AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

[rdl_17]

lets have a black out day . no one use there net for one day. call ur bbb. write the fcc.

[rdl_17]

2 thumbs up for u. stand up for ur internet rights pple. we are human beings, not no bill

[rdl_17]

u can go to the att site and see ur past history. i looked and its even showing my up loads as 2.5 gb does this cap include uploads?

[rdl_17]

you telll them  im proud to stand up and see a real american tell it like it is. you are fighting for our country u dont need this neither does ur family or mine .our flag colors never run and we as att custmers will not run either stand up america.

[deathwraith111]

I find it surprising that the company said "Our approach is based on customers' feedback," said Mark Siegel, spokesman for AT&T." I dont recall being asked for any feedback nor do i know of anyone that has. I think this is a ploy to extort customers with extra fees and penalties. Ive had several run ins with att customer service already regarding fees on my account that were put there by (mistake). I will be put on a 150GB cap i guess...and pray that with all the movies i watch on netflix and the online gaming, i wont go over the cap. If it becomes a problem, I will be canceling my service and go with a company that takes care of its customers. ATT needs to spend more time upgrading its internet infrastructure than worrying about robbing its customers

[mikeh77586]

At first I really wasn't concerned about the 150 gig cap that ATT has implemented.  If I were I would have already sought another service for our Telephone and DSL.  But tonight I had just paid my bill and decided to check our usage... just to see what is what.  I was suddenly alarmed at the fact that it is the 5th of May and we have already used over 1 Gig.  I couldn't believe that we had used that much. But here is the stink of it all.  If you are a single person and are the only one using the internet, then 150 Gig isn't a big deal at all.  But there are four of us using the net.  Of course it will be more than 150 Gig.  That is absolutely discrimination pure and simple!  ATT is pleased to have and keep you if your an Individual Customer.    But families just use too much bandwidth and they don't want them as customers any longer.  The deal is that a utility company isn't like other businesses.  They are not allowed to discriminate this way.  Now I am angry. It isn't just about the Gig cap any longer. Now it's personal.

[Bob-M11]

I have heard that there is a "meter" to tell how much I am presently using. I have no idea if 150GB is more or or less than I normally use. Where is this meter?

[NX1]

www.MyUsage.att.com  But it doesn't work for everybody.  Which shows how prepared AT&T was for the cap. 

[SterlingPC]

I have reported them to the FCC and BBB. I also plan on contacting my states attorny office to see if they are violating the any of my consumer rights by renigging on our contract. I signed up for unlimited and I am going to get unlimited.

[NX1]

Two groups are questioning the reason for cap http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/investigate-broadband-caps/

[bobfig]

att is verry lucky that i am no paying for their internet or i would of changed company's as soon as i heard about them capping. i don't believe them saying that it will only affect around 2% of the users. its probably more like 30-50% and this allows them to just charge and extra $10. their excuse is pathetic imo as DSL isn't on the same technology as cable where how many people are on dose affect how fast the internet is so it isnt affected by the same congestion problems. if they are having congestion problems then they need to rethink their network structure to alleviate the problem.

[RKW3]

@SterlingPC

"I have reported them to the FCC and BBB. I also plan on contacting my states attorny office to see if they are violating the any of my consumer rights by renigging on our contract. I signed up for unlimited and I am going to get unlimited."

Trust me when I say this. I did exactly what SterlingPC did especially with contacting Connecticuts Department of Consumer Protection Agency and ATT was on my phoneline bending over backwards to fix my problems. Don't waste your time with this forum or ATTs customer service.  CT DCP is due for another detailed letter. Make your tax dollars do some work.

[whitetigerx7]

Um... I wonder if AT&T realizes that companies like HughsNet already have low customer ratios because of this same cap to their service?

Capping a landline is basically stupid and a begging for people to leave the service. They don't realize that the internet isn't just people downloading files. People use the internet for gaming, telephone service, television, and all sorts of things that actually go far beyond a 20~150 GB quota. And changing a person 1 dollar per GB used over the quota? What the heck man?

Seriously, the average user who's always doing things on the internet and people who have home based businesses like IT technicians download nearly double to quadruple their planned cap rates, and if someone says "why don't you have a business class internet connection"... not all of us IT Technicians actually make enough money to afford a business class DSL service.

I'll be glad when some company starts free DSL services like fastfreedialup did with dial-up internet... or at least companies like Verizon get the ability to market where I live to give us a choice and competition.

Looks like California's Better Business Bureau and out version of the Department of Consumer Protection will get some letters as well.

[AdmiralGloval]

If you use McAfee. Click on navigation. Then scroll down to traffic monitor. It will show the current data usage on that desktop computer. If you have more than one machine then goto each one and add up the numbers.

[vitriol102]

I'm a heavy internet surfer and streamer.  My only solution to the cap problem is to block ALL ads on the internet.  Why should unwanted ads, especially the streaming ones, eat up my limit?

For Mozilla users, this is easy.  Download AdBlock Plus for free and start blocking.

[cybermage]

I'm on the 3Mb/s plan. I watch online videos. AT&T has failed to properly maintain the phone lines and rain often means a noisy or dead phone line. Now they're going to institute caps? It's bad enough that when the weather's dry they gradually force my connection speed to decrease. In my area the choices are cable or at&t dsl. There are no alternatives available.

