By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
When Comcast announced its bandwidth cap (250 GB) earlier this year, I noted one problem: no metering tool for end users to determine their usage. It’s not really fair to give someone a limit with no way to measure it after all. But starting in January Comcast customers will be given a tool to monitor their usage, according to a report.
According to DSL Reports, an anonymous tipster has told them that as of January 5th, users will be able to access a tool to monitor their usage. The stats the tool reports will be delayed by three hours, and will store three months worth of data.
DSL Reports also managed to get a screenshot of the tool (below).
Surprisingly, it looks like something most people will be able to easily understand. When Comcast first announced the cap, they claimed less than 1% of all users will hit it. That’s true, with a 250 GB cap. Still, with media companies like Netflix pushing us to use more bandwidth, and with more of us working from home via VPN, I certainly think offering a meter makes a heck of a lot of sense. At least if we can’t have all-you-can-eat usage, anyway.
The metering tool will keep its heavy use customers informed of their broadband usage. The cap of 250 gigs is a huge amount and I think many folks wont exceed this limit.