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neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA
 ·Comcast
1 edit | [Bandwidth Abuse] comcast asked us not to use VPN What in the world!
We just got a call today from what caller ID says "Comcast Bus Com" and they told us to stop using our VPN connection to work because its "a bandwidth hog"... uh!? I do a TON of work at home and HAVE to use VPN constantly... And they claim the VPN is using "Excessive bandwidth" and "please stop using the VPN or your account will be suppended" it uses maybe 20 GB a month? how is that excessive? and no we dont run P2P programs or anything else, completely firewalled and know every single process on my systems...
Mod Note: Title edit to better identify subject of thread | |
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macrospect
All The Little Stuff
Premium
join:2005-08-25
Doylestown, PA | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN My god do those idiots realize how many people rely on VPN. Some good friends of mine are in the same situation where they need VPN to get their work done.
This is getting way out of hand! Like you said VPN hardly eats up any bandwidth. | |
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Cabal
Premium
join:2007-01-21
Boston, MA
| You may want to step back and do some overall bandwidth accounting. Chances are good VPN was just picked as the first source that came to mind.
--
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru? | |
| quatrix
Premium
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL
1 edit | Do you have a business account?
»www.comcast.net/terms/subscriber.jsp
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, e-mail hosting, "web hosting" or other similar applications, for any business enterprise, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network. | |
| | 
specify vpn
@mcleodusa.net
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN Did they specifically say that the VPN was using a lot of bandwidth or did you just assume since they called about bandwidth abuse and you use it only for vpn then that's what they were complaining about?
I guess what I'm really after is that it's entirely possible that you've been cloned by a bandwidth hog. but if they said that it's all vpn traffic then i guess that's not the case. | |
| | ecjp
join:2007-01-09
Libertyville, IL | In other words, telecommuting is violating the TOS!? | |
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NetFixer
Freedom is NOT Free
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
 ·Vonage
 ·AT&T Southeast
 ·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T CallVantage
1 edit | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by ecjp  :In other words, telecommuting is violating the TOS!? said by rody_44 :thousands use vpn so we know they dont have a problem with it.
As has already been posted by quatrix , the Comcast TOS for it's residential HSI service does indeed contain a prohibition against using VPN for commercial purposes. The link posted was not directly to the Acceptable Use Policy, so perhaps that confused some readers. Here is the direct link to the Acceptable Use Policy.
And here, is the relevant section of that policy for the hyperlink impaired:
said by Comcast High-Speed Internet Acceptable Use Policy :
Prohibited Uses and Activities
Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Comcast Equipment to:
ix. resell the Service or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use the Service (i.e. wi-fi, or other methods of networking), in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis. The Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business enterprise or purpose, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network;
Whether or not Comcast routinely and actively enforces this prohibition might be debated, but the prohibition itself is clear enough to anyone with a reasonable understanding of the English language.
--
We can never have enough of nature. We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by NetFixer :As has already been posted by quatrix , the Comcast TOS for it's residential HSI service does indeed contain a prohibition against using VPN for commercial purposes. What the hell? So they consider logging into work a "commercial purpose"? It's not as if he's hosting a VPN. He's simply logging into his work's VPN.
Personally, I think this is a load of BS. Someone can download 100 GB of torrent stuff in a month and it's fine, but someone VPNs into work and they're violating the TOS? What is comcast worried about? It seems to me that it's either extortion (to require a "business" account just to login to your work), or they're too worried about people complaining about an "oversold node" - instead of actually being proactive about their bandwidth allocation.
So what if my company didn't use a VPN, and I just directly connected with VNC? Would that violate the TOS, too?
