Comcast Data Usage Meter Launched

About a year ago there was some buzz about Comcast limiting the amount of data that users were allowed to download/upload per month.  Apparently some users were sent a letter warning them that they were consuming too much bandwidth and if they continued their account would be closed.  I never did hear of anybody that actually got their account closed but the threat was there. 

 

The amount of data that Comcast allows you to download per month is 250 gb, which is quite a bit.  Given that a High Definituin movie is about 5 GB, that would allow you to watch about 50 movies per month.    According to Comcast, 99% of their customers get nowhere near that limit.  The problem was that there was no way to know how much bandwidth you were consuming.

 

Comcast now has a solution to the issue with the launch of the Data Usage Meter.  To access this tool you need to log into your Comcast CustomerCentral.  Once logged in click on the Usage and Settings tab and then click View Details under High Speed Internet Data usage.  You should see a screen that looks something like this:

 

It looks like you can see the current month's data usage as well as the past 3 months.  Fortunately I am not even getting close to the data limits.  But I don't currently watch many movies online or download that much data.  But I can see how some customers may have an issue with the data limits.  With everyone in a family having a computer now I can see a large family hitting the limit if there are kids in the family streaming movies and such all day long.  At this point movie streaming is not as common place as it will be in a couple years from now.  Even Netflix only offers a small percentage of their movies for download.  But eventually I think we will see DVDs go away and all movies will be streamed.  When this happens Comcast will either have to bump up the data usage limits or offer a new pricing tier for high data usage customers.

A couple more details about the Data Usage meter:

• The email I recieved announcing the launch said it was now available in my area (North of Boston).  It may not be available in your area yet.
• The data usage meter tracks total household data usage (not individual users/computers).
• The data usage calculation includes downloads and uploads.
• The usage meter is only available to primary user accounts and unrestricted secondary user accounts with billing access. 

xfinity

Comcast is apparently in the midst of rebranding its product line as xfinity.  According to the Comcast website xfinity represents the future of Comcast and their promise to keep innovating.  So guess the products will now be called xfinity TV, Internet and voice.  They will be changing the logos on all of their vans and marleting materials in the upcoming weeks as well.

I guess the xfinity name is a bit cooler and younger sounding than Comcast but it does seem like an expensive undertaking that will just confuse some of the older customers.  Same products just a different name, guess we will have to wait and see if it sticks.