LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
|  ATTN! Cox HSI is setting transfer limits!
Just received this e-mail in my inbox:
---
Dear Cox High Speed Internet Customer:
In order to provide all Cox High Speed Internet customers with an optimal online
experience, Cox must effectively manage network resources for our users. As
part of our network management activities, we proactively identify accounts that
may be utilizing excessive network bandwidth.
Our records indicate that your account may be exceeding our bandwidth usage
policy. Please note that if the situation is not corrected, your Cox High Speed
Internet account may be suspended. Privacy note: Cox does NOT track Internet
sites that you visit or files you download - it only measures total bandwidth
used for purposes of network management. Below are frequently asked questions
regarding excessive bandwidth usage.
- What Are the Current Cox High Speed Internet Residential Bandwidth Limitations?
The Cox High Speed Internet acceptable use policy allows each user a maximum of
2GB per day and/or 30GB of downloads per month. Uploads are limited to 1GB per
day and/or 7.5GB per month. This is an extremely high limit - for example 2GB
of content is equivalent to about 60,000 pictures, 2000 minutes of MP3 music or
3 to 4 full-length movies.
- What Might Cause My Account To Use Excessive Bandwidth?
1. Often a peer-to-peer file sharing application such as KaZaa, Morpheus or
Gnutella may be the problem. These programs operate as file servers by default
and offer files from your hard drive to other Internet users, possibly causing
your account to use excessive bandwidth without your knowledge.
2. If you have a wireless home network, there is a possibility that other people
are using your wireless network without your knowledge and greatly increasing
your network usage. Please refer to the documentation provided with your
networking equipment to secure your connection with a password.
3. Your computer may be affected by a computer virus. A virus will often send
out mass emails from your computer without your knowledge. Installing antivirus
software on your computer and scanning for possible infections may resolve this
issue.
4. In some cases, excessive usage indicates the presence of a commercial
Internet server. Customers using servers and/or bandwidth above normal amounts
may be best served by a commercial account available from Cox Business Services
(www.coxbusiness.com).
- Does Using A File Sharing Application Violate the Cox Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)?
No, using a peer-to-peer file sharing program to download files does not in
itself violate the AUP. If your software is already configured not to share
files to other users, you should not have a problem. Please visit
support.cox.net/ (URL not finalized) for more information and instructions for
securing most common file sharing programs.
- Does Having A Wireless Home Network Violate the Cox Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)?
No, however Cox does not provide support for your home network and you must take
precautions to secure any wireless home network.
- What Will Happen If My Account Continues To Use Excessive Bandwidth?
If the excessive usage is not corrected, your account may be suspended per the
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
- Where Can I View The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)?
The AUP is available online at
»support.cox.net/custsup/policies···se.shtml.
If you have further questions regarding this policy or feel you have received
this notice in error, please visit support.cox.net or send an email to
support@cox.net.
Thank you for your cooperation,
The Cox High Speed Internet Team
---
First of all, considering how awful the speeds are with Cox HSI I can't even begin to believe that I'm exceeding the limits they've imposed. (I do *NOT* do anything like uncapping my modem, or attempt to alter my bandwidth restrictions). Second of all, I don't ever remember seeing this restriction posted anywhere on the forms I signed when I signed up (according to Cox, their Subscriber Agreement, which I've never been given or signed was last altered on 04/01/2002 ... Considering that I signed up for their service in June of 2002 I dont think it would have changed. I think its pretty poor of Cox to be cracking down on its users instead of FIXING their bandwidth problems. As an FYI, I don't run any servers but I do run filesharing programs and my roomate does as well.
Actually, I just read through the Acceptable Use Policy, and nowhere does it say there are limitations on the amount of data I move! If anyone can find where in the policy it says this I'd appreciate it:
Acceptable Use Policy
The thing is, I *did* get this e-mail from Cox. I'm already pissed that they totally screwed up their "digital upgrade" and had me out for over a week. I'm almost ready to drop Cox and switch to Covad right now! (Assuming Covad doesn't have any stupid transfer limitations) ... Oh and by the way, for anyone thinking I should sign up for a Cox Business Account ... they don't offer it in lovely Fairfax County! Great suggestion by that e-mail.
