded over a terabyte in a month, and all I got was an email every day telling me I had exceeded their precious data cap.
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

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I very commonly use over 1TB of data in a month. On torrents, no less. For over 3 years now. I get lots of those emails, but no mention of disconnect.
Squirrely
join:2014-08-01

Squirrely to Sig551

Member

to Sig551
Im in the Roanoke VA Market. I'm hoping/assuming the email is where it will stop.

comments like Rakeesh's make me think they aren't going to threaten to terminate or disconnect. If they do I guess I'll play the whole "take my business elsewhere" card. I've been with cox for 4 years ever since I moved to the area and have never paid a bill late even when the speeds were plummeting and they were claiming there was nothing they could do to fix it (they put me on a "less congested node" and that seemed to clear it up), so I would think they would rather keep me as a customer.
Maltz
join:2011-01-08
Fayetteville, AR
Calix 844G
Netgate SG-2100
Ubiquiti U6-LR

Maltz to Squirrely

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to Squirrely
I've never heard a first-hand account of disconnection either. Actually, the only place I've even heard second or third hand accounts is on the internet, never from someone I personally knew. And even those were temporary until the customer called Cox and they had a chance to tell the customer about the cap and offer a higher service tier. I've never heard of anyone being permanently disconnected under any circumstances.

Of course, as davidhoffman said, there surely is a REAL limit. It probably varies depending on whether you're causing problems on your node. If you're regularly degrading other customers' service quality, then yeah, they may take more direct action than sending an email, as they should, IMO.
Pist
join:2007-12-30

Pist to Squirrely

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to Squirrely
I remember when we first signed up for Cox internet. The first week it became available here Years ago. It was unlimited internet. We have been with cox for 23+ years and counting.

Cox needs to raise the data caps to along with faster download speeds. They go hand in hand.
screenname
join:2004-08-12
Irvine, CA

screenname to Squirrely

Member

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When do they send out the letter? Do they send it out when you over your cap or at the end of your billing cycle? My billing cycle ends on the 15th and I will be over this month.
screenname

screenname

Member

I thought I was going to over the cap yesterday but the counter under counted by about 5GB for 8/13. Will use more than 5GB today, let see if I get a warning email tomorrow.
Azlen
join:2010-05-03
Peoria, AZ

Azlen to Squirrely

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With my joining EA Access on my Xbox One and my kids discovering how to stream the Disney channel live on their Roku and not always stopping the stream before they turn off the TV, I am going to be well over my ultimate cap of 400 Gb. Oh no. I'm going to get another email again this month. Not worried about it one bit.
DarkFlow
join:2011-09-04
Lakeside, CA
ARRIS SB8200
Asus RT-AX58

DarkFlow to Squirrely

Member

to Squirrely
Look at this OP, this is my cox mailbox. This should answer your question about how much cox cares about going over the limit.

thornnnn
join:2002-02-14
North Kingstown, RI

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I would NOT worry much if you were the highest tier. The most profitable customers. I would be concerned however if your a lower tier. There is no doubt in my mind they would like you to bump your limits up if your going to be exceeding your current ones. This is especially true if cox is a monopoly in your area. Or if they have over sold the bandwidth in your area. (5% the customers using 95% the bw, cheaper to just ditch those customers and add 5 more with less usage). If you are in Rhode Island.. where 10TB cap FIOS is.. and your cox's highest (400GB) tier.. i wouldn't worry as much as i would worry elsewhere. In fact if you use cox here in RI when you could be using FIOS (25x cox's cap on cox's highest tier) .. perhaps you should go see a shrink and find out why.
thornnnn

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they sent my overage email the day after i went over. I suspect it is automated. I also suspect only those on a problem child list get the overage notices.. so perhaps if you have gone over once in 5 years you might not ever know about it. But if you have gone over significantly (i did) or continuously.. you might find yourself on the overage list.. and thus hear about it every time. Some customers it would be cheaper to drop cus they use 10x as much bw as other customers paying the same fees. ( and have 10 people paying fee's instead of you.. with same overall network/hardware/capacities).
Azlen
join:2010-05-03
Peoria, AZ

Azlen

Member

said by thornnnn:

I also suspect only those on a problem child list get the overage notices.. so perhaps if you have gone over once in 5 years you might not ever know about it.

The very first time I went over I got an email about it, so I don't think it has anything to do with a problem child list. They really aren't doing anything to enforce the caps now, I'm thinking that if they ever do decide to enforce the caps that they will raise them significantly. The ultimate cap is still the same as it was when ultimate was 50Mbps. Ridiculous.
lilstone87
join:2009-04-09
Chesapeake, VA

lilstone87

Member

Yeah I have pretty much had ultimate, since it was offered here. So that's around 3+ years now, and you are right about it's cap has been the same 400GB the whole time. I am pretty sure every other residential tier, has had some kind of bump in cap over last couple years.

I'm at the point of not worrying about watching my cap, as I don't consider myself to be someone abusing the cap. But I can see months of 5-600GB, and maybe a little more then that I will use. As I plan to buy most of the games I play digitally, as I don't care to sell any of my games, and less store trips the better. The Last of Us for the PS4 came out last month, and it's digital download by itself is 43GB. That's not including any patches required to play it. So that alone is a little bit over 10% of ultimate's monthly cap currently.
Azlen
join:2010-05-03
Peoria, AZ

Azlen

Member

Right now with Ultimate, you can download about a GB every minute. That means that for your monthly payment you are able to use your full pipe about 6-7 hours out of the approximate 720 hours in a month. That's less than 1%. That is a serious joke and it's no wonder they aren't enforcing them at all.
screenname
join:2004-08-12
Irvine, CA

screenname to thornnnn

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to thornnnn
I guess I am not a problem child. I didn't get any e-mail for the month ended on 8/15 when I consumed about 8%~10% over my 250GB cap. Maybe they don't even look at data usage it in my area.
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

Rakeesh

Member

Try going about 500% over your usage cap on a regular basis...I've been doing that for about...two years now? No disconnects.