Comcast 1TB data cap isn’t enough anymore.

I’ve already used one of my 2 grace months this year and now I’m in another month with 3 days to go and find myself unable to use the internet for more than just browsing because I’m so close to my limit. Between ballooning game sizes, massive and frequent patches, and 4K video streaming it seems it’s become very easy to go past that data cap. Has anyone else been running into this problem lately? For years the cap wasn’t a problem for me but in the last 6 months it’s become a big problem.

Gotta pay Comcast their blood money to get unlimited

I say this as someone with no 4k equipment in my house, but is streaming 4K really worth it?

According to them, the vast majority of people don't come close to that. Probably true to a point, but also true that that number of people hitting that or going over is on the rise. Yeah it's kinda garbage. I hit my two grace months probably within my first four months of signing up. Now it's a game of what games to download and what games have to wait until next month. It's... fantastic.

I think Verizon has no cap, or at least that's what my quick browsing of their site would suggest. I should have went with them. :(

@jjweatherman: Which is why it’s clearly a money grab. Those of us that do go over that cap probably barely effect their network if we’re really such a small number as they say.

@likeassur: I think it’s definitely worth it once you tack on HDR.

Cox has a 1TB cap, too. I pay them their fee for unlimited data.

I’d say fuck them, but the service is actually really good from up-time and speed perspectives.

I payed the blood money for the unlimited data plan. Now I download shit just for the hell of it. Download a game delete it and download it again just to stick it to comcast.

@nutter: what part of the US are you in? Im in phoenix, with cox, no data cap over here.

@xanadu: New England. I think I was part of the second wave.

The cap is 1TB.

An extra 500GB will set you back $30.

If you just want unlimited, it’s $50 extra.

There’s an absurd rate per Gb you can pay without increasing your cap, but I didn’t find it worthwhile. I just pay the $50 to keep it from being a hassle.

I've come close, but never actually gone over. And I stream a fair bit of 4K/60.

Most months I'm not downloading more than one big game, so it's not much of a problem.

Sonic you are my only hope. (GET FUCKING FIBER UP INS MY NEIGHBORHOOD)

@nefarious_al: I love this. I’ve considered downloading almost all the way up to my cap on months where I’m not close but I’m worried about accidentally going over.

@frytup: Yeah, I’d be fine if I didn’t have a wife and two middle school kids. We also don’t have cable television, so every bit of video entertainment we watch is streamed.

I could set-up a media server and just download stuff once, but I don’t have a ton of time these days, so it’s easier to pay the bullshit fee.

Is an unlimited connection not the norm in US? I'm in Denmark and a have probably had an unlimited connection since 03-05.

UK here. Totally unlimited. Can't see them ever capping it, to be honest.

I think I'd manage on a 1TB cap though. I'd only really go over if I had to re-download everything I have installed on my PC or Xbox. It's not very often I do that.

@meltac: Nope not really since Comcast is the largest provider. They didn’t have caps up until a few years ago and then they got greedy.

@The_Greg: I think I downloaded 2 new games this month, but they were big. The rest was just updates and streaming.

The caps really do suck if you are trying to go digital in the game space and streaming 1080p+ video. Like you will blow through that 1TB limit if there is more than one digital gamer in the house, let alone streamers.

My saving grace is I still have a backlog from the gc and PS3 which my collection was just about all physical. But when I look at my 100+ GB game installs on my ps4, I know my time is limited.

uverse unlimited comes with the cable and ends up being cheaper than getting the unlimited.

If you have Sprint coverage this might be an option. Uncapped 4G LTE for $500/year.

https://www.calyxinstitute.org/member/4G-LTE-FAQ

I recently got faster internet i use to use around the 240GB now i use around 1.75TB just because of the faster internet, i also pay to get "unlimited" internet. But yeah most of the usage seems to be video streams and steam downloads it's amazing how fast that thing fills up.

Read Dead 2 at 105 GB. have fun!

Yes, all the time. Comcast is still the worst and its the only service provider available in my area......

I just hit 950 GB this month while just downloading Forza 4 Xbox and pc, as well as the usual work stuff, and had to manage the last few days of streaming tv with my wife...the cap is already a nuisance. It’s really hurting cord cutters, which I think is the goal.