[text was edited by author 2002-11-11 21:24:06]
[text was edited by author 2002-11-11 21:24:37] |
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Hank
Its all relative
Premium
join:2002-05-21
Burlington, WV | I have to agree with you. I do not see any limitations stated in the AUP. When did you receive this e-mail? Is it from the local office? Did it provide any contact information? |
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Anon00
Premium
join:2001-09-25
USA | reply to LiQiCE
That's total bull... I'd get in contact with some Consumer watch dogs. |
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LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
| reply to Hank
I received this email today at 7:49pm. The email is from "Cox HSI Support " and does not specify if it is from my local office or not.
Seriously Cox has offered nothing but crappy service to me, but I've kept it because I'd have to pay more money to get similar bandwidth with DSL and I always have believed that they'd work out the problems and make the service better. But after this e-mail its clear to me that they ultimately care about how much they can saturate the lines and make the biggest profit, and push people who were don't fit their "oversubscribe lines by at least 50%" off of their service, rather than increasing the speed to accomodate more users properly. Right now I'm doing some serious research to switch to Covad though!
BTW- Just to re-iterate, I'm not the type of person who is downloading ISOs 24/7 ... I move data around, and probably in a month I might exceed their bandwidth usage limitations, but I am not an extreme user! Perhaps with 2 people using the same line that's whats pushing me over the top ... but I don't doubt that other people like myself split the line with their roomate or have more than one computer on the line. |
|
state
stress magnet
Premium,Mod
join:2002-02-08
Hampton, VA
clubs: 
Host:
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UK Broadband
Washington & Balti..
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| reply to LiQiCE
Here are the limitations of service: »www.cox.com/INETIncludes/policy/···ions.asp
1. Maximum downstream speed 3 megabits per second
2. Maximum upstream speed 256 kilobits per second
3. Size per email message 5 megabytes
4. Size per email account/address 10 megabytes
5. Personal WebSpace account size 10 megabytes of disk space per email address
6. Personal WebSpace traffic 300 megabytes of traffic per month (for visitors viewing your pages)
Nothing in there about monthly caps. I would have to agree, I rarely get the advertised speeds. Business service is also not available to me, because my home is not a business...that's what I was told by cox.
--
whats new?! | seti |
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Anon00
Premium
join:2001-09-25
USA | reply to LiQiCE
I would get in contact with your local office then. Could be just a mix-up... Who knows. 2Gigs a day.. Sheesh. Why don't they cut off a nut sack while they're at it. |
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LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
| reply to state
said by state  :
Here are the limitations of service: »www.cox.com/INETIncludes/policy/···ions.asp
1. Maximum downstream speed 3 megabits per second
2. Maximum upstream speed 256 kilobits per second
3. Size per email message 5 megabytes
4. Size per email account/address 10 megabytes
5. Personal WebSpace account size 10 megabytes of disk space per email address
6. Personal WebSpace traffic 300 megabytes of traffic per month (for visitors viewing your pages)
Nothing in there about monthly caps. I would have to agree, I rarely get the advertised speeds. Business service is also not available to me, because my home is not a business...that's what I was told by cox.
Fairfax county doesnt even get 3Mbps, we get *1.5Mbps Downstream* and *192Kbps Upstream* ... That is half of the downstream and 3/4ths the Upstream ... And like you said, I rarely can actually sustain that.
If anything, they should be giving me more bandwidth and shutting up about these limits since its not even documented! I will however give them the benefit of the doubt and try calling them sometime this week. If they insist on the limitations then I'll definitely be talking to the Washington Post. Fairfax county doesn't like Cox already and they really won't like Cox when they find out they're imposing "Acceptable Use Policies" that aren't in the "Acceptable Use Policy" document! And then of course I'll switch to Covad  |
|
state
stress magnet
Premium,Mod
join:2002-02-08
Hampton, VA
clubs:
Host:
Webhosting
Sonic.net
UK Broadband
Washington & Balti..
