Longtime Comcast customer Drew Weaver was surprised in mid-May of this year when he got an automated call notifying him that he’d gone over his 1TB monthly data cap. First of all, Comcast alleged that he'd exceeded the data cap two months in a row, and Weaver says he never got a notification about the first overage. Moreover, Weaver just didn't believe that he'd used more than 1TB of data.
But after a weeks-long, tedious process of troubleshooting with Comcast, the company insisted that its data meter was accurate. Comcast agents also repeatedly urged Weaver to pay an extra $50 a month to upgrade to an unlimited data plan or risk paying a $10 overage fee for each additional 50GB, up to a maximum of $200 in extra fees each month. According to Comcast, Weaver had used up his "courtesy months" in which a customer is allowed to exceed the data cap without penalty and would have to pay overage charges going forward unless he limited his usage or bought unlimited data.
Weaver could afford the additional payments—but out of principle, he decided not to give Comcast the extra money. And so he ended his nearly 14 years of being a Comcast customer.
"These companies have become so big that you don't even matter anymore," Weaver told Ars. "Your business, they can take it or leave it."
Weaver, who lives in Denver, Colorado, made an unusual decision. In late June, he canceled his Comcast Internet service and didn't sign up for anything to replace it (not that he had many good choices anyway). Instead, Weaver began using only his cellular service at home, despite his mobile data plan being limited to 3GB a month.
Before canceling, he had paid Comcast $42 a month for speeds of 25Mbps downstream and 5Mbps upstream.
"I'm slowly but surely becoming immune to the fact that I no longer have access to the Internet," Weaver said. Of course, he wasn't totally off the Internet. He's got mobile data service and says he spends so much time working that he's rarely home anyway. And there are financial benefits: "I'm saving a small fortune on not buying Amazon movies," Weaver said.
Ideally, though, Weaver and Comcast would have worked out their differences before he canceled service. We talked to both Weaver and Comcast about why that didn't happen.
Data discrepancies
As we detailed in a feature last year, Comcast doesn't have a meter in each customer's home to measure data usage. Instead, Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS) in Comcast facilities count the downstream and upstream traffic to and from each subscriber's cable modem.
Though Comcast lets customers check Comcast's measurement totals online, it doesn't provide any way for customers to verify whether the meter readings are accurate. Customers who measure their own usage with tools such as DD-WRT and OpenWrt are routinely told by Comcast that only Comcast's meter provides an accurate reading.
Comcast has admitted mistakes in some cases, but it's nearly impossible for regular customers to challenge Comcast's data usage claims. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has claimed that Internet data is just like electricity and gasoline and that customers who use more should pay more. But with traditional utilities, government regulation ensures that prices are fair to consumers and that meter readings are accurate. There are no comparable safeguards with Comcast's data charges and usage meter.
Weaver talked to Comcast customer service many times while he was trying to figure out why the meter flagged him for excessive usage. Weaver used to have roommates, and at that time his household was often using 800GB or 900GB a month. But now he was living alone and didn't think Comcast's readings were plausible.
"I said, 'I'm telling you I didn't use this data,' and they said, 'someone must have breached your wireless network. Change your password, it'll be fine, and this will all be over.'"
Weaver decided to start his wireless network from scratch. "I work in IT, so I rebuilt my network and added every conceivable security feature" to prevent unknown devices from connecting, he said. Just in case his laptop had a virus, Weaver said he reinstalled the Windows operating system and did not add any applications that weren't part of the default installation.
Nothing stopped the high meter readings. In mid-June, Weaver seemed to be averaging 100GB to 150GB of data a day, he said. For Comcast to be correct that his network was breached, someone would have had to "magically pierce [the] security" right after he rebuilt his network and immediately begun using "hundreds of gigabytes to the tune of a terabyte every two weeks," he said.
“This whole thing reeks of scam”
At one point, Weaver says he left town for three days and had left his wireless router unplugged, though the modem itself was plugged in. After his trip, Comcast's meter showed that he "used 500GB in three days of not even being home and not having a Wi-Fi network running," Weaver said.
He then tried disconnecting the modem for three days and found that Comcast's meter finally stopped counting data usage, he said.
"I have been told no less than eight times that I can rest easy if I would just buy the $50 unlimited data plan," he said. "This whole thing reeks of scam."
Weaver was using his own modem, an Arris Surfboard SB6190, but he had previously used that modem with Comcast for more than two years without any similar problems, he said.
Though Weaver had many phone calls with Comcast customer service and was routed to many different agents, none could identify or fix the underlying problem. Finally, Weaver just canceled his service.
After being contacted by Ars about Weaver's case, a Comcast spokesperson provided this statement:
I confirmed we had several interactions with Drew starting back in May. We clearly explained the policy, made him aware of the unlimited data option, and attempted to assist with locating the device(s) driving the high usage. Our engineers also verified there were no inconsistencies or anomalies with the data usage meter’s accuracy.
Unfortunately we were unable to identify the source of the issue on his network. He was using his own modem and router, which limited our ability to help him further. We did make him aware of the benefits of upgrading to xFi, which could have also helped identify the device(s) that were consuming lots of data. He could have then unplugged various devices to basically figure it out on his own.
He did not incur any overage charges, but he did use both of his courtesy months.
Unfortunately, he opted to cancel his services so we couldn’t help investigate further.
While it's possible his modem was infected with malware, Weaver was frustrated by Comcast's response and the impending overage charges.
Of all the things Comcast reps asked him to try, "the only thing I didn't do was switch to their router and modem to complete the testing," he said. Weaver decided not to do that "because they were completely unwilling to not charge me an overage" on the next bill. "I was unwilling to go any further. I had done everything with them."
Life without Comcast Internet
After canceling Internet service, Weaver initially looked into options such as CenturyLink and satellite but wasn't impressed with the offerings. (With CenturyLink, it might be tricky to get out of a contract without paying an early termination fee if he moved to a different area, he said.)
"I'm really hoping, doing a lot of research looking for small guys, and there's more and more of them cropping up," offering wireless services, for example, he said. "That's starting to gain a little momentum in smaller markets."
But after going a while without a home Internet service, Weaver decided to stick with just having mobile access. He works for a company during the week and operates a small business, leaving him little time at home anyway. Weaver used a 3GB-per-month Verizon Wireless plan until recently and then switched to a reseller that rides atop the Verizon network.
"When Friday night comes, I grab my dog and leave and don't get back 'til Sunday," he said.
He checks e-mail and Facebook at home but dramatically curtailed his movie watching and online shopping habits after going mobile-only, he said. Weaver also said he recently "met some Comcast folks at a luncheon" through work: "They said that my story was a 'one-off' and it really doesn't happen much."
These Comcast employees were surprised by his decision to cancel cable, he said. "They were in disbelief and shock that, rather than pay the $50-per-month ransom, I cancelled," Weaver said. "Same question over and over: 'how can you get by without Internet?'"
Weaver talked to Ars several times before and during his post-cable adventure. In our last conversation he said that he is in the process of moving—for unrelated reasons—and hopes that his next place of residence will have a good ISP other than Comcast. Still, he recognizes that he might need a home Internet connection for work and that Comcast might end up being his only viable option.
"You already know the way they own certain markets, it is your only choice," he said. "I would only be able to stand on principle for so long. I am aware of the reality."
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