Comcast's consumer usage meter still in the labs

Comcast's Web-based broadband meter, which was rumored to be released back in January, is still not available to consumers. According to a Comcast representative whom I spoke with earlier Tuesday, it's still not ready for prime time, and is undergoing further employee trials before being released to the public.

Once released, the meter will let customers of Comcast's high-speed Internet service monitor how much of their 250GB monthly bandwidth quota has been used. This will help keep them from going over that limit--something that results in a termination of their service upon the second offense.

Comcast imposed the monthly usage limits back in October as a way to keep network hogs from slowing down speeds for other customers. However, the only tool that was provided to help customers keep an eye on how much they were using was McAfee's Security Suite. While free, the software tool could only track bandwidth use on the machine it was installed on, and not from networked mobile phones, game consoles, or other household computers.

Comcast's monthly bandwidth cap for consumers is 250GB.

(Credit: CNET)

Back in December, DSL Reports posted leaked screenshots of what the online meter looked like at the time, along with specifics on how often the reports were being updated to reflect recent usage. Their sources noted that it not only tracked the past three months of use, but also let users break down where use was coming from, right down to the device. This could be used to help track down devices that may be using more than their fair share, be it computers or other networked home electronics.

Comcast would not provide any further details on the unreleased utility, but given the fast-approaching one-year anniversary of the cap, it's fair to expect its release sometime this fall. In the meantime, there are several ways to keep an eye on household bandwidth using a variety of software tools, which we've listed in this handy guide.

[El_Segfaulto]

Looks like I'll be looking for another ISP once I move. When I pay for unlimited I expect unlimited.

[monkeyfun14]

Unfortunately I don't have that option living apartment means easy single operator contracts for Comcast.

[Lerianis3]

Ah, but Comcast's 'shtick' is that you are NOT paying for Unlimited access anymore, but for a BLOCK of access.... which is BS, considering the rates I have seen from friends who WORK for Comcast that they get for 500GB's of bandwidth.... 5 dollars or LESS.

[Random_Walk]

That reminds me... they just put Verizon FiOS in my neighborhood. I think I'll be making a call in the next few weeks...

[aka_tripleB]

monkeyfun14,
I'm almost certain that there's been a federal law recently passed that prohibits exclusive deals between apartment complexes and service providers.

[assman]

I use a local internet service which provide fast unlimited bandwidth with no fine print. I cringe everytime I hear an ad for Comcast on the radio or TV.

[gerrrg]

Personally, I think it's laughable how Comcast can get away with all that they've done (bad customer service, end-around of net neutrality principles, monopolization of cable broadcast markets without FCC control) while the DOJ pursues Google. It goes to show that it matters not which party is in control; money in the pocket is the prejudice against the consumer.

[jachamp]

If you guys are complaining about 250GB caps...try TW's 40 GB cap that they are going to try ramming down people's throats this coming fall.

[thydavidcome]

Time Warners 40 GB cap will be used only in new rural areas. Basically they are trying to expand to Rural areas, and what not. For now their servers will be weak so they offer only 40 gb bandwidth

[Lerianis3]

Actually, that 40GB cap is NOT only for 'new rural areas'. They have been testing it in TOWNS AND CITIES where they have always had their services, so that's a big bald faced LIE that they are only using it in 'new rural areas'.

[Lerianis3]

Funny, I went over the cap NUMEROUS times in the past 6 months, and never heard anything from Comcast until recently, when I got on their case and pointed out to them that I am NOWHERE NEAR a heavy user of their services, and they backed down as soon as I threatened a lawsuit if they kept after this.

[jasonatcomcast]

Sounds like baloney to me (on your part).

[viper396]

This is just as believable as all the people that prefix their stories with "I know a guy...", "I have a friend...", "I have a relative..."

[Vegaman_Dan]

I certainly hope Comcast isn't penalizing subscribers who go over this limit if they don't have the tool available to let customers monitor their usage.

If I go to the gas station and the gas pump's meter is broken, how many gallons of gas do I know I pumped unless I fill the tank entirely?

[Lerianis3]

That's the main reason why I threatened them..... I told them that there was NO WAY I could legitimately 'monitor' how much bandwidth I was using without a tool ON THEIR WEBSITE, not on my computers, of which I have three.

[Random_Walk]

Urgh... no more car analogies!

(although this one actually fits...)

