# With broadband cap talks getting louder is Directv paying attention?



## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

With all the recent announcements about caps on broadband is D* paying attention? This could have a dramatic effect on their on demand program. With companies like Frontier ( http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Will-Frontier-Enforce-New-5GB-Cap-96723 ) implementing caps as low as 5 gig D* should be speaking loudly against these caps.

Anyone else think so too?


----------



## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

rahlquist said:


> With all the recent announcements about caps on broadband is D* paying attention? This could have a dramatic effect on their on demand program. With companies like Frontier ( http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Will-Frontier-Enforce-New-5GB-Cap-96723 ) implementing caps as low as 5 gig D* should be speaking loudly against these caps.
> 
> Anyone else think so too?


Frontier will quickly find themselves in hot water over this cap... They will (chose form the following) a) get sued b) lose clients as bandwidth demand goes up c) run afoul of the FCC (see Comcast).

Broadband caps are a lot of talk, while the ISP's ramp up there LONG overdue delivery of higher speeds. AT&T isn't talking at all... and they are rushing construction of 12MB+ DSL and even fiber optic networks.

Countries acroos the globe routinely offer much higher bandwidths than we get in the USA. The ISP's are all jockeying to figure out how to build these much higher speed networks, preferably with some kind of taxpayer support or protection against interference in pricing structures, as quickly as possible. Video is why.

While I suspect DirecTV is keeping an eye on the situation, they probably aren't too worried.


----------



## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Broadband caps are a lot of talk, while the ISP's ramp up there LONG overdue delivery of higher speeds. AT&T isn't talking at all... and they are rushing construction of 12MB+ DSL and even fiber optic networks.


 Their fiber though is more for their own UVerse program than regular joes using them from broadband. They laughably announced a week or two ago they would be able to support 2 HD streams to the home with bonded DSL and still provide bandwidth for surfing. While a good achievement for DSL how does the compete with the average enthusiast DTV install, heck with my system I can be recording 2HD and 4 SD streams at once with no impact on my broadband. As for the pricing, they may not call it caps but their usage based prising is coming. They mentioned it again recently as noted http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2008/06/at-considers-tiered-pricing.html



> Countries across the globe routinely offer much higher bandwidths than we get in the USA. The ISP's are all jockeying to figure out how to build these much higher speed networks, preferably with some kind of taxpayer support or protection against interference in pricing structures, as quickly as possible. Video is why.
> 
> While I suspect DirecTV is keeping an eye on the situation, they probably aren't too worried.


Agreed other countries have some areas with much more bandwidth than joe avg here can dream of. I can understand the profit motive but at a certain point they are going to have to take a risk here or pass all their costs onto the consumers and let the market battle it out. I just think that if they go to a seriously tiered price system that DTV could get left out in the cold for on demand.


----------



## NCMAT (Feb 13, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Broadband caps are a lot of talk, while the ISP's ramp up there LONG overdue delivery of higher speeds. AT&T isn't talking at all... and they are rushing construction of 12MB+ DSL and even fiber optic networks.


AT&T isn't talking about caps, but they are talking about charging extra for heavy usage.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5058262


----------



## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Which is probably worse than a cap since they will not stop you from running up a huge bill.


----------



## Starchy77 (Jul 18, 2008)

LarryFlowers said:


> Frontier will quickly find themselves in hot water over this cap... They will (chose form the following) a) get sued b) lose clients as bandwidth demand goes up c) run afoul of the FCC (see Comcast).


Hey Larry - can you expand on the "See Comcast" comment? I have comcast internet and, while I had heard they were supposed to be capping usage, I have not been shut off nor has my bill gone up. I would like to see some more of what may be coming on this!


----------



## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

So uhh how many of you pull your DOD over comcast? Will this affect you if it comes true?

http://consumerist.com/5043167/comcast-250-gb-cap-coming-october-1st


----------



## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Has anyone heard if Cox Communications is doing this too?

Thanks


----------



## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

Starchy77 said:


> Hey Larry - can you expand on the "See Comcast" comment? I have comcast internet and, while I had heard they were supposed to be capping usage, I have not been shut off nor has my bill gone up. I would like to see some more of what may be coming on this!


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080829/wr_nm/comcast_internet_dc


----------



## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

The 250gb cap Comcast just announced is pretty high. Thats a LOT of DOD HD movies.


