by Reader Robert Cullers, like many people, faces the bitter realities of streaming media. He writes:
You keep telling us how to use the Internet for entertainment, which results in more and more usage. I suddenly find that my provider has imposed a monthly data limit of 250GB. Three weeks into the month and I’m about 20 percent over this limit. Much of our use is streaming movies from Netflix although there are a number of other downloads like that of the entire Adobe suite. How can we more efficiently use the Internet since it may soon be impossible to download or upload many large files if these limits are rigorously enforced?
I wish I could simply reply “Use a different provider that doesn’t impose data caps” but that’s largely unrealistic if you want the kind of lightning-fast connections you can get from cable where an unmetered fiber connection isn’t available. Though not termed “monopolies” by those who should be watching over these things, that’s exactly the kind of stranglehold cable companies such as Comcast, Time-Warner, and Cox have in many markets. They each have data caps, which they claim are reasonable for all but the most extreme data hogs. But in the age of media streaming services and software distributed via download this is nonsense. The cynical suggest these companies impose caps simply to protect their media divisions.
Some have abandoned the “exceed XGB and you’re cut off” policies and have instead chosen to charge you for additional usage above the cap. And most now offer tiered services where the more you pay each month, the higher the data cap. But there are a few things you can do on your end to reduce data usage and avoid higher-priced plans and overage charges.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
