This morning, Comcast turned on the Usage Meter for broadband services for some users in the Northeast. Comcast’s 250GB data usage cap looks to be forming some teeth to go after those that bust the cap. Comcast stresses 99% of their customers come nowhere near the cap.
The current data usage allowance for the Comcast High-Speed Internet service is 250GB per month. This means that the vast majority of our customers – around 99% currently – will not come close to using 250GB of data in a month, and do not need to check the usage meter.
Comcast started testing the Usage Meter last December in Portland, OR. Since then, the Usage Meter has tracked data usage, even for those in the Northeast, as I’ve got 3 full months of data in my history. The Usage Meter tracks all data pulled through the broadband connection. In my case, that is a lot of devices sharing one pipe of data.
For example, in my house I’ve got 4 computers, 3 iPod touch/iPhones, and a jolly TiVo (streaming Netflix movies almost daily). Despite the computers being on almost 24/7, I am nowhere near the cap. Cue sigh of relief.
One of the biggest issues for users is zeroing in on how much data they use. Comcast’s new tool puts my mind at ease and should for the majority of users out there. For those that exceed the cap, Comcast is giving you a tool to keep usage in check or at least provide grounds for them bumping you up to a higher plan or just bumping you off.
Read: [Comcast]
Given that a single 80 minute Netflix movie (in LOW definition) cost me just shy of 1 Gb, a 21 minute TV episode (in HD) costs me about 500 Mb (1/2 a gigabyte), and my most recent one hour of browsing Amazon (looking up some details/specs on some merchandise, that is some PDFs and some bigger pics) cost me 100 Mb (1/10 a Gb), I find your numbers really low. For the record, Comca$t gives us a cap in my area but no meter to use to understand things; I have to use the meter in my router. Do you have any idea why your usage seems so oddly low?
My usage continues to be about 30GB a month. I'll get into the router and see if the numbers disagree.
Thanks! I really appreciate this sort of information as it is hard to get a handle on what usage costs in real terms.