[Article] Cox ready to throttle P2P, non "time sensitive" traffic

[kitepilot at kitepilot.com]

I think that this is being taken out of context...
I manage a small wireless network with around a hundred victims...
er...
CUSTOMERS!    :) 

Being a wireless network, we face challenges that wired networks don care 
about, and when the traffic spikes, we have to "manage". 

Let me state in here that we don't do false advertising (in fact most of our 
customers are word-of-mouth), and we explain people that we "shape" the 
line. 

I am not defending Cox and I don't know what they are doing, but having seen 
how "journalists" makeup overblown aviation news for the sake of "yellowish 
journalism" (or sometimes blatant ignorance of the subject and laziness to 
get informed), I don't have any doubt that they will grab a few words from a 
manager, and run to the nearest keyboard to type away something that 
"sells"...
Unfortunately, "truth" doesn't sell very well... 

With that said, and after donning my asbestos suit, I want to change one 
word that probably got misplaced here: Throttle. 

For all I know (not much indeed), and from what I gather from the obvious 
ignorance of the reporter (again, nothing new after I see how they convey 
aviation "news") Cox is not doing "Throttling", Cox is doing "Shaping". 

You cannot run a network pipe without some kind of management, or everything 
is going to go Hell. 

The way this is done, is by inspecting packets to determine priority.
VoIP packets will be expedited and FTP packets will be sent after.
Latency is not an issue in an FTP transfer.
Latency will kill a VoIP connection.
At the expense or extending the FTP connection a few seconds. 

This is not unfair, this is necessary, albeit unpopular... 

And IS NOT TRIVIAL.
In fact, it is complex enough when you can inspect the packets, never mind 
if you are dealing with an encrypted connection... 

Finally, even though I don't prevent P2P in "my valley", I do severe or 
throttle the outbound connections when they become a burden for the network. 
Most of the network is used by rural people that simply doesn't have other 
options. 

I can't just tell them that they can't use Internet just because Joe Hacker 
downloaded the latest hacked motion picture and 37 thousand hackers over the 
World are banging in the line THEY (my customers) PAY FOR! to get their 
share... 

It's a limited resource.
I explain that to my people too... 

Finally, please understand that I am not defending Cox.
But I believe that the whole discussion is falling down the wrong path.
Enrique 

PS: Who knows here about shaping?
I need help...   :( 

 

 

Stephen P Rufle writes: 

> http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/cox-opens-up-throttle-for-p2p-non-time-sensitive-traffic.ars
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