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Who Confirms The Accuracy Of ISP Usage Meters?
You do! Good luck!

In Canada, where ISPs have successfully implemented low caps and high per-gigabyte overages, we've noted how companies like Cogeco have had a difficult time providing accurate consumption tools to customers. Of course these screw ups result in additional support costs for carriers, and and can confuse customers. In New Zealand, where caps and overages are common, the New Zealand Herald (via Stop The Cap) reports how broadband Telecom New Zealand over-billed and throttled its customers -- thanks to a routine network upgrade:

quote:
Telecom has reimbursed 150,000 customers whose broadband speed was slashed, as network upgrades for the much-vaunted new TiVo digital recorder service caused widespread technical problems. . . said the error was caused when Telecom's engineering partner, Juniper, was upgrading the network in preparation for TiVo's November 6 launch in New Zealand.
Whoops. It's important to note that in contrast to what the Herald story suggests, the ISP in question didn't just spontaneously discover their error and issue refunds out of altruism. Those 150,000 customers would not be seeing refunds if users of a local New Zealand user forum named Geekzone hadn't pieced together what was happening. If you follow threads there, you'll note that for many Telecom New Zealand customers, the meter provided them frequently doesn't work, or shows incorrect usage. Users there had to make a concerted effort to get the ISP to investigate and to issue refunds.

Here in the States of course, our largest ISPs are very eager to impose this per-byte overage model, simply because it generates more revenue. Unfortunately for ISPs, they've run into strong opposition from consumers, many of whom prefer the simplicity and lower price of flat-rate service. One of the many disingenuous ISP arguments (aside from "it's fair to grandmothers" and "it will prevent the Internet from collapsing") in support of this shift is that your electricity is also metered, so it just "makes sense."

Of course as we've repeatedly noted, what ISPs want is not a fair, purely-usage based system, because they'd make no money if the nation's light users (80%+ of their customers) suddenly started paying $10 a month instead of $40. What they want is to have their cake and eat it too -- charging users per-gigabyte overages on top of a flat monthly rate that in most cases already more than pays for the service and support being delivered.

One problem with the electricity metaphor? If carriers want to compare themselves to your local electrical utility, they'd better be ready to have their meters heavily regulated to guarantee accuracy -- just like your electricity meter. You can be sure they won't like that. In many markets the world over, ISPs fight against people independently verifying the accuracy of their meters. If U.S. ISPs want to head down this path, consumers shouldn't have to wrangle with their ISPs over meter accuracy.

You'll recall that Comcast is among several ISPs (including Time Warner Cable and AT&T) that have been considering per gigabyte overages. Comcast is clearly aware of the necessity for an accurate usage meter -- given it took them more than a year to deliver one after imposing a 250 GB cap in 2008. Comcast recently unveiled their new meter in Portland, using a firm of their choice to determine it's accuracy. The firm they hired, of course, proclaimed proudly that the meter was accurate to within 0.5% each month.

Who'll confirm this? Nobody. Are there laws protecting consumers from abuse? Nope. Will there be? Probably not. But with an FCC that at least claims that "total transparency" is one of their top broadband issues as they craft America's very first national broadband policy, expect this to be a heated topic in 2010.
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BK
join:2001-09-10
Chicago, IL

BK

Member

very well put

Great article Karl. Don't know if you always get the thanks and appreciation you deserve. thanks!
nishiko7
Premium Member
join:2007-05-01
Pleasant Hill, CA

nishiko7

Premium Member

Re: very well put

said by BK:

Great article Karl. Don't know if you always get the thanks and appreciation you deserve. thanks!
I second that! Karl you are pretty much in idol territory to me. I LOVE the way you word articles. Hard hitting, good stuff. BBR is my favorite web destination, and you are the biggest part of that!

The pro-consumer cause you and others like StopTheCap are leading cannot be held in high enough regard in my book. Keep up the great job (please)!!
gorehound
join:2009-06-19
Portland, ME

gorehound to BK

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to BK
great article and if this truly comes to usa we must all boycott it somehow even if it means "going dark" for a while.
we can have the power i think to do something.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

One problem with the electricity metaphor? If carriers want to compare themselves to your local electrical utility, they'd better be ready to have their meters heavily regulated to guarantee accuracy -- just like your electricity meter.
Nice claim, but I don't see anyone chking accuracy of my electric meter. I have lived 30 years in my house and NOT ONCE has anyone from a gov't agency verified the accuracy of my electric meter. Anyone else ever see that happen??

