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Communications The Internet IT

Comcast Details What the Coronavirus Has Done To Network Traffic (venturebeat.com) 56

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Comcast said that internet traffic has risen 32% because of the coronavirus, but the company said it has the capacity to handle peak traffic demands in the U.S. From a report: Tony Werner, Comcast president of technology, said in a press briefing that the company normally adds capacity 12-18 months ahead of time, with typical plans targeting 45% a year increases in traffic. "First and foremost, I think it's important to know that the network is performing well," Werner said. "And people are able to -- both business and customers working from home -- do the things they need to do with a great deal of proficiency." He said the company engineers the networks for "peak traffic" and that traffic is up more than 32% overall as of last week. Some parts of the country are up 60%, including Seattle, San Francisco, and now Chicago. [...] Video conference calls using the voice-over-internet-protocol on Comcast are up 212% since March 1.
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Comcast Details What the Coronavirus Has Done To Network Traffic More

Comcast Details What the Coronavirus Has Done To Network Traffic

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  • Comcrap just stinks. I have had 3 High-Speed internet Provers since 2000, 1 one ok. one was Good, and one STINK. I think you can figure out who stunk.
    • For me Comcast has been very good. Consistent speeds that exceed what we pay for, easy and helpful customer service. I know these words sounds ridiculous even to me, but I have to admit that has been my experience.

      • They do sound ridiculous. At least to me. Every time Comcast goes down here in Seattle, they immediately blame my modem and try to send me the one with their piggybacked WiFi (essentially having me not only provide the infrastructure for said network, but pay for it as well, including electricity).

        It’s never, not once, been my modem. Always turns out it was a belated “work in the area” notice.

        Attempt to get me to provide a node for their WiFi network. That’s the extent of what cust

        • I know. I read those things all the time, and I've no doubt at all that they're true. My experience has been absurdly good. I can't explain it.

    • Have you tried soap and water? If it doesn't work, try alcohol, disinfectants, etc. It should get rid of the stink.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Pascoea ( 968200 )
      I've had Comcast/Xfinity for 6 years, and really can't complain. There was a snafu when I first signed up, but it's been solid since then. (They shut down my account on a Friday night due to "fraud", someone else signed up with my same phone number.) Speeds have been fine, they bump up my max speed every so often for the same price. (250Mb for ~$60/month) I just have to remember to renew my contract every year or my price jumps to $80ish, if I forget all I have to do is call and they fix it. I guess t

    • The company stinks, but my network latency and throughput have remained constant during the first phase of the apocalypse. That's what I pay them for.

      AT&T built their backbone in my area, that might be why.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Who was good and OK?

  • Elimination of data caps (Score:5, Interesting)

    by afidel ( 530433 ) on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @10:00AM (#59892586)

    Hopefully this can once and for all kill the fig leaf for data caps and prove that there is zero justification for them. If they can handle this unprecedented load then it's always been a complete farce and we should keep them from re-implementing them under whatever color of law we need to (antitrust seems a good place to start, since it's basically a racket perpetrated by a monopoly)

    • I have no problem with data caps. Who actually runs afoul of them? I have never with any company I've ever dealt with. The only people that do are people that are abusing the network or trying to use it for something it's not intended for. I don't need my bandwidth to suck because my neighbor is running some kind of server farm in his basement on a residential connection.

      • Have you ever heard of 4k streaming? It soaks up a lot of bandwidth.

        At least set it at something reasonable like 3TB. I do web development and work from home. I regularly run up near or over my limit of 1TB.

        • Do you have a business-class connection?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tepples ( 727027 )

            Should it be usual for most households to have business-class connections? Are business-class connections even available to households (as opposed to commercially zoned properties) or to individuals (as opposed to LLCs or corporations) in all areas?

          • Do you have a business-class connection?

            I called and asked for exactly this. I wanted to reform my evil ways. I wanted to become a legitimate bandwidth-hog. I wanted to be able to stream content to my heart's content. After all, clubbing baby seals is a tough job, and I need a way to unwind. You can't honestly expect me to watch the same Hi-Def porno twice can you? I mean, once you've fapped to it, it's old news.

            I was willing to pay my fair share, and I let Comcast know it.

            Reply:

            "It's not available for

        • Agreed. We have 4k TV's in our house and easily hit 2-4 TB a month. I had to get business class from Comcast (this was when the cap was 350gig though) I don't mind paying for business class since I also work from home some of the time and work pays for some of the bill. But not every one gets that luxury.

