Is Qwest throttling? in Qwest

Is Qwest throttling? in Qwest http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20369095 en Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:13:46 EDT Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:13:46 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20736581 anon : Have been following threads r.e. QWEST bandwidth problems, and appreciate all of the expert comments/experiences. I wish to add that when I notice slow D/Ls, I find that my Cisco 678 modem has trained to 1/2 normal speed. After I manually retrain the modem, the speed increases to max. Someone please explain the modem anomaly.
BTW, I get max ~4.2 mb/s per QWEST Speed Test with 7 mb/s Platinum service and I am only a couple clicks from my CO.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20736581 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:55:06 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20734989 CopperMonkey : Still seems like an isolated incident, where they only did it to you. Or to go even further, you might have just had some good seeds drop off from the torrent. Qwest is the kind of company that at least hints if they're going to do this. For example they do publicly disclose that they have a cap, but don't clearly describe what they've set it at; from their numbers and using their basis on what "typical" sizes are, the cap is between 150 and 200GB/mo, but I've yet to see anyone get disconnected over it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20734989 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:06:04 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20730260 tool225 : @CopperMonkey
Sorry, I dont have any screens. When I get throttled again I will grab some and post. I use uTorrent and randomize ports when downloading torrents. In my experience I have had Qwest throttle me, my torrents only though. I usually get 280-350KB/sec on my torrents. In the past I did not randomize my port and did get throttled by Qwest. My speeds would usually go from 280-350KB/sec to around 20KB/sec. I have tested downloading from an HTTP source during times I have been throttled and my speed from the HTTP source was unaffected.

@modifiy
I download torrents all the time. In the past, if I did get throttled I would wait a couple of days and change the port. Now that I randomize the port whenever uTorrent starts, I do not run into this issue that often.

@questionable
BT by default does use those ports as well as WOW. I obtained that information from BT's site and used it as an example. I never said that Qwest throttles torrent traffic 100% of the time, but the fact is that they do, in my experience, throttle torrent traffic. The easist way to throttle ANY traffic, but specifically torrent/p2p traffic is DPI, Deep Packet Inspection.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20730260 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:11:23 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20727955 jinjimbob :

said by no_one :

said by jinjimbob

:

I had two 1.5/896 lines to my house. I could never get the max bandwidth out of both at the same time. Using one line 100%, the other line would crawl at less than 10% of the available speed. So I got rid of the 2nd line after a few weeks, the RT must have not been getting enough bandwidth.

My single line is never throttled.

Two separate lines, two separate DSL modems, no routers, two separate hardwired computers.

My intention was to load balance, but it was not worth it.
Eventually I was going to go with a local ISP that bonded at their location, which would create a single faster line (over dual lines). But the RT is oversold.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20727955 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:42:08 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20726261 questionable :

said by tool225

:

Ok people... lets get back on track here...

throttling = traffic shaping

Traffic shaping (also known as "packet shaping") is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, lower latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth by delaying packets that meet certain criteria.

More specifically, traffic shaping is any action on a set of packets (often called a stream or a flow) which imposes additional delay on those packets such that they conform to some predetermined constraint (a contract or traffic profile).

Now the question here is DOES QWEST THROTTLE?

Yes they do!

For the people that say they dont see it when they goto some website and download a file at some rate. An example is, not to single out or pick on, Questionable's post where they went to AVG's website and downloaded the AVG Free Software @ 304KB/sec.

This is HTTP, usually port 80 or 8080, traffic. I've been with Qwest for over 2 years now and Cox Cable for 7 years prior to that. I have NEVER experienced any type of throttling on HTTP traffic. Traffic where you goto some website and download some file at some rate.

HOWEVER, when you are downloading a torrent/p2p file you generally use a software that uses a different port. BitTorrent for example uses default ports 6881-6889. This is well known and VERY easy for any ISP to filter these ports and throttle speed/bandwidth.

