Georgiana Daniels Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yesterday we got a notice in the mail that Suddenlink is capping our internet usage. Is that the way companies are going now? SO frustrated. Yes, I realize I will not likely ever use 150 GB in a month--unless there's a heated discussion on the WTM board ;)--but I don't like having the restriction, nonetheless. Kinda makes me want to run up my GBs to the new limit, just cuz. Do you have a cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have never heard of such a thing. No I have no cap on my internet usage unless it is self imposed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yes, although ours isn't actually capped; after a certain usage, we are charged an extra $10 (which comes along with more bandwith). We have AT&T (landline as well as Internet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 No, I've not ever had a usage cap. I think it would be something that would make me nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We are capped at 2,5Gb (yes, two and a half). And for that we pay US$ 55 per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Curmudgeon Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Internet via cable has a 250GB limit per month. (Comcast) I don't think it is exactly a "cap" in that it can be exceeded but first time exceeded a warning is issued, second time internet service is cut. I believe there is a six month blackout before you can order internet service again after being cut for exceeding the limit. Different stroke for different folks, but I use nowhere near 250 GB. I don't think I've top 100 GB yet. And before I started using Back Blaze to backup everything offsite, didn't break 20 GB. Internet on phone switches to slower speeds after exceeding 2GB in month. (T-Mobile.) Other than that no cap and no extra fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4everHis Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We don't have a cap but my parents do. All it takes is walking away from the computer and not shutting down the internet, or having things automatically updating, to take them to their limit. Now that we've convinced them that's crazy they have a 2 year contract they can't get out of. :banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yes, although ours isn't actually capped; after a certain usage, we are charged an extra $10 (which comes along with more bandwith). We have AT&T (landline as well as Internet). Same for ours altho they sure don't want to give out that info even when you ask! My son received a phone call at his home that they had gone over one month and would be charged if it happened again. We have never gone over even with most of our TV viewing being Netflix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 I'm guessing this might be the wave going forward then :confused: After re-reading the letter, which ironically starts out "In order to provide better service" or some such nonsense, we don't have a "cap" where we get cutoff, but must pay extra if we exceed the limit. Bleh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) We go through Charter. I had no idea, but apparently they have a 100gb cap per month. Given that a 30 minute tv show on Netflix uses 400mb, and dh is an online gamer, I'm a bit worried now. Nice of them to not mention that to us at all when we signed up. :glare: Of course, our town has all the neighborhoods broken up into little internet monopolies, so if we don't go through them, we can't get internet. Edited April 5, 2012 by Mergath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yes, although ours isn't actually capped; after a certain usage, we are charged an extra $10 (which comes along with more bandwith). We have AT&T (landline as well as Internet). We have AT&T mifi for Internet, and this is our arrangement also. This and satellite are our only two choices, and this is cheaper. It would be really nice to be able to stream movies or use Skype... maybe some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommybee Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have had Earthlink for ages and it's on 39.95 and no cap. Works just fine and I have the internet on all the time. It's one reason I have been afraid to switch to att or comcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 That was the old school way of doing things, wasn't it? I mean, back in 1996 there were usage caps, but I thought we'd moved beyond that now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We have Comcast so we have a 250GB cap. I have no idea how we would ever get to that point, though. According to their usage meter, we used about 80 in January, 90 in February, and 70 in March. We have 2 computers, a phone, 2 iPod Touches, and 4 Kindle Fires - all of which are heavily used. We also stream Netflix thru the Wii on a daily basis. You should be able to check your usage thru your provider to get an idea how much you typically use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I'm guessing this might be the wave going forward then :confused: After re-reading the letter, which ironically starts out "In order to provide better service" or some such nonsense, we don't have a "cap" where we get cutoff, but must pay extra if we exceed the limit. Bleh. According to the guy I talked with at AT& T, it's not new. They set it up several years ago, but only 5% of their customers exceed the limits. He sent me to a link where I could monitor my usage. I could not get the link to work at all, and he said he would get back to me. Several times he said he would get back to me. It's been 6 weeks. I am guessing he isn't going to get back to me.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Two questions. 1.) How did you find out you have a cap? 2.) How did you find out your monthly usage? I am not surprised this is coming. With more and more people dropping cable in favor of Hulu+, Amazon Video, and Netflix, internet companies (who provide cable service) are seeing a drop in profits. In order to recoup those profits, they must charge for excess data usage. I get angry because I still can't get "high speed" internet (I pay for 3MBps) but I pay $70 for home phone and DSL, but they are always advertising a $50 (non-introductory rate) with "high speed" internet and unlimited calling. My home phone right now doesn't even have long distance! It's such a rip off!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I have 5 Gb then slowed down to such an extent that you cannot use it. We pay AU$60 per month for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have no cap on our cable internet service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have Comcast so we have a 250GB cap. I have no idea how we would ever get to that point, though. According to their usage meter, we used about 80 in January, 90 in February, and 70 in March. We have 2 computers, a phone, 2 iPod Touches, and 4 Kindle Fires - all of which are heavily used. We also stream Netflix thru the Wii on a daily basis. You should be able to check your usage thru your provider to get an idea how much you typically use. :iagree: Ours is probably similar to this but I don't know exactly, we have ATT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Two questions. 