It's their network, and they can do whatever they like with it, but it's policies like this that have me scratching my head. I think it boils down to them being cheap. They'd rather prohibit VPNs where there is a steady stream of bandwidth as the person is connected, instead of just addressing their bandwidth issues proactively. Even if it uses less bandwidth over the course of a month than people downloading things via torrent.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN No I understand you were just quoting Comcast.  I just think it's extortion to require business service just to VPN into work.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
| | | | | | | DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN Before everyone gets on their high horses, I suspect that the term "commercial purposes", which the TOS explicitly outlaws, has a very particular meaning. I take it to mean "in connection with running a business". In other words, you cannot use a residential account as the internet connection for a business. I would argue that an individual connecting into their place of work via a VPN is just a form of personal use. A similar distinction arises with car insurance, where a typical policy prohibits using ones car for business while not prohibiting using it to get to and from work. | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by DMS1 :Before everyone gets on their high horses, I suspect that the term "commercial purposes", which the TOS explicitly outlaws, has a very particular meaning. I take it to mean "in connection with running a business". In other words, you cannot use a residential account as the internet connection for a business. I would argue that an individual connecting into their place of work via a VPN is just a form of personal use. A similar distinction arises with car insurance, where a typical policy prohibits using ones car for business while not prohibiting using it to get to and from work. That's what I hope, too. But the wording is ambiguous and probably intentionally so. I just don't see how they could prohibit connecting to work over a VPN to work from home. If they do that, it's 100% extortion.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
| | | | | | | | quatrix
Premium
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL
1 edit | said by Comcast :
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, e-mail hosting, "web hosting" or other similar applications, for any business enterprise, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network. Even if "commercial use" didn't include VPN, VPN would be "an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network".
And making you get a more expensive account to use VPN is about as much extortion as the water company shutting off my service for not paying the bill. They provide a service under their conditions, and you can pay for it or not.
All that said, if you use VPN but not too much bandwidth, Comcast likely doesn't care. | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by quatrix :And making you get a more expensive account to use VPN is about as much extortion as the water company shutting off my service for not paying the bill. They provide a service under their conditions, and you can pay for it or not. Logging into work from home is a very common thing these days, so I'm sorry but I have to disagree. How does logging into a VPN to catch up on some work affect Comcast's network? If a few KB/s to keep the VPN tunnel alive is taxing their network so much, they have serious problems.
There is no legitimate reason why a residential customer shouldn't be able to connect to their place of work. They're not serving anything, they're not selling anything on the connection. They're simply logging into work remotely to be more productive in their job.
I'd love to hear a reasonable justification for this policy. I can't think of a single good reason for not allowing VPN. Yes, Comcast can do whatever they want with their network/service. And people can chose not to use the service or go elsewhere. That doesn't mean it's a justified policy. The only fathomable reason I can think of is to sucker people that work from home into forking over twice as much money to Comcast.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| said by quatrix :said by Comcast :
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, e-mail hosting, "web hosting" or other similar applications, for any business enterprise, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network. Even if "commercial use" didn't include VPN, VPN would be "an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network". And I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like a connection TO a VPN violates the AUP. It sounds like you can allow people to VPN _to_ you. Not vice versa. Show me proof that VPN'ing to work from a residential line is a violation of the TOS, then maybe I'll believe it. It doesn't make sense, and if it IS true (which I'm beginning to doubt), it's the most absurd policy I've heard in a while.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN "It doesn't make sense, and if it IS true (which I'm beginning to doubt), it's the most absurd policy I've heard in a while"
Its clearly not true.....
Hob
--
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by hobgoblin :Its clearly not true..... Well apparently quatrix doesn't think so...I just want to know why he thinks so, because while the TOS is ambiguous in the passage he quoted, it still doesn't sound like it's forbidding connect to a VPN.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
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back on topic
@comcast.net
| Guys lets get this back on topic. Comcast wont shut down vpn, they don't care or monitor vpn usage. Everyone here getting worked up thinking comcast will come knocking on their door cause the use vpn has missed the point. And is getting worked up over nothing.
What we have is the classic bandwidth case. If the original poster truly believes that he cannot possibly have logged more traffic than comcast allows then there is either:
1. multicast/broadcast packets hitting through the vpn. Many companies who use IP based phones are based on this. It's common in some situations to see a constant 1mbit or more of phone traffic going through the vpn during business hours.