So if you are going to websites and downloading music/files and what not you will most likely not see any noticable slow down in your speed. Exceptions would be peek line usage or congestion, or phyiscal line issue either with your house lines or from the house to the isp. If you use uTorrent/BitTorrent(examples) and actually see your download rate go from 250KB/sec to 25KB/sec on a single torrent/file, wear your 'I have been throttled by [Insert your ISP Here]' badge proudly as you swear up and down at your ISP.

OR just simply randomize your port when you download torrents to reduce this issue. You will not be able to eliminate throttling.

I still have to disagree with you. World of Warcraft also uses BT for downloads (ok blizzard does and you can set it to reciever only from them. (i'll see if i can get a screen shot of my speeds) I do not seem to be throttled from them either. more info on that later

they use ports 3724, 6112, and 6881-6999 same ones that you state a BT uses]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20726261 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:09:53 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20725774 modifiy :

said by tool225

:

HOWEVER, when you are downloading a torrent/p2p file you generally use a software that uses a different port. BitTorrent for example uses default ports 6881-6889. This is well known and VERY easy for any ISP to filter these ports and throttle speed/bandwidth.

OR just simply randomize your port when you download torrents to reduce this issue. You will not be able to eliminate throttling.

I downloaded the D3 gameplay vid this weekend (which was a BT download)and had full speed on the download. I have ran a few test to see if they throttle anything, more so BT since that seems to be a fun one to do throttle and so far I don't see any throttling what so ever on my connection. I think a few of the problems that people have been noticing might be over subscription in their areas that I've seen a few people state already. You have a dedicated line to the home, but pretty much after that its all shared bandwidth.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20725774 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:55:13 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721801 CopperMonkey :

said by tool225

:

Now the question here is DOES QWEST THROTTLE?

Yes they do!

Per definition only. If Qwest really did throttle down the connection speed, you'd see people commenting that they do, wouldn't you? But they don't. If you still think otherwise, would you show proof to us?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721801 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:29:06 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721703 anon :

said by jinjimbob

That is odd. How where they set up at your house. On separate computers? On the same router? Where you trying to load balance?
I would need some more info but sounds more like how they where being used. Something in the setup was wrong I am just guessing. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721703 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:07:17 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721479 wingman99 :

said by jinjimbob

Wow Quest really likes to screw the costumer]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721479 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:25:56 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721203 jinjimbob : I had two 1.5/896 lines to my house. I could never get the max bandwidth out of both at the same time. Using one line 100%, the other line would crawl at less than 10% of the available speed. So I got rid of the 2nd line after a few weeks, the RT must have not been getting enough bandwidth.

My single line is never throttled.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721203 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:29:57 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721141 longstreet : Given that any smart p2p user uses SSL with his peers, getting around port throttling isn't a difficult problem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20721141 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:17:55 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20719274 tool225 : Ok people... lets get back on track here...

throttling = traffic shaping

Traffic shaping (also known as "packet shaping") is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, lower latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth by delaying packets that meet certain criteria.

More specifically, traffic shaping is any action on a set of packets (often called a stream or a flow) which imposes additional delay on those packets such that they conform to some predetermined constraint (a contract or traffic profile).

Now the question here is DOES QWEST THROTTLE?

Yes they do!

For the people that say they dont see it when they goto some website and download a file at some rate. An example is, not to single out or pick on, Questionable's post where they went to AVG's website and downloaded the AVG Free Software @ 304KB/sec.

This is HTTP, usually port 80 or 8080, traffic. I've been with Qwest for over 2 years now and Cox Cable for 7 years prior to that. I have NEVER experienced any type of throttling on HTTP traffic. Traffic where you goto some website and download some file at some rate.

HOWEVER, when you are downloading a torrent/p2p file you generally use a software that uses a different port. BitTorrent for example uses default ports 6881-6889. This is well known and VERY easy for any ISP to filter these ports and throttle speed/bandwidth.

