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

[Shawn Badger]

I normally stay out of these, but I just want to ask why you don't rate
limit your customers to their contracted rate and minimize over selling your
bandwidth? I would that would prevent "joe the hacker" from bringing down
other customers in the first place. I don't have issues with stuff like VoIP
being given higher priority, but  why should my downloads from a P2P network
suffer for someone watching a youtube video.

just my 2cents


On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 4:45 AM, kitepilot at kitepilot.com <
kitepilot at kitepilot.com> wrote:

> 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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