Usenet and Cox

[MrOblaGoo]

Okay currently I have Verizon DSL and I use Torrents via uTorrent and Verizon doesn't care that I'm torrenting, they don't throttle my speeds or send me mail. But tomorrow we're moving to a new apartment and we're getting Cox Internet, and I did research and I read that Cox is much more strict about Torrents and they have a 3 strike rule, so I was okay I'm screwed, then I thought about Usenet, I'm willing to pay for Usenet access if Cox allows it and doesn't throttle it or give me strikes. Thanks in advance.

[heiska]

Okay currently I have Verizon DSL and I use Torrents via uTorrent and Verizon doesn't care that I'm torrenting, they don't throttle my speeds or send me mail. But tomorrow we're moving to a new apartment and we're getting Cox Internet, and I did research and I read that Cox is much more strict about Torrents and they have a 3 strike rule, so I was okay I'm screwed, then I thought about Usenet, I'm willing to pay for Usenet access if Cox allows it and doesn't throttle it or give me strikes. Thanks in advance.

Get $11/mo Astra with free SSL and your ISP shouldn't have a clue about what you're dling. Or at least makes it very impractical to track you down.

[c0ld]

SSL doesn't stop them port blocking.

[heiska]

SSL doesn't stop them port blocking.
No, but it does indeed help with the strikes.

[cola]

Cox has its own servers, but the retention is crap. I forget how long the retention is, but I'm sure its no longer than a few weeks. Its also outsourced to highwinds, which is good. But if you're only looking for 0-day tv/movies/ect then you should be fine.



SSL doesn't stop them port blocking.
No, but it does indeed help with the strikes.

No it doesn't. SSL only enables you to get around protocol specific throttling.

[heiska]

Aight then. I didn't bother copying words from wikipedia before replying.

Point being, you should be pretty safe with usenet. At lease more safe than with torrents.

[DSLFreak]

I've been with Cox for about 4 years now and have D/L over a 1TB of data using torrents and have never been flagged yet. So if your careful and only use private trackers you should by fairly safe.

As for Cox's newsgroups they do have free access to newsgroups through Highwinds with around 40 days of retention and they do limit you to 4 connections @ 512Kbps per connection.

http://support.cox.com/sdccommon/asp/contentredirect.asp?sprt_cid=cdef7771-2b9e-4f0f-8d25-b59ecbeafccd

As for using your own Usenet access I have a block account and get the full speed with no throttling from Cox.

HTH

[Beck38]

Take a look at their 'acceptable use' policy; obviously, if you get SSL, it's hard/impossible to directly see what you're doing. BUT, probably more importantly, they have 'caps' on usage, just like Comcast.

[That1Guy]

I've been with cox for four years with absolutely no problems with torrenting. I have had no problems with throttling or caps at any time. I am seeding 24/7 and there has been a few months that I have done a TB of traffic easily (mostly download :P).

Plus they just upgraded my tier from 15/1.5mbit to a 20/4mbit. So at least they are trying to do something to compete with fios (not in my area).

I've tried the cox servers for newsgroups. It was ok I guess. 30 day retention. 4 connections at 512kbps per connection (thats kbits....). so the speed sux. I doubt you would have any problems with a paid service though (never tried).

[cola]

Cox, like most ISPs, only cares when they receive a DMCA takedown notice, they don't care that you torrent.

[Beck38]

I've been with cox for four years with absolutely no problems with torrenting. I have had no problems with throttling or caps at any time. I am seeding 24/7 and there has been a few months that I have done a TB of traffic easily (mostly download :P).

You have been VERY lucky. I quote from their "Features and Limits of Service" page: (URL http://ww2.cox.com/aboutus/policies/limitations.cox)

"Monthly Bandwidth Allowance is the amount of bandwidth, measured in gigabytes, you can use through your Cox High Speed Internet service. If you subscribe to Cox Digital Telephone, that is a separate service for which you pay and does not count toward your Monthly Bandwidth Allowance."

Limits per service:

Premier: 250GBytes/Month
Preferred: 200GB/Month
Value: 50GB/Month
Essential: 50GB/Month
Starter: 30GB/Month
Economy: 30GB/Month

Ultimate (docsis3): 400GB/Month
Premier Plus (docsis3): 400GB/Month


Obviously, their systems are 'split' into whether or not it is running on docsis3 (or not), but these are the limits. If you've been doing more, well, the free ride will soon be up as, like Comcast, they start enforcing the limits on the system you are on. There's probably a site somewhere which is tracking the systems across the country that have been limited, and the speed at which the AUP is being enforced (I know there is for Comcast).

I don't see anywhere Cox has a 'business' tier (Comcast does), which has no limits in the AUP, but the service is 2-3 times the cost, and isn't offered everywhere (even on different parts of a system, like where I live, the max speed is 10/2 with NO business class offered on my side of 'town').

[That1Guy]

Yeah I guess I am lucky...or they just dont care in my city or something because I go over 250 GB pretty much every month... Maxing my upstream 24/7 at times for weeks.

On a side note though. I just picked up a new modem (sb6120). Its the DOCSIS 3.0 surfboard. And although I am not on the docsis 3.0 plan I still saw a nice increase. Was getting about 20/3 out of my "20/4". Now I am getting like 25/4.5 steady, and with the "powerboost" (stupid) I am getting like 40/8.