Cox → Re: ATTN! Cox HSI is setting transfer limits!

I received this email today at 7:49pm. The email is from "Cox HSI Support " and does not specify if it is from my local office or not.

Seriously Cox has offered nothing but crappy service to me, but I've kept it because I'd have to pay more money to get similar bandwidth with DSL and I always have believed that they'd work out the problems and make the service better. But after this e-mail its clear to me that they ultimately care about how much they can saturate the lines and make the biggest profit, and push people who were don't fit their "oversubscribe lines by at least 50%" off of their service, rather than increasing the speed to accomodate more users properly. Right now I'm doing some serious research to switch to Covad though!

BTW- Just to re-iterate, I'm not the type of person who is downloading ISOs 24/7 ... I move data around, and probably in a month I might exceed their bandwidth usage limitations, but I am not an extreme user! Perhaps with 2 people using the same line that's whats pushing me over the top ... but I don't doubt that other people like myself split the line with their roomate or have more than one computer on the line.

I would get in contact with your local office then. Could be just a mix-up... Who knows. 2Gigs a day.. Sheesh. Why don't they cut off a nut sack while they're at it.

Before going on, take a couple of blood pressure reducing pills, and once those kick in, read this paragraph closely:
»support.cox.net/custsup/ ··· l#aup_13

The key sentence is here: "...You must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user's use of the Service, nor represent (in the sole judgment of Cox) an unusually large burden on the network itself...."

I've never seen the numbers for bandwidth use in writing before. Long ago in the days of @Home, I pushed for a definition of heavy bandwidth usage and at that time I was told (verbally by Level 2 tech or above - not sure) that the limit was 500MB data flow total per day on average ... which works out to about 15GB/month. I was told that people going over the limit once or twice once in a while weren't bothered, that it was only people who continually exhibited "excessive" usage that received such warnings.

Based on what I was told way back then the stated limits of 30GB/7.5GB month seem reasonable (and an improvement from the @Home days). And seeing that some other services have limits as low as 12GB (big to-do about that one about 18 months ago in another forum) the 30GB again doesn't seem out of line.

I would suspect that the most likely culprit that you wouldn't be aware of would be uploads from your filesharing applications -- might get a tool like DU Meter and see what your traffic flow actually looks like. Without some numbers to toss back at them, you don't have much to fight them with other that bluster and bluff.

The key sentence is here: "...You must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user's use of the Service, nor represent (in the sole judgment of Cox) an unusually large burden on the network itself...."
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#1. That's what the caps are to prevent isn't it?
#2. I never get "MAX" transfer anyway since "THE CHANGE"
#3. Overselling causes a burdon to the network.
#4. I pay for "ALWAYS ON"--Do You get it? I don't!

Just what I have observed. I post newsgroups but half of my posts get lost, lol. I do capture and share a few CMT videos with friends. Me BADDDDDDD...
Replies welcomed...Untroubled in Omaha