Comcast Data-Caps Coming to Washington (Kent, Olympia: home, purchase, prices)

[CrazyDonkey]

Comcast gets closer to nationwide data caps with expansion in 18 states | Ars Technica

Comcast is bringing data caps to a bunch of new cities beginning November 1, roughly doubling the number of markets where it imposes data limits and overage fees. As before, customers will be allowed to use 1TB of data per month before being hit with overage charges of $10 for each additional 50GB. For an extra $50 per month, customers can purchase unlimited data. Prior to the expansion, Comcast said it was enforcing data caps in 14 percent of the markets in its 39-state territory. Instead of immediately imposing caps nationwide, Comcast has been steadily rolling them out to new markets since 2012, usually adding a few at a time and gauging customer feedback before expanding to more. The caps were originally 300GB a month, but as more customers started exceeding them, they were boosted to 1TB (downloads and uploads combined) this year. Comcast says more than 99 percent of its customers use less than a terabyte of data.

Here are the newly capped areas, according to a Comcast FAQ: Alabama (Dothan); California; Colorado; Florida (North Florida, Southwest Florida and West Palm); Southeastern Georgia; Idaho; Indiana (Indianapolis and Central Indiana, Fort Wayne and Eastern Indiana); Kansas; Michigan (Grand Rapids/Lansing, Detroit, and Eastern Michigan); Minnesota; Missouri; New Mexico; Western Ohio; Oregon; Texas (Houston); Utah; Washington; and Wisconsin.

Comcast's data caps already existed in these markets: Alabama (excluding Dothan); Arizona; Arkansas; Florida (Fort Lauderdale, the Keys, and Miami); Georgia (excluding Southeastern Georgia); Illinois; Northern Indiana; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Southwestern Michigan; Mississippi; Tennessee; Eastern Texas; South Carolina; and Southwest Virginia.

[Note that almost all of the states where data-caps have been previously imposed are "red" states, while many of the new states have traditionally been "blue" states (California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin), where customers are more likely to be tech-savvy and larger consumers of data.]

See also: Tales from Comcast

[cdelena]

I am not thrilled with limits but the reasonable cap (maybe not price) to charge for high use is not unjustified since someone must fund network capacity. I guess it is easy for me to say since I am well below the cap.

I am more frustrated with Comcast move to their Xfinity brand where you can have it their way or not at all. For years I have used DVR Manager to program and monitor multiple DVRs and last month it was replaced with something that does not work. After weeks of conversation with Comcast representatives either claiming ignorance about the product or telling me it was user error, they have finally admitted the product is no longer available. The new offering is inferior and only works with a single X1 DVR.

Comcast is now a giant company with near monopoly control is many markets so I expect it will get worse from here.

[Seacove]

I am very annoyed by the data caps. As someone that often works from home, this is just another way for Comcast to increase bills. They are so fearful that you will switch entirely to Netflix that they make the cable/internet combo cheaper than internet only. We can afford the higher bill but I don't want them to win so I would rather remove services and get unlimited internet.

Our bill jumped to $300. a month earlier this summer, I called them and they said some "contract price" had expired. They said "let's fix that" and did some pricing whatever and said we were set for another two years. Three months later, the price jumps up again. I call them and they say "sorry, that was for 90 days, just a mistake, let's fix that for you". Again, they talk about a "contract". I would assume that with the data cap, that voids all contracts? They are changing the service are they not?

We have basically everything and I figure that's worth about $200. Now they are saying to get unlimited they want to increase the price $50. So something goes, I'm fine with that as long as they get no more from us. And every time you call them, it's a three hour call. Every single time. Notice how they don't post prices anywhere? There is a reason they have the reputation they have.

[CrazyDonkey]

Seacove: Comcast Business doesn't have data-caps, so that is an option. Their consumer pricing scheme is designed to discourage a la carte ordering of services and funnel you into an cable/internet/phone bundle.

Yes, quoting prices without any time limitation, which then "go away", jumping up, without any notice, is nothing new.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Seacove: Comcast Business doesn't have data-caps, so that is an option. Their consumer pricing scheme is designed to discourage a la carte ordering of services and funnel you into an cable/internet/phone bundle.

Yes, quoting prices without any time limitation, which then "go away", jumping up, without any notice, is nothing new.

I think they do these mass price increases to see who will just pay the increased bill without noticing, but the increase was so large I noticed and now I check the bill every month rather than just paying it. I'll look at the Business alternative but I dread the three hour phone call. I would like them to just post the prices and let you shop for your services without ever talking to a Comcast rep again. I have no interest in their excuses or justifications.

[509]

Just move to the Wenatchee Valley....1Gbps service at $150 month with no data caps.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by 509

Just move to the Wenatchee Valley....1Gbps service at $150 month with no data caps.

I'm sure Wenatchee is great but no thanks.

[fluffydelusions]

I don't think I have much choice in the matter. I think Comcast is the only feasible option in Olympia. Could be wrong though.

[notnamed]

Yeah I work from home and stream all video. They say my 3 month average is 456gb. But what happens when 4k streaming becomes the norm?

[MJ5150]

My wife and I work from home, and use a Roku with Hulu and an Apple TV. No video gaming.
We're averaging about 300GB per month, so the 1TB cap is no big deal.
I suspect that cap will creep lower and lower over the months until it affects me, then I'll get my pitchfork and be mad.

-MIke