AT&T is saying this will only affect 2% of there customers. So 98% of customers "shouldn't" have a any actual issues as a result of this change... in theory.
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
AT&T To Cap DSL Internet Data Usage At 150GB
- Thread starter HardOCP News
- Start date
AT&T is saying this will only affect 2% of there customers. So 98% of customers "shouldn't" have a any actual issues as a result of this change... in theory.
Cerulean
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
- Messages
- 9,476
And if what AT&T says is true, then it shouldn't. It's just like webhosting; if you know for a fact the numbers, then you can go ahead and safely impose limits and know how many of those customers will obviously have a problem.
And I thought I was a heavy user... both my NetLimiter logs and ISP usage stats page prove otherwise. (In other words, I am far from being a heavy user.)
Seriously, what do you guys download via torrents? Do you honestly enjoy every minute/byte's worth of what you download? Go outside.
My guess is a lot of people like to collect media. For instance, they download entire seasons of shows they never actually end up watching. And then a higher quality version comes out and they download that too.
I consider myself a pretty high user. I torrent a bunch of stuff, buy almost all my games on steam, reformat every few months, use netflix streaming, mistakenly leave my torrents running longer than I wanted, etc. I generally peak around 100-150GB a month with most months around 50-100GB. People using 1TB are ridiculous.
I consider myself a pretty high user. I torrent a bunch of stuff, buy almost all my games on steam, reformat every few months, use netflix streaming, mistakenly leave my torrents running longer than I wanted, etc. I generally peak around 100-150GB a month with most months around 50-100GB. People using 1TB are ridiculous.
Team Obi Juan
Your Local Postmaster
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2005
- Messages
- 23,276
And then they accidentally the whole thing.
I wish I could dump the 90% of channels on Cable we never watch, and not have to pay for them.
We never watch sports, yet ESPN is one of the most expensive channels, yet is included in the base cable package.
I'd really consider switching to OTA broadcast, but I'm on the wrong side of the hill, and get almost zero TV reception.
You do know that every other ISP will eventually follow with similar caps. With Comcast, who also has a 250GB "soft" cap, depending on how many subs are on the same node as you, they could cut you off after just one letter.
This is the beginning of the end of the "free as in beer" internet, UBB (usage based billing) is not too far off.
BigYoSpeck
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2011
- Messages
- 155
I'm sorry but how are they not being investigated for price fixing / cartel? Bandwidth has got to be the cheapest commodity you can sell. I thought we'd seen the end of this metered crap with the death of dialup.
They used to be able to blag it with the heavy user crap when we were on lower speed connections, but now we're hitting the threshold for quality legal HD content very few people aren't heavy users.
They used to be able to blag it with the heavy user crap when we were on lower speed connections, but now we're hitting the threshold for quality legal HD content very few people aren't heavy users.
Cerulean
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
- Messages
- 9,476
Lobbying, political bum kissing, stalks.
Not really a big deal i have comcast with the 250gb cap and with 8 pc's 2 360's on live 2 bluray players for netflix and tons of download gaming the list goes on and running my pc repair business from my house so dling update patches blah blah blah ive never used more than 75 gb and average 50 to 60 gb a month usage.
Lol @ everyone pretending like they can they retaliate by changing ISPs. If DSL has caps and cable has caps what exactly does that leave? Free markets don't work when they're imaginary.
Don't worry, though; I'm sure it's somehow the government's fault.
And yet whenever a politician wants to implement net neutrality rules we scream no government interference...
Don't worry, though; I'm sure it's somehow the government's fault.
And yet whenever a politician wants to implement net neutrality rules we scream no government interference...
Yup, when I go it I originally subscribed with TV. Cancelled shortly after and went back to my Tivo/antenna which gets 90% of the programming I want.
There's a reason there is only ever 1 cable and 1 phone company in an area and it isn't because there isn't enough space for cables.
As soon as sports embrace Internet streaming, cable companies are fucked when it comes to the younger generation. OTA I can get Monday night/Sunday football, plus my local team games...when I can get everything online (maybe with a nominal fee), don't need regular TV anymore.
Wrong. U-verse.
