The FCC is still taking comments from the public about how much data you really use and what your experience with data caps is like.

The Federal Communications Commission is officially looking into broadband data caps and their impact on consumers. On Tuesday, the FCC approved a notice of inquiry to examine whether data caps harm consumers and competition, as well as why data caps persist “despite increased broadband needs” and the “technical ability to offer unlimited data plans,” as spotted earlier by Engadget.

Many internet plans come with a data cap that limits how much bandwidth you can use each month. If you go over the data cap, internet service providers will typically charge an extra fee or slow down your service. The FCC first started inviting consumers to comment on broadband data caps last June, hundreds of which you can now read on the agency’s website.

You can still share your experience with broadband data caps with the FCC through this form, which will ask for details about the name of your ISP, usage limits, and any challenges you’ve encountered due to the cap.

  • Ech
    link
    fedilink
    English
    276 hours ago

    and why they still exist

    Does that really require inquiry? It’s for more money, fucking obviously.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      136 hours ago

      “We spent six years investigating why a business would want to overcharge customers in order to make more money. What we found shocked us, because businesses were spending that money on finding way to make the world worse.”

  • Justin
    link
    fedilink
    7610 hours ago

    Biden’s FCC has been killing it, really nice to see them crack down on data caps with this and the standardized billing info

    • @psycho_driver
      link
      3
      edit-2
      45 minutes ago

      How 'bout a double finger fuck Ajit Pai while we’re on the subject.

      • I Cast Fist
        link
        fedilink
        429 minutes ago

        That’s not enough, a good serving of raw pineapple inside his ass would work better

        • @9bananas
          link
          126 minutes ago

          may i offer you a cactus in these trying times?

  • @Alexstarfire
    link
    4810 hours ago

    Money.

    When something isn’t about money or power, then you can actually phrase it like it’s a surprise.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      2
      edit-2
      6 hours ago

      Ah, so I can be surprised about the reason why I like pooping in the morning. At least until I get paid for doing it. Or elected.

  • @solrize
    link
    2910 hours ago

    I want to know why upstream bandwidth is so limited too. I have about 300gb of data at home, not much at all by hoarder standards. But there is no decent way for me to back it up to a remote server, because of low upload speed.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      179 hours ago

      On cable it’s because they allocate significantly more bandwidth towards download than upload. They could allocate them equally but most customers that are mostly just streaming or playing games care only about the download since it means they can stream/download things faster.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      810 hours ago

      If you use something like borg backup the first upload will take you forever but after that all you have to upload is the data that changed. I had the same problem as you and that’s how I solved it.

      • @solrize
        link
        510 hours ago

        Yeah it would take multiple days and the connection usually doesn’t stay up that long. Any idea how well Borg deals with random disconnects and reconnects during a backup?

        I do use Borg and like it in general.

    • DominusOfMegadeus
      link
      fedilink
      39 hours ago

      I got FIOS gigabit recently, and was very surprised to find that I now regularly get 300&400mb upload speeds

      • @solrize
        link
        39 hours ago

        This is decades later and most of that stuff has been replaced multiple times by now.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          29 hours ago

          And only in the past couple years have we been hitting that limit. Maintaining backwards compliance has been more important for cable service. Anyone who had a real need would have used T-carrier service, fiber, or multiple bonded lines, depending on year and budget.

  • @Dagnet
    link
    1810 hours ago

    Internet providers tried to implement data caps in my country but it got shot down, its sad you guys have to put up with that nonsense

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      35 hours ago

      What’s more disgusting is that cell providers have data caps on tethering. Why the fuck it should matter if I’m using one device via another or how that’s even their business is beyond me. If I’m paying for data, just give me what I’m paying for. It shouldn’t matter how it’s distributed on my own private network/devices.

      AT&T and T-Mobile both lost hundreds/thousands of dollars from me because I canceled due to this nonsense.

  • Dem Bosain
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1010 hours ago

    I actually have competition where I live. No data caps.

  • @HorreC
    link
    29 hours ago

    this is being brought up from MSFS 2024, lot of nerds in planes were about to get hit with that limit and the FCC is like its time to shine!!