2. compromised network. The home network is compromised allowing attackers to spam/fxp bounce/botnet and use up resources. Could be a cracked wireless signal, trojaned pc or whatever.
3. His modem has been cloned. His modem mac may be cloned and used by a bandwidth hog. | |
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Authority
Obama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Beverly Hills, CA
·AT&T Yahoo
·Packet8
·magicjack.com
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by back on topic :
Guys lets get this back on topic. Comcast wont shut down vpn, they don't care or monitor vpn usage. Everyone here getting worked up thinking comcast will come knocking on their door cause the use vpn has missed the point. And is getting worked up over nothing.
What we have is the classic bandwidth case. If it's about bandwidth and not VPN one has to wonder why their TOS even mentions VPN at all? Wouldn't it be easier for them just to limit overall bandwidth regardless of application?
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"Canada" = economically, militarily, politically, and culturally irrelevant. | |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
1 edit | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by Authority :said by back on topic :
Guys lets get this back on topic. Comcast wont shut down vpn, they don't care or monitor vpn usage. Everyone here getting worked up thinking comcast will come knocking on their door cause the use vpn has missed the point. And is getting worked up over nothing.
What we have is the classic bandwidth case. If it's about bandwidth and not VPN one has to wonder why their TOS even mentions VPN at all? Wouldn't it be easier for them just to limit overall bandwidth regardless of application? because they do care about VPN but they do not monitor what applications are doing what...
they want you to sign up for a business package if you are using VPN....but the plain and simple fact is unless you tell them or a technician who really cares sees it they wont ever know....
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic in
Quake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking | |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by Authority :said by Loker :because they do care about VPN But WHY? If the total bandwidth used i less than someone else who doesn't use VPN at all what's the difference? because they want you on a business package....
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic inQuake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking | |
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TOPDAWG
Premium
join:2005-04-27
Midland, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
1 edit | Common sense has no place in big business. Anyway if you were under 100GB I see no big deal. I would use over 200GB back in the day and no a word from comcast.
I paid for the service and comcast was OK with me using that much data so everything was a-ok. I never had a issue with comcast.
Anyway why do people think he is a liar? Maybe he is a verizon spy out to get comcast.
Also I hate no idea working from home to control a work PC was braking the TOS. think it it no more then connecting to wow to control my guy. Hm you learn something new everyday I guess.
Also word to the wise don't ever say what your dong with your net to anyone. | |
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back on topic
@comcast.net
| the "end point" in the TOS is speaking to a network exit point, not specifically about vpn. A network exit point would be the "upstream" provider for a business or commercial entity. They dont want a residential connection to be a valid exit route (or network end point) for packets leaving a business destined to the general internet. | |
| | | | | | | | | | DSL Oberst
join:2001-11-29
| said by deblin :And I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like a connection TO a VPN violates the AUP. It sounds like you can allow people to VPN _to_ you. Not vice versa. Show me proof that VPN'ing to work from a residential line is a violation of the TOS, then maybe I'll believe it. It doesn't make sense, and if it IS true (which I'm beginning to doubt), it's the most absurd policy I've heard in a while. I do not know about Comcast, but I am able to verify that policy was standard for Earthlink during my lengthy tenure there. The wording of the AUP was essentially the same. The reason that was given for the policy was not for bandwidth problems; Earthlink could have cared less about that.
The official reason was a) residential accounts had no guaranteed uptime - a person could be down weeks and that would be TOS-compliant, b) said VPN could thus be down for weeks (as in the case of a reprovisioning the phone line to a house) and c) that means that Earthlink could be held legally liable for all business losses incurred by not having VPN available on the account. Thus, Earthlink only supported VPN connections on business accounts, which had a guaranteed uptime of 98%.
