Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use • Hacker News Board

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#11

Post by Thangorodrim » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

fuzzmeister wrote: post #5

rudle wrote: post #4

> My opinion on all this is simple. The ability to access broadband internet is a right, and should be defined as an essential utility. Yawn... first world problems. Broadband is assuredly not your "right", it's a privilege. If the terms of the contract are broken (and they were, twice ) you have very little recourse. More to the point, get a Comcast business line. You will get hassled less, and I hear it may actuall…

I would agree with your argument if the broadband market were actually competitive. The author has no legitimate options for broadband besides Comcast, meaning Comcast can do essentially anything it wants to him. That is not the way a capitalist economy should work.

Actually, that is the way capitalist economies work in reality.

This is a lot of crying for attention. If he wants to have a commercial use case, he should get a commercial circuit.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#12

Post by ams6110 » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

mashmac2 wrote: post #3

VonGuard wrote: post #2

The worst thing about this is not the cutting off of the service, but the fact that this guy has no reasonable alternative to Comcast in his area. Tyranny of the last mile still exists, and isn't going away any time soon.

And he's even near/in a city! Imagine this scenario playing out somewhere where even less options exist, like a rural town in the midwest... you get cut off, you can switch to what? Dial-up?

There's satellite, but bandwidth and limits are worse there.

He was exceeding his limits, and received a couple of warnings. I'm not a fan of Comcast by any means, but it seems to me that in this case he should have upgraded to a plan that would accommodate his needs. Uploading terabytes of AV data to Carbonite isn't going to work very well over standard residential uplink speeds anyway.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#13

Post by Dylan16807 » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

naner wrote: post #6

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast policy, got a warning, and then broke the policy again. I'm not surprised he got cut off. I do not recall details on how long the cut off would be, likely because I spent the next few minutes working with the service agent to add notes to my record about my deta…

The problem isn't comcast's policies themselves, it's the monopoly situation. And that seems like an FCC situation to me.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#14

Post by rudle » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:55 PM UTC

Goronmon wrote: post #7

rudle wrote: post #4

> My opinion on all this is simple. The ability to access broadband internet is a right, and should be defined as an essential utility. Yawn... first world problems. Broadband is assuredly not your "right", it's a privilege. If the terms of the contract are broken (and they were, twice ) you have very little recourse. More to the point, get a Comcast business line. You will get hassled less, and I hear it may actuall…

Yawn... first world problems. I wish I could slap you...

Why?

I was turned off by the American view point of this post.

I can't even stream Netflix in my country, and this guy is complaining that he can't watch 250GB of it?!

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#15

Post by wccrawford » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:57 PM UTC

I totally disagree about broadband being a right. And neither is electricity, insurance, or clean water.

However, I do agree that it's a necessity for modern living, just like the rest of the above. As such, I think it should be protected in the same ways.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#16

Post by rudle » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #13

naner wrote: post #6

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast policy, got a warning, and then broke the policy again. I'm not surprised he got cut off. I do not recall details on how long the cut off would be, likely because I spent the next few minutes working with the service agent to add notes to my record about my deta…

The problem isn't comcast's policies themselves, it's the monopoly situation. And that seems like an FCC situation to me.

What, exactly, does Comcast have a monopoly on? Basic internet access might be considered a necessary utility, but an unlimited 15MB line is certainly not.

Also, http://www.google.com/search?q=high+speed+internet+seattle+w...

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#17

Post by crs » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 5:59 PM UTC

naner wrote: post #6

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast policy, got a warning, and then broke the policy again. I'm not surprised he got cut off. I do not recall details on how long the cut off would be, likely because I spent the next few minutes working with the service agent to add notes to my record about my deta…

Actually if you read his post from a day ago, you will see him state he stopped the open access point. He took steps to stop what he thought was the issue. It was not until the cap was broken a second time that he realized it was his backup system uploading to a 3rd party service.

That is not entitlement at all. If anything it was ignorance of the fact that your upload data is also measured against the cap.

I agree with him about going to the FCC. The fact that he has no where to turn to purchase a competing service means that Comcast can dictate peoples internet usage behavior. My question would be is does the 250g data cap apply when they are watching TV/Movies online via Comcast (XFinity) provided services?

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#18

Post by naner » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 6:00 PM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #13

naner wrote: post #6

I listened to him read his canned warning that if I exceeded their cap again I'd be cut off again. Ok. Sure, the data cap sucks, but this guy broke a Comcast policy, got a warning, and then broke the policy again. I'm not surprised he got cut off. I do not recall details on how long the cut off would be, likely because I spent the next few minutes working with the service agent to add notes to my record about my deta…

The problem isn't comcast's policies themselves, it's the monopoly situation. And that seems like an FCC situation to me.

Assuming Comcast is the only ISP in his area, can he sign up for a Comcast business account? It appears he doesn't just want his account reinstated but he expects unlimited data use.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#19

Post by wccrawford » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 6:00 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #12

mashmac2 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And he's even near/in a city! Imagine this scenario playing out somewhere where even less options exist, like a rural town in the midwest... you get cut off, you can switch to what? Dial-up?

There's satellite, but bandwidth and limits are worse there. He was exceeding his limits, and received a couple of warnings. I'm not a fan of Comcast by any means, but it seems to me that in this case he should have upgraded to a plan that would accommodate his needs. Uploading terabytes of AV data to Carbonite isn't going to work very well over standard residential uplink speeds anyway.

But is there a plan that would meet his needs? 15/3 is top tier in a lot of places, and they often won't sell commercial lines to residences. He may have had no choice but to just use less bandwidth.

Or pay for a second line. It sounds like he and all his friends and random guests were all using a single line. That's not how Comcast envisioned its usage, and their usage caps reflect that.

Don't get me wrong. I think they handled this really poorly. But I don't think he paid enough attention to the situation, either.

Re: Comcast cuts off customer for going over 250GB of legitimate use

#20

Post by sloak » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 6:01 PM UTC

Thangorodrim wrote: post #8

If he is using the circuit for work, then pay the additional cash and get a commercial class circuit which is, effectively, uncapped. He already had one disconnect and chose to ignore it rather than take appropriate steps to modify usage. He agreed to their cap. The idea that internet service is a right is bizarre bourgeoisie bollocks.

No! "internet is a right" is not bollocks, but "unlimited internet is a right" is.