Broadband internet bandwith caps....

[Psycom5k]

Time Warner tests Internet bandwidth caps
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
January 17, 2008, 11:56 AM

There may be limits coming to high-speed Internet from Time Warner Cable, according to details of a memo obtained by Broadband Reports.

While the new policy is expected to affect about one out of every 20 subscribers, it is aimed at collecting revenue from those who apparently "utilize over half of the total network bandwidth."

Although the cable provider confirmed that the memo is indeed legit, it declined to offer any other details on its plans.

The first subscribers to be subjected to the new caps would be in the Beaumont, Texas area, with a national deployment possible if the new system is determined to be practical. Bandwidth usage to these customers would be metered, and then overage charges would apply if those caps are exceeded.

Such a policy has its pitfalls: consumers respond well to the "unlimited" bandwidth model, and moving back to a metered model could trigger a backlash from existing customers. Comcast has also reportedly tested a similar overage concept, although that backlash threat apparently kept the company from moving forward.

For ISPs that may be concerned about bandwidth issues, there is another option, which in some cases is already being implemented. Heavy users of bandwidth have recently found their connections throttled, and in some cases disconnected altogether.

Time Warner reportedly has already been implementing such a policy, although it has officially denied any type of throttling.

Ok this is some bullshit, because I use timewarner, and when we signed up it was for unlimited internet access at a flat rate. What a bunch of douchebags, I tell you what, if this does go through Im changing companies.

[AmericanManiac]

Wow, that really sucks man i'm sorry. Wouldn't this affect say gamers as well?! SO let's say not only are you paying for a over charge, but if you game on a 360 you have to pay yearly for that as well!? I would be pissed if comcast did this, and I honestly hope for your sake that they do not go through with this nonsense. I think they will lose a lot more money from customers switching companies than they will make over the "overage" fee.

[Phalanx]

I have a 60gb monthly "usage" limit.
No timed usage periods for dl/ul, the only thing is, if I go over 60gb (which I did, just once) I'll get cut down to some ridiculous modem-like speed, and get charged a STUPID amount per MB over (15c...which doesn't sound like too much...but wait until you go almost 5gb over)
Other than that, no complaints, 60gb is actually kind've hard to bust unless you go maniac on it...

Sounds like it's some bullshit with your ISP...guess that's the good part of thousands of ISPs out there to choose from. Dump one, find one that better suits your needs. Sounds like this place is set to shoot itself in the foot in all honesty, you might wanna just jump ship anyway.

[bloody_ribcut]

fuck!they already charge fortybucks for the shit.

[missmacabre]

my service provider has bandwitch charges. Not a big deal really but we were signed up for the smallest internet package. Didnt have a lot of bandwidth so we were always getting changed 30 dollars on top of our flat rate of say 30 bucks. The company didnt tell us that for only 50 dollars we could have the next bigger package, not go over our bandwith allowance and save 10 bucks. (numbers are hypothetical cause i dont rememver what they were) This went on for years before I checked the bill and did the math to find out we were getting ripped off. So we called and complained and got 4 months of free internet.

[neverending]

"Jumping Ship" is easier said than done. Most cities contract one isp for their area. If I wanted to dump Comcast here I could.... go to DSL which would be unacceptable for many reasons.

Using 60 gb ain't so hard to do either. I broadcast an internet radio station, and with one little 32k stream going to my streamhost, I use a gb every couple of days- just for that. If I wanted to watch a couple streaming movies from Netflix and then play a couple heavy duty online games... I'd be pretty close to my limit.

Ultimately this will be bad for business. Bad for the isps, and bad for places like netflix who rely on people not worrying about their bandwidth. And new web applications & services are not going to get LESS bandwidth intensive as time goes on. They're going to have to back down on this.

[Psycom5k]

Yeah, the problem is, I play WoW, not at the moment because my computer broke and im saving to get a new one that can actually play it on. But if I get a freaking bandwith cap im going to get screwed. Not to mention that somebody at my place is addicted to freakin myspace. And all those stupid ass glitter graphics will probably eat up the bandwith in a day.

[ManchestrMorgue]

I feel your pain.

In Australia almost every broadband plan is usage capped. After that you are either slowed down to dialup speeds or charged a shitload for extra quota (eg $150 per gigabyte - I shit you not).

We also pay dearly for the privilege. I used to be on an ADSL1 plan (up to 8mbit speed dl, 364kbit ul) and it cost me $90 per month. And that wasn't an unreasonable charge for Australia

Luckily, ADSL2+ has been enabled at my exchange, and I now get 150 gigs a month for $70.

Unlimited broadband is something we can only dream about....

[Psycom5k]

Originally Posted by neverending

"Jumping Ship" is easier said than done. Most cities contract one isp for their area. If I wanted to dump Comcast here I could.... go to DSL which would be unacceptable for many reasons.

Using 60 gb ain't so hard to do either. I broadcast an internet radio station, and with one little 32k stream going to my streamhost, I use a gb every couple of days- just for that. If I wanted to watch a couple streaming movies from Netflix and then play a couple heavy duty online games... I'd be pretty close to my limit.

Ultimately this will be bad for business. Bad for the isps, and bad for places like netflix who rely on people not worrying about their bandwidth. And new web applications & services are not going to get LESS bandwidth intensive as time goes on. They're going to have to back down on this.

Well, after researching a little bit yesterday, I have come to he conclusion that my ISP pretty much has me by the balls. Because my area is under a contract with Time Warner. Which basicly I would have to move about 4 towns away just to swith my ISP, which is pretty unrealistic. So its either that, or DSL and like you said, DSL is unacceptable.