Starting today, ISPs must display labels with price, speeds, and data caps

I hadn't heard about this, but I went to comcast with an incognito browser and claimed to be a new customer -- and indeed these are next to plans (you do have to click through to detail page).

This is actually great. Comcast is my only available broadband provider, and I've been trying to figure out how to switch to a cheaper plan, but haven't actually been a able to figure out the post-introductory rates on the plans before, and the customer service/retention people put you on hold at random times designed to somehow influence you to pay more and give you confusing answers.

Now it's clear. I can switch from 300Mbps I don't need to 150MBps that is fine, and save $30/month, great.

(I think comcast still won't let you switch to a CHEAPER internet plan without talking to a human, you can't do it self-serve).

My long-term tilting at windmills ambition is to require companies to express data caps in terms of time you’re allowed to use your connection.

For example, say Comcast has a 1Gb service with a 1TB data cap. You could hit that limit in about 8,000 seconds, or about 2.5 hours. In my mind, Comcast should be required to advertise that as “one gigabit for up to 2.5 hours”.

I know that ISPs oversell. That’s fair and reasonable. No ISP would build out their network as though every customer were using 100% capacity 24x7. The degree of overselling we see today with ridiculously low data caps is just obscene.

> The labels are required now for providers with at least 100,000 subscribers, while ISPs with fewer customers have until October 10, 2024, to comply. "If a provider is not displaying their labels or has posted inaccurate information about its fees or service plans, consumers can file a complaint with the FCC Consumer Complaint Center," an agency webpage says.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandlabels

https://www.fcc.gov/document/what-look-new-broadband-nutriti...

EDIT: @windexh8er Doing God's work. Many thanks.

We should have labels like this for web hosting service, cable tv providers, cell phone providers, etc... I've been trying to get a web hosting service, but everything has a fine print on price with asterisk. It took me awhile to figure out that dreamhost's rate is $2.59/month, but will renew at $8?/month. On certain vendors, I didn't even know how much I'd end up paying, until nearly at the end of payment step where there's a tiny fine-print somewhere buried with gray font that's barely readable.

We should have nationalized the big ISPs when they stole the billions set aside for rolling out fiber.

If only corporations had repercussions for their malicious behavior. Maybe some day.

Interesting, Comcast now has 115/24 for $30/month, and the only tier with faster upload is 1300/40 for $126/month.

I generally shop for DOCSIS service based on the upload speed, so Comcast will get a lot cheaper when my current contract expires.

Edit: oops, "Internet Essentials" is only for people on Medicaid or similar assistance. My cheapest no-contract option is 175/24 for $56/month after the paperless discount. In any case, they doubled the upload speed for that plan because the feds raised the definition of broadband from 25/3 to 100/20.

Step in the right direction. I like that they included upload speed, latency and not just download speed.

For Spectrum to find the broadband facts you have to go through the order process and then a "Show Broadband Label" will show up on the internet package selection. Buried pretty deep.

Edit: There is also a little bit of a dark pattern. The price shows 49.99/mo for 12 mos with auto pay, but the Broadband Facts sheet shows price at $84.99 and says "This monthly price is not an introductory rate". Very shady from my (only) option for ISP.

Edit2: [Dark pattern](https://imgur.com/a/FktbVuV)

Is there a clear definition of 'typical' when it comes to the speeds/latency - e.g., should I expect this on a p95 level at my residence for the contract?

I ask because I'm paying for a service advertising itself as 500mbps down/10 mbps up/latency 14ms, but I have never in my 3 years of paying for it seen that level of performance. Running a `networkquality` test right now on ethernet reveals about 159 down/2.0 up/latency 50ms, which is closer to what I've come to expect on any given run

On top of that, if the confines of 'typical' are broken on the side of the provider, would this just be an fcc complaint? More than happy to track this over the course of a month and provide data to back up my findings

I just tested it, it works fantastic.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this. It's all the information I wanted in a very clear format.

Recently when migrating service, Comcast told me the plan I was on didn't exist anymore and they had an alternate plan with higher speed for less money. However, they refused to say what it would cost after the "introductory period". Without knowing that I could not agree. Now, I know exactly and can actually decide if I want it!

It looks like CenturyLink doesn’t have it on their website, can someone confirm this maybe I just can’t find it? I’m going to file a complaint.

About time. I once went to sign up for internet with what looked like a great rate, let’s say $30/month (i don’t remember exactly). After fifteen minutes on the phone as we are wrapping up the agent says “ok, so do you authorize me to charge your credit card 47.99/month?” I reply that i thought it was $30, to which she says taxes (unfortunately it’s standard practice to exclude taxes in US advertised prices, but at least the amount is not under their control) plus a $12/month “delivery fee”, to which I replied that I’d like to pick up my internet access myself thank you , so can we waive that one? I ended up hanging up and just finding a provider with a slightly higher price but no BS.

If you want to charge more for modems and other optional stuff, fine, but when you start adding fees that aren’t really distinguishable from the product itself, you merit this kind of regulation. I pray, please go after car dealerships next.

Thank you, government, for making our lives better.

I absolutely love that they look a lot like food labels. It's a consumer friendly choice and is instantly recognizable.

Official post: https://www.fcc.gov/document/consumer-broadband-labels-now-r...

Why does that label look like it came off a cereal box? I legitimately thought that picture might be a joke of somebody riffing on the nutrition facts label.

T-Mobile is the site I can find the actual nutrition-label-type info. Can we get another website that aggregates all the labels into one explorer?

I recently switched to Wyyerd. I don't see the labels on their site anywhere, but maybe they are under the 100k threshold.

I’ve asked this before. I’ve noticed if my speed is slow, and I test it a few times, (I usually use the Netflix-owned site,) my speed rapidly improves. Do ISP’s throttle service, DETECT your visit to speed testing sites, and THEN speed things up?

how was this not just an exercise of checking the law or amending it for fraud / false advertising with a result like, "a service has to state the actual cost up front and not require the person to calculate a bunch of stuff in his head with 5 equations for 10 competitors before he can even compare them". you can't say "$30/mo" and then put a star once you click 3 pages deep saying "(for the first 3 months)", because that makes it practically impossible for the buyer to compare prices, gating it behind some stupid fucking address entry form that breaks 80% of the time. it's simple fraud and nothing else. you write: "price: $30/mo and then $70/mo after the first 3 months"

and i bet FCC spent 100 million dollars making this

and can you even access these food labels before entering your address? (and why is it not mandated that they provide a list of zones and prices per zone?)

a number like "total latency" is just complete nonsense, as its not a real metric that can fit in one number, and the kind of number marketers love to abuse.

and nothing about what kind of modem the ISP is compatible with. is it cable, adsl, fiber?

wifi extender and battery backup? because someone in FCC needed to work his full shift so he added those during his time? i'm not going to compare isps based on what random bullshit they bundle in, i only care about the actual service. anything more than 3 variables is too much. modem rental is important since they fucked up the chance of having open standards so hard that most people practically have to rent a modem. i guess FCC can't be blamed, they aren't techies or whatever.

What about a list of blocked sites? Many ISPs are in cahoots with governments and corporations to block sites without ever notifying their clients, and I'm sure the US is no exception.