[Josh.Lowensohn]

I like it, although the analogy breaks down since you're paying by how much gas you're using. Maybe a lunch buffet is more appropriate :)

[nickybean]

I had comcast over three years ago, and just restarted service with 7mb download speeds. I knew nothing about the 250gb limit, and they shut down my service to have me call their security number. They explained that I went over, and that it was a violation. I told them I would not go over it again now that I knew and they agreed to turn it back on. Once it was turned on it was super slow at 1.35mb download speed. I called and they stated that they had lowered my service without telling me, and that there is no way they were going to turn it back to the higher speed. Now I have to pay the same price for the economy level as for the 7mb speed. Just a warning to some folks who flirt with disaster of going over without knowing. They stated that the 1.5mb speed is better then most existing services in the area, trying to keep me as a customer. All it told me is they know they have a monopoly here.. I'm off to qwest fiber and will stay within caps...

[AaronKempf]

Actually there is a really easy way to monitor total bandwidth usage.. i've done quite a bit of monitoring like this using 'ISA Server' from Microsoft-- I just wish that the downstream Linux router distros would pick up on the whole concept of 'logging and reporting'

ISA Server has had this functionality for ~15 years ROFL (I have no idea when proxy Server 1.0 came out, maybe with NT 4.0 and Proxy 2.0 was with the NT Option Pack, right? )

So 13 years we've had this feature in MS products.. and these stupid linux router vendors don't get that the reason I want a router-- is to keep track of what goes where, when and how.. In a database, automatically. Thanks.

Then it would be really easy for us to tell this--

I love PfSense, I've tried IpCop.. Maybe there's other software out there that makes this easier.. but until I see it and test it and dev against it, I want better solutions from Linux firewall / router vendors

[Random_Walk]

Question - do you actually work in IT, or just pretend to...? Seriously, let me help give you a clue on the pro side: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RADIUS

[mark_j_crane]

pfSense can show total bandwidth from the web interface. To see the bandwidth usage go to Status -> RRD Graphs. Second you can view live bandwidth if you use a browser that supports SVG natively like Firefox Status -> Traffic Graph. Third thing to not pfSense does not use Linux it uses FreeBSD under the hood.

[sting7k]

Do you really even need a meter? I have comcast and yes the bandwidth cap is lame. But honestly, at least 99% of users will never have to worry about it. It's the 1% who are bootlegging and pirating Blu-ray movies that will get cut off.

And don't think I like comcast or something, I've had to replace my cable box 5 times in the last 3 months since I moved into my new house. They are also "out" of HDMI DVR boxes, a national company; totally boggles my mind.

[Random_Walk]

"It's the 1% who are bootlegging and pirating Blu-ray movies that will get cut off. "

So those who subscribe to Netflix, get Linux ISO files, download some rather large updates for their games online, download purchased software from online, upload test databases via VPN to work, or pass around files involving 3D/CG art and animation... we're all bootleggers and pirates in your estimation? Gee - I'm glad that you're not King of The Internet.

Clue: Not everyone who does more than hit YouTube and check their email are bootleggers and pirates.

[sting7k]

@random_walk, I don't see where I said I was the "king of the internet" or state that any of those other things made people bootleggers. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.

Clue, I stream movies from Netflix daily. I rent movies on Xbox LIVE and DL large DLC (often larger than 1GB) for games weekly. I purchase and download games on my PC (full big files). I transfer big files of personal DVDs. And I've never come close to the limit that I know. I also download untold number of system updates, iTunes is 250MB every other week. iPhone app updates like Myst (600MB file every update) and GMap (800MB every update) also get added into my usage. I play games on my PC and Xbox LIVE daily. I know what people do online, and for the "normal" person like me you won't have to worry.

If your doing heavy VPN work and 3D/CG animation you should probably be paying for commercial service anyway to have even better speed, reliability, and service to do work.

[Dalkorian]

No Random_Walk, but everyone who does more than hit YouTube and check their email are BANDWIDTH HOGS and deserve to be cut off from the rest of the world! Or maybe assassinated! Imprisoned for life!! YOU'RE ABUSING THE INTERTUBEZ!!!

LOL. Isn't it funny how myopic some people can be?

[Renegade Knight]

You shouldn't need a meter. Comcast already throttles your bandwith by the speed of your connection. You can't move more data than you have bandwidth.

That Comcast doesn't have the network capacaty to deliver the bandwidth they promise would be a Comcast internal problem. That they want to cap you both with bandwidth and with a data cap is a cop out, but one that most ISP's want to look at in high hopes that we consumer will pay more one way or another for our bandwidth and data.

