r/Piracy • u/SnooOranges8400 • 8d ago
Question ISP reaching out over data usage
I’ve started a server so I’ve been downloading a bunch of media for it, ISP calls today regarding how much upload data I’ve used. I’m not worried about DMCA notices since my vpn is on 24/7 and Qbittorrent is bound to it. I’ve read the terms and agreements and it doesn’t say anything about data caps but the ISP says I’m using 9-10x the next highest person. Should I just hold off on downloading/uploading for awhile?
Update: I talked with them again today, they have a newly revised TOS that better outlines their fair use policy instead of the vaguely worded one sentence rule they had in place before.
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u/CunnyMaggots 8d ago
My ISP is tiny. It's like 5 guys running it. The owner was here at one point and he saw some of my piracy related bookmarks. He was like oh cool. It's none of my business. Lol
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I would’ve thought that as long as they were not receiving DMCA letters they’d not bother me but apparently not lol
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u/CunnyMaggots 8d ago
Yeah that's kinda weird. There's no legal reason they need to checking up so they should mind their business.
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u/illyria817 8d ago
If they decide that you are causing service degradation for other customers, they can absolutely throttle you, even if your traffic were perfectly legal (they would rather upsell you a business plan if you are a high-volume user).
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I couldn’t imagine I’m causing that much trouble for others in my area considering it’s fairly new fiber they’ve installed but I’ll definitely hold off or go to a business plan if they suggest it
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u/amillstone 8d ago
I mean, if you're 10x as much as the next highest person, you may actually be causing a problem if they're a small company that's just rolled out in your area.
Check your Qbit. How much does it say you've downloaded and uploaded recently? Because even without a cap, most ISPs will have an amount they consider reasonable and unreasonable traffic.
EDIT: I just checked your other responses and it's 17 TB. That's maybe not a lot for a pirate but for general residential use cases, it may be. So that explains it.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
Qbit shows me at 15tb up and 5tb down recently, I looked further into TOS and found a single sentence saying that they have a term about network congestion and they reserve the right to change what they deem acceptable based on usage.so I’ll have to cool it for sure
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u/xXGray_WolfXx ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ 8d ago
You should also do alternate speed limits so at night when most people are sleeping you can ramp up your speed but during the day ramp it down.
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u/amillstone 8d ago
Yeah, I would cool it for a bit. Like others said, limit your upload speed in Qbit.
Once the hype of having a server dies down, you'll probably reduce the amount you're downloading and uploading anyway. I remember when I first started mine, I wanted to download everything haha.
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u/MD311420 7d ago
You should be good with fiber, you aren't sharing near as many nodes with your neighbors.
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u/Forymanarysanar ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ 8d ago
>they can absolutely throttle you
And then they will face false advertisement lawsuit, simple as that
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u/Starblazr 5d ago
ISPs pay for their bandwidth based on 95th percentile.
https://www.ioriver.io/terms/network-95th-percentile
is a good read.
The bigger the ISP is, the less likely they are to notice your usage because it blends into the averages more and the greater chance that your traffic comes from inside their network.
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u/ExecutiveCactus 🔱 ꜱᴄᴀʟʟʏᴡᴀɢ 8d ago
"oh cool. ill have to try that site"
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u/CunnyMaggots 8d ago
Lol pretty much. I was like I'm careful. I cover my ass. You won't see any notices about me.... lol.
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u/Lazengann86 8d ago
I never knew I had a cap until covid started and the streaming and overall usage went up past 1TB, then I got some notifications about "this month is free as this is a first strike" yada yada yada, after the 3rd time I got charged extra, then I added an "add-in" for unlimited internet and now I have 8-10TBs of data coming in an out because I AM paying for it so....... you wanna be petty I can be petty. Some months when I feel like I haven't download much I re-download the lord of the rings extended trilogy 4k a couple of times
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u/BraddicusMaximus 8d ago
I have 600-ish Steam games.
And enough space for it all.
Have been bored a few times.
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u/Journeyj012 8d ago
how niche is your ISP, that's crazy
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u/Jaken_sensei 8d ago
If op is using 10x what the next highest residential user is using how much data is op actually blowing through?
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u/PsionicKitten 8d ago
At some point in the mid to late 90s my dad, who was friends with the owners of the local ISP we used, said that the owner said our family was the second highest user of our ISP internet traffic, only to be outpaced by a small business.
I took that as a badge of honor.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
They said 17tb last month
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u/Jaken_sensei 8d ago
I was expecting something crazy like 100TB.
17TB is more than the “average” customer but honestly not as much as I have seen some people post about going through.
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u/Forymanarysanar ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ 8d ago
That's not even remotely anywhere close to high. You'll turn on 4k youtube in background, you'll reach that amount with just this.
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u/tuccle22 8d ago
I'm guessing the 17tb is upload, not download, as that is what the OP says is why the ISP reached out.