P.S.>> or my water meter either.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

The process of meter examination is entirely regulated by the government. How it's measured, when it's measured. Are you trying to pretend this isn't so?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

4 edits

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by Karl Bode:

The process of meter examination is entirely regulated by the government. How it's measured, when it's measured. Are you trying to pretend this isn't so?
I am saying that that regulation is not actually enforced to any degree at all for residences. Maybe for gas stations, businesses, etc.

You accept what the electric co. says you are being billed is accurate - UNLESS YOU COMPLAIN. And I suspect that any cable usage metering will work the same way.

Even when the electric meter is tested, error is allowed up to 2% and the testing is done by the utility and ONLY WITNESSED by the state.

Comcast, for example, has already tested their meter and the margin of error was much less than 2%.
»netforecast.com/document ··· racy.pdf
Comcast’s stated goal is that the usage meter correctly reflect traffic passing through a
subscriber's cable modem within plus-or-minus 1.0% accuracy over the month. Our
analysis validates that the accuracy of the Comcast meter for subscribers served by the
Cisco 10000 CMTS is within plus-or-minus 0.5% over the month, well within
Comcast’s stated goal.
And does anyone seriously think some state regulator is going to dispute the companies claims of accuracy when provided with the testing info done by an independent 3rd party?
rahvin112
join:2002-05-24
Sandy, UT

3 recommendations

rahvin112

Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

The tests are standardized tests that comply with ASTM or UL standards. It's easy for regulatory agencies (federal or state) to verify compliance with these testing procedures as they are heavily documented.
said by FFH5:

And does anyone seriously think some state regulator is going to dispute the companies claims of accuracy when provided with the testing info done by an independent 3rd party?
The point which as typical you ignored was that there is no regulatory framework. So your little straw man is easy to argue, of course no regulator would care as there isn't a regulator.

If someone is going to bill you per amount and they are using meters to do so there should be regulation in place to make sure that measurement is fair and accurate. Otherwise consumers have no guarantee of accuracy. Statements made by Comcast that the system is accurate are meaningless because there hasn't been any independent verification that anything they have said is accurate. In fact their system could be completely arbitrary without connection to reality and no one would know. The testing they had done was not independent, it was a paid promotion by an consultant without certification or standard testing, which is worthless in my eyes.

When I pump gas I know the meter on my gas pump is checked at least once a year for accuracy. I know my electrical meter is rated and certified by UL laboratories to be accurate within reasonable tolerances. I know my gas meter has similar testing and certification before it was ever placed into service. And above all, I know that if I suspect these meters to be inaccurate I don't have to launch a lawsuit, I can challenge the accuracy within the regulatory framework and the company will be forced to prove the accuracy to the regulatory authorities and I can be certain an independent person without financial incentive has verified the accuracy.

That's the difference. Until there is regulation in place to make sure it's accurate it's not going to be trustworthy. This is hard to measure, and it's even harder for shared pipes like cable. I suspect that it won't be long after these types of systems are implemented before class action lawsuits launch and lawyers make a lot of money proving the systems aren't accurate because their is no independent certification. Regulation is a good thing for everyone involved. It helps the consumers by providing outlets for complaint and it protects the business. Only a fool would argue regulation is bad.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

2 recommendations

Karl Bode to FFH5

News Guy

to FFH5
You accept what the electric co. says you are being billed is accurate - UNLESS YOU COMPLAIN.
And the consumer who complains is supported by what? Government regulation of the meters to guarantee equity. Your argument that you haven't had a government goon in a cheap suit squat over your Virginia meter is disingenuous and you know it...
gateguy
Premium Member
join:2001-02-12
Reisterstown, MD

gateguy to FFH5

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to FFH5
said by FFH5:

You accept what the electric co. says you are being billed is accurate - UNLESS YOU COMPLAIN.
Shortly after I moved into my house in 1991, BG&E (the electric and gas utility) made an appointment to replace the gas meter. The reasoning was, that the old ones were not accurate.

The installers said that I would receive a credit for so many years of being overcharged... until they found out that I had just moved in.

Now I am not claiming that the utility decided to start replacing these meters out of their customer's concerns. But was replaced due to inaccuracy.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski to FFH5

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Why not call them and ask them to come out and check the meter to verify it is correct? You only accept it if you have not made that request.
EdmundGerber
join:2010-01-04

1 recommendation

EdmundGerber to FFH5

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to FFH5
And you are the entire universe, are you?