[Lerianis3]

Renegade Knight hits it right on the head. You should be able to use your service to it's fullest 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week/ 365 days a year without Comcast or any other internet provider whining about you using 'too much service'.
Oh, and they also DO have enough network capacity to deliver the bandwidth they promise, Renegade... it's just that they want you to use MUCH less bandwidth than you could running flat out each month so that they can keep 40-45 dollars of that charge each month as profits.

[Jefferson101]

Comcast is evil!

[renGek]

Solve that problem easily enough. I'm lucky enough to have another cable provider in my area (*gasp* actual competition).

I had enough of comcast and their ways and switched to Astound. Been 2 wonderful months so far. No internet interruptions 3 out of 5 nights, no more unscheduled and unannounced down times, and no more annoying comcast support who can barely read their phone scripts.

[Neumenon]

I've had Astound for 3 months now as dealing with AT&T was infuriating. All good so far with Astound and great customer service when needed.

[danielszabo1981]

"and no more annoying comcast support who can barely read their phone scripts."

Actually have to agree with this one. I've made 3 calls to customer service at Comcast, and all three times I've been somewhat surprised at how untrained/unprofessional/unhelpful my csr was.

BUT...I don't blame the grunt phone jockies for this. I blame management and the larger corporate heads that foster an environment which apparently doesn't place much emphasis on training or ambient growth of their employees. I'd be curious to see what the turnover rate is.

[drichards1953]

Comcast needs serious competition every where they serve. No just in cable tv, but as an ISP. They are dreadful to deal with, could not get a bill right if they had too, and are just generally rude and nasty people to deal with. And most of all their service is bad. While my AT&T DSL service might be slower than Comcast, they are at least civil to me when I call, which I seldom need to. I cannot say that for Comcast. I dropped Comcast as my tv and ISP about three years ago and went with a satellite provider for TV and AT&T for DSL. Fewer problems have occurred. Maybe someone should look at Comcast for monopolistic (anti--trust) misconduct.

what if I have a 2 year contract with Comcast because comcast was all I could get in the house I am renting in the area I am in and I go over. they can cut me off after 1 warning? does that close cable and phone too? can i get out of my contract by doing this on purpose?

[WebNetDNA]

Its amazing how company's like Comcast can get away with this nickel and dime tactic, (thanks to Bush politics.) I have FIOS in my area so I don't have to worry about my bandwidth usage which is good because I run a CS server and a personal web server from my house. If you are one of the unlucky ones that has no choice I would suggest you get a router with DD-WRT or some other similar firmware installed. DD-WRT has a very handy bandwidth monitor built into the firmware. BTW: For those of you who try to sound like professionals. Don't use a Wikipedia link to backup your information!!

[Wannabe Actuary]

Makes me worry. I work from home and regularly am moving around 1 or 2 gb files from my works computer network. Also, I have no idea how much usage there is from online gaming on my 360. Sure, I can check the size of downloads, but I have no idea how much bandwidth is used by just playing online.

[BIGELLOW]

It's mildly amusing that anyone bothers moving around 1 or 2 gb in files to and from their work's network on a regular basis. Even doing this, you'd have to do this 100 to 200 times per month. That's 3-6 times per day, every day (including weekends). If that's really what people are doing, maybe they should look into being more efficient with their work. You'd be much better off using Remote Desktop to process that file remotely using a remote machine. USB drives are also fairly inexpensive these days, so you could carry the files home with you.

Aside from this, I agree that if Comcast is going to have a limit (on their "unlimited" plan), they should not enforce this (or close accounts in violation) unless they also provide a means for customers to meter their own usage.

Aside from this, the "limited unlimited" is not a new thing and was not invented by Comcast. Remember AOL's 700 free hours when you sign up from their free CD? The catch was, you had to use up this "free time" within the first 30 days. Afterward, you'd start getting charged. Well, in a 30 day period there are only 720 hours total. So, unless you were only planning on getting 20 hours of sleep for the whole month, the number was arbitrary and pointless. Furthermore, if they detected that you weren't at the computer anymore, it would log you out. If they detected that some third-party software was keeping you online, it would boot you off.

So, this whole "unlimited" thing is all about the ability to burst in terms of bandwidth, and to be able to not have to "watch the meter" for the typical user. For the non-typical user, there will always be a need to check the meter... whether it is the amount of storage you are using in Yahoo's "unlimited" webmail (it's not completely unlimited) or your Comcast usage and the moving of 1 or 2 gb in files to and from your work's network on a daily basis, including weekends.

