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Netflix Traffic Comprises 9.5% of Upstream Prime Time Traffic

Sandvine's latest Global Internet Phenomenon report (spotted over at Ars Technica) offers up some interesting insights into the traffic loads on Sandvine's client networks (aka large ISPs). While the idea that Netflix traffic comprises up to 30 to 35% of global Internet traffic during peak hours, the report also notes that Netflix surprisingly (or not) also utilizes around 9.5% of upstream Internet traffic during peak hours, second only to BitTorrent at 25.49%. The report notes that BitTorrent's overall traffic share continues to plummet (as users use VPNs to dodge ISP piracy notices or shift to OTT video options).

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While Netflix has stated they're experimenting with P2P transfers, it's not entirely clear why their service's upstream consumption has spiked in recent months. Sandvine claims the spike is courtesy of lopsided broadband usage tiers and ACK packets:
quote:
Signifying “acknowledgement” that data has been received, ACK packets are part of the TCP’s (Transmission Control Protocol’s) three-way handshake that connects client devices to servers over the Internet. The third step of the process has the client (i.e. a Netflix subscriber) sending acknowledgement back to Netflix’s servers...“If upstream is so heavily utilized that ACKs fail to reach the sender, then TCP responds by backing off its sending rate, which to the subscriber means reduced downstream speeds and will ultimately manifest as a downgrade in video quality,” Sandvine wrote.
Though Netflix says even they aren't really sure what's driving the increase:
quote:
"After a full day of going back and forth with the engineers, the best we can say is, we don't know why the upstream number is higher,” Netflix spokesperson Anne Marie Squeo told Ars. “We haven't meaningfully changed how we deliver content."
Sandvine (with a vested interest in being on the side of their ISP clients) has sparred with Netflix over the years, criticizing the video company's ISP streaming rankings while often placing the blame for video congestion on the side of streaming video operators.
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Packeteers
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY

Packeteers

Premium Member

no VPN traffic numbers?

seems silly to say P2P is down without quantifying the VPN usage change. while VPN use is not a single application, it's total traffic consumption should still be quantifiable by packet type at the large ISP level the survey was taken.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: no VPN traffic numbers?

Well while VPN is per se an application, it's not. Its a transport mechanism.

And I believe that P2P traffic is down for two reasons: 1. Usenet (encrypted of course), 2. More legitimate sources of video.

The usenet guys are just the "pirates" and wouldn't be impacted by legitimate methods anyways, but the casual user now has access to vast amounts of legitimate video.

What is not said is that legitimacy is what reduced pirates. People in general don't thrive on stealing, but in the immediacy of the internet the way the content creators are acting is that they are burning their own library books at every branch, and telling you to take a trip to Washington DC, get in line and the book will be available in 6 months from the hours of 3-4 AM, and the cost is $200. That artificial scarcity just won't play...
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

1 recommendation

gaforces (banned)

Member

Improved connection

It could be because they have better connection now and their packets are finally getting through. Like it was supposed to do before, but since they pay extra for more bandwidth, it actually makes it to their servers.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: Improved connection

Yep. As people can get Super HD, etc they are bigger downloads, and by that metric more response packets.

I really never had an issue w/ Netflix like others did on FiOS but the "warm up" period used to be a minute or two (adaption to HD) and it would take 20-30 seconds of buffering before it began. I thought that was NORMAL.

Well it turns out it isn't. Now since Netflix paid bounty to Verizon my videos will buffer for 3-4 seconds and start out in SuperHD, etc with no warm up time. Amazing what paying a toll will get you..a ride on the superhighway as Gore the creator of the internet used to say..

Direct
@50.182.138.x

Direct

Anon

Re: Improved connection

said by elefante72:

Now since Netflix paid bounty to Verizon my videos will buffer for 3-4 seconds and start out in SuperHD, etc with no warm up time. Amazing what paying a toll will get you..a ride on the superhighway as Gore the creator of the internet used to say..

Netflix isn't paying any more than they did before. They are just paying it to a different company. Before they paid it to a backbone provider. They cut out that middleman and now connect directly to Verizon.

Napsterbater
Meh
MVM
join:2002-12-28
Milledgeville, GA

1 recommendation

Napsterbater

MVM

Re: Improved connection

I bet they are paying more now.

Because they sure as hell fought having to make that arrangement.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Improved connection

said by Napsterbater:

Because they sure as hell fought having to make that arrangement.

It did? Seems like Netflix rolled over relatively easily based on headlines.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

1 recommendation

KrK to Direct

Premium Member

to Direct
No, they had to pay an extra troll toll. They still have to pay the other backbone providers too, as not everyone (yet) is on the Toll Charger ISP's
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Improved connection

Netflix shifted where the payments go for moving bits. When anyone has transit costs before and after these negotiations, let me know.

