Shutting Down Big Downloaders-Comcast Cuts Internet Service to Bandwidth Hogs

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

The rapid growth of online videos, music and games has created a new Internet sin: using it too much.

Comcast has punished some transgressors by cutting off their Internet service, arguing that excessive downloaders hog Internet capacity and slow down the network for other customers. The company declines to reveal its download limits.

"You have no way of knowing how much is too much," said Sandra Spalletta of Rockville, whose Internet service was suspended in March after Comcast sent her a letter warning that she and her teenage son were using too much bandwidth. They cut back on downloads but were still disconnected. She said the company would not tell her how to monitor their bandwidth use in order to comply with the limits.

"You want to think you can rely on your home Internet service and not wake up one morning to find it turned off," said Spalletta, who filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Office of Cable and Communication Services. "I thought it was unlimited service."

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Some customers are unaware they are using so much capacity, sometimes because neighbors are covertly connecting through unsecured wireless routers. When they are told of that possibility, many curb their use after an initial warning, Douglas said. Others, however, may be running bandwidth-hungry servers intended for small businesses from their homes, which can bog down a network serving a neighborhood. Comcast said it gives customers a month to fix problems or upgrade to business accounts before shutting off their Internet service.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090602545.html?hpid=topnews

[seriousstan]

1. So you can pay to be a net hog. No problem. Eat more = Pay more.

[2rth2pwr]

2. P2P file sharing of videos and music torrents can use massive amounts

of bandwidth. Comcast has some high speed service , but they should clarify what they are measuring.

[habitual]

3. ummmmmmm ok, but is unlimited, UNLIMITED, or not?

[2rth2pwr]

4. right, what is the definition used?

Does it say unlimited and that's it? or something else.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. If I disappear, that's what happened.

Between my roommate and the kids and my streaming videos... it's a wonder we haven't been kicked yet.

[Mythsaje]

6. I got clarification on this...

The bandwidth limit is 100 GB a month...anything more than this and they have reason to suspect you're trying to conduct business on a personal account rather than pay for the slightly more expensive business account.

The limit is actually in the service agreement every customer signs to get service.

[JCMach1]

7. these people are exceeding 100Gig... they should prob be cut off

that's a massive amoung of data.

[Mythsaje]

8. It is indeed.

The first time it came up I did a little checking and this was what I found out. They DO have a limit, it's clearly stated in the initial contract, and they will warn people if they're violating the terms of the agreement before cutting them off.

If someone NEEDS more than that 100 GB limit, they can upgrade to a commercial service for just a little more a month. There's one guy who's connected to this whole thing who quotes a price of 1500 a month, but that particular plan is one of the high end corporate ones meant for large businesses that use a LOT of bandwidth.

[Orsino]

17. I thought so.

However, the idea that these big users are slowing down Comcast's network is baloney. It turns out to be about money, after all. If they really can't rate-limit and otherwise isolate big-time users, I have no confidence in their ability to provide alleged business-class service.

[Mojambo]

12. Yeah, I do a TON of filesharing and I could never come close to that number.

On a REAL heavy month I might hit 50

[Mythsaje]

22. Never heard a peep of protest from them, have you? n/t

[Mojambo]

23. I don't use Comcast. n/t

[Autobot77]

9. Ok I'm kinda ignorant but...

How much data is 100GBs? Is it someone who's online all the time, or someone who downloads stuff from bit torrent etc?

[entanglement]

11. About 22 single-layer DVDs worth of info - 100,000 minutes of mp3 music

2800 minutes of DVD quality video, 10,000+ minutes of CD quality music.

[cannabis_flower]

18. You know...

that's not that much...2800 minutes of DVD quality video divided by 30 is about and hour and a half of DVD quality video a day. If you download a movie a day and you also surf the net you could be in violation.

[lapfog_1]

13. 330 Kbits/sec

running 24 x 7.

Seems like a lot, but it really isn't. If your Comcast really downloads at 5 Mbit/s, it's only 45 hours of downloading a month or about an hour and a half per day. Which, if your like me and download lots of vids and have Air America playing quite a bit, isn't much at all.

[entanglement]

10. Many home computers are 'zombie' machines - and their owners usually don't have a clue

their shiny dual-core machine with the 3 MBps broadband connection is being used for relaying spam, in DDOS attacks or in a million other illegal ways.