I sell u-verse daily. Tv IS pushed, but it isn't required.
dgingeri
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2004
- Messages
- 2,830
Are you kidding???? Do you even know about the costs involved with these connections? a 150Mb/s connection (Note: not the data amount, but the bandwidth) costs $1500/month from the AT&T backbone network. They have to pay that every month for every node. It's certainly not cheap. Many businesses, like my employer 2 years ago, run connections like this. My current employer is being cheap with a T3 connection for 400 employees for $400/month. Our San Jose office has a 10Mb/s connection, to connect to our remote access lab, for $300 per month. (I don't get how they expect software developers to actually use a remote lab with a connection speed of 10Mb/s and actually get any work done, but Verizon is being especially expensive in their charges for business connections in San Jose. Gotta spend money to make money.)
The point isn't the data that is downloaded, but the fact that people downloading so much are using so much of the bandwidth that other customers aren't able to get a decent speed. To expand their infrastructure to increase the bandwidth to facilitate those customers costs major money. Installation of a 150Mb/s connection costs in excess of $10k, plus running it costs $1500 per month. your comment that they should "add more fiber" is an extremely expensive prospect.
Comcast charges $60/month for a regular residential connection. They make about $5 per month of profit from that after figuring in the cost of the connection from the segment node, the cost of maintenance personnel for the segment, the cost of customer service people, and the cost of the equipment. With enough customers, that makes for a lot of money, but if they have to upgrade their bandwidth by a mere 10%, that profit disappears. A company can't operate without a profit for very long, and they certainly can't operate at a loss.
It's not the amount, it is how some people, consume far more bandwidth than their fair share and slow it down for those of us who use it normally. I would bet many people complaining here don't even get 1/10 of the cap they're talking about here, and those that do are probably file sharing illegal movie and music. While I don't agree with the RIAA or MPAA tactics of suing everybody, especially with how careless they are about getting the right people, I don't like people who go downloading all the music they can just because they can. YOU DON'T NEED 77GB OF MUSIC AND 32TB OF MOVIES! YOU COULD NEVER WATCH THAT MANY MOVIES OR LISTEN TO THAT MUCH MUSIC IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE!!!!! (IF YOU ARE, THEN STOP BEING SUCH A LAZY BUTT AND ACTUALLY WORK FOR A LIVING!!) STOP MAKING MY GAME HAVE SUCH HORRIBLE LATENCY WITH YOUR MUSIC AND MOVIE DOWNLOADING!!!!!!
Aaron Harmon
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
- Messages
- 82
Guess I wont be switching to AT&T anytime soon
Were the guinea pigs. and since the people aren't out in the streets with pitch forks (no guns, were civil, to bad) the companies are taking us to the cleaners. Shawcable so far has left the extreme internet at 100g cap(laughable) price rise to $59.00 April 1s from $57.00. The one that is insulting is the lowest end. Shaw cable is charging $29.95 and dropping the cap from 25 g to 15g. It looks like shaw wants the bottom to be strictly email and family pics. The middle level is or will be $49.00 with the same cap of 60 g.If I was an American I'd be screaming now before all your changes take place. Just look north of the border to see where your heading.
What are you, the internet police? Yes I download a fair bit of content, and yes I watch it all. I like movies. That said, the vast majority of my usage (typically 75%+) is seeding the content I have.
This isn't the point, though. They are selling an unlimited connection, and they should honor that. This BS about not being able to support the traffic that heavy users create is simply that, BS. They certainly have enough money to expand their infrastructure and that is exactly what they should do. They are imposing caps as an attempt to stifle the expanding streaming video markets which would cut into their bread and butter, the way over priced TV service. Caps are going to end up stifling innovation and impacting the way everyone uses technology, not just the hardcore users or the torrent users. 70% of the internet traffic is now streaming video such as Netflix.
BigYoSpeck
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2011
- Messages
- 155
They don't need to mandate internet laws and regulations, they can just stick to the existing cartel laws to enforce a genuine free market.
nobody_here
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2006
- Messages
- 8,878
thats all i have ever gotten out of DSL, which is why i dont get DSL, cable doesnt typically have those issues
Unknown-One
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2005
- Messages
- 8,909
Just did a little math...
I average 300 GB of throughput per-month, with spikes up to 400 GB every once in a while. Now, my normal bill is $38, which gives me an initial 150 GB cap. I'll suffer between 3 and 5 overages every month, at $10 for each overage, which means my bill will be somewhere between $68 and $88 every month.
