Back in October, I got a grim letter from my ISP, PenTeleData. The letter warned me that I used an excessive amount of bandwidth that month and my account would be suspended for 30 days if it happens two more times. I promptly put my Google-fu to use. Apparently, PTD has a bandwidth cap hidden in its Acceptable Use Policy.

PenTeleData and your broadband service provider offer multiple tiers of high speed Internet access with different speeds and bandwidth usage limitations (not all packages are available in all areas). Customer acknowledges that any quoted bandwidth rating/transfer rate for broadband Internet Service is a maximum rate and are not guaranteed. PenTeleData and your broadband Internet provider reserve the right to manage its networks to provide for maximum efficiency. As a user, you must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user’s use of the service or PenTeleData’s ability to deliver and monitor the service, or our network resources and do not represent (in the sole judgment of PenTeleData) an unusually large burden on the network itself. Users found to be (in PenTeleData’s sole judgment) in violation of this policy may have their accounts terminated, suspended, or upgraded to a higher level of service, subject to the appropriate fees. PenTeleData will use reasonable efforts to notify a customer prior to service termination for excessive bandwidth use.

So the bandwidth cap is… whatever PTD feels like? My friend Moose has already passed this cap 3 times. One more time and he will be effectively banned from the internet thanks to the monopoly PenTeleData has in our area. Hopefully nobody will have to suffer that fate. Many other customers have also felt the burden of PTD’s bandwidth cap. Judging from the forums, the cap ranges from 50 gb to 80 gb. That might seem unreachable to most users, but I’m Peng. I live on the internet. My parents’ new hobby of watching streaming television on the internet doesn’t help either. In other words, PTD sucks.

That said, I’ve been pretty good with the bandwidth usage lately. With the help of Tomato firmware for my DD-WRTGL router, I can closely monitor my bandwidth usage with pretty graph. If you are in the same situation as me, I highly recommend installing Tomato. The whole process takes about 2 minutes with this Lifehacker guide. (Turn Your $60 Router into a User-Friendly Super-Router with Tomato)

Now I’m hungry. Hungry for truth. What is the real bandwidth cap? That’s exactly what I’m going trying to find out.

Attempt #1

I called their PA toll free number and pressed 0 to reach an operator.

Beeeeeep…Dead tone. Ok, I’ll try again.

Dead tone again.

Again.

You’d think a telecom company would be able to have working phone lines.

One more time, yay waiting music.

2 minutes later

I asked a lady about the bandwidth cap and quickly got transferred to the internet department.

The internet department lady then transferred me to a technician.

This is what I got. Download audio file (capcall1.mp3)

to be continued…

What I know so far (from comments and experience)

• Bandwidth cap is 50 gb downstream or higher. If you’ve gone higher without penalty, let me know.
• Suspension requires 3 consecutive bandwidth violations. (not 100% sure)
• Visit http://24.229.18.60/ to check your bandwidth usage.
• File a complaint with the FTC, FCC, or BBB. They may help you remove your cap if you drop the complaint.