Cable Users Get Cut Off

Even when the term isn't well-defined, a broadband provider may use "excessive bandwidth use" as grounds for suddenly cutting off a user's service.

Liane Cassavoy, PC World

Most broadband providers restrict how much bandwidth you can use. Exceed your allotment, and your account may be cut off--as at least one Comcast user recently learned.

Comcast says that less than 0.01 percent of its residential customers use the service excessively, and insists that it won't cut off accounts without warning. According to recent media reports, however, one Comcast customer in Massachusetts who was notified of excessive bandwidth use by the provider says she was told that there was no specific limit. Nevertheless, she says, her account was suddenly cut off a few months later. It is not clear exactly how much bandwidth she was using.

Comcast isn't the only provider that limits broadband use, but today's bandwidth-heavy activities--such as downloading movies--may push more users toward those limits.

Liane Cassavoy