I'm going to have to agree with this, though also from the Virginia Beach area.

I live in a neighborhood that sees a lot of seasonal visitors and until I went out and got an 802.11n router my internet was faster than my wireless lan. I realize this won't be the case one the summer comes and most of the houses around me are filled and using their connections. However, this is something I know and understand.
When the network is congested I expect that Cox will ensure that time sensitive applications, such as my VoIP and Skype calls abroad, will still work correctly.

QoS isn't bad. It isn't necessarily a slippery slope, and it isn't even necessarily a sign of poor network design. P2P file sharing is not a latency dependent application and I expect it to get treated as such.

If you were so concerned about actually getting the full use of your broadband connection, then you probably should have gotten DSL. Otherwise you roll the dice and take your chances.