Curse

Inde · Jun 03, 2008, 10:47 PM // 22:47

Wow, why does this article have me so scared. An ISP trying to cap your internet usage to 5 GB to 40 GB a month? Then you pay for each GB over? Pretty sure that a lot of members of this forum exceed that a month with their internet usage. It's probably only a matter of time until this happens.... companies will jump on anything when they find a way to charge their customers more.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/E...ome=1212532783

quickmonty · Jun 03, 2008, 11:04 PM // 23:04

Considering that it's Time Warner .... no big surprise there.

Diddy bow · Jun 03, 2008, 11:27 PM // 23:27

Wont everyone just go to the companies that dont charge?

They make millions now, they will make more with new customers (certainly wont get any less) so why change?

Unlucky Slayer · Jun 03, 2008, 11:44 PM // 23:44

Why would we want to be Aussie Convict Land? Internet Caps would cause riots.

Blackhearted · Jun 03, 2008, 11:46 PM // 23:46

This would really hit me if it eventually comes to my area. Even on time warner's 7mbps tier(which i'm currently on) i'm pretty sure i easily would pass the 15mbps tier's limit. And even without alot of torrent usage. These limits are ridiculously low and need heightened a bit.

Sab · Jun 04, 2008, 12:16 AM // 00:16

I was a bit confused reading it at first, as data caps have been the norm here in NZ (and Australia to a lesser extent). Even now, the average internet user here would still be under a capped plan - something like 5-30 GB per month, either charging for every GB over the limit or reducing the speed to 64 kbs until the next monthly bill.

Several ISPs have offered unlimited plans over the past few years, but all of them have had major problems (I've switched ISPs about four times in the past three years). Often a newly-announced plan becomes so popular that the ISP simply cannot handle all the bandwidth usage from heavy users and becomes excruciatingly slow during peak times. Other issues like downtime, bad customer service, and unstable connections are also pretty common. All of them throttle certain types of traffic (P2P mostly), and their service is comparatively expensive to most other first world countries.

But it's funny to see ISPs going backwards. I'm sure, as the article says, heavy users will just switch ISPs if there's a choice. Especially now, since Youtube is becoming more and more popular amongst casual users, I'm not sure what Time Warner has to gain by capping their internet service.

Snograt · Jun 04, 2008, 06:40 AM // 06:40

Someone in Q&A noticed too ...http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10295436

Anarkii · Jun 04, 2008, 11:29 AM // 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sab

I was a bit confused reading it at first, as data caps have been the norm here in NZ (and Australia to a lesser extent). Even now, the average internet user here would still be under a capped plan - something like 5-30 GB per month

Same. Capping is the norm for any high-speed plan here. I use a lower speed plan that has unlimited traffic.

Elder III · Jun 04, 2008, 11:39 AM // 11:39

I'm currently living in Romania, and here it is common to have a cap on internet usage, for example the cheapest "unlimited (time only) plan i can get is capped at 1.5 gbs/month. I don't download any films or games or music, so it's not a problem.

True unlimited is available, but it costs about 5x as much. Those of us that have lived in the USA or western europe for most of our lives hav been spoiled.

Kattar · Jun 04, 2008, 05:48 PM // 17:48

Pretty sure a few ISPs do this already in the US. You just have to be aware of the contract you're signing.

I agree, it's completely ridiculous though.

Malice Black · Jun 04, 2008, 06:17 PM // 18:17

Mine is uncapped. My download and upload speed is halved during peak times though. (4pm to 9pm)

100MB line is due here soon(ish). I expect that will be capped.

fenix · Jun 05, 2008, 12:38 AM // 00:38

Always had data caps in Australia, which totally sucks. Now you'll all understand why we complain about being capped D:

Lyonette · Jun 05, 2008, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Aussie Convict Land.... heh... that's nice isn't it....

Get used to it Yanks, we've always had data caps and get charged the most in the world for our internet :P

MMSDome · Jun 05, 2008, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenix

Always had data caps in Australia, which totally sucks. Now you'll all understand why we complain about being capped D:

does this mean total amount of gw time would be capped too?

RedNova88 · Jun 05, 2008, 07:17 AM // 07:17

Mmmm this is somewhat upsetting considering I'm supposed to upgrade from DSL to cable in like 10 hours. I suppose I can only hope that they don't put a cap on my usage, I tend to download a lot of mods for games, and watch a lot of youtube so this could be bad...

I guess it'd still be better than what I have now. Crappy 1mb connection that cuts out every 5 minutes and runs like 56k most of the time. But even if it is an upgrade I just hate the idea of being restricted to so many MB/day or GB/month.

Lord Sojar · Jun 05, 2008, 07:38 AM // 07:38

Internet capping isn't going to happen, not in the US at least. They will be unpopular if launched to the public, and the company/companies that attempt to launch such programs will quickly find their customer base comfy in another ISP's lap, paying their own premium. The internet is still a fairly new commodity. Companies are still feeling out their customer bases, and seeing what type of plans they are willing to for, and for how much.

I don't care either way, I will have a T3 connection fed to my house so long as I am employed.

artay · Jun 05, 2008, 07:55 AM // 07:55

12 gig cap here, I usually go over it with 7 days to spare before I get uncapped, which slows it down to me downloading things at 5kb/s.

Speaking of which, I'm uncapped tomorrow, I'll be able to watch a youtube video for the first time in a week. Being in the land of Oz sucks ^^

Qanar · Jun 05, 2008, 08:02 AM // 08:02

Belgium has always had this... I currently have a 17GB cap, but most people here have a 10 or 12GB cap...

Blackhearted · Jun 05, 2008, 09:12 AM // 09:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akuma

I PAY OUT OF MY RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOING ASS FOR 25gb, DO NOT COMPLAIN IF YOU PAY 20 DOLLARS FOR 40GB AT ALL

The 15mbps tier, which the article states is the [rather pathetic] 40gb cap, is far from $20. Seeing as the plan time warner has at only half that speed(7mbps) is like $30 or $40.

Sleeper Service · Jun 05, 2008, 09:36 AM // 09:36

lol? totally uncapped here.

vive la france and all that.