Has Anyone Stopped Cable For Streaming?

[PrincessSuzanne]

OMGosh, I had no idea about the new AT&T caps...and we have DSL!!

We do mostly netflix/playon streaming so this is very bad news.

I wasn't aware of it either, is AT&T going to notify it's users? They don't even have Uverse available in our area yet, not sure if they will or not.

I think I am the only one in the house that does any streaming and it is mostly from my Wii and only sometimes my iPod touch and computer. I guess if I go over, I will just pay it

Suzanne

 

[NotUrsula]

OMGosh, I had no idea about the new AT&T caps...and we have DSL!!

We do mostly netflix/playon streaming so this is very bad news.

If I were you I'd look into metering (and logging) your activity so you can keep track. (NetWorx is a good free tool.) AT&T reportedly has some issues with the accuracy of their metering, so there are rumours that there is a good chance that some people might get overcharged.

AT&T did notify users several months back. It came as an email to my network management account. In my case, I took a hard look at what we were paying for our various services as a result. It turned out that I could save a little bit of money and up my bandwidth by consolidating all our services with them. We were paying $132 between phone, internet and DirectTV, and the Uverse is $125, so it made sense for us to switch. Not that I like AT&T, but in our market they were the best option in terms of what was available.

 

[Lehuaann]

If I were you I'd look into metering (and logging) your activity so you can keep track. (NetWorx is a good free tool.) AT&T reportedly has some issues with the accuracy of their metering, so there are rumours that there is a good chance that some people might get overcharged.

AT&T did notify users several months back. It came as an email to my network management account. In my case, I took a hard look at what we were paying for our various services as a result. It turned out that I could save a little bit of money and up my bandwidth by consolidating all our services with them. We were paying $132 between phone, internet and DirectTV, and the Uverse is $125, so it made sense for us to switch. Not that I like AT&T, but in our market they were the best option in terms of what was available.

I must've been one of the customers who didn't get the notice. I always check my emails and have also checked my At&t email. Nothing. And U-verse is not available in our area. I guess we need to look into more options.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

If I were you I'd look into metering (and logging) your activity so you can keep track. (NetWorx is a good free tool.) AT&T reportedly has some issues with the accuracy of their metering, so there are rumours that there is a good chance that some people might get overcharged.

AT&T did notify users several months back. It came as an email to my network management account. In my case, I took a hard look at what we were paying for our various services as a result. It turned out that I could save a little bit of money and up my bandwidth by consolidating all our services with them. We were paying $132 between phone, internet and DirectTV, and the Uverse is $125, so it made sense for us to switch. Not that I like AT&T, but in our market they were the best option in terms of what was available.

I never received any such notice, that I remember about that. I believe all we have available to us is AT&T, so I am kinda stuck. Oh well. I don't really think we use that much, but I will try to check it out.

Thank you for the info.

Suzanne

 

[Lehuaann]

Yes, thank you for the information, NotUrsula.

I called At&t tech support this morning and they said that our internet usage has never gone over 100gb per month within the past 3 months, so I should be ok. Again, this is what "they" said. I will take your advice and look into NetWorx. Especially since we have no cable and use 3 devices (2 of them w/ HD capability) for streaming to catch up on tv shows and movies.

I asked them why they were limiting usage down to 150gb and his answer was - to prevent online abuse; spammers, xxx site hosting, illegal music/movie downloads, and etc. who cause online congestion for everyone else.

Frankly, I'm not sure what the truth is at this point. Either it's about abusive consumers...or what I think, money. They know this is becoming the age of instant streaming, therefore, this is taking a huge step backwards. Perhaps a desperate attempt to boost packaging/cable profits.

Also, the rep said I more than likely didn't get the notice since I wasn't on their distribution listing (?). Not sure what that is, but a notice in my online At&t account messaging or simply mailing a letter would've worked just as well?

I told him unfortunately I found out about it on a message board. Bad.

 

[DrCavin]

I just checked my att email, never used it so never check it. I found the email from ATT, in the spam folder

From what I have read on other boards, ATT has not implemented this YET. They don't even have the tool for you to track it running. When you click the link to show how much you have used you will get this:

The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.

