Is there a Bandwidth Cap on my Internet?
By admin | March 16, 2011
Bandwidth Caps (or Bandwidth Maximums) are becoming standard policy among large internet providers. The reason for them is to not allow a majority of bandwidth capacity to be used by only a few customers. Frankly, it underscores the point that even in this time of very fast Internet connections, bandwidth is still limited and occasionally needs to be allocated as such.
Cable Internet providers were the first types of ISPs to enforce a bandwidth cap. The reason behind this is because of their shared neighborhood network. if one person is inordinately hogging Internet bandwidth, it will slow everyone else in the neighborhood down. This is a problem for these providers,because if one or two users are stealing all the bandwidth then they cannot provide the services promised to their other Internet customers and the whole network suffers. Because of this, cable Internet providers have some pretty draconian measures when it comes to bandwidth cap Violations.
Just recently, fiber-optic bandwidth providers have also jumped on the bandwidth cap bandwagon. typically on fiber-optic networks, bandwidth is much more readily available. However, it seems that these bandwidth caps are more put in place to deter those who were violating their Internet cable bandwidth maximums and switch to the fiber-optic provider to get a free pass. instead of blindly cutting a customer off, like most cable Internet providers, fiber-optic Internet providers are charging for bandwidth used above the cap (eg, $10 for every 50Gb).
if you’re concerned about a bandwidth cap in your Internet, the best thing to do is to contact your current provider or thoroughly read the terms of service you agree to when you signed up with them (you know, those check here if you agree statements). If you find your current provider’s terms are unacceptable, then maybe it’s time to start looking for a new Internet service provider that doesn’t have a bandwidth cap.
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