----------



## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

elwaylite said:


> The 250gb cap Comcast just announced is pretty high. Thats a LOT of DOD HD movies.


Perhaps. That does seem to be a lot but if you figure that a HR2x with 320 Gig of which 220 is avail to you(isnt that the figure folks use) to use will get you 50 hours of recordings in HD, thats 25 movies a month in HD assuming 2 hours per movie.

May be high for a couple but for a family with kids also using the connection for other uses this could add up fast!

Add in things like Superfan where you are streaming some sports etc too.


----------



## Barmat (Aug 27, 2006)

This is going to really mess w/ my love of HD and pron downloads.


----------



## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

Comcast has said this is just a public acknowledgment of the heavy user cap they have been using for quite a while. According to the FAQ they won't charge you anything or cut you off the first time you go over. They will just notify you that you went over. A second time in 6 months and they will cut you off and not offer you service for a year.


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I think Comcast has actually changed how they react to the high usage. Previously they were throttling high use accounts in a manner that greatly reduced bandwidth to the abusing accounts, without telling them. That is what got them in trouble.

Now, they are placing a 250 gig cap and telling you up front.

In reality, 250 GB is a rather huge amount that even the average heavy user would rarely approach. Personally, I would rather see this cap than have my internet bog down to a snails pace in the evening because I have a neighbor who is a bandwidth hog.

Carl


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

I want them (Comcast) to generate usage reports as part of my bill. In fact, they should give us all usage reports over the last year so we can judge our usage in light of the new cap.

I do video streaming of sports, watch Netflix movies and use DoD regularly.


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

evan_s said:


> Comcast has said this is just a public acknowledgment of the heavy user cap they have been using for quite a while. According to the FAQ they won't charge you anything or cut you off the first time you go over. They will just notify you that you went over. A second time in 6 months and they will cut you off and not offer you service for a year.


Ah, yeah sure... A company is going to tell a customer they can't have service for 6 months, and there for forfeit that customer to a competitor and loose them forever, and not just for internet, but tv too? I doubt they would actually do that to many customers..


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

tonyd79 said:


> I want them (Comcast) to generate usage reports as part of my bill. In fact, they should give us all usage reports over the last year so we can judge our usage in light of the new cap.
> 
> I do video streaming of sports, watch Netflix movies and use DoD regularly.


Thats a interesting idea... I think all providers should offer usage numbers. I would be curious...


----------



## NickD (Apr 5, 2007)

tonyd79 said:


> I want them (Comcast) to generate usage reports as part of my bill. In fact, they should give us all usage reports over the last year so we can judge our usage in light of the new cap.
> 
> I do video streaming of sports, watch Netflix movies and use DoD regularly.


I really like this idea, or create a box/meter so that I can watch my usage at home and not have to wait for my monthly bill.


----------



## Lethargic (Sep 5, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> Ah, yeah sure... A company is going to tell a customer they can't have service for 6 months, and there for forfeit that customer to a competitor and loose them forever, and not just for internet, but tv too? I doubt they would actually do that to many customers..


Sure......if there IS a competitor to lose a customer too. There's not one in my area and nobody seems to be on the way either. It's Comcast or dial up. My internet from Comcast has been screwed up for a well over a year and all the calling and begging for help leads nowhere. It never gets fixed. And why would they fix it? They have no competition for me to threaten them with.


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

inkahauts said:


> Ah, yeah sure... A company is going to tell a customer they can't have service for 6 months, and there for forfeit that customer to a competitor and loose them forever, and not just for internet, but tv too? I doubt they would actually do that to many customers..


There are those very few customers who most companies would simply love to lose.

Carl


----------



## ebockelman (Aug 16, 2006)

NickD said:


> I really like this idea, or create a box/meter so that I can watch my usage at home and not have to wait for my monthly bill.


A router with the appropriate software can do this. See http://oss.oetiker.ch/mrtg/.


----------



## snoopy12533 (Sep 6, 2008)

I have comcast and and stuck with them as they are the only broadband provider in my area and i just read about the caps they putting ijn place in october and i am pissed  Between 6 people we do a lot of downloading in our household and i will be getting our first HD DVR Receiver on september 18. I am Worried that we may go over there 250 gb limit using the DOD Service. What are the typical sizes of movies and tv shows in SD and HD.


----------



## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

theratpatrol said:


> Has anyone heard if Cox Communications is doing this too?
> 
> Thanks


Anyone hear if Cox is going to do this?