So if you are going to websites and downloading music/files and what not you will most likely not see any noticable slow down in your speed. Exceptions would be peek line usage or congestion, or phyiscal line issue either with your house lines or from the house to the isp. If you use uTorrent/BitTorrent(examples) and actually see your download rate go from 250KB/sec to 25KB/sec on a single torrent/file, wear your 'I have been throttled by [Insert your ISP Here]' badge proudly as you swear up and down at your ISP.

OR just simply randomize your port when you download torrents to reduce this issue. You will not be able to eliminate throttling.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20719274 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:46:32 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20618768 longstreet : Thanks for that - my thought was right but I switched the up and down literally.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20618768 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:32:48 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20618347 CopperMonkey : Well, just throwing it out there that my average high (not highEST as I earlier said) sustained upload is 110KBps. The terminal link and CO backbones could be large enough to allow this as you said, but 1.5Mbps down/896Kbps up is what was (and still is) technically sold and connected here. The modem training at nearly a full megabit upload, not really anything I wanna scratch my head over since it's better than the upload CableOne has anyway (they're the cable monopoly here).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20618347 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:55:01 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616691 christcorp : Lab; your 160KB down and 90-100KB up is your throughput in Kilo-BYTES. That is the average for a 1.5mb/896kb DSL. Yes, there is a 3mb/5mb/7mb service available in ADSL. There's also 12 and 20mb in the ADSL2+ world. There's also VDSL. Later... Mike....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616691 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:02:16 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616633 wingman99 :

said by CopperMonkey

:

The highest AVERAGE speed I get with seeding is about 120KBps; typically spikes a bit higher.

PPPoA; DSL mode is MMODE, negotiated mode is G.DMT, ATM QoS class is UBR. Modem trains at 992k up, though the service is technically 896k.

your doing good 120KBps is = 960Kbs]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616633 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:53:03 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616016 lab16 : Longstreet; you have it backwards. It's 1.5 down and 1.0 up.

Qwest actually sells a variety of speeds. Right now I have 160KB down and around 90-100KB up on average. I have neighbors that have about twice the down and up speeds of what I have I think.

Bink was right, and updating the firmware (from version QW05.5 to QW06) seems to have fixed my problem. When I am using firefox, I tend to open up large amounts of tabs at once, and today was probably the first time that all of them completely loaded in a timely manner. This is with bittorrent running. So it's nice to see that qwest finally fixed this problem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20616016 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:13:51 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20614125 christcorp : Longstreet; you have it backwards. It's 1.5 down and 1.0 up. There are 2 issues however to remember. 1) DSL uses the ATM network. The ATM network has overhead. As such, you won't normally get the full 1.5/1 amount. You normally lose around 10-12%. That is part of the technology. 2) Qwest only has the 1.0mb upload on some of their older customers. The newer customers and customers who are "Changing" service, have the upload changed to 896kb. (Except for the 3.0mb service; I believe that is still capped on the upload to 640kb. Not sure on that any longer).

As far as being able to surge 125KB transfer rate on the upload and more than 165KB on a 1.5mb download; that can be seen. The actual backbone of the ISP/Qwest/C.O. etc... is quite extensive. If the sending/receiving server is also on a large backbone, Qwest and the dslam can receive the packets much faster. I've seen download throughput spike from simple file downloads from AVG as high as 185KB. I've also seem upload spikes to my own servers on the west coast (Riding OC48 and OC96) as high as 125KB. In both cases, it's been surges and not the average and/or sustained rate. There's also some caching that is done with software that has to be encounter. I.e. Download a file, get to the block of what to name it and where to save it, and it's ALREADY downloading the file even though you don't see it. When you finally hit "OK", the beginning shows a very high surge.

