Cablevision Optimum Online have capped my Broadband Internet Service 2

I’ve been out of town for the last ten days-or-so.

I returned to find that my usually zippy broadband Internet service with Cablevision’s Optimum Online (not Boost) was running at a little less than I remembered. In the past, I’ve has speeds over 10mbps down and 2-3mbps up. Very nice. (test your connection here thanks to Speakeasy.)

Well, about six weeks ago I signed up for Carbonite. If you don’t know Carbonite, it’s a great Internet-based backup service. You install it on your PC and it trickles a backup to a remote server. You never have to think about. Really. Or so I thought.

Also, about four weeks ago I bought a 500gb hard drive. And put lots of stuff that had been on external drives onto that internal half-a-terabyte monster.

Now, what Carbonite does is to backup when your computer isn’t in use. And mine wasn’t while we were at South by Southwest. It was just backing up. As much as it could. To the tune of “way too much.”

I’ve come home to an upload speed of 46kbps. Download still hovers around 4.5mbps. But Cablevision has throttled my Internet connection due to Carbonite.

Fine. I’ll turn down the priority on Carbonite (which has completed backing up my system), but no one at Cablevision Optimum Online customer service will tell me what’s actually happened. Thanks to a few random posts found via Google, I found what I think is evidence of what’s happened to me. But the technical support group (you see, there is no customer service for the Internet service Cablevision offers, only technical support- you’ll take what we sell and like it!) are forbidden from telling me what’s really going on. They’ve been clear that there’s not technical problem. Zero. All lights are green. They will only tell me that there’s a flag on my account, it’s been throttled, and that I have to wait as long as 14 days for someone to call me back. 14 days! WTF?

So here I am waiting. And trying to call their business support because I’d be happy to pay them more money to just turn my service back on.

Until then, I’m praying to the Internet gods to get Verizon’s FIOS service in my area. Or even DSL. Please.

And, since I know I’m not the only one suffering from legitimate Internet use, I’m considering trying to startup some class action action.

(oh, and even funnier is that if you call Cablevision’s business sales desk, the recording says that no one is there to answer your call. Please call back later. No voicemail. It must be so wonderful to have a complete monopoly, which since there are no other broadband providers here in the sticks, is exactly what they have.)

Speakeasy Speed Test

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2 thoughts on “Cablevision Optimum Online have capped my Broadband Internet Service

  1. Reply mb Mar 21,2007 22:08

    Unfortunately, contracts for home ISPs state that they have no obligation to a guaranteed transfer rate. Also, “turning down the priority” on a connection isn’t going to make it go any slower if you’re not doing anything.

  2. Reply j Mar 22,2007 06:29

    thanks MB. I understand your point, but carbonite has an option to run at a lower priority (and use less bandwidth). That’s what I was referring to.

    I agree that there’s no guaranteed transfer rate. Any class action action (I really like saying that) would be based upon arbitrary restrictions on service, or doing so in conflict with normal use of their product (the argument being, of course, that carbonite is normal use)

    thanks for your comments!

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