I would suspect, as this same policy exists with both Bellsouth and Qwest, that this is the reason behind Comcast's policy. | |
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deblin
Dark Side of the Moon
Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
Middletown, DE
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by DSL Oberst :The official reason was a) residential accounts had no guaranteed uptime - a person could be down weeks and that would be TOS-compliant, b) said VPN could thus be down for weeks (as in the case of a reprovisioning the phone line to a house) and c) that means that Earthlink could be held legally liable for all business losses incurred by not having VPN available on the account. Thus, Earthlink only supported VPN connections on business accounts, which had a guaranteed uptime of 98%. I can understand that, but since it's not a guaranteed service, isn't this already understood? That is, the person is incurring the risk of using a residential internet connection to work from home and therefore if it does down, they have to live with it or get business service.
Why make it a policy to only allow it for business service? If the user wants to save $50/mo and be able to login to work (let's assume for the sake of argument that said person does not work from home daily, but uses it maybe 10 hours a week total to get some extra work done), why shouldn't they be able to assume that risk?
It's pretty clear from the TOS that, in general, the service has no guaranteed uptime. Which is true for all residential connections. Why aren't other ISPs preventing VPN, if it's simple a way to cover their butt? Their butt is already covered as far as I'm concerned, since it's not a guaranteed service with any guarantee of uptime.
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"Hey honey! Do you think KFC's still open?" | |
| | | | | | | | | | DSL Oberst
join:2001-11-29
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN I can understand that, but since it's not a guaranteed service, isn't this already understood? That is, the person is incurring the risk of using a residential internet connection to work from home and therefore if it does down, they have to live with it or get business service. You'd like to think so, but many...clients didn't see that way. Since I dealt primarily with ADSL escalations for the majority of my time there, I got to talk with a number of clients with complaints in regard to VPN and outages of one sort or another. Example in short form:
- Line got cut by utility
- Telco reconnects line, ADSL is gone, needs reprovisioning.
- Guy calls up, gets reprov, learns of 2-3 week timeframe through Covad, screams bloody murder. Starts talking about how he relys on VPN for business and ZOMG HE'S GOING TO SUE FOR BUSINESS LOSSES.
- I advise TOS.
- Guy doesn't care about TOS, he uses it for business so for him it's a business account, ZOMG SUE!
- Circle. Repeat. 1 hour passes.
- Guy hangs up, files suit, maybe doesn't file suit.
- If suit filed, Earthlink legal beagles present evidence that TOS denies suit, ask for summary judgement, case gets tossed out.
I got maybe 3-7 calls like that a week. That's out of the thousands of disconnects/installs/reprovisions/relocations we were doing. The policy involving business usage was essentially created to isolate the possibility of loss via the OMG SUE, uh, rear-end chapeaus.
Why aren't other ISPs preventing VPN, if it's simple a way to cover their butt? As far as I am aware, ALL ISPs have this boilerplate somewhere in their TOS. However, most of the time, they don't care. When someone (who wasn't screaming their damnfool head off) told me they used it for business, I would say "I didn't hear that, sir/ma'am."
If they got belligerent and demanded that we support business usage - and there would be people calling in and demanding stridently that TS troubleshoot their VPN connection - we had authority to cancel the account immediately, dump their email, and disconnect them. This was to protect the company from liability, nothing more. I can remember twice in four years that I actually felt it necessary to do that. *shrug*
Oh, and then there is the "'Always On' internet means GUARANTEED!!! SUE!!!" argument. Ha, that was always one for chuckles.
There you have it. I don't believe either side is right, but that's how it worked at ELNK. Notes I compared with reps from other companies never said different there either. | |
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LeftOfSanity
join:2005-11-06
Felton, DE
| said by NetFixer :said by ecjp :In other words, telecommuting is violating the TOS!? said by rody_44 :thousands use vpn so we know they dont have a problem with it. As has already been posted by quatrix , the Comcast TOS for it's residential HSI service does indeed contain a prohibition against using VPN for commercial purposes. The link posted was not directly to the Acceptable Use Policy, so perhaps that confused some readers. Here is the direct link to the Acceptable Use Policy. And here, is the relevant section of that policy for the hyperlink impaired: said by Comcast High-Speed Internet Acceptable Use Policy :
Prohibited Uses and Activities
Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Comcast Equipment to:
ix. resell the Service or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use the Service (i.e. wi-fi, or other methods of networking), in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis. The Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business enterprise or purpose, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network;
Whether or not Comcast routinely and actively enforces this prohibition might be debated, but the prohibition itself is clear enough to anyone with a reasonable understanding of the English language. Yea, really it just means...If you can't get it working or have problems with it, we can't help you.
