Is There a Limit to How Much You Can Download With Comcast High-Speed Internet?

The Comcast Acceptable Use Policy for High-Speed Internet outlines terms by which Comcast customers must abide, including data consumption. Under the agreement, Comcast's data consumption threshold per account is established at 250 gigabytes per month. Usage in excess of 250 gigabytes per month is considered to be excessive use and a violation of the company's policy. Comcast can limit speeds when users exceed the monthly allowance, and may also suspend or terminate accounts where data consumption is not typical of a residential user.

If a customer exceeds 250 gigabytes in a month, Comcast's Customer Security Assurance staff will notify the subscriber of excessive use. Customers will also be told how much data they have consumed and potential reasons or activities for the excessive use. Subscribers will be asked to moderate Internet use. If a customer exceeds 250 gigabytes within six months of this notification, their service may be terminated. If a service is terminated, customers will not be eligible for Internet service from Comcast for 12 months.

With a 250 gigabyte data cap, a customer would have to send 50 million emails at 0.05 kilobytes per email or upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos at 10 megabytes per photo within one month. Similarly, a customer would have to download 62,500 songs at four megabytes per song or 125 standard-definition movies at two gigabytes per month to reach the cap. Customers can avoid reaching the cap by limiting certain high capacity traffic activities, such as numerous or continuous bulk transfers of files. Examples of these activities include using file transfer protocol (FTP), peer-to-peer applications and newsgroups.

Comcast customers can track their Internet usage by viewing the Comcast Usage Meter through the Customer Central homepage. Users can log on to the site using their Comcast username and password. The meter will record all data for all computers and devices using the applicable Comcast account and provides three-months historical usage data.