How the Comcast Bandwidth Cap Effects Web Design

Technology
08/30
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9 Responses to “How the Comcast Bandwidth Cap Effects Web Design”

  1. g

    I don’t think that this cap will affect web design too much, at least not right away. The big thing I think you touched on was the idea of killing the competition. If you have the ability to download or stream HD quality videos, why do you need cable? The internet is directly threatening cable. If nothing else I think that this is what is going to ultimately drive things such as tiered internet. The cap isn’t what we should worry about, it’s merely an introduction to what could be if big business had their way.

    What if they lowered or raised that cap based on how much you can pay? Now that would affect web designers, and well…everyone. Google net neutrality. There already is a system in which you can pay more for faster internet. Take Verizon FiOS (fiber optic service), I could pay $140 / month and get 50 Mbps/20 Mbps as opposed to my $45/month 1-3mbps/1 if im lucky mbps on time warner cable’s cable internet service.

    The thing I am more worried about is the idea of “premium” and “basic” internet, where rather than speeds and bandwidth caps, you have caps on which actual sites you can visit. YouTube and Google could be used on the premium service where as Daily Motion and yahoo could be used on the basic. Anyways, we’ll see where this goes in the next decade or so…

  2. Zinni

    g

    Well Comcast got slammed by the FCC for throttling BitTorrent traffic, which I think is good. I think people would really get upset if they had to start paying premium fees to their ISPs just to use certain sites. This bandwidth cap, is something that is my sneaker, and most consumers probably will never even know about it until they get a call from comcast one day, because little Billy has been watching too much YouTube and playing too much Xbox Live.

  3. Jennifer Kyrnin

    It’s funny, when I first heard about this cap, I got really ticked because we were planning on buying something similar to the Roku box for Netflix - and this cap would definitely impact us. (Good thing the streaming video choices on Netflix are so bad…) I never even thought about how it would affect my job!

    I agree that this isn’t going to impact most people immediately. 250GB is a lot. But video is only just taking off on the Web. Like 2 years ago it was nearly impossible to get a good stream on a Web page without a lot of really fancy equipment and server-side software and hardware.

    And when you combine that with the W3C taking a closer look at Web video to make it “play nice” (http://webdesign.about.com/od/w3c/a/what_is_w3c.htm) these caps are going to start hurting a lot sooner than most people think.

  4. CP

    Somehow, I can’t imagine Blockbuster and Netflix are going to let this happen without a serious fight. This is even more fuel for my tank to take my city completely wireless with the help of an ISP other than Comcast.

  5. Qbrushes

    250gb!! I get capped at 20GB down here in Aus :(

    Qbrushes’s latest post: Hyper Brushes

  6. Stephen

    20gb!! I get capped at 3GB down here in South Africa :( (and I’m paying the equivalent of $80 p/m). I’m pretty much out of the race when it comes to developing media rich online websites.

  7. e

    I share your hate for Comcast. They can’t even provide the bandwith they promise. When I was paying for 6Mbps service I was only getting 3Mbps, then I upgraded to 15Mbps and I would get 6Mbps on average.

    I’m now a happy FIOS customer. I pay for 20/20 and I get 20/20. That’s how it should be.

    Notice they released the bandwidth cap a few months before the XBOX360 dash update that includes Netflix OnDemand…

  8. T

    What will happen to Xbox live users though? I personally, do play a lot of Xbox live because where I live there is hardly anything to do. I’m the nerd at my school, so naturally I don’t have many friends to keep me occupied outside except for a few and their nerds as well, so naturally we play Xbox Live together since we live somewhat far away.

  9. Mike

    This is just another way for comcast to raise the cable bill. I hate comcast. I had Suscom for 6 years never had a problem the service was great. Then in 2005 comcast buys suscom and from that day on my service sucks. My cable bill just keeps going up each month. I have 4 kids and they use the internet plus i use the internet and play online games VIA xbox,xbox360,nintendo wii ect… what about us gamers. Its bull! Just one game on Xbox live is about 1.5gig. And if i watch a movie that is about the same or even larger. Then you have the online games played like Gears of Wars, Halo ect…add all that up and all the internet use in my home with the cap i am now screwed. Its like filling your tank full in your car and them telling you that the tank must last you 3 weeks. Its Bull. I guess the BBS scene will be coming back to life!

    They should be sued for false advertisement because it clearly says unlimited internet use!

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