I don't blame them. | |
| rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA
·Comcast
1 edit | its pretty clear it was a bandwidth abuse warning. they dont do it for 20GB so something is wrong. thousands use vpn so we know they dont have a problem with it. i cant wait to hear the rest of this one. its pretty clear its a rant of some kind. the little info probably means it borders between a troll or joke. | |
| | quatrix
Premium
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN I use VPN full-time myself (with a residential account) and we have several computers, but our total usage still doesn't go over 5 GB a month. | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by NewLife :I guess that is one of the reasons I have not left my slow ATT DSL for the faster Comcast. My wife depends highly on VPN because of her job where she is on call 24 hours a day. Just when I was thinking of jumping ship, this comes along. There is more to this than meets the eye.....Thousands of people are using VPN's on Comcast services every day.
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium
join:2004-11-12
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by hobgoblin :said by NewLife :I guess that is one of the reasons I have not left my slow ATT DSL for the faster Comcast. My wife depends highly on VPN because of her job where she is on call 24 hours a day. Just when I was thinking of jumping ship, this comes along. There is more to this than meets the eye.....Thousands of people are using VPN's on Comcast services every day. Hob said by Cabal :You may want to step back and do some overall bandwidth accounting. Chances are good VPN was just picked as the first source that came to mind. WORD.
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CableFAQ.org/Technicians Unplugged
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| | | | neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA
·Comcast
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN If there is more then meets the eye I'd love to know why they called, they didnt say much besides "You are using a VPN" and "its usage went over 60GB last month"... 60GB?! COMON! That is LOW! I move around a lot of files (I'm a developer) and transfer gigs of stuff almost daily! but last month alone I maxed out at probably 80GB total!... but then they told me not to use the VPN on the comcast network unless I switched to a business account! for only twice the price!..... stupid | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by neufuse :If there is more then meets the eye I'd love to know why they called, they didnt say much besides "You are using a VPN" and "its usage went over 60GB last month"... 60GB?! COMON! That is LOW! I move around a lot of files (I'm a developer) and transfer gigs of stuff almost daily! but last month alone I maxed out at probably 80GB total!... You said 20gb in your initial post.
Hob
--
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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| | | | | | neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN I said 20GB as a guess, Comcast told me 60.. I was only estimateing if you read what I said it should be clear | |
| rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA | 20 to 60 what will it be next. anyones guess. | |
| |
doesnt add up
@mcleodusa.net
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN VPN's themselves aren't prohibited. I have vpn endpoints set up to interconnect my family members in various cites, all of that is non commercial.
This is bandwidth based for sure. They'll never block you from using vpn. Comcast cant determine whether a vpn tunnel is for business or personal use, even if it interconnects with a business it can still be completely non-commercial in nature.
So the real deal here is not VPN use but bandwidth. So how much did you really use? There is no record of comcast calling any user doing less than 200-300GB a month. | |
| alfnoid
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-18
| It would seem that he said comcast said 60 and he said total meaning (depending on how you read it of course) VPN and other traffic was 80.
Either way 80GB isn't really that much and I don't think should be qualified bandwidth hog status. Nowhere near.
I do more than that and don't think I am a heavy user at all.
