Comcast Data Usage

[BevoSwag 272]

For years I have had the cheapest service Xfinity offers regarding data.  Yesterday I got a notice that I had used 92% of my data allowance and should buy the higher program.  All the Xfinity App offers is total usage.

April, May, June were way less than 500GB which would be normal over the last two years.  July spiked to 786GB and August jumped again to 1.137 GB.  I went to the Xfinity (Comcast) Forums and they had numerous posts just like my issue but Xfinity closed the Forum stating they didn't have time to answer general questions.  

I looked at the Xfinity WiFi App they told me to use but that doesn't give me a daily usage, just a bar graph that really tells me nothing.

We have a lot of connections, 2 iPhones, 3 computers which are on about 12 hours a day, 1 iPad which is only on occasionally, Rain Bird controller which uses nothing, Ring Camera which uses nothing and Nest Thermostats.  None of those were added in the last two years.  Nothing changed.  

We did binge watch two years of Yellowstone during July.  Would that account for the increase in data usage??? Would 24 hours of streaming account for that much increase in GB usage???

Apparently they have already reset my account to zero even though it probably should have run through midnight tonight.

Edited September 1, 2020 by BevoSwag
clarity

[pearlandhorn 3343]

My wife got an e-mail that said we were near our cap last month I believe?  We used 950 gigs in July.  We're at 850 in August.  It really makes sense though as I'm now working from home exclusively.  There may be some fuckery going on with Xfinity.  I have a cap of 1.3 terabytes per month.

[elfenix 34752]

1 hour ago, BevoSwag said:

I looked at the Xfinity WiFi App they told me to use but that doesn't give me a daily usage, just a bar graph that really tells me nothing.

at&t showed me usage by day. comcast's refusal to do so is one of the few things that's worse about comcast's service at my address.  the only thing you can do is get your own router that has better logs.  keep in mind, though, comcast's count is the one that matters, not what your router says.  you can treat that as approximate though comcast's usage has been close to what my router says.  you could also record your usage from comcast's meter.  you can't screenshot the app on android anymore for some regarded reason, but the webpage can be screenshotted just fine. 

 

they switched from midnight eastern being the reset time to 9 pm eastern for some reason.  that was recent. 

 

previously your usage on the "xfinity wifi" hotspot did not count against your bandwidth usage, and i think that's still the case.  i  connect my TVs through that to reduce usage. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by elfenix

[Sam Lin 3599]

2 hours ago, BevoSwag said:

We did binge watch two years of Yellowstone during July.  Would that account for the increase in data usage??? Would 24 hours of streaming account for that much increase in GB usage???

Depends what resolution you streamed at. It's not impossible, but seems unlikely.

See data usage rates for various resolution streaming here:

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-much-data-does-streaming-media-use#:~:text=HD quality video is between,about 7.2GB per hour.

 

Note that Comcast has a history of incorrectly reporting data usage and using it to fuck consumers with data caps. Unfortunately, unless you have your own upstream router measuring data usage AND can get your case more widely publicized (via Ars or via local news "consumer help" dept), Comcast is likely to ignore you:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/10/comcast-incorrectly-charged-2000-customers-for-exceeding-data-cap/

[Nice Guy Eddie 13731]

I stream a fair bit amount of 4K tv, 1 work computer with video chats, and a decent amount of YouTube on my iPad. Never get above 700gb with xfinity.

had a friend that jumped to cord cutting by using a roku device. Was always over her internet usage caps. Why? She would turn off the tv but left the roku streaming going. All day and night. She never could understand that she just needed to hit the stop button on the roku button.

[BevoSwag 272]

@Nice Guy Eddie I simply disconnect my Ruku from the cable box.  I only connect the cable box on those rare moments I use the Roku TV.  It is simple to do.  Just unplug and lay aside.

@Sam Lin I totally agree.  Also of note I am nearing the end of my two year contract during September.  I think they just want me to give them more money.  I rarely if ever watch TV since sports are no longer interesting or really available. I wouldn't feel so gipped if they would just allow me to see how much usage I've done on daily basis.  That seems only fair if they want to bill you on usage basis.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10803]

I switched to using Google Nest Wifi router when similar issue happened to me as it allows me to see real-time/daily/weekly/monthly, etc data use per device.

Without question the iPhones in my house were the largest users of data. Seems like iCloud might be a big culprit on using lots of data.

Streaming TV to multiple devices was next and did also add up.  3 people in HD can do 10Gb an hour.  Also had some 4k or Ultra HD on Amazon Fire using around 7Gb an hour.

You have to turn off/disable any streaming boxes when not watching or they will consume in the background.

Everything else - multiple ring cameras and doorbell, smart switches etc used little.

 

Because I hates having to make sure everything was turned off after watching TV (or the fact no one else in my house would do it)... I switched to a plan with unlimited data so I didn't have to worry about it.  Cord cutter house with 3+ members might as well forget about staying under the cap anymore

[Nice Guy Eddie 13731]

2 minutes ago, BevoSwag said:

@Nice Guy Eddie I simply disconnect my Ruku from the cable box.  I only connect the cable box on those rare moments I use the Roku TV.  It is simple to do.  Just unplug and lay aside.

@Sam Lin I totally agree.  Also of note I am nearing the end of my two year contract during September.  I think they just want me to give them more money.  I rarely if ever watch TV since sports are no longer interesting or really available. I wouldn't feel so gipped if they would just allow me to see how much usage I've done on daily basis.  That seems only fair if they want to bill you on usage basis.

Maybe I'm not understanding. The cable box TV viewing should have nothing to do with data usage. Unless cable companies have changed their policies, they usually do not count that as data. But if you're using apps on your Roku TV do count towards data. Netflix, Prime Video, Apple+, etc are eating up your data usage. I've heard that Ring can use heavy data depending on how you have it set up. I don't have a Ring, so I can't help you.

If daily or weekly usage matters enough to you, open up the app/site every day/week to see the current month total. Not perfect but gives you some idea.

Personally I'm very happy with Comcast. 1.2TB limit but never go above 600GB. Can't recall the exact plan but its $60 total for ~100Mbps download and 15Mbps upload. Actually more than I need for myself.

[blacklab 12064]

Helpful video for you comcast users having trouble with your router/internet