I have to wonder about the way AT&T is run. They refuse to replace phone lines that have demonstrated a history of problems while advertising to attract new customers then force slow connections and institute data caps. I can sum it up in one word: GREED

I wonder what company they plan to take over using the funds saved.

[Drummel]

I must admit that at first I was not very concerned about the amount of broadband being used in my home; after not recieving the updated TOS I mistakenly thought maybe AT&T had rethought their plans and scrapped the idea. It was not until looking through the blogs today that i noticed AT&T not only went through with the scheme but have begun to collect data to match their version of the truth.

As U-Verse is not available for the building (all other buildings are U-Verse capable) we live in within the apartment complex, upgrading is not an option; therefore we have begun the search for alternate providers for all of our AT&T services. I do not suspect this search will take long and AT&T will be minus another customer. Come tomorrow morning I will be filing complaints with the FCC, FTC, BBB, the Texas State Public Utilities Commission and the Texas State Attorney General.

Something AT&T could stand to learn is a very simple fact in business - it costs less money to keep a customer happy than it does to convince a former customer to return.

[cybermage]

[quote]I wonder what company they plan to take over using the funds saved.[/quote]

Now I know - they're buying T-mobile for $39 billion

[amiaturtle]

Kudos to all who will cancell when charged for cap limit excess. Since they have disabled the kudos for this topic. Fix your network if its been overloaded don't charge extra for a service that has been provided to me for years. You are rediculous AT&T, to think that people will pay extra $10.00 for every 50GB of overusage. The problem is also that you have created a monopoly in service as other providers can not render service to my home. You are a tyrant corporation if you think you can treat your customers this way.

[justducky117]

It's just not right.  First they raise the price and now they cap usage.  Sadly, local cable isn't any better.

[pandie7]

I have read so much on why they raise prices and puting a cap because of fair use policy stuff. if thats the case. why cant they give back for some of us that never use that much bandwidth? if they can cap the limit to 150gb what if I only use 10 gb, do that give money back for every 50gb I dont use? I am already looking for a different ISP. ATT has been giving me nothing but problems recently and now the cap is that huge icrberg over the top of what they have given me.

BTW, I have been with pacbell,sbc, att for over 14 years. Never thought I would need to change ISP til this happen.

[Hwy]

With all the rate increases of late now are we supposed to accept limits placed on our usage?

"More than 98 percent of DSL users will not experience any change as a result of this updated policy because the current DSL plans offer far more bandwidth than the average person ever uses."

Might I suggest that IF this is the actual case that 98% of AT&T customers aren't fully utilizing what they are paying for. Many people pay for DSL only to browse the web and send email. Wether this is a good reason to pay for broadband service judge for yourselves. Internet usage will always increase because of the number of ways the Internet is being used and the number of users and bandwidth requirements are expanding all the time. For those who may not use the Internet much now, would you like the freedom to find new ways to enjoy it in the future? Might I suggest that everyone, especially those in the alleged 98%, use as much of their 150GB that they are paying for as they can before AT&T decides to take more away. AT&T may have some suggestions on how you can use the Internet more here: http://www.att.com/esupport/internet/usage.jsp

"We made this change to help balance demand across our network, as a small group of customers consume as much as 19 households worth of usage. That level of activity can create congestion and affect the service levels for all customers."

This is nothing more than divide and conquer. Congestion is caused when lots of users are using the service at the same time, not how much they use it. We are all limited as to the speed we are allowed to use. Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with the quality of your service but everything to do with saving AT&T money. If AT&T's service is suffering it is because they are over subscribing without upgrading their network. Might I suggest for those who don't have the choice of a better provider that there is no longer any reason to pay for anything more than the minimal service. Even with the lowest tier of service you can still use 150GB per month.

I have also heard that many have called and successfully demanded a lower rate. There may not be a lot we can do as customers of a monopoly but these suggestions may help send AT&T a message.

[A8ypical]

[Fixme]

Excuse me for asking such a noob question but isn't our bandwidth already capped?  We can download and upload at a certain rate....and not more.  So the cap is already set, if you download full speed for 1 full month then that is your cap because it's not possible to download any faster.  If they are going to set a cap at 250 then they need to lower the rates so that someone that used full bandwidth for one month would hit 250gb exactly. 

[Fixme]

Also let me say it's not even going to help to install caps because it will only effect the last week of the month when everyone realizes they need to cut back.  Even still the users that need the bandwidth aren't going to stop using it...and will pay the money, so it won't cut down on congestion at all it's just going to make your customers think your being shady.  Garunteed that customer will be lost to another company without point to switch back if they install caps.  Just through an hour of research you can already see the word is getting out about why people shouldn't get att.  So now your losing new customers and old customers while me being a customer is like okay so now they are losing money and it will effect me now.  Feel free to give me a job pointing out this simple stuff.

[Lmaris]

Would love to show mine, but that would mean I'd be able to SEE mine.   I am still getting "not available at this time, Try again later".    How can they bill for it yet can't show me my usage.    Ready to move on down the line.

[rnrjankowski]

I hate to say it but I guess i'll switch back to Comcast!

[do9432]

Hold on folks, I have an idea ... If you have opted to have paperless billing for your AT&T account (s), switch back to to the traditional paper billing. I think that would force AT&T to fork out many millions of dollars every month in printing and postage costs. AND if you chose to pay said bill with a check that should add a mil or two more. Whatta you think?

[A8ypical]

...feedback,