Cox Expands 1TB Data Cap to More Territories

I live in Phoenix, AZ, and called Cox about this. There is no "upgraded plan," at least not a residential one. Your only choice is to switch to a business connection, which costs four to five times as much. Switching providers really isn't an option either...Century link's cap is 350GB!

This is exactly the sort of behavior that econ 101 tells us to expect from a monopoly or oligopoly. If Cox wants to meter like a public utility, then they should be regulated like a public utility. Unfortunately, in our current political climate, all regulation is considered inherently bad... :facepalm:
 
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Starting next month, Cox customers in Arizona, Las Vegas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma will be subject to a 1TB data cap: they’ll have to pay $10 for every 50GB of data they consume over this limit. The data cap is already effective in Cleveland, Ohio; Omaha, Nebraska; Sun Valley, Idaho; Florida, and Georgia.

...the company says that a terabyte of data -- which it claims allows you to watch 140 2-hour HD movies -- is sufficient for the overwhelming majority of customers (98 percent to be precise). Customers signed up to its faster Gigablast plan (available in select regions) will be capped at 2TB of data. Cox customers can manually track their usage using the data usage meter online or via the Cox Connect mobile app. US internet providers are increasingly adopting 1TB caps.

High rates and now hard caps, great way to build good customer relations. :banghead:

So, does this mean that I'll get a credit for every month I don't use 1TB?

At the very least they should be rolling over unused data to the next month. If I only use 500GB most months, but one month I go over 1TB, it doesn't seem fair that I'd be charged extra.

Next time I move I'll make sure I'm not stuck with COX as my only internet option.
 
I've got the choice of "up to" gig cable with a 1.1TB data cap for $180 (that's really only 500 to 600mbps), the same cable provider does offer lower tiers with much smaller data caps, or for ~$35 i can get a no data cap "7" mbps DSL (really 4 to 5).

The choices are endless!

I have 2 choices.
Cox or dial-up (would have to pay for a land line first).
 
That indeed depends on whether your current habits can accomodate the switch to a lower speed internet. In reality 3.2Mbps is still an adequate speed, eg. you can stream youtube's 720p videos in realtime. And I think there is 2 kinds of people in the world: those who know what "VCR" and "VCD" stands for; and those who don't. I personally belong to the former group so I would assume I'd have no trouble in this situation.

If you're having trouble understanding the math behind the 3 Mbps figure, Darunion above kindly posted the calculations I made.


Thank you for rephrasing what I already stated.
 
while we're on isp talk, is fios decent? i can pick fios or spectrum at my new place. currently have spectrum at my old place and they dont care about torrents/data caps but fios seems faster for about the same price.
 
Yes. When Spectrum bought TWC, they advertised very strongly there would be no data caps. I have 60/5 for 44.95/mo after taxes, and no modem rental fee. Extremely happy with the service since change over. I was paying 10/mo for modem, and then another 75/mo plus taxes for 30/3.
We have DirecTV for the other side. Good little discount with the cell phones.


They can't for 3 years. I believe that was part of the contract signed in 2015 or 2016. In 2018 or 2019, they would be free to implement the cap in these markets. I know it sucks.
 
They can't for 3 years. I believe that was part of the contract signed in 2015 or 2016. In 2018 or 2019, they would be free to implement the cap in these markets. I know it sucks.


True. I highly doubt they would implement something like this in Kentucky though. Hell, the state has already sued them over some other stuff, so I don't think they would dare. Google is already knocking on the doors of Lexington and Louisville.
 
1TB data cap: they’ll have to pay $10 for every 50GB of data they consume over this limit.

The overage increment seems too small in my opinion. Anyone who uses enough to hit the 1TB cap in the first place, would blow through an extra 50G like nothing. So if you use an extra 350G you have to pay $70 in overages? It would be cheaper to get a DSL line as a second connection to do some downloading on.

1TB is a pretty shitty cap also. I remember when Comcast called me bitching at me and threatening me because I had used 800GB in a month. Except that was in 2006... These days I average 3-5TB/month.

I've always thought of Cox as a shit ISP that mostly serves areas that I wouldn't want to live anyway. This is only re-enforcing that belief.
 