UK Chat
| said by LiQiCE :
Fairfax county doesnt even get 3Mbps, we get *1.5Mbps Downstream* and *192Kbps Upstream*
Seems like most of the complaints are from the VA/NOVA area. Something needs to happen soon...I know I have been getting terrible speeds recently.
Here's todays:
2002-11-11 21:43:18 Speed test (ec) 1364/88 kbps
2002-11-11 19:41:22 Speed test (ec) 1257/215 kbps
2002-11-11 16:59:19 Speed test (la) 1117/216 kbps
2002-11-11 16:54:50 Speed test (ec) 283/126 kbps
2002-11-11 16:53:04 Speed test (ec) 328/236 kbps
--
whats new?! | seti |
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drdaedalus
join:2002-05-06
Orange Park, FL
| reply to LiQiCE
Hey guys/gals,
I don't have the COX HSI but I do the Tier 1 support for them and Ithink this is bull. I see you guys get shafted each and every day. The only thing you ppl can do is to get a more customer friendly ISP. Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying this because I'm a tech rep but I think it's in the best intrest of you the customers to let COX know that they need to stick to something they know and that is cable tv.
Thats my 2 cents.
DrDaedalus |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs: 
| reply to Anon00
Before going on, take a couple of blood pressure reducing pills, and once those kick in, read this paragraph closely:
»support.cox.net/custsup/policies···l#aup_13
The key sentence is here: "...You must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user's use of the Service, nor represent (in the sole judgment of Cox) an unusually large burden on the network itself...."
I've never seen the numbers for bandwidth use in writing before. Long ago in the days of @Home, I pushed for a definition of heavy bandwidth usage and at that time I was told (verbally by Level 2 tech or above - not sure) that the limit was 500MB data flow total per day on average ... which works out to about 15GB/month. I was told that people going over the limit once or twice once in a while weren't bothered, that it was only people who continually exhibited "excessive" usage that received such warnings.
Based on what I was told way back then the stated limits of 30GB/7.5GB month seem reasonable (and an improvement from the @Home days). And seeing that some other services have limits as low as 12GB (big to-do about that one about 18 months ago in another forum) the 30GB again doesn't seem out of line.
I would suspect that the most likely culprit that you wouldn't be aware of would be uploads from your filesharing applications -- might get a tool like DU Meter and see what your traffic flow actually looks like. Without some numbers to toss back at them, you don't have much to fight them with other that bluster and bluff.
--
Once it hits the fan, the only rational choice is to sweep it up, package it,and sell it as fertilizer. |
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cablemoose
join:2001-06-25
Martinsburg, WV | reply to LiQiCE
I received this very email from them tonight as well. I too will give them the benefit of the doubt and discuss this with the local office. I know I don't exceed these limits!! Or much less come close. What is there basis?? |
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LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
| reply to drdaedalus
Unfortunately for Fairfax County, DSL is not available everywhere, and Cox is the *only* choice for cable. The only thing we can do is complain to Fairfax County and hope they'll hear our complaints and possible kick Cox out of Fairfax County. (Although who would replace them? Comcast and Adelphia are not any better!! - And the people running Optimum Online aren't large enough to come save us  ..)
I'm one of the lucky ones that Verizon claims can get DSL. I originally tried to get DSL through Speakeasy.Net and Verizon claimed it wasn't possible. Verizon is now claiming I can get DSL so if I decide to sign up through Covad we'll see.