Napsterbater
Meh
MVM
join:2002-12-28
Milledgeville, GA

Napsterbater

MVM

Re: Improved connection

Think of it from a logical standpoint, if it was cheaper for Netflix, they would have wanted to do it, but they didn't.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Improved connection

Yet, miraculously Netflix did. Service improved. Netflix realize its current providers weren't going to satisfy requirements so it invested elsewhere. Everyone is happier, except Cogent and Level 3 which took a pay cut.

Napsterbater
Meh
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join:2002-12-28
Milledgeville, GA
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Napsterbater

MVM

Re: Improved connection

said by openbox9:

Yet, miraculously Netflix did. Service improved. Netflix realize its current providers weren't going to satisfy requirements so it invested elsewhere. Everyone is happier, except Cogent and Level 3 which took a pay cut.

They did because they were basically extorted not because it was cheaper or "better"... Its not that Cogent and Level 3 couldn't deliver they could and did to many ISPs all over the world. Its that Verizon (and others) didn't pay for more transit or upgraded links to carry traffic their customers requested/wanted and let their ports overload while blaming Cogent and Level 3 for the problem even though it was their fault. And even if a customer complained to Verizon (or any other ISP pulling this trick) the CS rep would just blame Netflix even though it was their own fault, and what could the customer do, most people have little or no competition and they are stuck and have no choice except to let their ISP fuck them over.

And this effected much more then just Netflix, it effected anything using Cogent and Level 3.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Improved connection

And yet other links for Verizon worked just fine. The common denominator is Cogent and Level 3.
WhatNow
Premium Member
join:2009-05-06
Charlotte, NC

WhatNow to KrK

Premium Member

to KrK
This example shows the two sides of net neutrality if fast lanes or troll tolls are not allowed for companies like Netflix then everyone is going to be treated alike and Netflix can get in line at the entrance door of the ISP and wait in line just like everyone else.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

1 recommendation

KrK

Premium Member

Re: Improved connection

And that's how it should be..... but it would also mean ISP's have to keep their links upgraded rather then allowing them to over-saturate and then demand payment.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

More hiding BitTorrent with VPN so Netflix upstream has larger share

If the case, Netflix will show increase in "% share" of upstream even though the actual relative upstream bytes may not be increasing. If Sandvine tracked VPN traffic as a single app, then Netflix upstream share may not increase. And of course if BT traffic is down overall, then all others would show a % share increase.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

1 recommendation

silbaco

Premium Member

Bittorrent

Bittorrent is liking declining because there is almost no reason to use it anymore. Most of the media content can be acquired legally through Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Amazon, Steam, Spotify, Rdio, etc. and there are plenty of other streaming sites that host the missing content illegally.

I doubt that many people are actually using VPNs for bittorrent.
NefCanuck
join:2007-06-26
Mississauga, ON

NefCanuck

Member

Re: Bittorrent

said by silbaco:

Bittorrent is liking declining because there is almost no reason to use it anymore. Most of the media content can be acquired legally through Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Amazon, Steam, Spotify, Rdio, etc. and there are plenty of other streaming sites that host the missing content illegally.

I doubt that many people are actually using VPNs for bittorrent.

The new(er) thing with VPN's is to use them to get around content geo-blocking. If content providers continue these stupid artificial scarcity games with content based on country of residence, I think either VPN traffic will stay stable, or maybe even increase, even if piracy is dropping (though the dodging of geo-blocking may well be considered "piracy" depending on ones definition of the term)

NefCanuck

Flyonthewall
@206.248.154.x

Flyonthewall

Anon

Re: Bittorrent

If you will give the content away for free in your home country (USA), and then block the content outside your country, you can't then claim to be losing income outside of your country, particularly when YOUR country has a population of 300 million, and Canada for example only has 30 million or so. Small wonder people try to get around geo-blocking. They aren't trying to make money, they are just trying to be douches.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz to silbaco

Member

to silbaco
said by silbaco:

I doubt that many people are actually using VPNs for bittorrent.

PopcornTime has built in VPN, is likely most use it.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: Bittorrent

Popcorn Time's most popular fork has ~100k active users in the US and maybe ~200k globally. That's little more than a blip on the radar.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Bittorrent

This says 100K active in Netherlands alone and 1.3M installed in just one country. PT shuts off seeding after download complete so activity not as constant.

»www.nltimes.nl/2014/09/0 ··· h-users/
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA to silbaco

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to silbaco
I do on a regular basis, averaging probably 100GB or more. There were a few months where I did a couple of TB of bittorrent through VPN. I let it run for the 18 or so hours that I'm not home, and then stop torrent and disconnect from the VPN while I actually use the internet.

Flyonthewall
@206.248.154.x

1 recommendation

Flyonthewall

Anon

This makes sense.

Having to always resend packets and checksums due to ISP shenanigans at hand off points would explain the large amount of upstream for a service that ought to be mostly downstream. Place that blame squarely at ISP feet.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords

MVM

Is Sandvine counting packet size or packets?

An ACK packet is a lot smaller than a packet containing data...