Why do you always stick up for the corporations in these stories?

rvc2236
@teksavvy.com

rvc2236

Anon

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

I have a friend that works in electric meter inspection. At least here in Ontario, electric meters are individually tested and certified by a department of the local utility. Any customer can request their meter to be tested and/or replaced. Accuracy is taken very seriously, and both the provincial and federal governments have oversight roles in the matter.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to FFH5

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said by FFH5:

One problem with the electricity metaphor? If carriers want to compare themselves to your local electrical utility, they'd better be ready to have their meters heavily regulated to guarantee accuracy -- just like your electricity meter.
Nice claim, but I don't see anyone chking accuracy of my electric meter. I have lived 30 years in my house and NOT ONCE has anyone from a gov't agency verified the accuracy of my electric meter. Anyone else ever see that happen??

P.S.>> or my water meter either.
They don't actually come to your house. The electricity company changes the meters every so often and when they place an order of say..... 4,000 meters of a certain kind, that will be replaced at a certain time, government regulaters take a random amount of meters from random batches of meters being delivered, e.g. they take 27 out of the 4,000 and test them for accuracy in their lab. If it turns out a certain percentage of the meters are not accurate (in EITHER direction, they don't want the customers to pay less either), they can start a system wide random test of that type of meter. If too many discrepancies are found, they can force the utility company to test every meter before they go out.

That you haven't had a visit of the government doesn't mean a thing. In 30 years you probably DID have the electricity company change out your meter and that replaced meter was most likely part of a random test.

It would be far too costly to test meters across town. Since electricity meters are replaced on a regular basis, it is much more cost effective to ensure any new meters being installed are correct, instead of testing all meters in town.

Testing the accuracy of a ISP meter is a lot easier, and can be done from anywhere.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

My meter was never replaced in 30 yrs of service. But see my later post in this thread for more explanation of my position. »Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?
rahvin112
join:2002-05-24
Sandy, UT

rahvin112

Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

And you have stood outside and watched that meter to make sure the company didn't come out and replace it some afternoon you weren't home with one that looked just like it? Or do you honestly think you would notice if they replaced it or that a newer one would look any different than the one currently there?

Let me guess you painted it pink so you would know if they replaced it?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

3 edits

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by rahvin112:

And you have stood outside and watched that meter to make sure the company didn't come out and replace it some afternoon you weren't home with one that looked just like it? Or do you honestly think you would notice if they replaced it or that a newer one would look any different than the one currently there?

Let me guess you painted it pink so you would know if they replaced it?
It has a serial number on it which is also on the monthly bill. And if they disconnected the meter while I wasn't home, all the clocks in the house would have been blinking.

Besides the meter casing was painted to match the color of the siding on the house. If they replaced it it would be obvious.

P.S.>> the electric company wouldn't replace the meter without notifying you. And if they did, the monthly reading number would have restarted an a new lower number.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 edit

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

where I live you pay for the meter. the electric company installs it. so they wouldn't replace it without me buying a new one.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to FFH5

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to FFH5
They don't replace the meter casing. They replace the device with the spinner inside the glass bubble. My casing is also painted to match the siding. I had my meter replaced with one that transmits the readings through the cellular network (no more meter reader). They sent a notice on your bill that it would be replaced but they did not schedule it and yes, the power went out when they did it.

The only reason I know it was replaced is because it one day I was looking at it and noticed it now has some digital innards.

The gas company recently did the same kind of replacement. I don't know how they did it, but my fireplace and water heter pilot lights did not go out. There was a writeup in the local paper about how they do this but I didn't pay any attention. Apparently, whatever they do is pretty slick.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

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said by FFH5:

One problem with the electricity metaphor? If carriers want to compare themselves to your local electrical utility, they'd better be ready to have their meters heavily regulated to guarantee accuracy -- just like your electricity meter.
Nice claim, but I don't see anyone chking accuracy of my electric meter. I have lived 30 years in my house and NOT ONCE has anyone from a gov't agency verified the accuracy of my electric meter. Anyone else ever see that happen??

P.S.>> or my water meter either.
Well how about this argument. Electric companies are regulated by the governemnt. So if ISPs wish to comapre themsleves to utilites surely they won't mind being regulated like one. but of course they would. They want their cake and eat it to and they can't.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by 88615298:
said by FFH5:
One problem with the electricity metaphor? If carriers want to compare themselves to your local electrical utility, they'd better be ready to have their meters heavily regulated to guarantee accuracy -- just like your electricity meter.
Nice claim, but I don't see anyone chking accuracy of my electric meter. I have lived 30 years in my house and NOT ONCE has anyone from a gov't agency verified the accuracy of my electric meter. Anyone else ever see that happen??