Anyway, the bottom line is that on the 896kb UPLOAD, after overhead, the average HIGH sustained throughput is about 100KB. On the download, the average HIGH sustained on a 1.5mb is going to be about 165KB. Can it surge higher on occasion? Yes. Can your combination of circuit, modem, PC, applications, etc... average closer to 90-95KB up and 155-160KB down? Yes. This is the normal sustained rates. It's part of the technology. If you want higher upload, then find something other than ADSL. Later... Mike.....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20614125 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:46:34 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20613514 longstreet : I thought Qwest sold 1.5 up / 1.0 down?

Would not training around 1.0 up give you about 120 on the upload? If you are trained at 992 that's the upload bandwidth you're getting to Qwest.

I think about the fastest I got up was around 126KB with the 1.5/1.0 service (before gt 701 came out - I had that shitty white actiontech without wireless) but I was right next to the CO - literally not even 1000 feet away.

There was a Cisco router people used to use but it limited them to 896 . . . IIRC.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20613514 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:31:36 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20613477 CopperMonkey : The highest AVERAGE speed I get with seeding is about 120KBps; typically spikes a bit higher.

PPPoA; DSL mode is MMODE, negotiated mode is G.DMT, ATM QoS class is UBR. Modem trains at 992k up, though the service is technically 896k.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20613477 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:59:54 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612988 wingman99 :

said by CopperMonkey

said by christcorp

:

after overhead, you will have about 1.3mb/760kb of bandwidth.

What is your total upload speed with seeding max

are you on PPPoE PPPoA :D]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612988 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:18:14 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612978 longstreet : I think that's why he used the word 'about'.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612978 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:14:33 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612177 CopperMonkey :

said by christcorp

:

after overhead, you will have about 1.3mb/760kb of bandwidth.

760Kb/8 = 95KBps upload, which seems somewhat inaccurate as I never drop below 100KBps when seeding a torrent or uploading to an FTP; the highest I've seen it go is 125KBps, typically hangs around 110.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20612177 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:55:46 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611539 longstreet : This is good advice.

While the QoS will only help outgoing, your incoming BT connections are probably killing your download on the other side. Since BT requires you to send and receive to each peer who connects to you . . . Can you limit the number of peers you are connected to, and limit the amount of bandwidth available to BT?

I don't run torrents at all, but I used to have to block all BT traffic because they'd hammer my IP with queries even when I would not longer be sharing something.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611539 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:46:23 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611468 christcorp : What do you mean by;

"it just can't handle alot of connections at once"

You use the word "throttling". You have a fixed amount of bandwidth. "Remember, bandwidth is NOT SPEED". If you have the 1.5mb/896kb service; after overhead, you will have about 1.3mb/760kb of bandwidth. If you are downloading a file, the max throughput it will do is about 160-160KB/sec. (160 X 8 bits per byte = 1.28mb).

If you have a 2nd computer, BT, gaming, voip, video stream, etc... happening, you are going to slow down. There is no way around it. In theory; 2 computers downloading from the same site 2 different files will download with a throughout of about 75-80KB/sec. Add a 3rd PC, and each will do about 50-55KB/sec. It's the law of math, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that.

If you have software that can limit the bandwidth to an application; e.g. only allow 30KB/sec throughput for BT; then that leaves about 130KB/sec for other things. But other than a software made directly for that, each device is going to go as fast as it can go. Some people try using QOS; especially if they have voip; but that is ONLY good for the upload/outgoing side. QOS has no control over the incoming packets. Your router has no idea what priority a packet has until it arrives and is identified. By then, it's too late. It's already there.

So, I guess that maybe I just don't understand what you are asking. I have the gt701wg modem. (I have many different modems, but that's the one I use mostly). I have 3 desktops, 2 laptops, 1 webcam, and 3 voip circuits connected to it. At the most, I usually have at least 1 desktop, 1 laptop, and 1 voip transferring packets simultaneously without any problem. The voip circuits are the most picky; obviously requiring full real time packet transfer. As long as the desktop and laptop aren't streaming video, the voip works fine. The gt701 is a fine modem.

