GotNoRice
Internet Cynic
join:2001-12-04
Pleasant Hill, CA
| Monthly Download rate limits
Monthly download limits.
An idea so stupid, so ill conceived that most people that have heard of it scoff at it like it couldn’t happen. So what are Monthly Download limits? Well, former users of Roseville, California’s RCS internet DSL service and other similar services need no introduction. They experienced it for a long time up until their service was bought out by a company that had more intellect. Monthly Download limits limit the amount of data that is transmitted to and from your computer in a given month. Unlike download caps, which simply limit the amount of data per second you can receive, monthly download limits impair functionality.
Every time you do something over the internet, whether it’s basic web surfing or downloading massive files from fast servers, you’re transferring data over your connection. This isn’t just downloading files, no sir; this is anything, anything at all that you do with your internet connection. Imagine that you are a person that uses your computer a lot, which I imagine many of you do. You download a lot, play a lot of online games, and download a lot of songs from the internet, listen to online radio. This is the very reason why you bought a “High-Speed” Connection isn’t it? Currently you can do this as much as you want, as many times as you want, with no limitations what so ever except for the recent speed cap which only limits the speed at which you do these things. About the 10th of the month, 1/3rd of the way through the billing cycle, your modem stops working. You call tech support and describe the problem to them. They reply that since the 1st of the month, you have transferred 3Gigabytes of information to your computer (the combination of everything you’ve done on your connection since the 1st), and that if you want to keep using the service for the rest of the month, you will be forced to pay an additional fee.
You have just become a victim of a monthly download limit. A step in the wrong direction. something not done by any respectable company in the last 5 years. Not only now, are you limited by how fast you can use your internet connection, now you are limited as to how much you can use your internet connection. This is the reality of monthly download limits. The result of the never ending quest of broadband ISP’s to get more bang for their buck at the customers expense. Their ideal customer is 85 years old, and simply checks their email once every other day. Why do they even have a fast connection? There may not be a good answer for that. Now days if you do more than casual web surfing and checking your email, you are no longer an innocent Broadband customer. That Video you just downloaded of your kids wedding, that security patch you just downloaded from windows update, those Anti-Virus update files, that picture of your newborn child that your wife accidentally left in bitmap format, that radio station you listen to over the internet, those songs you like to play, those chat rooms you like to visit, Those messages you like to send to your friends, that webpage you like to visit with all those funny pictures, and those stock quotes you check every few minutes. No you’re not an innocent user at all. You’re a bandwidth hog now, and your ISP is going to make you pay.
Welcome to the world of AT&T-Comcast.
»www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,···,00.html
"Eder added that the company intends to sharply limit the amount of data a user can download in a month without paying a higher fee. "We're in the a la carte business now," Eder said, adding that AT&T Broadband can no longer support At Home's "all you can eat" policies that led to abuse of the system." |
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teddystacker
join:2001-12-08
Philadelphia, PA
|  I totally agree - all this is designed to Screw extra money out of us.I am a "power user" as I Video confrence EVERY day with my daughter in England for about 60 mins - this is the whole reason I got cable in the first place.Looks like Comcast are gonna force her only to see her Daddy a couple of Days a week in future - how the **** am I gonna explain that sort of stuff to a 9 year old? ...But I doubt the policy makers at Comcast EVEN consider or think about these sort of uses that their service gets...
If this is true and they do limit useage - then this is a black day for sure...
This sort of thing (along with the D/l speed cap) is going to put Broadband back FIVE years NOT draw more customers - why cant they see this??? dont these people have any brains? |
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NPire
join:2001-05-01
New York, NY
|  reply to GotNoRice
Is this all still just speculation by the CEO of a company that just got bought out? How do they plan to implement this Fair Access Policy? Will users purchasing the higher package be exempt from being FAP'ed? Will they sell extra bandwidth by the gigabyte, or is it a free for all once you pay the extra fee? Those of you that are familiar with the policies of DirecWAY know of their FAP methods. They currently slow down the speed of a user temporarily after a download limit has been exceeded. Although my friends with this service say it is a pain, it is tolerable compared to 56k. I have never heard of a reputable company that simply cuts users off.... Before everyone goes off on a tangent about switching to DSL, is there any real information available on this subject??? Not to belittle this issue, but remember last month when we were all worried about being cut off? Nobody seems to have any real facts yet and their is no point in squabbling over rumors and speculation...
[text was edited by author 2001-12-20 22:13:48] |
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GotNoRice
Internet Cynic
join:2001-12-04
Pleasant Hill, CA
| reply to GotNoRice
you would think, but AT&T has a bad habit of making everything "rumors" until it smacks you right in the face. Keep in mind that the day before they switched the @Home users over to their own network, they were calling the Email address change a "Rumor". |
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ferretwoman
join:2001-12-04
Forked River, NJ
| reply to NPire
I can't see how this would work. The first month someone got capped like this and either had to pay more money, or just didn't have access, I wouldn't be surprised if they would be looking elsewhere for their internet service, such as DSL or even satellite. Might be slower, but at least you have access whenever you want for the same price per month. This is a way to drive customers AWAY from your service, not provide more income!