P.S.>> or my water meter either.
Well how about this argument. Electric companies are regulated by the governemnt. So if ISPs wish to comapre themsleves to utilites surely they won't mind being regulated like one. but of course they would. They want their cake and eat it to and they can't.
Cable companies are regulated 6 ways from Sunday. By state & local boards and by the FCC.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by FFH5:

Cable companies are regulated 6 ways from Sunday. By state & local boards and by the FCC.
A) no they don't. Cable was deregulated back in the 1980's trust me I'm old enough to remember. If cable was REALLY regulated your cable bill would be at least 1/3 lower than it is now.

B) That has ZERO to do with internet access. What little regulation cable companies have is on the TV side not the internet side.

Once again while the local franchise authority may tell the cable company where they must offer service they can't tell them where to offer internet service.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by 88615298:

said by FFH5:

Cable companies are regulated 6 ways from Sunday. By state & local boards and by the FCC.
A) no they don't. Cable was deregulated back in the 1980's trust me I'm old enough to remember. If cable was REALLY regulated your cable bill would be at least 1/3 lower than it is now.
Apparently you're not old enough to know better.. um.. back in the mid 90's when regulation came into play, the government promised that rates would drop under new rules and regulation... however, the average cable bill went up 15% across the nation. How's THAT for government help?

Cable was unregulated, regulated, unregulated.. so on and so on...

And your second mistake.. yes, the FA CAN in fact tell the company where they must provide internet services... so long as they do it at the time of contract renegotiation. When the contract is up for renewal, everything is negotiable.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to FFH5

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said by FFH5:

Cable companies are regulated 6 ways from Sunday. By state & local boards and by the FCC.
There may be some regulations on what cable companies can carry as TV networks, and what not.... whether analog signals should be available or not, etc, etc....

But NONE, ZERO of those regulations have anything to do with internet connectivity. (Or phone connectivity for that matter).
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: When was last time your electric meter chkd by gov't?

said by maartena:

said by FFH5:

Cable companies are regulated 6 ways from Sunday. By state & local boards and by the FCC.
There may be some regulations on what cable companies can carry as TV networks, and what not.... whether analog signals should be available or not, etc, etc....

But NONE, ZERO of those regulations have anything to do with internet connectivity. (Or phone connectivity for that matter).
Not quite true... it depends on the locale of the system.. some systems do in fact have their phone service controlled by the local authorities.. many don't, but some systems do... Internet, you're mostly right, however, if there is an agreement with the FA upon renewal, then you're take is incorrect.

In other words, nothing is the same everywhere... There was a system in Redwood City CA that almost wasn't able to renew unless they agreed to install internet services.. and prior to renewal, there was none, NOR could they install it, due to the FA.
WernerSchutz
join:2009-08-04
Sugar Land, TX

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Hahaha ! Surely you meant "cable companies are regulated only on Sundays.

McSummation
Mmmm, Zeebas Are Tastee.
Premium Member
join:2003-08-13
Fort Worth, TX

McSummation

Premium Member

meter in my machine

I've been using BWMeter for several months, just so I can see what my internet usage is. If AT&T starts metering, I'll have another piece of software looking at my DSL line besides AT&T.
nishiko7
Premium Member
join:2007-05-01
Pleasant Hill, CA

nishiko7

Premium Member

Re: meter in my machine

said by McSummation:

I've been using BWMeter for several months...
Thanks for making me (and others aware of BWMeter. Looks great, but it's also $30.

I've been using Networx (»download.cnet.com/NetWor ··· 904.html) for about 6 months now (somone else on DSLR recommended (in the comments like this) once). I'm VERY happy with it. Just like with BWMeter, you can network other computers to get a better sense on your total network usage. BW Meter looks like it may be a bit more advanced, but for the price difference, I think many would be happy with Networx. If you are, you might consider throwing them a small bone, like we should for all great "free" software we use a lot to help support it.

Ideally, it is best to have this functionality on your router, but that's not always practical or convenient or cost effective. So this method is a second best way to get a read on your bandwidth usage. Of course, with all the individual non-pc devices being added to networks these days, this second pc by pc method will only give you a general read, but most non-pc devices also don't consume much bandwidth, so in most cases, this will be good enough.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to McSummation

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to McSummation
said by McSummation:

I've been using BWMeter for several months
This may work for a modem with 1 PC.