Now, if you are using the ROUTER functions of the actiontec instead of having a REAL ROUTER, then that could easily be your problem. I can't remember if you mentioned that. Later... Mike.....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611468 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:27:27 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611466 Bink : Try updating the firmware on the Actiontec—is has been known to fall over when trying to handle torrents with many connections.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611466 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:26:49 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611435 longstreet : I had a 701 years ago and I was literally across the street from the CO. This is right when they first offered the 7 meg. I had an unknown telephone outlet that was causing my issues. Once I moved an old piece of furniture and found it, once filterd, problems went away.

What is the modem trained at? And what are your speed tests?

Perhaps bittorrent is saturating your outbound connection making browsing slow. This can happen when p2p packets are assigned a higher priority than your web browsing packets.

Have you ever heard of QoS packet scheduling? I think the 701 has the ability. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611435 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:19:31 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611395 lab16 : It looks like my modem might be causing the problems. I have the actiontech 701, and from what I can tell, it just can't handle alot of connections at once. I seem to be close to my CO, at 1.2 kilometers from it, so I don't think it would be that. I've quelched my bt max connections rather than speed, and that seems to have helped so far.
Assuming it is my modem, would other actiontech modems have this problem, or does anyone know if it's just confined to the 701 series?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611395 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:09:58 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611307 longstreet : Qwest has an advanced tool that is sort of like 'line sonar' they can use to estimate your distance.

You'll need to get a knowledgable tech on the phone though . . .most of the frontline support guys don't know how to use it / or even have access to it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611307 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:43:41 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611258 caffeinator : Try this: »/coinfo

I guess the distance thingy is disabled now, but you can still use the "google map the location" at the bottom to see where it is.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611258 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:32:19 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611245 lab16 : How do you tell how far away from a CO you are? I don't think I'm being throttled, but rather saturated, as my bittorrent connection manages to stay up to speed, but my internet browsing suffers considerably with pages not really loading, even if I considerably limit my BT bandwidth speeds to half of what I should be getting.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20611245 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:26:50 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20463547 caffeinator : Yup, I agree.

I'm on Webband (3rd-party local ISP) with Platinum and just tested this:

Qwest.net Speedtest
Download Speed: 6.095 Mbps (0.8 MB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 0.383 Mbps (0 MB/sec transfer rate)

That is at 8:05pm on a Saturday night.
Trained at: Tx Rate 768 Rx Rate 7168 )

Oh, And, I've logged nearly 3Gb of traffic this month alone doing that. Granted, streaming vids from China or whereever is hit-or-miss, but being 1300' from the CO helps indeed.

Consider the time of day in the part of the world you are d/l-ing from too, as night here, could well be peak hours somewhere else. For example, just an hours different time on the same video went from 35Kbp/s to 300Kb/s.

-CaFF
--

My 9/11 Tribute..online since 9/14/01
Need an Avatar? Check out Wafen's Avatar Pages]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20463547 Sat, 10 May 2008 23:12:48 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20454545 longstreet : Depends how your area is fed.

If you are a few thousand feet from a CO, you'll probably get the full 7 meg and never notice a bandwidth problem.

If you are distant to a RT that isn't fed as fast as it could be, you'll run into bandwidth issues when other people in your area saturate the line.

Remember, they sell 'up to 1.5 / 3 / 5 / 7 meg' If you want guaranteed bandwidth, then you should not be interested in residential service.

You might want to check out business lines. Bring your $$$ though.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20454545 Thu, 08 May 2008 23:24:14 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20400710 banjo_john : I have 7 MB service and have never seen throttling. Last weekend I downloaded a Linux CD image at 5 to 6 Mbps. The theoretical maximum for a 7 Mbps circuit gives you a bit over 6 Mbps in real throughput.

I have seen some intermittent slowdowns that appear to be the result of traffic overloads, but nothing that would indicate that Qwest is applying any form of systematic throttling.