I hit my data cap for one month. I think mostly due to 4k on netflix, but I dont see option to turn it off on my tv :-/

My two internet choices are Unlimited (but can't stream SD movies) or 1TB data cap (but better internet speed). I'm on the latter.

It use to be an issue but i've knocked all the streaming service videos down to SD quality and i can't hit the cap. So the last 3 days of each month becomes my, "download all the large files you can so you don't waste that data next month" routine.

How does Comcast decide what areas have caps? I haven't had caps at all while with Comcast during college. Moved after college and now I have Spectrum, still no caps. Seems strange. I live in PA btw.

Comcast has had caps for like 10+ years I think, but they never enforced them till this year. I recall it being 250gb a month a long time ago but I went over that quite a bit at the time. I assume it must be all areas now. Hit 90% and pop up warns you about going over.

Yeah, it's a shit show for sure, I've started hauling my laptop to work, downloading any digital games I buy in the office, and then moving them over to my gaming PC when I get home to avoid any overages. Can't really get away with that on the console side, but luckily I'm primarily a PC gamer, so it definitely takes a huge chunk out of monthly usage.

Just be smart aboit usage. For one buy physical copies of games so you dont have to download huge chunks like that. At every turn and literally ive done the math down to the MB. 34.4 gb daily over 30 days....that would mean steaming movies music and games for about 21 hours each day! if thats whats actually happening to folks then I suggest reevaluating your lifestyle and make some changes. Every month game updates and just general updates/patches would only amount to about 250.0-350.0 gb and thats at the max if you are chosing to update everything in your library. Just be mindful and budget appropriately.

@perniciousdistortion: This sounds like very good advice for someone who is a single user of their internet purely for entertainment. For those of us who work from home some days and have other users it adds up fast. Especially when one game is 8-10% of the monthly allotment. Or OSes are pulling 10GB updates here and there. It’s very manageable, right up until it isn’t.

Edit: Not to mention the monthly prices customers pay, which continually rise, to a company that has revenue measuring in the billions per quarter. My point being I think people have plenty to be frustrated with. The right answer is not necessarily get better at budgeting data.

@paliv: god i wish i was a single user. Im a father with a full time family and a very active child on the internet, not to mention my wife is a general manager for her company constantly using the internet for not only business purposes but scheduling and so on and so forth and I'm a kitchen manager for the Marriott International and I have communications with multiple different houses at multiple different times using data...it's all about budgeting I completely understand how everyone on here feels. I know it's difficult especially in these specific times, mind you we are not a rich family but we try to make do with what we have and really it is about smart budgeting.

@perniciousdistortion: Sounds familiar to me, haha. The truth is, although I feel it’s manageable with a family, it’s not unreasonable to want a better product for what we are paying. I’m just thankful my son isn’t to his internet using years yet.

@paliv: you are absolutely correct its not unreasonable. I really wish I didnt have to monitor the usage.

I’m thinking on switching to ATT fiber in my area since they don’t have a cap. Anyone have a rough idea on the price once the 12mo promo price ends?

@dukest3: $80-90 depending on area/bundles/promotions.

Started downloading Forza Horizon 4 PC earlier and just checked it and it’s at 300GB and going. Apparently there’s a bug with Windows Store downloads just going forever. COOL! Another month I have to be careful about my downloads....

Hello, this is a bit of an older topic, but I'm curious about my own potential hangups with this.

I started Twitch streaming about 4 months ago, (720x30 maybe 2-3 hours per stream tops). But my local provider has had issues holding up its upload speeds. They are trying to fix it, but if they can't, I may have to venture into Comcast's service, and deal with this 1TB cap.

Here's what I'm potentially looking at for daily data usage.

- Computer, TV, and Phone streaming (Youtube/Netflix/Twitch/etc). - 4-8 hours per day or more

- Twitch Streaming - 1-3 hours per stream (720px30fps; usually daily)

- Limited PS4 game downloads - I usually get physical copies from Gamefly, but do buy digital here and there when needed

As I said before, I'm currently on a local provider (10-25 download/3-5 upload), and it was working well, but this recent issue of bad internet is scaring me into dealing with Xfinity. Just seeing what I'm in for, and if I'm probably veering towards that silly cap already.