New Comcast Throttling System 100% Online Comcast tells us new network management system live in all markets In line with their traffic management website Comcast has confirmed to us they've installed their new broadband throttling system across all markets. The system, which we first profiled back in September, throttles a user's connection if a particular CMTS port is congested, and if that user has been identified as a primary reason why. This two-condition throttling system replaces Comcast's old, FCC-criticized system of using forged TCP packets to throttle upstream P2P services for all users, regardless of consumption.

According to Comcast's filings (pdf) with the FCC, they've deployed new hardware and software close to the company's Regional Network Routers (RNRs). This hardware will flip a user from the standard "Priority Best-Effort" traffic (PBE) to lower quality of service (QoS) "Best-Effort" traffic (BE) for fifteen minutes if they're a major reason congestion exists. While certainly a slightly more transparent system to those paying attention, the new system is probably going to confuse the American public, many of whom don't even know what a gigabyte is. Comcast used a bus metaphor to explain the difference between best effort and priority best effort traffic to the FCC: quote: If there is no congestion, packets from a user in a BE state should have little trouble getting on the bus when they arrive at the bus stop. If, on the other hand, there is congestion in a particular instance, the bus may become filled by packets in a PBE state before any BE packets can get on. In that situation, the BE packets would have to wait for the next bus that is not filled by PBE packets. Comcast says that sustained use of 70% of your up or downstream throughput triggers the BE state, at which point you'll find your traffic priority lowered until your usage drops to 50% of your provisioned upstream or downstream bandwidth for "a period of approximately 15 minutes." A throttled Comcast user being placed in a BE state "may or may not result in the user's traffic being delayed or, in extreme cases, dropped before PBE traffic is dropped." Comcast says that sustained use of 70% of your up or downstream throughput triggers the BE state, at which point you'll find your traffic priority lowered until your usage drops to 50% of your provisioned upstream or downstream bandwidth for "a period of approximately 15 minutes." A throttled Comcast user being placed in a BE state "may or may not result in the user's traffic being delayed or, in extreme cases, dropped before PBE traffic is dropped." Note that upstream and downstream bandwidth are managed separately. Also note that the differentiation between PBE and BE traffic occurs in two millisecond increments. According to Comcast, even if the packets for a best effort throttled user missed 50 "busses," the delay would only be about one-tenth of a second. In addition to the new throttling system, Comcast has also a 250GB monthly usage cap for all users. As we mentioned last Friday, Comcast has confirmed that a web portal-based bandwidth tracker is currently in beta among Comcast employees -- but has yet to give an official launch date. A Comcast insider had previously given us leaked screenshots of the monitor, and said it was originally scheduled to go live on January 5 (today). Comcast has confirmed to us that they've completed the upgrade to the new system. Comcast has confirmed to us that they've completed the upgrade to the new system.







News Jump Stark New Reality In The Telco Business: Dumb Pipes No Longer Cut It; AT&T Unveils Mix and Match Plans; + more news AT&T Extends Overage Charge Waiver; Verizon And T-Mobile Each Insist Their 5G Strategy Is The Right One; + more news War Of Words Heats Up: T-Mobile Fires Back At Verizon, AT&T; Amazon Intros Gaming Service To Take On Stadia; + more news Starlink's Network Faces Huge Limitations; AT&T Whines T-Mobile Merger Put Too Much Spectrum In One Place; + more news WISPs Get CBRS Range As Great As Six Miles At 100 Mbps Speeds; Windstream Officially Exits Bankruptcy; + more news Charter Relaunches Free 60-day Internet And Wi-Fi Offer; NCTA: FCC Should Stick With 25/3 Speed Threshold; + more news Comcast Shuts Off Internet for Subs Who Were Sold Service Illegally; AT&T, Verizon Team To Stop T-Mobile 5G; + more news California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 163 comments

Lazlow

join:2006-08-07

Saint Louis, MO 2 recommendations Lazlow Member Why both? Why both this throttling and the cap? Assuming the throttling works the way it is supposed to, I really do not have much of a problem with it (mostly just the principle of the thing). They have always said that the caps were to prevent one user from slowing down the rest of the users on the node. This type of throttling should prevent that. So why the cap?

jlivingood

Premium Member

join:2007-10-28

Philadelphia, PA 2 recommendations jlivingood Premium Member Yup, We're Done... We've contacted Comcast and are awaiting confirmation that the system has been 100% implemented across all markets, and will update this entry. Yup, we sure did finish. It was a huge amount of work in 90 days, but it's all done.



Jason Yup, we sure did finish. It was a huge amount of work in 90 days, but it's all done.Jason