August 28, 2007

Comcast and the story that just won’t go away

Are they throttling or is it just changing traffic levels on the consumers node?

Virtually all consumer ISP plans have an “up to” advertised download speed. Comcast in the news is exposing the dark underbelly of such statements which in practice are less reality based the EPA gas mileage estimates (the latter has minimum testing standards for performance).

There are no standards for the speeds reported on consumer broadband outside of that the provider must demonstrate the advertised speeds are possible. Without going to a “business class” connection at a much higher price SLA’s (service level agreements) are non existent. I shudder at the thought of inviting the government to step in and set standards, but if the industry refuses to do so…………

As Consumer Affairs notes, Comcast states in its acceptable use policy that the company reserves the right to suspend the broadband internet service of any user generating “levels of traffic sufficient to impede others’ ability to send or retrieve information.” However, that’s as specific as Comcast gets. The company basically draws an invisible line in the sand, and if you cross it, you could be suspended for up to 12 months.

Article in Wired

Filed under Comcast, DOCSIS, Uncategorized by admin