How to Keep From Going Over ISP Bandwidth Caps

Bandwidth caps might be here to stay depending on your Internet provider. Find out what ISPs use this tactic, and the best ways to help avoid going over your data usage limit.

What are Bandwidth Caps?

Most home Internet providers have generally offered unlimited data usage since high-speed internet was widely adopted in the early ‘00s. However, some ISPs limit how much data you can use on their connections. This harkens back to the days of dial-up and AOL, with their endless “500 free hours!” promo CD-ROMs. 

With so many people working from home and their children doing remote learning, it’s easy to churn through the arbitrary limits some providers have imposed. Coupled with endless binge watching, the data usage meter is sure to be working overtime.  Going over these limits can lead to your connection being throttled or excess data charges.

Which ISPs Limit My Data Usage?

The main offenders using bandwidth caps are: 

• Xfinity (Comcast): Data Cap of 1.2 TB and a charge of $10/50GB over (but only in certain states)
• Cox Communications: Data Cap of 1.25 TB and a charge of $10/50GB over.
• AT&T: some of their plans are limited, including DSL and Fixed Wireless Internet
• Mediacom: claims to have a 6TB limit, but customers have gotten warnings over less

While there are a few big names here, many of the largest ISPs, such as Verizon Fios, Optimum/Altice, and Spectrum do not have data limits.

How Can FlashRouters Keep Help Me Stay Under My Bandwidth Cap?

An off-the-shelf or ISP supplied router is likely to offer you limited functionality, especially in regards to monitoring your data usage. Our routers use open source DD-WRT Firmware, unlocking many features, including bandwidth graphing and statistics, in real-time, daily, or monthly reports. 

Using this real-time data usage meter will help you see when you are using the most bandwidth. Once you figure out when the most data is being used, you can usually figure out where the data usage is coming from. For example, if you know that data surges every time your child starts streaming video or gaming, the culprit is obvious.

Managing Your Bandwidth With QoS

With this information, you can change the Quality of Service (QoS) settings on your FlashRouter to help stay under your data limit. One option is to change the actual bandwidth speed of a device. Doing this would force streaming services to use lower quality video, drastically lowering data usage.

As an example of how this can help, Netflix offers several video qualities:

• Low, using 0.3 GB per hour (not recommended!)
• Standard Definition, using 0.7 GB per hour
• HD, using up to 3 GB per hour
• Ultra HD 4K, using per hour!

Another service that eats up data is video game streaming, such as Stadia and PS Now. Google has stated that Stadia uses 12 GB per hour at 1080p, and up to 20 GB per hour when streaming in 4K!

As you can see, restricting data here will go a long way to staying under your ISP’s bandwidth cap.

What Are The Best Routers to Help Stay Under Data Usage Limits?

Our favorite routers to help monitor bandwidth usage are:

AX3000 WiFi 6 VPN FlashRouter

$99.99
$149.99

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• Perfect for Medium Homes
• Perfect for 20-30 Devices

Asus AX1800S FlashRouter

$139.99
$249.99

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• Easy Router Setup via Asus App
• Blazing-fast Wi-Fi 6 (Wireless-AX) Speeds

Flint Wi-Fi 6 VPN Router by FlashRouters

$164.99
$229.99

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• Supports WiFi 6 (Wireless-AX) speeds
• Includes WireGuard Fast VPN Protocol Support

I Love My Current Router. Is There Something Else Can I Do?

Yes! In addition to FlashRouters, we also offer the Flash My Router service. We can remotely connect to your current router and install the DD-WRT open-source software on it. Thus, you will be able to monitor your bandwidth and get all of the other benefits of this custom firmware while keeping your current setup!

Still Have Questions?

If you still have questions about monitoring your data usage with Cox or your Comcast bandwidth limit, don’t hesitate to reach out!