Here’s How Many Netflix Shows You Can Stream Before Comcast Raises Your Bill

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Xfinity Internet subscribers living in Miami, Fla., Little Rock, Ark., or any other city on this list are already well aware of Comcast’s slow-rolling, evil plot to try to limit our Netflixing. The details of the company’s Data Usage Plan Trial – which all of those customers are already part of – were explaained in a piece by Yahoo Tech’s Rob Pegoraro last year, but the short/skinny is that 300 GB of Internet data are allotted to households each month; if you exceed your limit, you’ll have to fork over another $10 for every 50 GB of data.

Sucks for those customers, right? Some day soon it may also suck for you. Comcast’s justification for trying to slime its way out of providing unlimited data to its customers was recently revealed in a company memo: “e-mail [users] shouldn’t pay the same as subscribers … [who] binge-watch Web videos.” We don’t see any reason why Comcast won’t eventually spread this program to all of its customers, which would open the door for competitors to do the same.

So how much Netflix can you fit in under a 300 GB cap? At full HD quality (1080p), you can stream roughly 160 30-minute TV show episodes (commercials removed, of course) or about 29.5 movies (based on one calculation that puts today’s average movie length at 130 minutes). Any way you slice it, we’re talking at least 64 hours of Netflix streaming – and probably actually more, because Netflix will often bump HD video streams between 720p and 1080p, as bandwidth allows.

Source: yahootech

 

[Nebulous]

Some people have ditched cable and rely solely on internet streaming for tv shows and movies. What if you live in a house with more than one person? The cap will be reached in no time.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

I imagine it wouldn't take very long.

 

[Mommalina]

I guess Verizon FIOS will soon follow. I've been toying with the
idea of dropping FIOS TV, keeping phone and internet service,
and setting up streaming. If my son can also figure out how
to connect my cell phone to my medical alert, I may also be
able to drop the landline.

Son does not hit town until April, and my FIOS contract expires
in March. All above my head. May try to negotiate a better
contract with Verizon before I do anything.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

I am paying over $370. a month at Comcast for internet, cable and landline. It's ridiculous.
I often toy with the idea of switching to FIOS but I hate their menu and their speeds aren't as fast as what I am used to getting.

 

[Bill M.]

Geez, that's expensive.

 

[Mommalina]

I am paying over $370. a month at Comcast for internet, cable and landline. It's ridiculous.
I often toy with the idea of switching to FIOS but I hate their menu and their speeds aren't as fast as what I am used to getting.

Cindy, my FIOS bill is $132 a month, but I don't have any extra
premium channels such as HBO, etc. There are at least 5
Spanish-language (some with movies), 3 C-SPAN, and 4 or
more PBS channels. Enough so I can always find something
entertaining or informative.

However, I deeply resent all the info-commercials which reign
during non-peak hours and sometimes even peak hours, not
to mention the constant regular commercials. Wasn't cable
TV supposed to be commercial-free at one time?

Coming soon: paying banks to keep money in a checking,
money-market, and savings account?

Remember how the banks seduced us to use ATM machines
"for free"? My credit union now charges $1 just to get a balance.
After a few tries, I gave ATMs a try many years ago but stopped
because I never knew who was standing or in the car behind me.
Now, I'll be dammed if I'll pay to use one! Having a credit card
makes cash transactions very rare ..

 

[IceMan37]

I cut the cord a ways back and got rid of the huge Charter bill. I do keep the net only though through them, and I have Netflix and Hulu Premium. If Charter imposes a cap on bandwidth I will leave them of course. I know these cable companies and FIOS are sick of losing premium content subscribers but this is the way that things are headed anyway.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

That is part of the problem.
I have the X-finity (X-1 platform) package.
It includes all of the pay channels, DVR, (everything you record is in the cloud) landline and the fastest internet speeds.
So far there is no cap on bandwidth.

 

[IceMan37]

It would definitely be hard to give up the speed you have on the internet for sure. That sounds like the best total package one can possibly get as well.

 

[starbuck]

am paying over $370. a month at Comcast for internet, cable and landline. It's ridiculous.

It certainly is!!
I'm with Talk Talk and I pay £35.00 ( approx $51 ) a month for Internet, cable and Landline.
mind you.. add to that £8.99 ( approx $13 ) for movie channel... so that's only $64.

 

[IceMan37]

I pay about the same for the internet and a land line as well ($55.00).

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

The majority of the bill is probably the cable TV and the X-1 platform.

 

[AWS]

Caps are coming to residential service with Comcast. The writing is on the wall. They are already doing trials of caps in certain markets now. It's only a matter of time before they are put in place.

I have Comcast Metro-E fiber. This site runs on it. It is a business product and has an SLA and no caps. Many people with Comcast residential are signing up for their business class service to keep away from caps. DSL Reports is loaded with threads about it in the Comcast forums on the site and it seems like every week there is a new news article about the upcoming caps.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

I read about the trial caps.
One of the cities that they are trying it out in is Chicago, I think.

 

[Nebulous]

I am currently using AT&T uverse for tv and internet. Its not the fastest but it works for now. I was thinking of switching to comcast but I am not so sure now...