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CableOne Raises Speeds, Tinkers With Caps
'Noon to midnight' caps remain...

CableOne, the cable provider infamous for its noon-to-midnight caps, has raised its residential speeds and reworked its capping policy. On the good news side, their business tiers (topping out at 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up, with an 8/1 plan for the faint of wallet and an 8/2 plan for the in-between) are ostensibly cap-free now. On the residential side, their new packages are as follows (prices are "starting at" numbers):

1500/150 kbps - $26/month

5000/500 kbps - $49/month

10000/1000 kbps - $59/month

The good news, however, ends there. Caps on the residential side of the house are a good bit more stringent now; the 5 Mbps and 10 Mbps packages have per-day download caps of 3GB and 5GB respectively; go over those limits for fifteen days out of the month and CableOne will show you the door. While this theoretically means you could just download heavily fourteen days out of the month, CableOne may still have the "throttle to half-speed" technology in place from years past, so your ten-megabit connection will magically downgrade a tier if you download too much.

The economy tier however is where all the real outrage is among forum users. The cap, measured between noon and midnight, is 1GB per month. Usage above that single gigabyte is charged at a rate disclosed in some place other than the Acceptable Usage Policy. So don't stream videos over your CableOne Economy tier; it might get very expensive, very quickly.
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S_engineer
Premium Member
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

S_engineer

Premium Member

the extortion gets worse

Cableone seems to be in a race with Time Warner on who can gouge their customers the most. 3gb cap? Why bother. With that baseline, the "grandma's" can check their e-mail. Everyone else will be charged for actually using their service.

Nice to see the FCC stepping in and making things right for the consumer. [/sarcasm]
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: the extortion gets worse

Granted, the 3GB is per day and not per month, so it's not as horrid as TWC's proposed caps on the higher tiers. Though 1GB per month on Economy is pitiful.

Though you're right in thinking Comcast has a higher cap than CableOne.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212 to S_engineer

Member

to S_engineer
I agree. If this was like a comcast cap, the fcc would not need to be involved, but when it comes to out right price gouging/skrewing the costumer(looking at you 1gb cap with overages) then the Gov(be it the fcc or some1 else) should say 'NO!'.

S_engineer
Premium Member
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

S_engineer

Premium Member

Re: the extortion gets worse

I read that wrong...3 gb per day is better than TW, but it will still create problems. Online backups may prove to be troublesome. And I don't see this getting better in the future. The FCC needs to address capping issues now!
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO
·Google Fiber

1 edit

me1212

Member

Re: the extortion gets worse

Well that can't stop them from capping on their own network, the ISPs own it not the Gov. However, stuff like C.O's 1gb with overages, tw/att's metered plan where the caps are set low in hope of squeeze/gouging metering more money from even normal(not granny) users is different. If it was meter only, a low price for the connection[like$10 or so] and $0.25 per GB then maybe it could work, but a real pay per usage/pay as you go is not what these ISPs want, it will not gouge enough money from costumers. And as for that whole 'granny shouldn't pay for the higher usage guy.' Bull, she ain't paying for him if she has more speed than she needs she can down grade, they are paying for speed not usage. And if it cost an ISP x for their connection/backbone per month, and each costumer pays y and the ISP makes z(z>x>y,) how is that not fair? They both pay y I know she doesn't use as much. but if they are not on the lowest package why can't she get a slower package(lets say it costs w)? It would lower her cost and she would not be paying for speed she don't need. Then the higher usage would be paying y and the granny w(y>w). But some want granny to pay what she does now(y) and higher user to pay g(g>>>>>>>>>>>>y). If they must meter why not real PAYG?

If it was just a cap, with no meter then well there is not much that can be done, at least with the meter they can make sure it is an accurate meter, one that does not show high than actual usage to get more money from the costumer. But, if it is clear the ISP is price gouging its costumers(which I think it is) then the Gov can(and should) step in and should something.

DSLUser001
@mindspring.com

DSLUser001 to me1212

Anon

to me1212
I doubt that FTC would step in to resolve the gouging. Money talks FTC listen ( Comcast and other broadband lobbyists).

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile to S_engineer

Premium Member

to S_engineer
5gb per day isnt too bad. Thats 150gigs/mo, which is more than 3 fold tw's 40
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

1 edit

me1212

Member

Re: the extortion gets worse

40x3=120, so 150 is 10GB less than 4x more than tw's 40Gb. 40x4=160.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin to baineschile

Member

to baineschile
It's incredibly aggravating and discouraging to spread your data usage over a several day period.

