Upload Capping on Broadband

[BadMofo666]

Why do they do it? I'm currently using RoadRunner cable internet and I get 2000kbps down (I think that's faster than T1) and only 350kbps up. Is there any reason for it, besides wanting you to pay big money to run a server?

Also I've heard that you can get rid of the upload cap, sounds like bullshit, but is it possible?

[fireforce555]

I have heard you could tinker with some cable modems internal software and make it run faster but if you get busted, kiss your service goodbye and get ready for a legal headache. Dont know if you can still do that but you could early in the cable modem game.

If the cap is placed server end then theres nothing you can do for free to boost your speed. Most cable companies(I have comcast) offer a "commercial" service where they pretty much double your speeds both ways and lift the "No Server" rules on your account. I get 30KB a sec up which is pretty much 240kbps up and I get 425KB or 3.4MBits a sec down. Not bad for the price. Comcast is offering the commercial service here for 99.99 a month. I see no real need to upgrade.

Bottom line either pay for a service upgrade from your ISP if they offer one or look to a new ISP or different line.

[infringer]

It is a shame that they cap the upload bandwidth but it is done. There are usually differnt packages that your cable provider offers however, they may cost more or be unavailable to consumers in general. Many cable ISP's offer a business package which you can simply obtain by asking if they have a business package for you as you are running an online business tell them if they ask what or if you need a business temporialy setup an ebay storefront for like a month and explain that you need to beable to make contant changes to your storefront as you do it manually so I am looking for a business package.

Many times though you will take a 500k cut in download bandwidth to achive a doubled rate of upload bandwidth for these configurations and they may cost slightly more... I know not the greatest deal but it will solve your upload cap problem... The other legal option is to go ahead and switch to DSL and ask for a 1.5MBS connection most DSL services offer a much faster upstream connection though a bit slower on the downstream normally it is near the same price.

-infringer-

[hawkburn]

fireforce... that price sounds rediculous. Comcast rips people off here, so we use SBC.. get 6 megabit/512kbit (soon to be 768 if they ever get around to it) for $49.99. Plus theres no limits on what you can do with it, I used to run a webserver and they never had any problem. They might have a slight problem with running a mail server though, for spam purposes etc.

Of course it costs big money to run a server, because servers are primarily based on upload bandwidth. Most regular PC users dont even know what upload bandwidth is, so they can get away with limiting it. New broadband users will only notice how fast theyre downloads are, and not their potential for running servers and sharing at high speeds. I wish they did though. Of course.. 3 years ago my 1.5 mbit/128kbit DSL connection cost $50, now it costs $20, and so we upgraded to the small business DSL.

[sitech]

Well depending on the technology used for the Cable, there is a very good reason to limit uploads. Cable has a very slow max upload speed and you are also sharing it with everyone in the street. Therefore, constant uploading has more of an effect than downloading, less bandwidth to go between everyone. Restricting the upload is merely an easy way for an ISP to ensure that one or more people can't bog down the system for everyone else. I believe the shared bandwidth and large downloads/small uploads is in almost all cable technologies...

On that note I have it much worse :P 10 mbps/128 kbps

[fireforce555]

fireforce... that price sounds rediculous. Comcast rips people off here, so we use SBC.. get 6 megabit/512kbit (soon to be 768 if they ever get around to it) for $49.99. Plus theres no limits on what you can do with it, I used to run a webserver and they never had any problem. They might have a slight problem with running a mail server though, for spam purposes etc.

Of course it costs big money to run a server, because servers are primarily based on upload bandwidth. Most regular PC users dont even know what upload bandwidth is, so they can get away with limiting it. New broadband users will only notice how fast theyre downloads are, and not their potential for running servers and sharing at high speeds. I wish they did though. Of course.. 3 years ago my 1.5 mbit/128kbit DSL connection cost $50, now it costs $20, and so we upgraded to the small business DSL.


Comcast has always been one of the highest prices around. We get raped on our cable bill as it is but we cant switch to satellite so we are stuck. I was told this price by a comcast rep on the phone when I asked them about the speed of their service. She told me they have their "Commercial" plans for 99.99 a month where they "double or triple your current upload speed" and take off the server rules.

One thing never made sense to me though about that, any company who is gonna have alot of web traffic wouldnt want to host their site on a dinky little cable line that is still sharing among the neighborhood. They will want a dedicated line. Comcast should really retitle the package a "Power User" package since I could not imagine a company wanting any part of it. Every few hours as it is the service will stop for like 5 minutes cold. NO company can afford that sort of undependable downtime.