What some users are interpreting as throttling is most likely slowdowns resulting from traffic overloads or hitting the capacity of of remote DSLAMs that are fed with T1's.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20400710 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:51:35 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20400119 anon : I worked at Qwest DSL technical support for over 2 years in the Salt Lake City downtown center. Officially, there is no throttling of bandwidth.

Truthfully, Qwest frequently oversells their bandwidth capacity and in some areas have no choice but to throttle to compensate. This is less an issue recently as it was in the past.

Example: Some Lucent RT stinger has a back end connection of a t1 to the CO. Qwest sells 4 256k lines, and 1 1.5/896 lines. So long as none of those 5 customers do online gaming or torrents or what have you, they aren't likely to notice. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20400119 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:15:53 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20398020 Sefirato : What modem do you have?

I have a 2wire 2701g-hd B version.

I am on the 7 mbit service here, and I do notice that the packets are separated at 1.5 MB per connection, meaning each download can only go 1.5 unless they're from several different addresses such as bittorrent has the capability to do so. As far as I can see, it only happens on wireless. Both of the systems I have in the house are on wireless, and when I connect to the modem by a direct line (ethernet), I get the full speed, without any issues at all.
--
"Farewell, O twice beloved! A Túrin Turambar turun ambartanen: master of doom by doom mastered! O happy to be dead!" - Nienor Níniel

Then she cast herself off Cabed-en-Aras and was lost forever.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20398020 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:44:11 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20381002 anon : I just had service restored on Wednesday the 23rd and I immediately noticed throttling or shaping on my bittorrent client.

I used to get 90kbps up and now every few minutes it goes 8kbps up and then abruptly drops, this is exactly what I was experiencing on comcast

tech support said line quality is fine

can anyone confirm or have experienced similar results]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20381002 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:45:48 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20380038 dispatcher21 : The only reason that I brought this up is because I have seen several cases where a tech has stated that they do indeed throttle speeds. Are the techs mistaken or just misinformed? Possibly, I dont know. I was assured by someone on the forums that Qwest does not throttle so I will take him at his word.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20380038 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:57:01 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20379380 questionable : Hey i have Qwest 3mb service also and this is a better test of speeds vs a torrent

I downloaded AVG from AVG's website

304KB/sec looks like they just might throttle a bit per connection

that guys torrent shows him at kb

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20379380 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:04:49 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20376944 Tehrasha : But can you get 300k from a single connection?
You've got 34 connections coming in on that torrent, so of course you can saturate your connection.

The day/night thing that dispatcher21 is seeing is most likely net congestion, but a per-connection limitation may be in play all the time.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20376944 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:53:24 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20374132 RevMortis : Congestion problems can also occur at the ISP. Remember all your traffic is routed to the ISP and exits to the Internet via the ISP's trunk line(s).

If you're seeing congestion problems during prime-time, Personal experience indicates that the ISP's trunk may be the culprit. ALL ISP's oversell thier trunk line(s).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20374132 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:54:01 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20373306 anon : Ok to stop this quickly.

i have 3mb service. I have never seen throttling

No throttling

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20373306 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:18:17 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20371064 Tehrasha :

said by dispatcher21

:

Him: Unfortunately that's not the case. The 3, 5 and 7mb circuits are bandwidth circuits...not speed circuits. We do indeed throttle downloads to around 1.5mb

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I read that as meaning that each connection is throttled to 1.5mb, so if you are running something like bittorrent, you could potentially be on multiple 1.5mb connections.

See also another Qwest Forum post about bandwidth throttling/shaping.

»https://forums.qwest.com/qwbb/board/mess···.id=1229

As with all internet connections, you have to consider the possible speed limitations at the sourse as well as your own.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20371064 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:59:53 EDT Re: Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20369285 dispatcher21 : Well, I decided to chat with a tech and ask them. I dont know if he understood what I was talking about or just wont answer the question, either way, he never does answer my question.