[Born Free]

14. Tivo, a Comcast competitor can use a lot of bandwidth

Tivo services include the capability of downloading movies and shows, and also to share some recordings with other Tivo systems over the internet. All this is legal, each Tivo has a serial number that is placed in the file that Tivo can track down anyone illegally sharing copywrited material. In other words , you can send your Tivo produced recordings of copywrited material to a limited number of Tivo systems, but if they show up anywhere they should not be, Tivo will shut your system down. I don't think home movies have the restrictions of copywrited material. In addition to the Tivo, Comcast has another competitor that uses the cable, it is VOIP and Comcast has been known to throttle that as well to make their own phone service look better.

Even with file sharing , not all of it is illegal, anyone that is active with a linux system will use a lot of downloading, some via bit torrent to keep their software as up to date as possible. My system updates every day, there is always something new. Furthermore some movie rentals are now using bit torrent. Here's an interesting quote from Slashdot:

"It's been widely reported by now that Comcast is throttling BitTorrent traffic. What has escaped attention is the fact that Comcast, like the Great Firewall of China uses forged TCP Reset (RST) packets to do the job. While the Chinese government can do what they want, it turns out that Comcast may actually be violating criminal impersonation statutes in states around the country. Simply put, while it's legal to block traffic on your network, forging data to and from customers is a big no-no."

It is the best interest of Comcast to limit the use of their system so they can sell more ( reminds me of the Jimmy/Tammy Baker over selling the PTL ) , and limiting competitors is always make good financial sense even if it is not legal/moral. However they will never admit to that, it always easier to demonize the "HOGS" and blame it all of a bad bunch of greedy "hogs" that abuse it and ruin it for every one else. Better yet if they can convince the general public these "hogs" are doing illegal stealing and who knows maybe even helping the terrorists!

[entanglement]

15. Just pointing out that users should be careful about security for their own sake

Not defending Comcast and they should certainly have specified download limits upfront to their customers. I'm aware of the Telcos role in the 'tiered' internet fiasco, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear Comcast is throttling bit-torrent traffic.

[annabanana]

16. Does this mean your bandwidth use can spike if

your TIVO is "taping" a broadcast? Or just if you are moving something from your TIVO box onto your computer (via a wireless connection?)

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

19. Verizon Wireless is doing the same with wireless broadband

They are apparently discontinuing service to VZ Wireless customer who download more than 5G per month on the "unlimited download" plan.

[Marnieworld]

20. This is happening to me right now

And it's very frustrating. Every 6 months or so, we've lived in our house for 2 years now, we get a letter about our bandwidth usage and that we have to upgrade our account. This is not Comcast but a small company in PA. They never tell us how much we used. They never say what is the bandwidth limit for each plan they offer. It's not in any of their print literature contracts or website. We have been told by salespeople that did not know our history that it is unlimited. They never specify how much we're suppose to use and they give us no way to monitor our bandwidth. They use subjective terms like "excessive" and "unusual". How do you comply with that? It's also nuts because everytime we upgrade our account we get a faster speed. So we arrive at this unknown bandwidth threshhold faster but that is their solution. It's nuts. We call and say just tell us what to pay to not get these letters anymore or at least what we should be doing. It's always in comparison to others. Should I not be able to watch baseball games online because my neighbor just writes email?

Now we have gone to the highest plan for residential and their solution is get a different modem and get a commerical account at seriously reduced speeds. Which would not have been as bad but now we our accustomed to these speeds and it would also be about 65% more a month. Nice huh? But we also get a domain name and mailboxes and a whole bunch of crap we do not want or need because we are just 2 adults in a residence. We just both are very tech savvy, professionals in fact, that know what the web offers and love it. Is that so wrong?

We live in a fairly rural area so there is no other option. No verizon or other DSL service. We can get satelite but it's the same as the cable company's corporate speed. Now I see from this article that we have no redress and we really might lose service at any time. I guess it's unlimited bandwidth corporate speed for me. :cry:

[KaptBunnyPants]

21. Well, this has been coming for a long time.

I've been hearing about similar schemes being test run in various cities since at least 2001. It's all part of the 80-20 plan. They want to "fire" the 20% of customers who cost them the most resources and retain the 80% who they profit most from. It's the same reason some ISPs drop customers who call into technical support "too often" and some Big Box retailers discourage bargain shoppers from using their stores. It seems to me that treating your customers like "potential money losers" would be bad business, but apparently it's all part of the glorious capitalist revolution that will free us from this life of drudgery.