If you have more then one PC in the house, and those PC's also communicate with each other (think shared printing, files etc) BWmeter pretty much becomes useless.

McSummation
Mmmm, Zeebas Are Tastee.
Premium Member
join:2003-08-13
Fort Worth, TX

McSummation

Premium Member

Re: meter in my machine

Actually, BWMeter works very well with multiple machines on a router with a single modem. I'm using it with an Ethernet connected machine and a WiFi laptop. I've set it up so that it separates the traffic by "LAN" and "Internet".

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

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1 recommendation

ArrayList to maartena

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to maartena
Click for full size
dd-wrt bwmeter
i use dd-wrt on my router. has a pretty day by day graph and running total for each month. i'd love for AT&T to say I used more than what my router says.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

1 recommendation

SpaethCo

MVM

"Who'll confirm this?"

How about the subscribers of the ISPs themselves?

Come on, the people who subscribe to ISPs are not idiots. Meters are now a common part of residential grade NAT/Router devices, and many free software options exist. Not only that, but unlike their electric meters, ISP subscribers don't need to risk electrocution to install a meter of their own.
said by Karl Bode:

Are there laws protecting consumers from abuse? Nope.
Right.

If you collected evidence that ISP meters were substantially incorrect I'm sure the attorney general of your state of residence would simply ignore bringing any kind of unfair billing practices lawsuit against the ISP.

Get real. The people who take up that office get a hard on over the idea of prosecuting companies for that sort of thing.

•••••••

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

1 edit

jlivingood

Premium Member

Hmmm....

Karl wrote: Comcast recently unveiled their new meter in Portland, using a firm of their choice to determine it's accuracy. The firm they hired, of course, proclaimed proudly that the meter was accurate to within 0.5% each month.

Who'll confirm this? Nobody.
While I can understand the generalities of your story*, the specific ding against how Comcast released the meter seems unjustified. In an environment where an ISP could simply release a meter, it seems an objectively good thing that we used an independent party to audit the meter, that we had them share a report on the matter, and that they fully described how the system functioned and how they tested it.

If you question their independence or background, which I think is unfounded, you can find out who they are here:
»netforecast.com/ContactI ··· eset.htm
Scott Bradner - »netforecast.com/biograph ··· r%20.htm
Rebecca Wetzel - »netforecast.com/biograph ··· l%20.htm
John Bartlett - »netforecast.com/biograph ··· lett.htm
Peter Sevcik - »netforecast.com/biograph ··· %20S.htm

You can see their client list here:
»netforecast.com/ClientFr ··· eset.htm

And I can tell you they were highly recommended by members of the Internet community.

Jason
--
JL
Comcast


* I think it is completely fair to ask how you can stand behind a meter and is it accurate. And for that reason, I think the basics of your story prompt a worthwhile discussion. When we planned the meter, I thought that it'd be the case that the question of proving its accuracy would logically be raised and so I suggested having a 3rd party audit it and - further - share the results of that with our customers and the public.

•••••••••••

JasonOD
@comcast.net

JasonOD

Anon

Not worth it........

Between the normal modem/head end chatter making it just too hard to measure, and page adspace (much of it high bitrate) users don't want, ask for, and have no control over, measuring down to the byte just isn't worth the trouble.

ISP's could create multi-GB zones, by which could more readily be measured, and bill users according to the 'zone' their usage has landed them in. I realize there would have to be a fine line between these 'zones', but it wouldn't seem to be nearly as messy a billing by the byte.

Just a thought.

SkullBot
join:2003-05-07
Huntington Beach, CA

SkullBot

Member

Problem

So with all the flash and java heavy advertising on websites these days, plus updates for programs, windows, antivirus software, these thing are counted against the cap. I find that very wrong on many levels, I should not have to deal with advertising and spam if these caps are put in place, say that I get infected with a virus that forces me to format and reload, I only have a copy of windows with SP2, so now I have to download a ton of updates for both windows and any security software I put on, this all counts against the cap, now to compound this, say the cap is 250GB, now not only am I supposed to keep track of how much I use, I can potentially go over the cap just doing routine system maintenance, this problem gets bigger if i have to do this on more then one computer.

My point is, capping just screams of the early 90's bill by the minute model, with all the WIFI things that are coming out, bandwidth usage will continue to go up, not to mention the problem with these ads getting bigger and more intrusive, these are all counted against the cap and I haven't even touched on anything else that can gobble up bandwidth.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Problem

I can find plenty of reasons against this but too many flash ads is bullshit. There is not way one could view that many ads that it would make a significant inpact on your cap. Also you can turn flash OFF.
munky99999
Munky
join:2004-04-10
canada

munky99999

Member

Several problems.