      • I have no problem with data caps. Who actually runs afoul of them? I have never with any company I've ever dealt with. The only people that do are people that are abusing the network or trying to use it for something it's not intended for. I don't need my bandwidth to suck because my neighbor is running some kind of server farm in his basement on a residential connection.

        My tier of Comcast has a data cap of 1TB per month. They had a bug which showed I used 1.5TB one month. They didn't do anything because it was one of two courtesy months. With me working from home every day and at least one video conference per day I am concerned I might legitimately reach 1 TB. Not to mention 2 kids on Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon Prime because they can't play with friends.

        • They had a bug which showed I used 1.5TB one month.

          There are so many liars on the Internet. Like you. Liar. Do you expect me to believe that the data caps are measured to anything other than the customer's advantage? I refuse. I absolutely refuse to do so.

          I am perfectly comfortably with Comcast being the one that both:

          1) Counts the data
          2) Financially benefits by overestimating counts

          I'm PRETTY sure that if Comcast said you used 1.5TB per month, you used 1.5TB per month. If they had a "bug", the bug w

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Pascoea ( 968200 )
        I have 3 "adults" in my house, all of us streaming something or other on most days. I regularly burn through 75% of my monthly 1TB limit, haven't gone over it once that I know of. Xfinity gives me two "mulligan" months where I can exceed my cap without charge, on the 3rd month it's $5/GB up to $200. I'm with you, I'm probably on the heavy side of use, and I've never hit my cap. If my neighbor is burning through multiple TB of data every month because their 5 kids are streaming HD Netflix all day, they s

        • I have 3 "adults" in my house, all of us streaming something or other on most days. I regularly burn through 75% of my monthly 1TB limit, haven't gone over it once that I know of. Xfinity gives me two "mulligan" months where I can exceed my cap without charge, on the 3rd month it's $5/GB up to $200. I'm with you, I'm probably on the heavy side of use, and I've never hit my cap. If my neighbor is burning through multiple TB of data every month because their 5 kids are streaming HD Netflix all day, they shoul

        • Some of us don't have a reasonable way to raise the cap. I could pay more for faster internet, but then I'll just run up on the cap faster. Paying after that it's like going over your completely arbitrary SMS allotment in the 90's.

          I have fiber running under my back yard to the other city across the street, but my city didn't buy in. My neighbors over there pay less for more bandwidth and no cap. It must be nice to have real competition.

          To be fair, the service has been rock solid. I've only needed customer

      • I have no problem with data caps. Who actually runs afoul of them? I have never with any company I've ever dealt with. The only people that do are people that are abusing the network or trying to use it for something it's not intended for.

        You must not be one of those people who live in an area that's only serviced by AT&T DSL. They have a 150GB data cap [att.com].

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by afidel ( 530433 )

        Good for you, I guess. But 1TB is only 3 hours per day of 4k video, or 1.5 hours if you have 2 people streaming, not exactly hard to exceed.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by darkain ( 749283 )

        You do realize that the difference between a "residential" and "business" account on Comcast DOCSIS is literally just the SLA they honor when things break, and lack of data caps, right? Otherwise, you're already sharing the same lines with business customers.

        SLA: when there is a localized network outage, Comcast will prioritize business customers over residential customers.

        Data caps: unlimited for business.

        Wires: shared, regardless.

        • Yes. People should pay for what they use.

          • Yes. People should pay for what they use

            Agreed. When do we get paid?

            Without tons, and I mean TONS, of taxpayer-funded infrastructure, Comcast doesn't have a product to sell.

            Did you already get your check?

      • The only people that do are people that are abusing the network or trying to use it for something it's not intended for.

        You know, I hadn't thought of that, but it must be the case. I mean, if you don't do it, it must be abuse.

        What's really interesting, is how human nature has stayed so remarkably consistent for 400 years.

        "What I do is reasonable, what you do is abuse."

        Well, you're in good company, if that helps.

        Just to satisfy my own curiosity, and to better understand how the average person thinks ... wha

    • Hopefully this can once and for all kill the fig leaf for data caps and prove that there is zero justification for them. If they can handle this unprecedented load then it's always been a complete farce and we should keep them from re-implementing them under whatever color of law we need to (antitrust seems a good place to start, since it's basically a racket perpetrated by a monopoly)

      I'm still getting used to data caps. Admittedly Comcast's cap for my tier is high (1TB per month), but it still feels weird having one for home internet. I've also noticed a marked decrease in internet speeds. I pay for "up to" gigabit speeds, but with so many neighbors also using the network I am experiencing buffering.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by laffer1 ( 701823 )

        1TB is tiny. 4k streams or game streaming like stadia or nvidia's solution can eat through that fast. Just my apple tv uses 400GB a month. As we get more 4k content available, it increases. It should be at least 2TB for home users. It's totally possible to hit that with a family of four watching a few hours of 4k video a day per month.

