There has been a lot of talk around the internets about Comcast’s bandwidth caps. They are going to start caping users soon at 250GB. While I think bandwidth caps are horrible, 250GBs is quite a bit. I think a person would have to work really hard to reach that amount.

I have been curious how much bandwidth I am using for quite some time. There is software you can use to find out with one computer, but my network is a little more complicated. I have five computers along with my XBox and Vonage router all using bandwidth. The only way to figure out bandwidth usage with all of my devices would be within the router. My router doesn’t have a way to monitor bandwidth. It’s a newer WRT54G that can’t be upgraded to the DD-WRT or Tomato Firmware. It has been really flaky lately though. It locks up a couple times a week. Yesterday it locked up five time, so I ordered a new one. This time I got a Linksys WRT54GL, which will support upgraded firmware.

In a couple of months I should know what my monthly bandwidth usage is. Then I will know had ridiculous Comcast’s caps are. My theory is they are caping their internet users to discourage them from using the internet to get their media, and encourage them to use their TVs more. It’s probably not that big of deal now, but more and more people are moving to the internet for their media content. As the quality of that content gets higher and higher, then more and more people will be approaching that cap, and not watching that cable TV that Comcast wants you to watch.