Comcast Data Caps in California begin November 1st

[Dan]

Hi everyone,

I've been a happy Sonic fiber customer in the Sunset District since January this year, but not such a happy SF renter and I'm now looking to move my family within the next 6 months to something more affordable in East Bay.

This means not only having to cut ties with Sonic, but likely having to settle for my prior ISP: Comcast.

And that's when I saw this semi-unfortunate article posted this weekend on SF Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/busine ... 925076.php

Comcast's FAQ page: https://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-s ... ME_AX06.16

Is the 1TB data cap something to worry about? Comcast says 99% of their customer base should be fine, but in the age of net neutrality and unlimited cellular data plans, I think this is a step backwards.

By the way, when I was with Comcast, they had a page where I could monitor how much data I had used in a month. Does Sonic offer the same type of information and if so, where do I find it?

[Guest]

Check out DSLreport's Comcast forum. I'm quite sure a lot of Comcast customers have the same concerns as you. https://www.dslreports.com/forum/comcast

[mike.perlas]

People should absolutely be concerned about any data cap! On a personal level, let me share a short story about my experiences with this issue.

A few years ago I was with another ISP. The data cap at the time was 125 GB or 150 GB. A little more than 10% of what Comcast's data limit will be. As the sole user on the line, I consistently reached that cap every single month and paid overages. This was due to heavy use of High Definition streaming (Youtube/Netflix) and gaming.

Today, many people do not realize that Netlix and Youtube today take up much more bandwidth than it did 2 years ago. Videos are higher quality today than they used to be. With the growth of streaming services and the emergence of 4k, expect to use more data than you ever have before.

In regards to checking on how much data you have used a month, we don't have a tool for that. Reason being is there isn't a need for one - since there is no data cap for Sonic customers! Woohoo!

[Dan]

Hi Mike,

I appreciate your feedback on this. I would like to suggest a tool be created for people like myself who are being financially squeezed out of where Sonic fiber is available and need to get a quick glance of what they've been consuming. Since being with Comcast, I now have more family members using more devices, smartphones taking advantage of WiFi calling, streaming music remotely via PLEX, watching Netflix in higher resolutions and also downloading more content than ever before as well.

Obviously, I'd like to assume that Sonic would be building a fiber network in East Bay by the 1st quarter of 2017, but I know that's not possible and Comcast appears to be the only provider in that area to offer family-friendly speeds.

Can I at least get a technician to tell me what I've been using on average for the last 3 months if I call in?

[dane]

Hi Mike,

I appreciate your feedback on this. I would like to suggest a tool be created for people like myself who are being financially squeezed out of where Sonic fiber is available and need to get a quick glance of what they've been consuming. Since being with Comcast, I now have more family members using more devices, smartphones taking advantage of WiFi calling, streaming music remotely via PLEX, watching Netflix in higher resolutions and also downloading more content than ever before as well.

Obviously, I'd like to assume that Sonic would be building a fiber network in East Bay by the 1st quarter of 2017, but I know that's not possible and Comcast appears to be the only provider in that area to offer family-friendly speeds.

Can I at least get a technician to tell me what I've been using on average for the last 3 months if I call in?

Unfortunately not. Consumption metering is not a simple process in a network, and it's not something we've undertaken, as we do not charge for usage.

See also: https://gigaom.com/2013/02/07/more-bad- ... naccurate/

[jmarf]

Check out Brentwood -- many parts of Brentwood have Sonic already, and it's going in around town quickly :-) I've had clients purchase in a specific are specifically because of Sonic :-)

Jodi Marfia - Brentwood Realtor ;-)

[virtualmike]

We have a temporary home where Sonic isn't feasible, so we have Comcast service there. We received the email warning about the data cap, although it noted that we have the option of paying $50/month extra for unlimited data.

Our home cable company, Wave, is offering unlimited for $20/month extra.

[mbratton]

I just left Comcast for Sonic. When I first moved into my house, we didn't have Sonic FTTN available, but now we do, and it's only $10/mo more than our Comcast for a bit less speed (50Mb/s vs. an almost constantly unusably saturated 100Mb/s). As soon as I heard about the caps, I checked Sonic again and signed up. So glad to leave Comcast behind.