        I have a business account without a data cap. I'm already at 1.56TB this month.

        • I have a business account without a data cap. I'm already at 1.56TB this month.

          N-n-no d-d-data cap???!!! B-b-but data caps are necessary! Otherwise people will abuse the Internet (which is loosely defined as using more data than I do)!

          So you're the guy that's been fucking up the Internet!!!!

          Hey guys, found him!!!!

          Oh man, I so hope Comcast puts the screws to you and finally make enough money to pay their executives a living wage! Comcast is just trying to make the world a fair place for it's customers!

          I hate

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bws111 ( 1216812 )

      The caps provide revenue, which allows them to spend money to increase capacity No 'justification' is needed.

      In my area, Spectrum is giving free internet to non-subscribers who have children. Using your brilliant logic, this is proof that they could provide all internet service for free.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tomz16 ( 992375 )

      prove that there is zero justification for them

      That was already easily "provable" with the simple fact they somehow magically don't need to cap markets where there is any viable competitor whatsoever (e.g. if FiOS is available at your address, Comcast suspiciously doesn't need to enforce a cap).

      It's not a scarcity or a network management issue. It's always just been a blatant cash-grab in markets where they hold a monopoly.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Hopefully this can once and for all kill the fig leaf for data caps and prove that there is zero justification for them. If they can handle this unprecedented load then it's always been a complete farce and we should keep them from re-implementing them under whatever color of law we need to (antitrust seems a good place to start, since it's basically a racket perpetrated by a monopoly)

      What are you smoking and where can I get some?

      Caps have always been about extracting maximum money from the customer. It's n

    • There are no actual data caps - it is just a price tiering. The data doesn't stop after the limit, it just costs more for the extra GBs. Comcast have a true "unlimited" internet plan if you are willing to pay for that.

      Someone is unhappy they cannot be wasteful with bandwidth at a negligable cost.

  • Alcohol sales are up 65% in my state.

    Is that because we're stuck at home, because we lost our jobs, or because the kids are off from school for the rest of the year?

    • Lol, both. Parents need to booze to deal with 24/7 with their kid's. Partners need it to for the same reason. Then you have those that just like to drink. Me, I am wearing a t-shirt from a pub that is closed that says the following. "Shut up and drink"

  • I know it's popular to hate on Comcast, but my gigabit internet has been pretty reliable over the past few weeks, and my maximum speed out has not dropped (now that maximum speed is 700MBs or so on a "gigabit" line, but that's another matter....).

  • Comcast just announced that CORVID-19 has mutated and can now travel via the Internet. We're all doomed!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
      well that would be scary, a guaranteed 100% infection rate prity much instantly is not what we want, lucely I think Comcast is wrong on this one, I'll wait for confirmation from CDC and/or WHO
  • Since the repeal of net neutrality Comcast - and all carriers - have DECREASED spending on infrastructure upgrades. Directly opposite of what they claimed would happen.
    https://arstechnica.com/inform... [arstechnica.com]

  • Every day during the past week, my Spectrum/Charter internet has had frequent total outages during the day and night. It is on-going today.

    Some of the network outages are more local, others appear to be on the Time Warner backbone (TW and Charter merged in 2017). I log reachability and performance.

    Repeated attempts to contact tech support have been pointless. The reported hold times are 30 to 55 minutes (day and night). The option to "have us call you back" is no longer offered. They suggest calling back la

  • Comcast very well may have great net capacity but generally one connects to non-Comcast networks which very well not have good capabilities. Seems to me the Microsoft Azure ran into capacity problems and lots of folks have had difficulty using their servers. Look what Netflix needed to do to its bandwidth. It's not Comcast's problem that they needed to drop the quality of it's video services.
  • Yesterday I attempted to contact tech support as I've had multiple connection drops over the past several days.

    I received a message, not saying that the wait time to talk to someone would be long but simply that they weren't accepting support request at that time (during normal business hours.)

    There was literally no support for their service when I reached out.

  • In this era of constant swarms of weaponized lies and misinformation, it's good to see at least one dirty ISP who's been constantly guilty of lying about their capacity and practices switch stances by 180 degrees to continue lying about their capacity and practices.

    Fucking great.

    (/sarcasm)

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