Everything you do on the internet uses data, including streaming movies, listening to music, online shopping, working from home and more. Are you aware of how much data you use in a day? What about in a month?
Did you know that many internet service providers (ISPs) put a data cap limit on their plans? When you have a data cap on your plan, you must be conscious of your bandwidth to avoid going over your account’s allotted amount. Find out what a data cap is, how it affects internet usage, why some ISPs have them, and why All West doesn’t set data caps.
What is a data cap and how can it affect internet usage?
A data cap is a set limit on the amount of data each customer can use each month. Data is what you send or receive through the internet (like sending an email or downloading a song). When you go over the data cap limit, most ISPs charge a fee. In a survey conducted by HighSpeedInternet.com, 48% of Americans surveyed don’t even know what the data cap limit is on their home internet plan.
Once you hit your data cap, your internet usage can be affected. You can be charged extra, have your speed throttled, or even have your services cut off. As a customer, it’s frustrating to have to worry about checking how much data you’ve used to avoid exceeding data caps. If you have many people in your home, use smart home devices, stream high-quality TV or work from home, you’re going to want a plan with unlimited data.
Why do internet service providers have data caps?
While All West doesn’t have data caps, many other ISPs do. ISPs have a maximum amount of bandwidth they can handle at once. If an internet company doesn’t have enough infrastructure, limiting usage can help the overuse of bandwidth. This lets all customers continue to use and enjoy their internet. Data caps can help ease congestion on their network. When congestion eases, a network is less likely to experience outages or slowed internet speeds for everyone.
Most ISPs charge anywhere from $10 to $50+ in overage fees for additional gigabyte (GB) use. For a customer unaware of your current monthly data caps, it could be surprising to find your next bill is higher than normal.
Why doesn’t All West have data caps?
All West’s internet plans include unlimited data with no data caps. Our network was built with enough bandwidth to handle all our customers, so you’ll never have to worry about data causing outages or slow internet speeds. Because All West looks to the future, customers won’t have to worry about restrictions or going over an allotted amount of data either. We have the technology, network and infrastructure to be able to offer unlimited plans with confidence in our speeds.
With All West Communications, you can have peace of mind not having to worry about going over a specific amount of data. Because every connection counts, you can enjoy using your internet connection without interruptions.
Check out our latest data cap-free internet plan speeds and pricing here.