...the company says that a terabyte of data -- which it claims allows you to watch 140 2-hour HD movies -

Here's the problem with this claim. Assuming we even know what they quantify as an HD movie (im guessing 720p with heavy compression), if you divide this by an average family of say 4 people, thats 35 movies per person. Once again assuming that all you do is watch movies and nothing else, that leaves one movie per day per person. But what if your wife loves to binge watch Orange is the New Black, and you like to binge watch House of Cards? What if little timmy is on summer vacation and playing online video games all damn day, and enjoys streaming them on twitch?

All in all 1TB is probably fine for single guys who live by themselves, but once you start sharing that connection it goes downhill real fast.
 
I can't say if it will impact me or not.

As it is, my wife is usually streaming a show to her IPad and playing a Candy Crush type game on her phone at the same time, while my phone is also connected to the router, and I am on my comp with TS going and playing a game. I have several games I bounce back and froth between each day depending on how I feel, and usually download a new one every month or so.

It would seem that we don't even come close to a 1TB in usage so until I have a problem, it's not a problem.
 
Holy shit you are all getting bent over in the "free market".

I'm at 5 TB data transfer this month, and that's only from 2 of my devices... And the only thing my ISP does is to contact me sometimes and offer me more speed at no extra cost "since I download so much".
 
Gotta love this arbitrary limit, like an anti-innovation safety net to keep future advancements in services and solutions at bay.

Holy shit you are all getting bent over in the "free market".

I'm at 5 TB data transfer this month, and that's only from 2 of my devices... And the only thing my ISP does is to contact me sometimes and offer me more speed at no extra cost "since I download so much".

Well if it's Cox then now you'll pay for it. If it's someone else then it's possible they may enact similar money milking policies in the future as well.
 
Just got this in my Email:

https://image.************/kv072k/Untitled.png

Thanks Trump! Thanks Republicans!

This crap didn't start during Trump, it started during that trashy Kenyan named Obama!

I am forced to Century Link and Cox, I am changing my Cox about to a 50mbit business connection next week. Part of that is so that I can have a static IP, and better support. For my Century Link connection I am already on business. I do have a third MetroE connection, but I am only use it for business stuff.
 
True. I highly doubt they would implement something like this in Kentucky though. Hell, the state has already sued them over some other stuff, so I don't think they would dare. Google is already knocking on the doors of Lexington and Louisville.

Google is no longer expanding the ISP, so that's out, and they can do what they damn well please. They get sue'd fine, they leave, and either someone comes in and does the same, or you just don't have good net, at all. This happened in Jacksonville already 10 years ago on the same principles, don't think it will save you there, either. You either take it and deal, or well, lose it.
 
I betcha dollars to donuts there is a plan they can upgrade to that isn't obscene for that small % of customers.

Nope. I'm in one of those markets now. We don't have gigablast yet, so there is nowhere "up" from where I am unless I buy into a small business plan.
 
We have no choice for broadband here. We're stuck with Cox. Last year the Ultimate Tier (200mbps) had 2TB of bandwidth, then they dropped it to 1TB when they increased the speeds to 300mbps. wtf is up with that?

It seems we already used almost 500GB in 10 days this cycle,

cox-data-usage.jpg


We had the Preferred plan up until a few months ago when we switched to the Ultimate.
It was 100mbps plan with 700GB bandwidth then they upgraded it to 150mbps and uppped the cap to 1TB at the same time they dropped Ultimate from 2TB to 1TB. So preferred accounts got a slight boost while the upper tier got shafted.

this shows our usage and when the cap was increased. We exceeded the cap nearly every month for years,
cox-data-usage-12-2016.jpg
 
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you guys need to have Shentel its the fucking worst provided. 300GB cap is 79 bucks a month. I had to bump up the the 159 plant for 750GB and we still go over. Costing me 10 bucks every 50GB.
 
Does anyone have any idea the margins the ISP's are making on charging these rates to their users?
 
High rates and now hard caps, great way to build good customer relations. :banghead:

So, does this mean that I'll get a credit for every month I don't use 1TB?

At the very least they should be rolling over unused data to the next month. If I only use 500GB most months, but one month I go over 1TB, it doesn't seem fair that I'd be charged extra.

Next time I move I'll make sure I'm not stuck with COX as my only internet option.

I am building a new house now and I absolutely researched who the internet providers were in the developments I was looking into so that I wouldn't be hit with a cap.
 
We have no choice for broadband here. We're stuck with Cox. Last year the Ultimate Tier (200mbps) had 2TB of bandwidth, then they dropped it to 1TB when they increased the speeds to 300mbps. wtf is up with that?