[Lerianis3]

Actually, America Online got in trouble for that as well and was sued on quite a few occasions for that, to the point where they finally settled and dropped that language.
And there is no such bleeping thing as 'limited unlimited'. It's either limited or unlimited, period and done with. Many courts now have been comparing cable internet to cable TV where you don't get charged a 'larger amount' when you watch 'too much TV' and are looking at it SERIOUSLY skeptically!

[danielszabo1981]

Believe me...I hate big business as much as the next guy. However...

I don't have a terrible problem with the cap, mostly because 250gigs seems hard to passively crack with normal usage (including movies, gaming, etc.). Even with movies/music/gaming, I'd be hard pressed to estimate that I've ever come within 50gigs of the limit.

Just some napkin math off the top of my head:
1. Standard Movie Download (~800mb) = 312.5 movies/month = ~10 movies a day
2. Standard Music Download (~5 mb) = 50,000 songs/month.
3. For kicks, a dvd's worth of data: (~8gig, I think) = 31.25 dvd's/month...(huh..that actually does make the cap seem smaller, doesn't it...)

Now, numbers notwithstanding, I can COMPLETELY understand the beef from anybody SERVING material. It wouldn't take much traffic at all to completely blow the lid off your cap if you were serving a single (even mildly popular) indy hit.

[Shaun822]

Since the next big thing is allegedly going to be HD video over the net I like to use the size of a single layer Blu Ray which is about 3 DVD's so that 10 BRD's a month, now it is starting to seem very small.

[tcr071]

And all that would be nice and dandy if you were using the connection by yourself. I'll stick my neck out there and say that the vast majority of people share their connections with at least one other person and a lot of them more than one other.

A lot of things you didn't consider were just plain browsing, playing video games, watching media online via hulu, etc. You only accounted for just plain downloading and accounted for one person. A perfect example I can think of is watching MLB.TV online. My roommate and I both watch baseball online, sometimes on one laptop, sometimes on separate, and each HD broadcast uses about 2.2GB of data for the entire game. If we each watch three games a week we are talking about 52GBs of bandwidth being used JUST to watch baseball. We also watch hulu online, play Xbox live, download movies, books, and music, and generally surf the web.

We could easily surpass the 250GB limit under what I would consider "normal use" and if we had one or two more people in the apartment we would have to seriously cut back to stay under the limit. 250GB might be enough for one person but it isn't enough for the most of us.

[lennyonps3]

yeah i thought this myself until i downloaded one of those monitor tools and boy was i wrong. playing on my ps3 online gaming, and watching netflix can sure put a dent in your 250gig cap. now what im not sure of, is this 250 gig cap on download only or uploading as well?

and i doubt there is anyway if you watch a movie from netflix its going to be 800mb.
and you also forgot to include all your usual day to day stuff. do you watch videos on cnn? how about check msn or facebook or myspace? maybe yahoo? all that eats up at your cap too. dont forget if you have any cellfones using your wifi, i have 2 iphones. plus a laptop and my ps3 and my desktop.

like i said very easy to reach 250 gigs now a days.

[Lerianis3]

Uh, apparently, you haven't seen how much bandwidth 540p stuff uses per hour of viewing.... it's about 700mb's an hour, which can add up REALLY quickly.
Personally, I have gone over Comcast's limit NUMEROUS times and have never gotten a 'nastygram' from them until very recently, as I stated in an earlier post. One threat of a lawsuit, and they backed down, since it is IMPOSSIBLE in my home with 3 to 4 computers (if my cousin is over and playing me online) to monitor our bandwidth without a tool ON COMCAST'S WEBSITE.
Even then, how many people are going to go and look at the monitor more than once a month? Not many!

[danielszabo1981]

Those are very good points -- I actually hadn't considered multiple people using the connection. If I were to imagine another one of me in my apartment with the same browsing habits, then it would be COMPLETELY realistic to see myself blowing up the cap within 2 or 3 weeks of the month.

Touche, gentlemen. Well played!

[lennyonps3]

well danielszabo i just wish some of the isp's would be as understanding as you are. a lot of us actually use the internet for just your average surfing. i do almost everything online. pay bills, watch my netflix, read the "internet newspaper" lol. and mind you its not only 1 person in my household.

im just glad i dont have comcast LOL. but its a domino effect. once they start then others will sure to follow. lets just hope it doesnt get to my isp...otherwise i have to jump ship.

[Mankk121]

Hope the comcast meter is ready soon. It would be more accurate than other softwares meters like ShaPlus Bandwidth meter or rokario.