My high-speed internet provider Antietam Broadband announced it is permanently removing data usage caps.
From Ars Technica:
The coronavirus pandemic caused big ISPs to put data caps on hold for a few months, but one small ISP is going a big step further and canceling the arbitrary monthly limits permanently. Antietam Broadband, which serves Washington County in Maryland, announced Friday that it “has permanently removed broadband data usage caps for all customers,” retroactive to mid-March when the company first temporarily suspended data-cap overage fees.
I think Antietam Broadband did a wonderful thing
Antietam Broadband removed the caps at the beginning of the pandemic. I’m glad it’s going to be permanent. The data caps, not the pandemic.
I got hit with $10 overage fees a while back. Before I could go home figure out what was causing it, I got hit with the $10 fees three or four times. It all happened within the course of a day. I was out driving for Uber and Lyft and I kept getting emails from Antietam Broadband. One I got home, I first had to go home and determine which device was gobbling up all the data.
The software on my router was no help at all. I had to go to each device separately and determine which machine it was. It turned out to be my PC. I took it offline and did some digging. I discovered it was Steam, the video game digital distribution service by Valve Software. Evidently Steam was using my PC to feed a massive amount of other customers with software updates. I uninstalled Steam and connected back up to Antietam Broadband. The problem went away.
We’ve since upgraded our broadband to a higher speed and a higher data cap. I guess now it’s just a higher speed upgrade.
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