My router says 200GB for the last two months combined. 173 in and 27 out. | |
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herewegoagain
@comcast.net
| this is how all the bs starts on this forum . tommorow this will be front page "comcast shuts down vpn" so what is it 20-40- 60- 80- 500 who knows. get some hard facts of your bandwith and then post. why on earth if they supposedly told you 60, and your not monitoring it, would you come on here and say 20 ? your guessing you use 20 ???. what a joke this whole thread is and since no one has ever said one thing on here about getting a call for that little id say your whole story is bullshit | |
| rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA
·Comcast
2 edits | im sorry, i am having a hard time believing they would mention vpn and amount of bandwidth it consumed. im also having a hard time believing a abuse call would come from comcast bus com. anytime i get any call its always comes up as private or just a number. | |
| 
81399672
Premium
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA | Do you have dsl in the area available if so then just ignore them, if they suspend account tell them to reactivate it or you will take your business to another provider
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i am not a lawyer but I do play one on tv | |
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Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-02-18
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Did you specifically mention that you're using a VPN technology, or did it just come up? While there is some provisionary disallowment of VPN usage on a residential account, it's likely that what really triggered the phone call was some other bandwidth-using service.
20 GB/month isn't what they would call you over, just, period. You've got to be doing something else that sparked some interest. Regardless of whether or not it's entirely ethical to have such arbitrary caps, you're going to have to do something to demonstrate that you're "improving" the situation.
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"Some people never see the light till it shines thru bullet holes." -Bruce Cockburn
I'm testing Gmail's spam filters: Broadbandreports1@gmail.com
Spam: 12900+ messages currently using 406 MB. | |
| | neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA
·Comcast
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN Comcast called here to "warn" me about bandwidth usage... I said I don't know how that could be possible, because I couldnt be using more then what was rumored to be the limit. I said all I use at home is VPN, general browsing, and AIM chat online. Right after I said VPN they said, to connect to a workplace? I said yes, and thats when the whole don't use a VPN thing started then they started to say that was the cause blah blah blah... violates TOS... I asked how, they then proceeded to tell me about their 'business accounts' that would allow it and never really answered my question so I just hung up on them after they said the price... | |
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phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by neufuse :Comcast called here to "warn" me about bandwidth usage... I said I don't know how that could be possible, because I couldnt be using more then what was rumored to be the limit. I said all I use at home is VPN, general browsing, and AIM chat online. Right after I said VPN they said, to connect to a workplace? I said yes, and thats when the whole don't use a VPN thing started then they started to say that was the cause blah blah blah... violates TOS... I asked how, they then proceeded to tell me about their 'business accounts' that would allow it and never really answered my question so I just hung up on them after they said the price... I need to ask, because I always noticed this to be true, but VPN tunnels use almost 2 times the bandwidth to keep info encrypted at all times, hence, a VPN tunnel is formed with encryption as the "walls" of the tunnel. Explain to me how this isn't "inefficient" usage of a residential account. Nevermind "if I want to do it, blah", considering the TOS is thrown in your face anytime you do wrong, tell me what you would expect. My suggestion is to use remote desktop software instead. Don't ask me how, but somehow it uses less bandwidth. Probably because everything you do is compressed into less specific instructions for the remote PC to conserve bandwidth and system resources. It takes a lot for a system to emulate itself on another another machine...
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
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Mr Anon
@il.us
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN I just had to say something about this, you are really misinformed phattieg about VPNs, there is no way they take 2x the bandwidth. Now if you said 2x the overhead then I think you'd have something to argue about.
In short your comment made me believe that you are saying
sending a 10MB file is sending 20MB over a VPN which is not ture. It would at most be sending 10BM plus twice the overhead however it should be less than 2x the overhead.
The long:
Everything that sent from your computer via TCP/IP has many parts but for the sake of this argument I'll simplify it to two, there is a controlling header information then there is a data section. The header has information like where its from, where its to, is there any special marks on it, time stamp etc etc. However this is not terribly too much information compared to the data that will also be in there.