It seems we already used almost 500GB in 10 days this cycle,

View attachment 29040

We had the Preferred plan up until a few months ago when we switched to the Ultimate.
It was 100mbps plan with 700GB bandwidth then they upgraded it to 150mbps and uppped the cap to 1TB at the same time they dropped Ultimate from 2TB to 1TB. So preferred accounts got a slight boost while the upper tier got shafted.

this shows our usage and when the cap was increased. We exceeded the cap nearly every month for years,
View attachment 29041

Damn. I just checked my Cox usage and I sit around 350Gb per month. Which is in line with what my router also says, so at least I know there's no Verizon-esque "close-enough" level or tomfoolery going on there.

Does anyone have any idea the margins the ISP's are making on charging these rates to their users?

Datacaps aren't about the margins or network capacity. They're about trying to make up the shortfall from losing customers to other methods of media. If they're losing a ton of TV/Phone customers to streaming services, they're going to try and introduce a nickel and dime strategy to their internet plans. With NetNeutrality going away, I'd suspect it's only going to get more aggressive with time.

I wouldn't doubt if we don't start seeing plans limit usage more aggressively. Outright block Netflix/Hulu? Doubt it, but maybe a "peak hours" plan that limits your connection unless you pay an additional package amount to not be throttled.

When I first heard Cox was going with a datacap, I was surprised it was so high. 1024Gb is a lot.
 
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Putting in a cap and hoping you go over it through whatever data comes through the pipe is how they stand to make a fortune in the long run.

Caps are coming, for everyone. Then lower caps over time, and higher fees for going over.

Then there's always the per byte billing which would be even more sickening.
 
I got a 100mbps line that usually does like 90mbps here in Toronto Canada. No caps and I usually go through about 500-600gb and that's just netflix 4k and a couple of game downloads. I can see a 1TB cap being a problem.
 
I betcha dollars to donuts there is a plan they can upgrade to that isn't obscene for that small % of customers.

The only upgrade option to get rid of a cap on Cox (sucks) is to go to a business plan. Those require a 3 year commitment and my recollection was that it was 25 down for $75/month or 50 down for $125 in my area.

I was hitting about 1.3TB while doing PS Vue or DTV Now. Even most phone companies have better plans for data use. At least there you have the option to purchase more upfront. I griped on Twitter, on the phone, and via chat with how asinine their plans are. I could never get an answer as to why they are charging me based on speed yet the penalty / cap is on data used. Never got a good answer.

P.O.S. CenturyLink has the same caps unless I go to their gig plan, which isn't available in my neighborhood. An uneducated salesman said I'd never need that speed. I said I agree but that he should stick to selling cable OR he needs to fix their stupid cap.
 
Holy shit you are all getting bent over in the "free market".

I'm at 5 TB data transfer this month, and that's only from 2 of my devices... And the only thing my ISP does is to contact me sometimes and offer me more speed at no extra cost "since I download so much".

The free market is notorious bad at coping with monopolies/oligopolies.
 
I can't say if it will impact me or not.

As it is, my wife is usually streaming a show to her IPad and playing a Candy Crush type game on her phone at the same time, while my phone is also connected to the router, and I am on my comp with TS going and playing a game. I have several games I bounce back and froth between each day depending on how I feel, and usually download a new one every month or so.

It would seem that we don't even come close to a 1TB in usage so until I have a problem, it's not a problem.

So if it's not a problem for YOU, then it's not a problem?

Well, at least you own it. :p
 
I never come close to the 1TB cap but if I could switch off, I would, since this is not a good way of solving network congestion (which can be a real problem) and is just a cash grab. However, there's just no realistic other options. Century Link will offer me "up to" 5mbps which is complete garbage. There's a wireless ISP that talks a good game up front but is pretty evasive on details and when you look in to it turns out to be very low bandwidth as well, in the 10mbps or less category. I could be fine in the 40-50mbps range, though I'd like more, but I just can't take the massive drop in speed that switching would require.

So for now I'll just be annoyed. However if a competitor gets a reasonable offer, I'll switch just to make a statement. However it doesn't seem likely since wireless ISPs seem to be severely bandwidth limited and Century Link is just way too stupid to actually build out their fibre network.
 
Does anyone have any idea the margins the ISP's are making on charging these rates to their users?

pretty obscene margins. Basic internet already has fairly obscene margins. $10 for 50GB is basically 99.999999999999% profit.
 
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