I wonder if spouting nonsense to the FCC is a worthwhile tactic, after all, the people at the FCC must have technical knowledge, they aren't like congressmen and such who are clueless.
Seems a bit insulting to the FCC to try to sell them this nonsense.


On Jan 24 2008 my Comcast High Speed internet access was terminated for “overly excessive bandwidth usage”. According to the “rocket scientists” at the security and policy department, they claim that I had used 589GB of bandwidth in Dec and 533GB in Jan. When asked what the limit was, they told me that Comcast does not publish a limit… just that we were using too much. For someone who has had Comcast cable modem service for 9 years in the same town, to be terminated without trying to offer a solution or an option to change my service plan (I had residential paying $55.95 per month) is worth the FCC investigating their operating practices. In fact, in NJ it should be regulated by the Board of Public Utilities, because the delivery mechanism is the same cable or equipment to deliver cable TV. 

This article is just the tip of the “icy” burg that Comcast is driving. They are a company that does not care about customers or how they are treated. I would like to hear from anyone else that’s been terminated, I have made an appointment with a class action law firm to state my case and to see if they can stop this company from treating the captive customer they have so poorly… 

I had a cable tech come in yesterday to investigate intermittent dropouts of my upload capacity, and he told me that the cable company was oversubscribing customers on its local loops, causing slowdowns for everyone. The loop is designed to carry 400 customers but most have nearly 500, with one loop serving nearly 700! He also told me that if the local phone company ever started installing fiber to the home that there would be no way cable could compete, especially with quadruple play deals like Verizon's phone/internet/TV/mobile package for $100/month. Despite my hatred of incumbent phone company practices at those prices I would have to bite the bullet...

At this point, I'm seriously considering going to verizon. If Comcast is going to fail to offer the services and speed, Then I will take my business elsewhere.


This dogging, biting journalism is why the Inqwell is my tech site of record. Thanks Egan for ushering us into the post-Mageezer era with a little panache.

I'm an Earthlink powered by Comcast customer. This gives me the illusion of having a choice of ISPs. Since cc's UDP voice packets go over redundant infrastructure (a 'shadow' internet) the network management argument falls flat.

It's not just torrents-try to stream on the big You and chances are you'll get resets.

We don't have to wait until January 20 but don't expect much regulation until then. I really think

CONNECTION RESET BY HOST

And that my friends is why I didn't give Comcast the option of my business. Sure I pay a few more bucks a month, but I get what I pay for with Verizon.

And that my friends is why I didn't give Comcast the option of my business. Sure I pay a few more bucks a month, but I get what I pay for with Verizon.

Regulation only serves to protect a company that would seek to mistreat its customers (i.e. protecting it from itself). Let the company do what it wishes, develop consumer resentment, and then watch its competitor grow and take the profits. In the spirit of true business, this is how it works. 

In order to keep business, Comcast will regulate itself.



Whats the deal here? 
I started reading this article, and the next thing I know I'm fully grepping the context with depth and clarity.

Is this what happens when there are no annoying puns and double entendres<sp> to spike the story with?

Don't get me wrong, I like the Inq humour, however its nice to be able to read important stories without the c0medy.

Thanks to the writer/

I received one of "those" calls from Comcast months ago and have since switched to business class to avoid other hassles from using the internet connection. It was amazing I received a call after using their service for nearly two years in the same location and paying for not just internet, but over priced television service. You'd think $150 a month would be worth going over the imaginary b/w limit at least once. They continue to claim this is in the name of the customer when they shape and commit fraud on the users connection, but I'm now downloading and uploading more then ever using a business connection (btw, i don't use p2p, haven't for years.) Same location... same cable, only thing different is the router/modem I have to use. Amazing how I haven't caused any network issues now that I'm a business customer... Comcast is just full of .... and cares more about the buck then the user. Apparently the instant buck says more then a loyal customer who'd make you 10 fold in the long run. Unfortunately they are my own choice at this time.

... some of us only have one choice in internet providers. In my neighborhood, Comcast is the only choice. A DSL CO is too far away for me to use DSL so its Comcast or nothing. Let me tell you its not just P2P and movie downloads being "shaped" by the Sandvine software. My wife and I both work for a large PC vendor. I remote in a lot, but my wife is a webmaster and works from home. She is pretty much on the corporate VPN 24x7 and Comcast is shutting it down or slowing it as well. Being that I am a network engineer, I have proven their "shaping" repeatedly with Wireshark. It's easy to pick out.

To top it off, I am a "premium" Comcast customer, so I am paying through the nose to still eventually get my packets "shaped".

Stupid Comcast... losers.

If i was a Comcast customer i would be jumping ship about now! I pay for bandwidth for a reason.. that is to use it! If i cant use it because my ISP isn't allowing me to use it that what am i really paying for? Pay $50 bucks or what ever the rate is so i surf and brows facebook and myspace reallyyyyy fast.. i think NOT!!!

If you don't like Comcast's stonewalls, then get a DSL connection. I agree with you, everything they said is disingenuous and frankly pretty smarmy. It is also covered under their terms of use agreement that you have to agree to before they will turn on your service. If you don't like the service CCast is providing, then switch to another vendor.
AOL seldom sends disconnects in the middle of File Transfers, at least not intentionally. I just hope 56K is fast enough for you.

My god! Someone has written the article that explains the problem, and what is happening so clearly. I'm fed up with Comcast, but I don't have any other options. Free market only works when there isn't a monopoly. If you are stuck with one provider, you really hope someone out there can prevent them from walking all over you. It's even worse when they have an incentive to treat you poorly.

One aspect no one seems to have mentioned here is that Comcast is interfering with people who are not a Comcast customer.

If person X who is not a Comcast customer is involuntarily disconnected from person Y who is, Comcast is negatively impacting a 3rd party's computer. This is not something they are covered by in any agreement with the 3rd party. They might make the claim that the 3rd party was somehow to be considered attacking Comcast and that Comcast's interferance was defensive but thats ludicris given that its a common file transfer.