Not to mention caps don't actually help manage network congestion. Not to mention there *is no* network congestion. Not to mention no ISP has ever justified their caps and throttling by revealing internal economic data.

morgan1112
join:2003-04-07
Round Rock, TX

morgan1112

Member

CableOne Sucks!

I sure am glad that I am not stuck with CableOne as my Internet provider. These clowns are a buch of cheap loosers who are taking advantage of folks in a down economy.

IowaMan
Premium Member
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA

IowaMan

Premium Member

Re: CableOne Sucks!

I feel sorry for the Souix land of Iowa... At least everyware else we have Mediacom and for Council Bluffs they have COX communications

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

2 edits

funchords

MVM

Interesting FAQ answer on the 1 GB limit...

»help.cableone.net/HSD/Pl ··· FAQ.aspx
What happens if I exceed my allocation?

After exceeding the allocated bandwidth of one gigabyte, Cable One will charge you $10 for another allocation of 1 Gigabyte (1,024 Megabytes). This incremental allocation of one gigabyte is valid only for the current billing cycle and cannot be carried forward. Each incremental one Gigabyte allocation is $10. Should you use more than 5 incremental allocations, the maximum added charge is $50.00 which brings the maximum total charge to $70.00.
If I upgrade from the Economy tier up to a flat rate tier mid-month after exceeding my allocation, will I still be charged a fee?

No, however you must remain on the higher tier for at least one full billing cycle.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212

Member

Re: Interesting FAQ answer on the 1 GB limit...

Wait wait wait, wait. $10 per GB? WTF. Thats price gouging.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

1 edit

funchords

MVM

Re: Interesting FAQ answer on the 1 GB limit...

Upon reflection, I do not wish to post. Take me back!

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY
·Charter

StevenB to funchords

Premium Member

to funchords
said by funchords:

»help.cableone.net/HSD/Pl ··· FAQ.aspx
What happens if I exceed my allocation?

After exceeding the allocated bandwidth of one gigabyte, Cable One will charge you $10 for another allocation of 1 Gigabyte (1,024 Megabytes). This incremental allocation of one gigabyte is valid only for the current billing cycle and cannot be carried forward. Each incremental one Gigabyte allocation is $10. Should you use more than 5 incremental allocations, the maximum added charge is $50.00 which brings the maximum total charge to $70.00.
If I upgrade from the Economy tier up to a flat rate tier mid-month after exceeding my allocation, will I still be charged a fee?

No, however you must remain on the higher tier for at least one full billing cycle.
You do know Funchords, the Cable defense team on this site, is going to post how this is beneficial to providing QoS to it's customers.
neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA

1 edit

neufuse

Member

1GB?

Gawd my SB6120 modem uses 0.94 GB per day with just routing data and noise packets..... been testing that now for a month with a modem and router at a house no one is living at... almost constant stream of noise data....

crazyk4952
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
united state
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Polycom VVX300

crazyk4952

Premium Member

pricing

One thing to note on the pricing information:

These prices INCLUDE the cost to rent a cable modem.
BYOD saves $6/month.

Also, the top residential tier was lowered by $10/month and the speed increased from 8 Mb to 10 Mb. Yes it sucks to live outside of major cities, but at least we get faster speeds for less money now.
chuckie1
join:2006-06-05
Gulfport, MS

chuckie1

Member

what about the rate increase?

you didn't mention anything about the $8 per month increase in the basic cable price that happened last month. if you want a rate increase to hit as many of your customers as possible, you do it on basic cable.

also, they've completely changed around their bundles and now all bundles INCLUDE phone service.

the plan i'm on was $99 when i started it (no phone service). now it's $132, and the only comparable bundle they have now is $164 (includes phone which i don't need). all of these are with the 5Mbps down and 500kbps up and the noon-midnight caps.

i know plenty of people despise ATT, but i can't wait for UVerse to become available.

crazyk4952
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
united state
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Polycom VVX300

crazyk4952

Premium Member

Re: what about the rate increase?

Yes this is true. However, as soon as they increased their basic cable price to $50 I canceled my tv service and now all I get is internet. So this actually saved me $10/month on the 10Mb tier.

There are far too many commercials on cable tv for me to justify paying $50 for cable tv service.
Jazdi
join:2009-07-06
Ottawa, ON

Jazdi

Member

could be worse!