1. Moving to usage based billing doesnt actually make it cheaper for the light users. They are still paying a flat-fee for a service by definition they dont use. Furthermore the move from plain unlimited flat fee to extremely low cap; actually serves no actual savings.

2. They have no reason to put a stop to any sort of flood traffic. For example; as the ISP I can take my list of people with a cap of 2 gigs and flood ping them all month. 1mbit upload speed could cap out dozens of people within a month. Too which only means more money for that ISP. It doesnt even matter what traffic it is.

So what you do as an ISP. Setup a 1gigabit connection to basically flood your entire ip space. You just made tons and tons of cash.

Or simply have inaccurate meters.

3. They have been regulated; or rather forced to provide wholesale competition at price X; without forcing your competition in the same usage based billing, free market corrects itself. Except with so little competition in Canada... they can get away with charging just about any price they want. As who can actually live without the internet?

••••

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Accurate to 0.5%?

Well if I take Comcast's 250GB cap and take 0.5% of that, I get 125MB. So if even if there is outside verification, I can still sway +/- 125MB. That is a pretty good chunk of data to be in error about. If they are going to meter than they should allow that 125MB leeway in their overage calculation.

•••••••

Dominokat
"Hi"
Premium Member
join:2002-08-06
Boothbay, ME

Dominokat

Premium Member

Low caps = what?

I have read more and more about most TV being broadcast online. Obviously, probably ONE show will blow the caps that TimeWarner and others are thinking of imposing.

This will do nothing short of killing innovation, only to save an aging technology.

That isn't to say cable is aged. They just need to adapt to the newer technology.

Setting Caps isn't this answer.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Low caps = what?

Time Warner tried to get a 5GB - 40GB caps system in place.

Netflix streaming movies tend to use about 2200Kbps. This means a 5GB cap (with no other Internet usage) would mean 5 hours of Netflix streaming per month or a mere 10 minutes per day. Meanwhile, a 40GB cap would be about 42 hours of Netflix time or less than 90 minutes per day.

Comcast's 250GB cap, however, would allow for over 264 hours per month of Netflix streaming, or over 8 1/2 hours per day. Again, this is without any other Internet activity so actual "Netflix time" would be less. Still, I'll take a 250GB cap over a 40GB cap any day.
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned)

Member

ill prove they work

just send 999.95 to this address in a self enclosed envelope.

IHM
Premium Member
join:2001-12-18
Hamilton, ON

IHM

Premium Member

Weights and Measures Act

In Canada these folks should be. It's entirely within the scope of the Weights and Measures Act.

»www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc ··· eng/home

Perhaps folks should complain?
middleton548
join:2003-02-02
Northport, MI

middleton548

Member

Usage meter

Will we also see "roll-over" bandwidth also. If they want to go to metered billing, let's go. But I want my unused gig's to roll-over month to month also!
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Usage meter

said by middleton548:

Will we also see "roll-over" bandwidth also. If they want to go to metered billing, let's go. But I want my unused gig's to roll-over month to month also!
How a about useing the sat internet fap system?

with off peak non metered time and the way to pay by the bite to bwe fap free? aslo have roll over as well.
middleton548
join:2003-02-02
Northport, MI

middleton548

Member

Re: Usage meter

I used to use Direcway for years. Thier fap system sucks. It's very arbitrary.
grecord
join:2002-01-06
Germantown, MD

grecord

Member

Who will confirm?

The tax man of course. They will make sure they get their cut.
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY

SuperWISP

Member

Karl Bode tries to create FUD

Your water and electric meters aren't regularly checked for accuracy. Why, then, is Karl demanding more from ISPs? Could it be simply to create FUD and cast aspersions upon them, thereby generating more traffic for his Web site?

•••

BobFr
@verizon.net

BobFr

Anon

Consumable? What is being consumed?

The bigger problem with the electric metering metaphor is that we aren't consuming anything. We're talking about words passing through a particular constriction point that the carriers have created.

If you run a wire from a power line your are taking a consumable. If you run a wire to a bit path you are adding capacity.

ibackup
@rcn.com

ibackup

Anon

What about the backups?

I have a lot of data -- over 250GB. I back it up on Mozy and Livedrive. My wife and kids also backup their data. Periodically some program or other will change tags or metadata on my multimedia files and my software will rebackup another 100GB or so.

Metered Internet usage makes backing up lots of data very expensive.