Thanks


----------



## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Cox has had caps on their broadband for about a year. They have been very upfront about it. The information is right on their website

http://www.cox.com/policy/limitations.asp

Cox has caps, Comcast will have caps, Time Warner is testing them in one market, Frontier has caps, AT&T and Qwest are considering. If you don't like caps, look into getting a business account, it will cost more but caps should not apply and you'll also get faster service if your connection goes down.


----------



## lostman72 (Nov 28, 2005)

I think Comcast should grow as the demand grows. They need to add more NODE's as demand goes up. They should always have unlimited. Just charge more. They can do something like 2.5Meg for 29.99 and so on. Heck they are testing out some new faster networks. I don't see what the big deal is. I understand like cell phone co. capping at 5G because it's a shared carrier. I have Comcast cast now and the first time I go over I will FIRE them and go with some one else. People need to speak with there wallets and they will get the hint.

http://www.broadbandinfo.com/news/comcast-and-nortel-networks-test-100g-wavelength-03242008.html


----------



## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Steve Mehs said:


> Cox has had caps on their broadband for about a year. They have been very upfront about it. The information is right on their website
> 
> http://www.cox.com/policy/limitations.asp
> 
> Cox has caps, Comcast will have caps, Time Warner is testing them in one market, Frontier has caps, AT&T and Qwest are considering. If you don't like caps, look into getting a business account, it will cost more but caps should not apply and you'll also get faster service if your connection goes down.


I didn't even they had caps, I guess I'm not going over them. But it really doesn't say what their caps are on that page, unless I'm not seeing it.

Thanks


----------



## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Premier with PowerBoost Package

Feature Maximum Limit

1. Maximum downstream speed 1 10 - 20 megabits per second 
2. Maximum upstream speed 1 1 - 2 megabits per second 
*3. Maximum monthly consumption cap 60 gigabytes downstream; 15 gigabytes upstream *
4. Personal WebSpace account size 10 megabytes of disk space per User ID 
5. Personal WebSpace traffic 300 megabytes of traffic per month (for visitors viewing your pages)


----------



## lostman72 (Nov 28, 2005)

Looks like the FCC my stop them from putting in there caps after all? Let's hope!

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=8962621


----------



## NickD (Apr 5, 2007)

lostman72 said:


> Looks like the FCC my stop them from putting in there caps after all? Let's hope!
> 
> http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=8962621


Unless I missed something in the article, I did not read anything referring to the caps, just that they could not block content.


----------



## loudo (Mar 24, 2005)

> The cost for watching an average 4GB high definition DVD quality movie over Frontier DSL is $43.20.


For the cost in the posted article, it is cheaper to go out and buy the movie than download it.

Kind of sounds like the limits that Hughes Net puts on daily usage.


----------



## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I used 18 gigs in a couple days with DOD. I read comcast has a 250 gig limit. That wouldn't be a show stopper, but 60 gig would be.


----------



## NickD (Apr 5, 2007)

MountainMan10 said:


> I used 18 gigs in a couple days with DOD. I read comcast has a 250 gig limit. That wouldn't be a show stopper, but 60 gig would be.


18 gig in a couple of days with JUST DOD. Were any of those HD material? If not then what would that have been. Now take into account any other materials that you may download for other sources. I have a PS3, 360, Wii and a PC in addition to multiple DVR's that all download things at various times. I imagine that the 250 cap could be reached very easily in the future with the push for more down loadable content.


----------



## turls (Jul 8, 2006)

carl6 said:


> In reality, 250 GB is a rather huge amount that even the average heavy user would rarely approach. Personally, I would rather see this cap than have my internet bog down to a snails pace in the evening because I have a neighbor who is a bandwidth hog.


Wow. Please take some time to educate yourself at the Stop the Cap website. You're falling for the provider's false arguments about "hogs". By the way, I'm a Frontier customer with no other good options right now and I hope DirecTV, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, and others are readying a legal argument against them.


----------



## turls (Jul 8, 2006)

NickD said:


> I really like this idea, or create a box/meter so that I can watch my usage at home and not have to wait for my monthly bill.


It is fairly straightforward to do this with DD-WRT firmware on a cheap Linksys router. I just upgraded to the version that allows this and I'm watching 6GB+ from a couple of HD DoD downloads.


----------