That 1GB per day plan is terrific compared to what we have here in Canada from the incumbents. Bell (the ILEC) and Rogers (the cableco) have 2GB/month caps on their ~$25 2mbps lite plans.
jdjbuffalo
join:2004-01-17
Denver, CO

jdjbuffalo

Member

Re: could be worse!

That's not 1GB per day. It's 1GB PER MONTH!

CableOne's caps suck! I unfortunately use this service (5 mbit)and the daily caps on the service plus this new policy really have me thinking about jumping ship to Qwest. Even though Qwest isn't much better in this area, at least they don't have these terrible capping policies.
Expand your moderator at work

crazyk4952
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
united state

crazyk4952 to jdjbuffalo

Premium Member

to jdjbuffalo

Re: could be worse!

I thought about that too, but Qwest will only provide me with 3Mb service!

wakkedup
@cableone.net

wakkedup to Jazdi

Anon

to Jazdi
said by Jazdi:

That 1GB per day plan is terrific compared to what we have here in Canada from the incumbents. Bell (the ILEC) and Rogers (the cableco) have 2GB/month caps on their ~$25 2mbps lite plans.
Pretty sure it says 1GB per month, which I would assume is for low low usage, like grandma/grandpa checking e-mail and surfing to a couple links per day.

Chrissy865888

Anon

Ewwww.

Thats the most nasty, evil sounding ISP in the entire world. Why would anyone want to do business with a company offering such abysmal service?

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Re: Ewwww.

said by Chrissy865888 :

Thats the most nasty, evil sounding ISP in the entire world. Why would anyone want to do business with a company offering such abysmal service?
try TW they want a 5g cap period a month.
Methadras
join:2004-05-26
Spring Valley, CA

Methadras

Member

The notion of caps at this point is...

offensive. Seriously, what is the point of high-speed dsl or cable if caps are placed on the users who exploit these speeds. Stop with the caps, either offer full unlimited service with no caps or get out of the ISP business.
Roop
join:2003-11-15
Ottawa, ON

Roop

Member

Re: The notion of caps at this point is...

take a look in your area and see if there are resellers of service.

here in canada, for dsl there is a company called teksavvy. they have a 200gb cap where bell canada is 60gb.

for cable internet, there are unlimited resellers while the cable monopoly here is 60gb as well.

there are choices, it just means more work for you in the end. give it 5 years from now. the big isps will be killed by the reseller competition and will be forced to increase their caps.
Methadras
join:2004-05-26
Spring Valley, CA

Methadras

Member

Re: The notion of caps at this point is...

I don't mind working a little bit to get the type of service I need. Unfortunately in the states and specifically here in San Diego we have only 3 options and they are pretty regional; Cox, AT&T, and TW for the northern portions of San Diego County and that's it. I'm on Cox and so far they are still running unlimited.

Time
Premium Member
join:2003-07-05
Irvine, CA

Time

Premium Member

Re: The notion of caps at this point is...

said by Methadras:

I don't mind working a little bit to get the type of service I need. Unfortunately in the states and specifically here in San Diego we have only 3 options and they are pretty regional; Cox, AT&T, and TW for the northern portions of San Diego County and that's it. I'm on Cox and so far they are still running unlimited.
Cox has a monthly cap, they don't enforce it unless it is grossly abused though.

Techie1
@cableone.net

Techie1

Anon

Quit your crying...

Look, working as tech support for an ISP I deal with hundreds of customers a week that are getting smashed because they have exceeded the daily limit in bandwith usage. Now what most of you do not realize is the reason we do implement these limits is because of people running business's on a residential account. Would it seem fair if because of one or two people the entire card gets capped? I know it sounds really easy to most of you. And as a consumer I do understand your ignorance, but being on the other side I realize there is a method for the madness.

••••

bksmith5
Tagging along
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Charlotte, NC

bksmith5

Premium Member

Karl -- the post needs an update

CableOne is still capping the business lines of service. Please refer to the following page on CableOne's site:

»www.cableone.net/limits/ ··· its.aspx

That page has been updated to reflect the new service tiers. I'll admit that business tiers get a fair bit more than residential lines, but it's still not "cap-free" as business lines ought to be, IMO. I will continue to vote with my wallet and stay with CableOne or go with Midcontinent Cable (should they ever move into my area). I advise everyone I know to do the same, if possible.