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Saturday
March 13, 2010 Since 1922 |
More Internet throttling
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published November 7, 2009 It looks like Comcast wants to change the way they regulate and control Internet traffic to its customers. This is nothing new by any means. High-Speed Internet providers have wanted to minimize congestion on their networks for many years, and there have been many plans on how to do so. This is just one more of those plans.
In a filing with the FCC, they have proposed a different method of throttling Internet traffic in the event that a customer uses too much bandwidth for a period of time. Realistically, the way it’s laid out, it won’t mean a thing for the typical Comcast customer. It may be even better for those who just check e-mail and surf the Internet. For those downloading gobs of music or videos, they’ll most likely see a change if this proposal gets approved.
Think of the Internet as a series of pipes, filled with water, going throughout the city. From each house in a neighborhood, there’s a small pipe feeding into a larger one for the entire neighborhood. Then, each neighborhood’s larger central pipe feeds into an even larger citywide pipe. The citywide pipes feed to Comcast around the United States and eventually on to the Internet.
The issue is that a small number of users on the neighborhood level are using more than their fair share of the water. Since the neighborhood pipes are essentially connected to each other, it can affect the other houses in a neighborhood lowering their water pressure. It’s not really that big of a deal and most people don’t even notice, but it’s becoming a larger problem for Comcast.
Comcast’s plan is to monitor how much Internet bandwidth each customer uses and throttle it back if necessary. If the overall area network is congested, and there is a customer using over 70 percent of their total Internet bandwidth for longer than 15 minutes, that individual customer’s Internet traffic gets a lower priority than other Comcast customers. Once that individual customer with lower priority uses less than 50 percent of their total Internet bandwidth for 15 minutes, their priority will return to normal. These two sentences are causing a huge outcry over Comcast’s practices.
Comcast has tested this proposed throttling in Chambersburg, PA; Warrenton, Va.; Lake City, Fla.; and Colorado Springs, Colo. With Colorado Springs being Comcast’s biggest test market, 22 users out of 6,016 have had their Internet traffic downgraded at some point during the day.
I personally think this is the best plan for Internet throttling I have seen, and there are a ton of them. It’s simple, only affects the person causing the problem, and it’s temporary. Like I said above, unless you download a lot of music and videos constantly, you will most likely never be subject to having your Internet priority downgraded. And, if it is downgraded, it’s only for 15 minutes after you stop.
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published November 7, 2009 It looks like Comcast wants to change the way they regulate and control Internet traffic to its customers. This is nothing new by any means. High-Speed Internet providers have wanted to minimize congestion on their networks for many years, and there have been many plans on how to do so. This is just one more of those plans.
In a filing with the FCC, they have proposed a different method of throttling Internet traffic in the event that a customer uses too much bandwidth for a period of time. Realistically, the way it’s laid out, it won’t mean a thing for the typical Comcast customer. It may be even better for those who just check e-mail and surf the Internet. For those downloading gobs of music or videos, they’ll most likely see a change if this proposal gets approved.
Think of the Internet as a series of pipes, filled with water, going throughout the city. From each house in a neighborhood, there’s a small pipe feeding into a larger one for the entire neighborhood. Then, each neighborhood’s larger central pipe feeds into an even larger citywide pipe. The citywide pipes feed to Comcast around the United States and eventually on to the Internet.
The issue is that a small number of users on the neighborhood level are using more than their fair share of the water. Since the neighborhood pipes are essentially connected to each other, it can affect the other houses in a neighborhood lowering their water pressure. It’s not really that big of a deal and most people don’t even notice, but it’s becoming a larger problem for Comcast.
Comcast’s plan is to monitor how much Internet bandwidth each customer uses and throttle it back if necessary. If the overall area network is congested, and there is a customer using over 70 percent of their total Internet bandwidth for longer than 15 minutes, that individual customer’s Internet traffic gets a lower priority than other Comcast customers. Once that individual customer with lower priority uses less than 50 percent of their total Internet bandwidth for 15 minutes, their priority will return to normal. These two sentences are causing a huge outcry over Comcast’s practices.
Comcast has tested this proposed throttling in Chambersburg, PA; Warrenton, Va.; Lake City, Fla.; and Colorado Springs, Colo. With Colorado Springs being Comcast’s biggest test market, 22 users out of 6,016 have had their Internet traffic downgraded at some point during the day.
I personally think this is the best plan for Internet throttling I have seen, and there are a ton of them. It’s simple, only affects the person causing the problem, and it’s temporary. Like I said above, unless you download a lot of music and videos constantly, you will most likely never be subject to having your Internet priority downgraded. And, if it is downgraded, it’s only for 15 minutes after you stop.
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.