Comcast: Acceptable Use Policy

[dave601]

Just received the following from Comcast. Can anyone tell me approx. how many torrents I can upload/download with 250GB?

Thanks!!!!

"On October 1, 2008, Comcast will post an updated AUP that will go into effect at that time.

In the updated AUP, we clarify that monthly data (or bandwidth) usage of more than 250 Gigabytes (GB) is the specific threshold that defines excessive use of our service.

If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast's Customer Security Assurance ("CSA") group to notify them of excessive use. At that time, Comcast will tell the customer exactly how much data per month he or she had used.

If a customer surpasses 250 GB and is one of the top users of the service for a second time within a six-month timeframe, his or her service will be subject to termination for one year. After the one year period expires, the customer may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to his or her needs."[/COLOR]

 

[Sakunyuusha]

Seriously. -_-; Dude. Only you can determine whether you will or will not go over the 250 limit. But to put it to you simply,

if there are 31 days in the longest of calendar months,
and if you have a 250 GB monthly limit,
then on average you can only download 8 GB a day
or on average you can torrent only 4 GB a day (assuming a ULL ratio of 1.000)

For most people, this will not be a problem. Even the most heavy of hentai and anime pirates rarely torrent 4 GB a day for 31 consecutive days.

The people who this will hurt in the hentai and anime communities are those who style themselves as "big seeders" and who like to seed 30-40 torrents at a time using all of the UL bandwidth that their service provides them with. Those people are going to have to cut back on their torrenting behavior, and even then they should be fine -- they just need to limit themselves to less than 8 GB of total uploading and downloading.

The other people who this will hurt are those who illegally download DVDs and other large (even uncompressed) movie files.

Finally, you need to be careful -- because your downloading is not just what you torrent, right? If you go to Youtube or other streaming video websites, that will play a large but hidden factor in your bandwidth consumption.

Word to the wise? Try not to download more than 1 GB a day for more than 3 straight days and I think you should be fine and completely outside of Comcast's radar. I'd also suggest not downloading more than 6 GB (direct download) or 3 GB (BitTorrent) on any given day so as to not attract their attention there, either.

 

[dave601]

Word to the wise? Try not to download more than 1 GB a day for more than 3 straight days and I think you should be fine and completely outside of Comcast's radar. I'd also suggest not downloading more than 6 GB (direct download) or 3 GB (BitTorrent) on any given day so as to not attract their attention there, either.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the info. Now that I think about it I'll have to limit myself to one good ISO a week. (Download: 3.5GB + Upload at 5:1 ratio = 21GB)

Other users at this address like Video programming.

For what Concast charges a month for their service it should be unlimited!!!!

 

[Sakunyuusha]

There is nothing in the world which is provided to consumers in infinite supply unless it is also provided free of charge. Limited supply requires prices, and so vice-versa prices tell you that something's supply is limited. Comcast could charge you $40 a month as they do, $400 a month as we're lucky they don't, or $4 a month as we wish they would and it wouldn't change the fact that they would not be able to give you unlimited bandwidth. Even at $4 a month, that would still mean that bandwidth is in limited supply and that if you want more than you're going to have to pay for it.

Which brings us to the next point: if Comcast catches on to you for downloading more than your fair share, they previously told customers "we're going to terminate your service for one month and then offer you a new plan." Now it looks like that ban is for one year. But I imagine the "new plan" is still the same -- Comcast offers you a "Comcast Power User" account for $80/mo as opposed to the $40/mo you used to pay. When you tell them you refuse to pay $80/mo for cable, they tell you that they refuse to hook you back up. And because cable internet is monopolized on a city-by-city basis in this country, if Comcast is all you've got then either you do what they tell you to do or else you get no internet period.

So yeah. If you think $40/mo is bad, just wait until you have to pay $80/mo for going over the limit. Don't like that? Then be smart and stay the fuck away from the 250 GB monthly limit. Play it safe and, at the very worst, do 200 to 220 GB of monthly traffic. Don't even go near 240 GB -- who knows what kind of legal acrobatics Comcast could pull on you to justify transferring you to their Power Users list.

 

[dave601]

Thanks for the advice Sakunyuusha. I'll try to do as you suggest. Just another thing to monitor. issed:

 

[fr0stbyte]

So are there any alternatives to ComCast?