Also, to 2kmaro ... While I understand where you're coming from, you have to understand where Fairfax County customers are coming from when it comes to Cox. We have been dealing with their piss poor service for awhile now and been left listening to promises upon promises of it getting better. And now instead of trying to please their customers by providing better service ... they've implemented an additional restriction on the service (And without any sortof notice). I really do not feel like I'm getting my $50 worth with this service, especially after that slap in the face e-mail. I am however trying the DU Meter program you spoke of to get some real world estimates of how much bandwidth I'm roughly using in a given week. Hopefully that will help to shed some light for me, but I really think that these limitations are a slap in the face considering the poor service that Cox has presented us with here in NOVA.
said by drdaedalus :
Hey guys/gals,
I don't have the COX HSI but I do the Tier 1 support for them and Ithink this is bull. I see you guys get shafted each and every day. The only thing you ppl can do is to get a more customer friendly ISP. Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying this because I'm a tech rep but I think it's in the best intrest of you the customers to let COX know that they need to stick to something they know and that is cable tv.
Thats my 2 cents.
DrDaedalus
|
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LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
| reply to cablemoose
cablemoose,
Could their be a problem in Herndon? We're both from Herndon so it seems sortof strange! Maybe there's a problem with the way they're monitoring bandwidth here, or maybe there was just a glitch in the system that sent the e-mail out to all of us in Herndon?!?. In any case I'm still sortof upset that there is any restriction what so ever. If @Home did used to have those restrictions I've never gotten red flagged for it because I've never gotten an email. And back in those days when I was getting 3Mbps down and roughly 1Mbps up I probably moved a lot more data in a given day than I do now with 1.5Mbps and 192Kbps up... Oh well!
said by cablemoose :
I received this very email from them tonight as well. I too will give them the benefit of the doubt and discuss this with the local office. I know I don't exceed these limits!! Or much less come close. What is there basis??
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| reply to cablemoose
Don't know where their basis is coming from. They do have the ability to monitor bandwidth user on a per user basis - I've known that since day one of the service with @Home. Can't wait to see if I get one -- while I do no file sharing, I am here several hours per day.
Oh - again, I would suspect the upload of files more than anything else unless you're (and I mean "you're" in the anyone sense, not you personally) an avid MP3 or movie collector, it shouldn't be a problem on the download side.
--- Let's do some upload math (someone check me on these numbers, sometimes I misplace decimals)---
7.5GB = 7,500,000,000 * 8 = 60,000,000,000 bits
192,000 bits/sec upload speed (per LiQiCE's post earlier)
60,000,000,000/192,000 = 312500 seconds = 5208.333 minutes = 86.806 hrs = 3.617 days.
3.617 days is just over 10% of a month's worth of days. Basically that says that if someone is uploading from your machine for 6 minutes of each hour throughout the month, then you've just exceeded your 7.5GB limit.
--
Once it hits the fan, the only rational choice is to sweep it up, package it,and sell it as fertilizer. |
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LiQiCE
join:2001-05-31
Herndon, VA
| Sheesh, I didn't think to do the math ... but 7.5GBs is really nothing if you're using filesharing at all. Too bad I can't disable my upstream for the filesharing client I use. I really only utilize about 10k/s or about 80 Kbps of my upstream for uploads ... But you would still easily go through that by leaving a filesharing client open on a few nights during a given month.
Considering my roomate does the same thing (runs a filesharing client once in awhile overnight to finish downloads) ... Its probably fairly easy to go through the 7.5GBs ... Probably time to search for a new service or see how crazy Cox is about enforcing these new policies.
I wonder if I should switch regardless since I plan on utilizing my broadband connection for X-Box Live, and I know I need a fairly decent amount of upstream bandwidth for the service. Even without filesharing it wouldn't be hard to imagine going over 7.5GB simply by playing a game obsessively for a few weekends.
said by 2kmaro :
Don't know where their basis is coming from. They do have the ability to monitor bandwidth user on a per user basis - I've known that since day one of the service with @Home. Can't wait to see if I get one -- while I do no file sharing, I am here several hours per day.
Oh - again, I would suspect the upload of files more than anything else unless you're (and I mean "you're" in the anyone sense, not you personally) an avid MP3 or movie collector, it shouldn't be a problem on the download side.