Linda |
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krazykulguy
join:2000-11-20
Crofton, MD | reply to GotNoRice
I agree, this is worse then download and upload caps and hourly dialup fees combined.
I hope they implment tierd pricing instead of this crap.
here comes 1000 more petitions about cable BB |
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nanofever
Liberal Democrats, You Know We're Right
join:2001-08-19
Modesto, CA
|  reply to GotNoRice
Well I'm glad that comcast doesn't have contracts or I might actually have to think for an extra split second before I call and order dsl from sbc. If this is more than a rumor att just shot themselfs in the foot with a elephant gun.
dsl level caps on download with 1/4 level uploads + download limits NO other broadband company in the US has + overloaded nodes = an empty att network |
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GotNoRice
Internet Cynic
join:2001-12-04
Pleasant Hill, CA | reply to GotNoRice
I don't have any other real form of broadband available here, if they do monthly download limits i'm screwed |
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pete25
Premium
join:2001-11-16
Downingtown, PA | reply to GotNoRice
I think everyone just needs to wait and see for themselves. All these rumors are just crap. |
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MojoBromley9
Premium
join:2001-04-01
your leg
clubs: | reply to GotNoRice
If they do that well....... Hello DSL....you look good now! |
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Zhen-Xjell
Prolific Bunny
Premium,VIP,ExMod 2001-04
join:2000-10-08
Bordentown, NJ
clubs: | reply to GotNoRice
Oh I missed the boat in earlier threads.. downloading LIMIT!!! Oh that's bad. |
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seaquake
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-23
Millersville, MD
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Don't be surprised when the DSL companies decide to do the same thing with limits. It is a domino effect. When one airline lowers ticket prices, all airlines follow suit.
I hope common sense gets to these people before this happens. Otherwise, we'll all be back on dial up and broadband will indeed be dead.
--
After a time you may come to realize that having is not such a pleasing thing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true. |
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Zhen-Xjell
Prolific Bunny
Premium,VIP,ExMod 2001-04
join:2000-10-08
Bordentown, NJ
clubs: | Funny.. last year broadband was booming, it was soaring to new heights in all the threads we had here. Today? 180 degree turn in discussions. |
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Elrod8
join:2001-12-21
Knoxville, TN | reply to GotNoRice
This is unbelieveable! I have always concidered myself lucky to be able to get broadband. I will, however, dust off that old 56K modem if these things are true. What are these people thinking? I am dumbfounded! |
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NPire
join:2001-05-01
New York, NY
| reply to GotNoRice
Not that I agree with this whole thing, but to play devil's advocate: If you go to a $4 all you can eat buffet, do you expect fine steak, veal, or lobster?? No, if you want fine dining you go to a nice sit down restaurant where you pay based on how much you eat. If you want a premium service, be prepared to pay for it. If not, well then stick with the mystery meat and dust off that dial-up modem... If they make it cheaper for those of us that aren't warez/mp3/streaming video freaks, it will benefit 99% of the users... |
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andrewe77
Gonads And Strife
join:2000-09-17
Blue Springs, MO
clubs:
| When you go to a buffet, you get one plate at a time. That's the upload/download caps. That is sufficient to keep the warez/ftp server jerks from eating more than their share.
It's not like we're "keeping" what we download. This is information and there's no need to limit how much of it I want to get per month, just limit how fast I can get it. |
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Anon | reply to GotNoRice
People who think game players are at risk are stupid, games take no more then 3-4 k/ sec each way. 24/7 gaming will not get you over 3gigs probably. |
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Anon | reply to NPire
I include myself in the streamin video, download hog group. I download game demos, I play online, I watch news videos, I do most of my daily business online, I use the Internet for a phone book, etc.
None of us are NOT "bandwidth hogs." If we did not want the speed and volume that cable offers we would all be on some $5 dialup.
Stop the "I use less than you so I am better" crap. You are not better. It is just that your family drags you off the computer more often than the rest of us! |
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andrewe77
Gonads And Strife
join:2000-09-17
Blue Springs, MO
clubs: | reply to GotNoRice
The problem is that some jerks run various servers, which is against your agreement with @home. Too bad they don't enforce it because that causes the rest of us that follow the rules to suffer. |
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gomer1701ems
join:2001-08-23
Minneapolis, MN
| said by andrewe77:
The problem is that some jerks run various servers, which is against your agreement with @home. Too bad they don't enforce it because that causes the rest of us that follow the rules to suffer.
*sigh* Don't bash all people that run servers. Many hardly consume noticeable bandwith. |
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