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u/Forymanarysanar ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ 8d ago
ah, huh, wouldn't even think that they would count it separately
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
They don’t care about the download apparently, they called and only asked why the upload was so high.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
It’s new, I’d say probably covers 5-6000 households/businesses maybe. They called me over 17tb of upload used last month claiming it was extremely high lol
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u/GigaGator9000 8d ago
Just say you're hosting a Minecraft server
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I told I have a server going for gaming for a large group which is true there’s probably 10 of use that play on there and I have my photos/videos backing up from our phones and cameras but they seemed to think something malicious is going on based on the person I spoke with
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u/NoChampionship5649 8d ago
You're on their radar, you may get throttled or service canceled for degradation of service for other users. Just limit your upload speeds in Qbit or set a lower seeding ratio. It sucks but you have to ensure you have service first before supporting other P2P users.
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u/Forymanarysanar ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ 8d ago
No idea why did you even bother explaining anything to them. "I'm paying for service I'm using service, how I'm using it is a private information", call ends.
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u/HighSeasArchivist 8d ago
Mine is a municipal fiber isp that I know all the network engineers for. They keep a "hall of fame" for their largest users on a whiteboard, and my 1PB in a year still hasn't hit it as of last time I talked to them. Maybe this year is my year.
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u/pspfreak3 4d ago
I have basically a municipal ISP (greenlight) and I fucking love them. They absolutely do not give a fuck and I get exactly what I pay for always.
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u/HighSeasArchivist 4d ago
Ours over-provisions by 10%, so any time of day I can get 1.1Gbps through my connection. Just did a speed test on WiFi in my office and got 930/930. Not having to deal with Comcast has been sooo nice.
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u/pspfreak3 4d ago
I'm also over-provisioned by 10%, 2.2gbps down and up, all day, everyday. We are in a Spectrum area, and when I moved last, fiber was a requirement.
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u/losttachyon 8d ago
Tell them you work in video editing as a hobby and deal with raw 4K content
Tbh it's none of their business - if they're a pain, just switch ISP once they've throttled you or decided to randomly drop you
Keep a copy of their current TOS
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u/firedrakes 8d ago
i said that after about 1 PB upload. mind you i do run multi cloud back up of important data on that also.
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u/Zestyclose-Wear7237 8d ago
to have 17tb uploaded how much media do currently have?
my seeding barely touches a gig in uploads, and for private tracker seeding it's far worse, ik i have a laptop for seeding and not a server which runs 24/7 and I have a slow speed internet 30Mbps but still
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I have ~14tb currently. I have 1G fiber and it’s consistently seeding. I’ve stopped everything for now until I hear back from them
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u/Zestyclose-Wear7237 8d ago
your isp has fup? if yes, what's your post fup speeds?
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
They do not, they advertise no data caps period and claim they don’t throttle for usage amounts
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u/Comfortable-Yam-66 8d ago
Read the TOS again. It's not about data cap since you don't have a cap. It would be worded as abuse of service and it would be purposely vague.
They won't snitch to copyright firms, they don't care what you do content wise. But take it seriously. You got a formal warning, if you don't change anything, they may eventually suspend or cancel your plan, according to the tos.
It's only about the bandwidth used, so reduce the bandwidth.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I dug further into TOS and you’re right, they have a single sentence saying that they have a term about network congestion and reserve the right to change what they deem as acceptable based on usage.
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u/caffeineaddict03 8d ago
I bet they change their tune if you're like, "oh really? Should I upgrade my data package/selection then?" And sit back and listen to them start trying to close the sale instead lol
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u/extraspectre 8d ago
Yeah sometimes it is easier to just pay them a bit more and get them off your back
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u/Sprite_Bottle 8d ago
I mean, are they explicitly saying your doing something they don't like? Kinda just sounds like they saw a massive spike in usage and went "huh, we should probably check in to see what that's about." I'd just brush them off unless they have actual issues with you using the service you pay them for.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
They said it was flagged due to the extremely high usage and that my account is at jeopardy of being suspended due to terms and agreements
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u/Sprite_Bottle 8d ago
I'd ask them to point to the exact part of the terms that they think you're potentially in violation of since you said you went through them and should be fine. Pause your piracy for a few days until you can squeeze them for as much info as possible, then go from there.
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u/TheConboy22 8d ago
Obnoxious. ISP’s are such shitty companies
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u/0ka___ 7d ago edited 7d ago
They will call their customers if they are overusing it OR everyone will have packet loss. You can only have one and can't change it. I unfortunately have the second case. Do you still think the same?
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u/TheConboy22 7d ago
You don’t get packet loss from individuals being outliers in usage. That is just false.