A VPN will take the original traffic and encrypt at least a most times also compress the header and data then transfer it. The original traffic will then be marked as data with a new header that travels over an unsecured network, as soon as it reaches the appropriate side that has the necessary decryption ability its decrypted then decompressed and sent on the way.
At most in a properly setup VPN the overhead you'll have a i conversation will be:
The handshake, should only happen once a secondary login if you will
A second header but the first header and data should be compressed
Minuscule inflation of data size due to encryption.
Not to mention that VPNs are only as fast as the other side can send. | |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
| so that shows the original intent of the call had nothing to do with VPN usage....they were simply calling to say that you were using a lot of bandwidth and needed to cut back....
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic inQuake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by Loker :so that shows the original intent of the call had nothing to do with VPN usage....they were simply calling to say that you were using a lot of bandwidth and needed to cut back.... Agreed...the VPN is a smokescreen.
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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| | Gilitar
join:2000-11-20
Mobile, AL | Just switch to DSL. | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by Gilitar :Just switch to DSL. It would be interesting to compare the DSL terms of Service to the Comcast ones!
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs: | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN I think that would depend on the DSL provider itself. I know ATT/SBC TOS you can do more with your connection. | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by gdm :I think that would depend on the DSL provider itself. I know ATT/SBC TOS you can do more with your connection. Abuse it?
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs: | Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN They have no set caps or mention it. Many people run there own exchange server off the dsl line...personal domain. Go through some of the ATT forums and search you can see how much bandwidth they use a month. | |
| neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA
·Comcast
| yeah I'll switch to DSL which doesnt even make it to our house.... not an option... its cable, sat, or dial-up...
the call even came from the comcast BUSINESS! department... which was wierd... not the abuse department... and using what they claim was well under 100GB doesnt even warrant a
"complaint" call... its like they where trying to force me into a higher priced account... | |
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RideRed
Vista needs a popup blocker for Vista
Premium
join:2005-06-18
USA | More glad every day Comcast sold our local cable system to TW. | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by RideRed :More glad every day Comcast sold our local cable system to TW. Actually being pedantic here...they swapped it..they did not sell it.
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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| CLEVELTECH
join:2006-12-21
02107 | MY advice to you is get rid of Comcast and get DSL. They are NOT going to tell you how much bandwidth you used and believe me they are already making the steps to get rid of you. | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03 | When I was a subcontractor for Comcast, I used to use my Comcast HSI to VPN into - you got it - Comcast's customer database!
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"I invented it, Bill made it famous." --David Bradley, the inventor of Ctrl+Alt+Del. | |
| | seederjed
join:2005-02-28
Snellville, GA
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN When I went through this a few years ago, letters, phone calls, etc., I tried to get the business service. However, it was run off the same node(?) as the residential lines, thus subject to the same arbitrary bandwidth limits. Only difference was I would of had the privilege of paying more.
Like I said it's been a few years and things may of changed, but I really doubt it.
I now have a 1.5/896 line from Qwest, and abuse it day and night with nary a peep in 2 years. | |
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Cabal
Premium
join:2007-01-21
Boston, MA
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN said by seederjed :When I went through this a few years ago, letters, phone calls, etc., I tried to get the business service. However, it was run off the same node(?) as the residential lines, thus subject to the same arbitrary bandwidth limits. Only difference was I would of had the privilege of paying more. Like I said it's been a few years and things may of changed, but I really doubt it. I now have a 1.5/896 line from Qwest, and abuse it day and night with nary a peep in 2 years. And you were happy to cut your average download rate by a factor of 10? That's not going to be very attractive to a lot of people.
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Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru? | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
·CableOne
| Re: wtf? comcast asked us not to use VPN 1.5mbps download down from 8 is a big difference, but being able to completely (excuse the term) rape the connection 24/7 without the ISP saying a word makes up for it.
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"I invented it, Bill made it famous." --David Bradley, the inventor of Ctrl+Alt+Del. | |
| Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | is Comcast Bus Com even a real comcast division? never know it could be the telco trying to get you onto DSL which doesnt even reach.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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