The 250GB cap has been active for 10 months: where is Comcast’s bandwidth meter?

Friday, August 15, 2008.  That was the day Comcast confirmed rumors that it will be implementing a 250GB monthly cap for downloads and uploads for users of its residential internet service.  The cap was set to go into effect on October 1, 2008.  At first, the internet was rabid with rage, throwing all sorts of negative names and adjectives Comcast’s way.  With time and thoughtful discussion, most understood that the 250GB cap won’t harm most users.  In fact, it might do more to increase the consistency of speed and throughput on Comcast’s network.

Shortly thereafter, reports began to circulate that Comcast would make available a bandwidth meter to its customers to track their bandwidth usage.  Comcast confirmed that such a tool is indeed coming, but didn’t say exactly when.  And here we are now, a full ten months after the 250GB cap has been set in place.  Yet we still don’t have an official bandwidth meter!

A quick tweet to Comcast’s friendly customer service rep (Frank), yielded that there is no ETA at the current time and that the meter is currently in testing.  So what’s the hold up?  Does it take a multi-billion dollar company a full year to develop what appears to be a relatively simple piece of software?

If you’re concerned about the amount of bandwidth you are using, there are a number of third-party programs that can do the job on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.  Click through for the Cnet video for the Windows and Mac tools.

In a later post, we will explore the best way this meter application should be built.  Stay tuned! Read more »

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