To learn more about how to manage your usage, please visit www.att.com/internet-usage

NOW what is still not clear to me is are they going to count your Uverse data as internet data? If that is the case that is VERY bad

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just checked my att email, never used it so never check it. I found the email from ATT, in the spam folder

From what I have read on other boards, ATT has not implemented this YET. They don't even have the tool for you to track it running. When you click the link to show how much you have used you will get this:

The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.

To learn more about how to manage your usage, please visit www.att.com/internet-usage

NOW what is still not clear to me is are they going to count your Uverse data as internet data? If that is the case that is VERY bad

Ok, dh told me it is "in effect" now. It will be on your bill somewhere.

It is not a true "cap" as you can go over the number. You are just going to pay more if you go over.

Your Uverse TV is not included, this is for internet usage only on your TV, computer, online gaming thru XBOX, PS3, etc. streaming movies thru your Wii, surfing your phone, Nook, whatever is "internet".

Uverse is 200GBs and DSL is 150GBs. Average movie (non HD) is 1.5GBs. It is supposed to be 10.00 for every additional 50GBs.

Also if you have a smartphone using WiFi in your home it will contribute to that number as well. DH thinks you can change your smartphone to be using the cell tower and not your home WiFi so as not to add to the minutes but he is not sure how to do it.

 

[Lehuaann]

Also if you have a smartphone using WiFi in your home it will contribute to that number as well. DH thinks you can change your smartphone to be using the cell tower and not your home WiFi so as not to add to the minutes but he is not sure how to do it.

Yep, that's what I did last night...changed our iPhone wi-fi settings to off, thus switching it over to 3G with unlimited data.

I'm able to get internet and Netflix on 3G, however, Playon won't work unless I'm connected to my home network.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yep, that's what I did last night...changed our iPhone wi-fi settings to off, thus switching it over to 3G with unlimited data.

I'm able to get internet and Netflix on 3G, however, Playon won't work unless I'm connected to my home network.

DH has a blackberry. Thanks for the info.

We will be checking our usage but right now we are no where close to hitting 150GBs, I think.

IDK....it will be something we look into.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yep, that's what I did last night...changed our iPhone wi-fi settings to off, thus switching it over to 3G with unlimited data.

I'm able to get internet and Netflix on 3G, however, Playon won't work unless I'm connected to my home network.

I think that normal family usage should stay under the limit as long as you try to steer clear of HD streaming.

This is going to torpedo those "cloud" music services that Amazon and Google are trying to develop. Streaming music takes a bit of bandwidth, so it makes no sense to do it under these circumstances if you already have the songs stored locally.

My AT&T wireless data plan is also capped, so your 3G workaround won't work for me.

As to WHY they are implementing these caps; it's profit -- absolutely. Yes, there are folks who really choke traffic, but almost all of them are really running businesses, so the logical thing would be to say if your traffic runs over a certain limit that you have to open an enterprise account rather than a home account. My guess would be that the data usage by people like that is up over a couple of terabytes. Charging extra in 50 gb increments for personal accounts is all about protecting their TV and phone business. (They are not just worried about Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and Playon -- they are really worried about Skype and other VOIP services, too.)

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You know, how much "usage" does your computer do with just sitting there, not in use?

I mean, we don't turn them off when not in use.

I am sure it is probably miniscule, but just wondering you know?

 

[Lehuaann]

You know, how much "usage" does your computer do with just sitting there, not in use?

I mean, we don't turn them off when not in use.

I am sure it is probably miniscule, but just wondering you know?

Our computers are set-up that the display and computer goes to sleep after 5 min of inactivity, so no usage?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Our computers are set-up that the display and computer goes to sleep after 5 min of inactivity, so no usage?

Good idea. Not sure if I have that set up. I won't do 5 mins. but 30 is good.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have Netflix, that's all, just Netflix. We stream it thru our Wii via our high speed internet. It's saved us about $100 a month....