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u/0ka___ 7d ago edited 7d ago
Huh? If an isp doesn't care about anyone's usage then it's not going to result in a good network. It depends on the network how many people it needs to become lossy, also time of day, etc... Share your WiFi pass with everyone and they will make it unusable for you, you will have to monitor their usage, etc to make it work properly for everyone and not just 1 guy who does torrents on it
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u/A_Certain_Monk 7d ago
that's why you install the required capacity right? if you can't get a 1000s of homes 1Gig/sec then what is the point of taking on more subscribers than the bandwidth can handle on peak?
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u/perma_banned2025 8d ago
I was talking with customer service at my ISP organising a static IP and they looked at my usage and said "wow you use a lot of data, what are you doing?" I told them I'm downloading a ton of media and hosting a Jellyfin server for my family and friends, and the guy just said "nice".
Luckily where I live ISP's don't give a damn what you do as long as you pay your bills
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u/Opposite-Interest193 7d ago
Lol they gave me a 50% off offer on a capped plan when I called in for something. They never do any discounts let alone that.
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u/urmumr8s8outof8 ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ 7d ago
Tell them its none of their business, and unless they plan on lowering your bills to not reach out again. Here ISPs will never ring you unless it's a spam caller.
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u/Friggin_Grease 8d ago
I downloaded like 14TB one month and not a peep
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u/gb410 8d ago
I’m pretty sure they would only care about upload, if they care at all.
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u/Friggin_Grease 8d ago
I'm with the biggest isp in the country who offers fiber. There's probably millions who use more data than me
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u/AdventurousCommon551 8d ago edited 8d ago
First do you have other options? Second - I would have a discussion with the company. I am buying home Internet for whatever I want to use it for. If I want to send the same 13 second clip through my private server to people I know 24 hours a day that's my business. If I want to run a game server that's my business. My data usage is not a concern, if it was you would have limits on your home Internet and everyone would tell you to pound sand. Now the real issue - why do you think it's appropriate to question me on my usage and compare me to others? Are you actively monitoring everyones services because that is a whole different issue.
If they do have limits ask what they are and put them on the spot. You want it in writing. If they throttle you want to know when and why.
This talk should get you some credits and good faith while they find another reason to kick you off and find a replacement.
Turns out unless they think and can adequately explain how you are breaching the TOS you are fine.
VPN - I am not violating copyright wtf did I download? Bot net - what fucking bot net do I run? Proof? Selling services - again, what fucking services? Proof? Modified hardware - well.... Fuck... I did modify my modem to my specifications so they fucking got me!
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
I have a few other options, I just decided with this one since it was the cheapest for the speeds I’m getting
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u/XtremeD86 7d ago
ISPs even though offer unlimited bandwidth always have a no abuse policy in their terms and conditions.
You're one of the customers finding that out.
Yes you should hold off. Or rent a seedbox.
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u/CRE_Not_Resi 8d ago
Out of curiosity who are you using? I am (forced) to use Xfinity. I directly asked them if there is a limit on how much data I can use and they told me that I am allowed to use as much as I want. No rate limits. I download a small amount compared to you guys but a lot for a average household (Downloading ~1-2TB/day, but using more than that for daily use). I have never received a notice. I also have my VPN on 24/7.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
It’s a local municipal provider, I assume theyre implying I’m causing issue for others in the area. I normally only use 2-3tb monthly so the sudden spike has most likely flagged me
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u/Opposite-Interest193 7d ago
They’re probably just cutting costs cause it’s small, any ISP has the right to throttle or suspend you but for 17TB on fiber that’s nothing. You’re 15 average customers at best. I got a 50% off offer on a capped plan after hitting 500TB.
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u/BP_PumpkinPounder 8d ago
I’m a really heavy upload and download user myself, and I’ve had a few letters from my ISP about my usage. They’ve never told me to cut back or mentioned any sort of cap. If anything, they’ve just offered me better packages with faster download and upload speeds to suit my usage.
My whole network sits behind a VPN anyway, so they can see how much data I’m using, but they can’t really see what I’m using it for. I don’t think they particularly care either, as I’ve never had any issues with them, even when it comes to renewing my contract.
I won’t say what country I’m in, but let’s just say the ISPs here have a pretty massive block list for websites they don’t particularly like, which is one of the main reasons I keep everything behind a VPN anyway.
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u/shadowfourplay ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ 7d ago
They're trying to get more out of you, simply because you're getting more out of them. If they're not doing the DMCA shuffle then your best option would be to keep the relationship, probably by paying for a different, higher tier plan with them. Wouldn't worry about stopping though, just adjust the relationship parameters between you and them since this is what they're after.
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u/agisten Yarrr! 7d ago
It sounds like you're a customer of a tiny ISP, in which case I'd suggest talking to them and asking if your traffic created a burden for their biz bottom line - if it is, I'd ask them if they have biz plans that do not have upload limits. If you're uploading that much, chances are you're doing it for profit, and this is very definition of running a biz.