I'm only getting 6mbps and a 150GB cap from AT&T. At that price, I might as well move over to Comcast, who will give me 20mbps and a 250GB cap for $60 a month.
I'd still blow through Comcast's cap, however...so I'll be moving to Earthlink instead. Same speed and same price as my current AT&T connection, without any kind of cap.
I average 300 GB of throughput per-month, with spikes up to 400 GB every once in a while. Now, my normal bill is $38, which gives me an initial 150 GB cap. I'll suffer between 3 and 5 overages every month, at $10 for each overage, which means my bill will be somewhere between $68 and $88 every month.
I'm only getting 6mbps and a 150GB cap from AT&T. At that price, I might as well move over to Comcast, who will give me 20mbps and a 250GB cap for $60 a month.
I'd still blow through Comcast's cap, however...so I'll be moving to Earthlink instead. Same speed and same price as my current AT&T connection, without any kind of cap.
nobody_here
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2006
- Messages
- 8,878
so this is going to be interesting
my ISP, Insight Communications is the one area that wasn't sold off to Comcast
they offer packages in megabits, 10, 20, 30 and 50.....
they also do not have a cap (would be kind of hard to justify paying for a 50 megabit service if you could hit the cap in a week)
my ISP, Insight Communications is the one area that wasn't sold off to Comcast
they offer packages in megabits, 10, 20, 30 and 50.....
they also do not have a cap (would be kind of hard to justify paying for a 50 megabit service if you could hit the cap in a week)
Apathy
Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2004
- Messages
- 890
fios forever and nothing else ever again.
potatorage
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2010
- Messages
- 354
This is ridiculous! Now I can't download as much HD Porn as I usually do...
bigstusexy
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2002
- Messages
- 3,194
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like being measured for a simple service in two says. Either tell me what speed I access the service or tell me how much I access the service not booth.
The quotation that connections to end points costs so much money, that they can not keep up, that they aren't making much money on this is plain BS and has been debunked time and time again. in the end it is money they want and to hold on to what position and subscribers they have be it the main service you are focusing on or others.
Another thing to watch out for is how AT&T Sells access to resellers, if not with the switch for its customers soon, I fully expect them to force this pricing model on to resellers.
The quotation that connections to end points costs so much money, that they can not keep up, that they aren't making much money on this is plain BS and has been debunked time and time again. in the end it is money they want and to hold on to what position and subscribers they have be it the main service you are focusing on or others.
Another thing to watch out for is how AT&T Sells access to resellers, if not with the switch for its customers soon, I fully expect them to force this pricing model on to resellers.
Team Obi Juan
Your Local Postmaster
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2005
- Messages
- 23,276
Verizon added wireless data tiers after AT&T did.
stop!theradio
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2007
- Messages
- 3,523
Hm - while I don't think my fiancee and I would go over that cap - it still sucks knowing it's there.
AT&T is currently the ONLY option where I'm at, aside from satellite or dial up, which are NOT options
AT&T is currently the ONLY option where I'm at, aside from satellite or dial up, which are NOT options
Holy crap, this is extremely bad news! My only choice is AT&T DSL, dial-up modem (yeah, right), and I think Clear WiMax is offering service in my area. I was sad for Comcrap customers when they got the 250 GB cap and now AT&T is going to screw us DSL subscribers by undercutting that cap by 40%?! That's BS!! Man I wish Charter cable modem service was available in my area. 1 mi. away, homes have that, but not in my dev.
skiddy
2[H]4U
- Joined
- May 31, 2003
- Messages
- 2,725
If Verizon puts caps on fios I'm screwed
Crossing my fingers that they don't.
Crossing my fingers that they don't.
Thug Esquire
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Messages
- 1,494
Thank you for fighting the good fight. There are far too many people who trust corporations more than the government.
They probably will. It's like with airlines. When one implements a fee or raises their price, almost all of them follow.If Verizon puts caps on fios I'm screwed
Crossing my fingers that they don't.
computerpro3
LightningRod
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2003
- Messages
- 8,702
You are so full of shit that I'm cracking up. If you download even a few linux ISO's you'd already be around 6GB. Add in even one or two netflix movies a month and two hulu movies and you're already over that.
Downloading one blu-ray is 8GB heavily compressed.