1.) How did you find out you have a cap? 2.) How did you find out your monthly usage? I am not surprised this is coming. With more and more people dropping cable in favor of Hulu+, Amazon Video, and Netflix, internet companies (who provide cable service) are seeing a drop in profits. In order to recoup those profits, they must charge for excess data usage. I get angry because I still can't get "high speed" internet (I pay for 3MBps) but I pay $70 for home phone and DSL, but they are always advertising a $50 (non-introductory rate) with "high speed" internet and unlimited calling. My home phone right now doesn't even have long distance! It's such a rip off!!! I found out when my son got a phone call that he had gone over. He apparently knew there was a cap, but I had no clue. I was in the midst of a change over with AT&T and was making many phone calls to get my bill correct, so I asked the guy on the phone. And yes, all AT& T customers have a cap as of at least a year ago. We were not getting the high speed we were paying for with the DSL line thru Att, so we switched to UVerse internet which according to them was the only way to faster internet. To get the advertised pricing for internet, we also had to switch our phone to U Voice, which does include caller ID and long distance and is cheaper. At least for this year. The whole process was ugly. REally ugly. Bait and switch at every turn. It is so worth it in the end, but I have literally spent hours on the phone with AT & T. My phone number is now on whatever list gets me directly thru to the service center for problem folks. :lol: However, before you go ahead and enter into that nightmare, how old is your modem? When the tech arrived to add the new service, he was pretty sure our problem was our outdated modem. He also said that AT& T should have sent a tech out to check our service after I called the first time and complained our speeds were slow. Instead they would just adjust my bill for another year. Have you done a speed test to determine what your speeds actually are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I live out in the country, and up until 2012, we had Wildblue (satellite). I was paying $129 a month and had limited bandwidth, we were always going over our limit, and would get warning notices. Luckily for me, we now have "fixed wireless" with unlimited bandwidth. :001_smile: I never thought we would get unlimited bandwidth where we live, and I'm so happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyCrazyMama Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Here in the middle of nowhere for high speed wireless we pay $40 for 15gb, if we go over it is $5 per gb. I just raised it from 10gb, which we paid $35 for. They gave us a link for monitoring, unless we watch TV or movies we are fine. We watch youtube on occasion and if we have the margin we might watch a movie or a couple of TV programs. It's always been that way here, well since we were finally able to get rid of dial-up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTwinsMom1 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have the Ultra 100 plan through charter so we get 500gb per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 However, before you go ahead and enter into that nightmare, how old is your modem? When the tech arrived to add the new service, he was pretty sure our problem was our outdated modem. He also said that AT& T should have sent a tech out to check our service after I called the first time and complained our speeds were slow. Instead they would just adjust my bill for another year. Have you done a speed test to determine what your speeds actually are? We had an issue with speed awhile ago, we were only getting speeds of up to 0.5-0.8 MB and it was harsh. We couldn't do any streaming for several weeks. We do a speed test every so often. We've had our current service for over two years now, so the modem is at least that old. I just hate calling phone companies! It is such a pain to work with them! (That being said, I spoke with Verizon today, my wireless company, and I was so mad I thought the $275 termination fee might be worth it!! lol!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherMayI Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I live out in the country, and up until 2012, we had Wildblue (satellite). I was paying $129 a month and had limited bandwidth, we were always going over our limit, and would get warning notices. Luckily for me, we now have "fixed wireless" with unlimited bandwidth. :001_smile: I never thought we would get unlimited bandwidth where we live, and I'm so happy. Here in the middle of nowhere for high speed wireless we pay $40 for 15gb, if we go over it is $5 per gb. I just raised it from 10gb, which we paid $35 for. They gave us a link for monitoring, unless we watch TV or movies we are fine. We watch youtube on occasion and if we have the margin we might watch a movie or a couple of TV programs. It's always been that way here, well since we were finally able to get rid of dial-up! Could you share what company you go through? I live in WA- and I am considered rural...I pay $80 for 10gb !!:glare: I really want unlimited- I feel so restricted with our internet usage! The "fixed wireless" is very intriguing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 We go through Charter. I had no idea, but apparently they have a 100gb cap per month. Given that a 30 minute tv show on Netflix uses 400mb, and dh is an online gamer, I'm a bit worried now. Nice of them to not mention that too us at all when we signed up. :glare: Of course, our town has all the neighborhoods broken up into little internet monopolies, so if we don't go through them, we can't get internet. That would make me so mad to find out after signing. Thankfully my husband doesn't even turn the computer on, so I only have to worry about my own usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Two questions. 1.) How did you find out you have a cap? 2.) How did you find out your monthly usage? I am not surprised this is coming. With more and more people dropping cable in favor of Hulu+, Amazon Video, and Netflix, internet companies (who provide cable service) are seeing a drop in profits. In order to recoup those profits, they must charge for excess data usage. I get angry because I still can't get "high speed" internet (I pay for 3MBps) but I pay $70 for home phone and DSL, but they are always advertising a $50 (non-introductory rate) with "high speed" internet and unlimited calling. My home phone right now doesn't even have long distance! It's such a rip off!!! They sent us a letter to tell us about the changes. The fact that it started out "In order to provide you with better service" (or something equally goofy) made it seem all the more ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I don't have a cap,but we do now have two tiered service. We could pay a premium for faster internet. So far, it isn't enough of an issue to pay more for faster service. We can stream video etc just fine. I have been told that caps are commonplace outside of the US. Is that true? Does anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Wow. We have high speed cable internet through cox. I did not know there were companies that capped. We do pay for a little higher bandwidth because we got a magic jack and need a little extra umph. Dh and I are often on the internet at the same time, so I imagine our usage would be high. :001_huh: I hope this is not a trend to come. I thought the trend was going the other direction. More things seemed to be going to "unlimited". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Wow. We have high speed cable internet through cox. I did not know there were companies that capped. We do pay for a little higher bandwidth because we got a magic jack and need a little extra umph. Dh and I are often on the internet at the same time, so I imagine our usage would be high. :001_huh: I hope this is not a trend to come. I thought the trend was going the other direction. More things seemed to be going to "unlimited". I'd LOVE if things were going more unlimited. Sadly, my phone data is capped at 2gb, and now the internet. What's next, the all you can eat buffet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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