It has been widely known that large Internet Service Providers such as T-Mobile and AT&T put a limit to the amount of data you can use per month. Actually, not just these major companies but also minor ones, possibly the current Internet provider you have.
So, why do these telecom companies have data capping in their services, and is there anything we can do about it as the customers?
What is Data Capping?
First of all, let us know what this term means. Data Capping refers to the act of internet plans limiting the amount of data we can use every month. For example, Xfinity has a data cap of 1.2TB of data per month.
The first time you will reach Xfinity’s data cap, though, you won’t be billed for the extra data but for the next month, if you still reach beyond their data cap, you will be billed for every 50 GB of extra data usage.
So what happens when you reach the limit of the data cap?
Well, it depends upon the company. Some companies will add an additional fee on your next Internet bill. At the same time, some will just pause your service until the next month, and other companies will slow down your Internet speed.
Reason for Data Capping
According to the Internet Service Providers, they put a data cap on their services to reduce the amount of congestion. This congestion could cause their services to slow down. Another reason why there is a data cap is for the fair usage of data. This means that no customer should take up more than their fair share of data.
However, people are not quick to trust these companies regarding their reason for data capping. According to some people, there isn’t much congestion despite the surging amount of mobile data users.
The customers of these internet plans providers consider data caps as just a money-making scheme. Some companies are even offering their customers the chance to remove the data cap for an extra charge.
What to Do About Data Caps?
Sadly there isn’t really anything that most customers can do but sign a petition against the Internet Service Providers. Actually, many people have already signed up for such a petition because they believe that data capping is very unfair.
Data caps are a pain, but there are some ways you can do to avoid reaching the limit before the month ends. Here are some tips on how to avoid data capping or going over your data limits:
● Turn on Data Compression
The browsers nowadays have the ability to compress data so that your monthly bandwidth usage will be reduced quite significantly. Google and Opera are just two of the browsers that have this kind of specific function in their program.
● Use a Virtual Proxy Network
Besides your browser, there is another way for you to compress data, and that is through the use of a VPN. Some of the known VPNs that have data compression include Cyber Ghost and Hotspot Shield.
● Use Some Bandwidth-saving Apps
Due to data caps being very infuriating, even app developers have started to make apps that can help control the amount of data you use on your phone.
Conclusion
Data caps were imposed so that the amount of traffic on the Internet can be regulated so that people won’t experience any congestion. Although it may sound like a good reason, there is a chance that data caps are just there for Internet Service Providers to make even more money. Only time will tell whether data caps are really needed or not.
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