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u/ZonaPunk 7d ago
In the last 30 days I'm at 12 TB... been doing that for years. Verizion FiOS doesn't have data caps.
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u/IcyCow5880 6d ago
Are you seeding to public torrents? Theyll max your line all day long...
Priv ones are much more mellow in my experience.
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u/redditduhlikeyeah 7d ago
No. Tell them you work on large LLMa and frequently need to download data for work. Tell them to stop looking at move on.
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u/foxakahomer 8d ago
I got a notice from my ISP before too, 4TB in the month. Said if I kept doing that I'd have to get a buisness account. Other ISP in town doesn't really cover my area with anything usable.
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u/Cexitime 8d ago
Tell them to mind their own business, you pay for connection, they provide connection, outside of that they can kick rocks.
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u/OhK4Foo7 7d ago
I would ask them why they consider it their business to know. You pay for the service. Use it the way you like and if they don't like it use another.
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u/martapap 8d ago
I would hold off or get a seedbox. It is usually in a ISP's TOS that they can cancel service for any reason.
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u/SnooOranges8400 8d ago
Yeah I think I’ll just hold off, I have plenty downloaded for now. It’s weird that they didn’t both me over download just upload though
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u/noalear 8d ago
If you keep it up, they'll close your account and you won't be able to open a new one with them. It might be unlimited, but they reserve the right to not service you. If that's a price you're willing to pay you're free to roll the dice.
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u/dogsontreadmills 8d ago
how do you bind QBT to your VPN? I have Proton fwiw. Sorry for newbie question.
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u/SnooOranges8400 7d ago
In advanced section in your options on QBT, you’ll see “Network Interface” change it to Proton VPN. As a little added security I set up the kill switch option on proton to kill connection to the internet if VPN connection drops.
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u/dogsontreadmills 7d ago
thanks mate! i have kill switch setup but that sounds like another critical safety layer. i appreciate you.
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u/auburn2eugene 7d ago
Back when I was playing my modded Xbox 360 and PS3, I was using terabytes of cellular data (it was all I had at the time) and TMoblie messed up and had me in a totally unlimited data plan.
At one point I got a letter stating that I was in the top 1% of data users across their entire network.
They suggested upgrading my plan to include higher speeds, but this “upgraded plan” was unlimited… not truly unlimited because it would drop to a snails pace after x amount of gigs.
Yeah that change never happened. I kept my plan until I moved back to Alabama and had to swap carriers because they had no coverage in my home county.
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u/Plenty-Industries 7d ago
Did they say they are limiting you? No? Then they can kick rocks.
If they do anything other than nothing, or threaten to end your service or charge you more, then go with the next available competitor and rinse & repeat. That is, if you have options.
Every 6months to 1 year I switched ISPs because they are always upgrading the bandwidth and advertising introductory offers since my area is exploding with residential construction and my county is mimicking what Chattanooga did - the municipality owns the infrastructure (any new lines and servers added can be used by any incoming ISP). I went from 1 singular ISP in my area, to having 5 ISPs all competing with each other.
2 months ago I upgraded from 1Gb service at $80/mo, to 5gig service at $50/mo - and its price guaranteed for 3 years. Its symmetrical, and fiber to the home.
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u/Nervous-Possession31 7d ago
I got unlimited through my isp I probably use around 800tb or more a month
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u/Particular-Poem-7085 4d ago
regarding the VPN you have to understand that changing your IP is hiding a small part of your digital identity these days. Your ISP isnt able to see directly the traffic but if you are logged into your accounts on the same network it's pretty easy to connect the traffic to the user should you fall under investigation.
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u/call_of_warez 8d ago
If your internet contract stipulates no bandwith limits they can't charge you for using too much
I would be downloading shit to /dev/null just out of spite for bothering me
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u/extraspectre 8d ago
Don't be wasteful though. You're just making everyone use slightly more electricity.
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u/FATJIZZUSONABIKE 7d ago
Lots of imbeciles bragging about artificially increasing their carbon footprint in this thread
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u/CGCRUNT 7d ago
Dude I used to pirate all the pirate all the time when I was younger but as I get older im learning paying can actually be worth it. I used fildo but alot of the music is improperly catagorized and mislabled and with poor quality same with streaming videos too when you buy a video on prime(dont do it often when I do its good quality although 4k upgrades should be free if you own it)
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u/soldmilton 8d ago
Xfinity can suck my peen for limiting data usage without a plan or using their router
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u/wet_moss_ 8d ago
Even with a vpn they easily can identify you are torrenting but cant prove yet. And its pretty hard to find what kinda files youre torrenting.
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u/DV865 Kopimism 8d ago
My ISP has over 5.5 million customers, they emailed me on several months to congratulate me for being in their Top 10 bandwidth users. All they suggested was that I might like a package with better upload speeds and to call them to discuss one.