ALERT: AT&T DSL and U-verse Usage Caps start May 2nd! NATIONWIDE

[TexanAtPlay]

I sure missed this one, but I found out that AT&T is imposing a cap of 150 GB on DSL users and 250 GB per month on U-verse users, with overage fees accumulating from there.

Of course "most" users won't be bothered by this, but if you are a user of iTunes movie/TV show rental/purchase, NETFLIX!!!!, MLB or NBA TV (online), Amazon Streaming, TiVo online services, Pandora, Sirius/XM Internet, VOIP from Vonage or other companies, VUDU, BOXEE (and of course BitTorrent) -- this WILL net you some unexpected fees in your next bill. You are the target to shut these non-AT&T "data hog" services down from their networks and to add to AT&T's lagging landline revenues.

The caps are REAL. They've imposed them quietly last month by press release, not to major news outlets like Fox and CNN, but instead to trade and industry publications. They also have NOT consistently notified customers of the upcoming overage charges. AT&T provided a website to allow customers to check how much data they are using -- it does not work, and I just a bit ago got off the phone with their Technical Services and it was confirmed not to actually be working for most users.

Time Warner did this 2 years ago and got smacked by outrage. AT&T didn't bother making it well publicized, so they're getting away with it.

Game over.......

[Eccie Addict]

Wow!!! Glad to know that. This limited Internet stuff is just crap.

[rachet3375]

Funny thing back in the 90s I got "unlimited" internet access thru a service and soon got a letter stating caps on service. When I told them they said unlimited access they informed me that it meant I had access to the entire internet not unlimited bandwidth. I left that day for another provider.

[pyramider]

Game ain't over yet. They can bill whatever they want ............. ATT customer service will be waiving a bunch of charges in the coming months.

[Chica Chaser]

http://www.att.com/esupport/article....id=lyGsBldwraX

Are there any usage limits for my broadband service?
Yes. As of May 2, 2011, AT&T's residential DSL High Speed Internet plans will have a usage allowance of 150 Gigabytes ("GB") per month, and its residential U-verse High Speed Internet plans will have a usage allowance of 250 Gigabytes ("GB") per month. The usage allowance is the amount of data you can send and receive each month.

Why is AT&T implementing a usage allowance?
AT&T has experienced a dramatic increase in the amount of data that is sent and received over its wireline broadband networks. This dramatic increase is driven primarily by a small fraction of our customers. In fact, the top 2% of customers use about 20% of the total capacity on our network. A single high traffic user can utilize the same amount of data capacity as 19 typical households. Lopsided usage patterns can cause congestion at certain points in the network, which can slow Internet speeds and interfere with other customers' access to and use of the network.

How much is 150 GB?
150 GB is far more data than most customers ever use in a month. Our average DSL customer uses only about 18 GB per month. In fact, less than 2% of DSL users utilize more than 150 GB per month. We estimate that 98% of our customers will not be affected by this change because the monthly usage allowance includes so much bandwidth.

[Sensia]

Originally Posted by TexanAtPlay

I sure missed this one, but I found out that AT&T is imposing a cap of 150 GB on DSL users and 250 GB per month on U-verse users, with overage fees accumulating from there.

Of course "most" users won't be bothered by this, but if you are a user of iTunes movie/TV show rental/purchase, NETFLIX!!!!, MLB or NBA TV (online), Amazon Streaming, TiVo online services, Pandora, Sirius/XM Internet, VOIP from Vonage or other companies, VUDU, BOXEE (and of course BitTorrent) -- this WILL net you some unexpected fees in your next bill. You are the target to shut these non-AT&T "data hog" services down from their networks and to add to AT&T's lagging landline revenues.

The caps are REAL. They've imposed them quietly last month by press release, not to major news outlets like Fox and CNN, but instead to trade and industry publications. They also have NOT consistently notified customers of the upcoming overage charges. AT&T provided a website to allow customers to check how much data they are using -- it does not work, and I just a bit ago got off the phone with their Technical Services and it was confirmed not to actually be working for most users.

Time Warner did this 2 years ago and got smacked by outrage. AT&T didn't bother making it well publicized, so they're getting away with it.

Game over.......

Yea I posted something about this a long time ago. It will affect gamers like me, and yes, gonna cost money to stream Netflix on my big tv now..

[pmdelites]

Originally Posted by Chica Chaser

http://www.att.com/esupport/article....id=lyGsBldwraX

thanks for the link to their website!!!
did you have to search for it or did they send something to you?
i havent received anything from at&t about this.

[RickForFun]

I hate AT&T with a passion. Their coverage sucks and customer service is worse. They are scum.......

[Chica Chaser]

Originally Posted by pmdelites

thanks for the link to their website!!!
did you have to search for it or did they send something to you?
i havent received anything from at&t about this.

No I had to find it. They haven't sent me anything either, and don't think they will!

[conquer_it_all]

Just wait. They bought T-mobile now and will eventually turn that into a crappy network also.

[pyramider]

All of the cell companies suck rhino dick. All of them. You just have to use the one with the best coverage in your area.

[translateslowly]

Thanks for the heads up. I stream a lot of "movie" so this well affect me big time. I found a link were you are suppose to be able to check your usage history www.MyUsage.att.com back to 1-1-2011 but it's not working for me.
I keep getting
We're sorry, but we're unable to display your Internet usage at this time.
Please try again later. (725)
Would love to know if anyone has gotten this to work yet.

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

I have comcast and they have had the 250 gigabyte cap for a while.. I use Tmobile but rarely use it for data as I have other options... I can use my phone for an uplink if I need to but never do.

I might get me a Clear puck and split the diff between it, my home connection and my work's open guest wifi for iso downloading.

[guest010313]

Oooooooooooh! I called ATT yesterday to see about getting Uverse. Worst phone call ever.

1. First chick on the phone was able to provide ZERO info about the service. I even specifically asked about usage caps and she said none.
2. Security questions are all subjective. What is your favorite restaurant? Who was your childhood hero? I have no idea if my answers to these will be the same in a week. I'm 1000% certain that I won't remember what answers I gave them.
3. $100 deposit (and the freaking modem costs $100) which is fine, BUT they are new in KC and they can't even tell you how long it will be until installation until you pay them. Why exactly should I pay you $100 when I don't know if it will be 2 days or a month before I have service?

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

SillyGirl, when I was curious about Uverse I signed up for their notify me deal.. Got an email saying they had gotten the network all cabled up about 4 months later