--- Let's do some upload math (someone check me on these numbers, sometimes I misplace decimals)---
7.5GB = 7,500,000,000 * 8 = 60,000,000,000 bits
192,000 bits/sec upload speed (per LiQiCE's post earlier)
60,000,000,000/192,000 = 312500 seconds = 5208.333 minutes = 86.806 hrs = 3.617 days.
3.617 days is just over 10% of a month's worth of days. Basically that says that if someone is uploading from your machine for 6 minutes of each hour throughout the month, then you've just exceeded your 7.5GB limit.
[text was edited by author 2002-11-11 23:12:23] |
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theman
Premium
join:2000-08-02
Dallas, TX
| reply to LiQiCE
Yeah well until I have service that doesn't spike to 1000+ ping for hours on end and I get the speed that they say they sell.....they can shove that bandwidth cap you know where.
2002-11-11 00:09:21 Speed test (nyc.speakeasy.net) 339/233 kbps
2002-11-10 21:49:30 Speed test (nyc.speakeasy.net) 360/233 kbps
2002-11-10 21:48:39 Speed test (nyc.speakeasy.net) 292/225 kbps
2002-11-10 21:46:32 Speed test (nyc.speakeasy.net) 277/237 kbps
2002-11-11 23:13:36 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 352/232 kbps
[text was edited by author 2002-11-11 23:14:11] |
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2kmaro
Think
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join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| Lets keep things ON TOPIC - pings and tracerts are a whole separate issue and being talked to death in numerous other threads. This thread is for discussion of bandwidth use cap.
--
Once it hits the fan, the only rational choice is to sweep it up, package it,and sell it as fertilizer. |
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SurferSD
join:2002-09-06
El Cajon, CA
clubs:
| reply to LiQiCE
I wouldn't go stressing on these letters just yet. But these letters may help everyone be prepared for what may be to come. Obviously with the uncapping software that is out, Cox is looking more closely at people who are exceeding the "normal" bandwidth usage. I don't know what they are basing this off of, but it seems as though they have some certain way of looking at a specifi account and saying yes or no, they are using it more than the average user.
Whether that be downloading, uploading, gaming, emailing, newsgroups, whatever is your pie, that is great for you. But someplace or another every person uses the internet mainly for one thing.
Cox is not saying that they are going to shut you off right now if you don't stop. It's more of a warning than anything. And if you feel that you aren't exceeding the bandwidth like they claim, then disreguard it.
Obviosuly for the people that have uncapped their modems and are totally abusing it the bandwidth, I'm sure Cox has placed some type of abuse issue or whatever on them, and may be pending to shut off their service. I know from expierence in dealing with Cox myself that if they open some type of abuse issue on you, you will know about it right away, and they will more than likely give you another chance.
I'm not defending Cox. I'm simply stating that some people (not everyone, most certainly) have done things to make Cox more aware of their bandwidth and so Cox has broken out the magnifying class and is combing through it's users. It's the few screw-ups that mess it up for everyone else. I hated those people in high school. |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| reply to LiQiCE
You've brought up an interesting point with the XBox thing! Wonder how Cox is going to figure that into their service model when they and Microsoft go on line in their teamed effort! Might just have to take a lesson from SpeakEasy and offer a "Gamers" service option! That service runs $59.95/month.
--
Once it hits the fan, the only rational choice is to sweep it up, package it,and sell it as fertilizer. |
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Pyrion
Liquid Metal Nanomorph
join:2001-12-01
Poway, CA
clubs:
 ·Verizon BroadbandA..
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to LiQiCE
From what I understand of that letter, you were under the previous stated upload and download caps on your connection which, as I have been led to believe by postings from the Cox techs on this board, are 8GB up per month and 72GB down per month. They specifically mention "your account", which leads me to believe that they have targeted your account specifically with restrictions because you have exceeded your monthly allowance multiple times, enough times to be an annoyance.
In the letter, they say you're limited to 30GB of downloads per month, but unless they've gotten more paranoid lately, I doubt they actually bother to check if you've gone over that unless, of course, you've gone WAAAAAAAY past that to the point of constant line saturation.
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The truth is usually an excuse for lack of imagination. |
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