Chat ID : 65a2d13b-d92d-4270-bb18-4ce0a92db3ddDate/Time: 4/22/2008 2:26:14 PMProblem : Live Person - Emilio TN 509-527-xxxx Questions about download speed with Platinum BB on account.
Analyst Frank > Thank you for contacting Qwest QuickAssist. My name is Frank and my tech ID is FF1. Can you verify your name and DSL/Broadband telephone number please?
Emilio > Emilio Serrano 5095279908I have read on qwest discussion forums that during primetime hours in the evening, Qwest intentionaly throttles download speeds to 1.5mbps on platinum accounts, is this true? I ask because I thought I was having a congestion problem with my line but now wonder if I am just being throttled.
Emilio > Hello?
Analyst Frank > I apologize for the issue you are having. That is something I can help you with and I'll attempt to get this resolved for you as quickly as possible. Give me just a few moments to look up the account and gather all the information I need to resolve this for you.
Analyst Frank > Run a speed test from this site and let me know what the results are please. »speedtest.qwest.net/
Emilio > I am not at home and that wouldnt help since the slowdown is in the evening hours. I was just wondering if Qwest does indeed throttle download speeds in the evening on certain accounts?
Analyst Frank > Right now I am able to see the modem connected at the provisioned speed of 3 megs and do not see any problem with the service. I suggest running a download test from this site when at home and you should expect 80% of that 3 megs. If you do not see that give us a call or come back into chat so that we can determine what the problem may be. Keep in mind that the test should be run from a computer that is directly connected to the mode with an ethernet connection and not run through a router or switch.
Emilio > During the day I run speed tests and they come out ok, in the evening, instead of the 324 kb/s, it goes down to 140 kd/s, so my questions is, does Qwest throttle download speeds in the evening on certain accounts?
Analyst Frank > You should see 80% of the 3 megs you are paying for. However, I would suggest running the download test from the Qwest site.
Emilio > Yes or no, does Qwest throttle speeds in the evening on certain accounts?
Analyst Frank > What I have said is that you should expect 80% of 3 megs at all times.
Emilio > That doesnt answer the question, does Qwest intentionaly throttle downloads on certain accounts at night?
Analyst Frank > 3 megs is what the circuit is provisioned for and if you are not receiving that speed there is a problem. That mean in the morning or the evening. I don't know of any throttles on your dsl service.
Emilio > Thank you.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20369285 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:28:46 EDT Is Qwest throttling? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20369095 dispatcher21 : I have been having problems with my downloads as have others. I googled Qwest throttling and came up with a post from the Qwest forums(included below). In the chat trancript, the tech states that they do indeed throttle the platinum connections and I have read other posts here where Qwest techs have stated that they do. So, Qwest officialy throttles downloads now? This kinda sucks as I have stayed with Qwest because they didnt throttle bandwidth. Throughts opinions?

»https://forums.qwest.com/qwbb/board/mess···d.id=850

"----------------------
Me: I chose minneapolis. I got 0.969 Mbps down and 0.540 Mbps up. FYI, during the mornings I usually can get something around 4.400 Mbps down.
Him: Please be aware that your circuit is UP TO, which means we don't guarantee any speed at any time. 1mb, I will agree, is slightly slower than a single download (we truncate data flow between 1.5 and 3mb on busy trunks...therefore you will rairely get a true 5mb download speed for a single file).
Me: It concerns me that speed is throttled down to 1.5 mbs on busy trunks. I would expect capacity to be expanded so throttling wasn't necessary..
Him: Unfortunately that's not the case. The 3, 5 and 7mb circuits are bandwidth circuits...not speed circuits. We do indeed throttle downloads to around 1.5mb
Him: I'm sorry.
Me: Well, that helps explain somethings, however, up until a few weeks ago primetime speeds were very good. Now they are not. Downloading a file at 30kBs is unacceptable.
Him: I would be happy to send out a tech for you...but I'll be honest. The circuit is fine from our end.
Me: I agree, my circuit is fine. The problem is congestion or throttling on your network.
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