Verizon Accused of Throttling Netflix and YouTube, Admits To 'Video Optimization' (arstechnica.com)

New submitter dgatwood writes: According to an Ars Technica article, Verizon recently began experimenting with throttling of video traffic. The remarkable part of this story is not that a wireless ISP would throttle video traffic, but rather that Verizon's own Go90 video platform is also affected by the throttling. From the article, "Verizon Wireless customers this week noticed that Netflix's speed test tool appears to be capped at 10Mbps, raising fears that the carrier is throttling video streaming on its mobile network. When contacted by Ars this morning, Verizon acknowledged using a new video optimization system but said it is part of a temporary test and that it did not affect the actual quality of video. The video optimization appears to apply both to unlimited and limited mobile plans. But some YouTube users are reporting degraded video, saying that using a VPN service can bypass the Verizon throttling."
If even Verizon can get on board with throttling sans paid prioritization, why is Comcast so scared of the new laws that are about to go into effect banning it?

Comments

Oh, bull pucky!

[buss_error]

I had a really snarky and funny line to start this off with, simulating network lag, but Slashdot filters insist that I remove junk chars. from the post. sigh

I do work for people with no other access to internet other than cell they can afford. Most of them are elderly, and most of them have health monitors that report to their heath care professionals via Internet. Pacemakers are big, though there are some that use it for other health monitoring including checking to see if they've opened their medications for the day, and a few that are under court ordered monitoring while their cases are pending.

What I've noticed is that UDP packets seem to be targeted, but not TCP so much. I've started using Raspberry Pi's to wrap UDP, deliver it the cell network, then on to a cloud server, then use the cloud server to unwrap the UDP and forward it. It's not just Verizon I see this issue with, but all major carriers and some minor ones. I can't say the UDP packet loss is nefarious action by the ISP. After all, the advantage of UDP is not having the overhead of TCP. But it does seem odd.

Most of the people I help out are in small towns far from any metroplex. I am training my replacement though, because as I mentioned in another post my own health is declining. I will be putting up my scrips to github shortly so if you're interested in helping out folks, you don't have to re-invent what I've done. A lot of it is bash with standard utilities, but some of it is python or C programs. All of it is documented to the point of "A PHB can do this." because that's the way I document. Smart folks can scan it for nuggets, and those not well versed in the art can advance their skills.

Aside: One of the scripts had a one liner - but the documentation for that single line runs three pages. It has to do with taking a hundred lines of data, formatting it, wrapping it in JSON, and sending it on. I tell you exactly why each flag is used, why it's there and what it does, what to look for if there are errors, and where to find more information if I didn't cover it. Yeah - a bit of over kill. I'm trying to make it so that even the most inexperienced can help their loved ones if they have no other options.

I used to help set up CLECs for places without any internet, but in the past three years this have become impossible or too expensive due to changes in state law. I tired to get a pole permit (move other telecoms equipment - POTS line in this case) five years ago, and it's still pending approval. It's moot now - that pole no longer is there. It was removed when they pulled out the POTS wiring.

Anyway, Verizon isn't the most evil out there, though I don't think in any way they have a halo. AT&T in my opinion is far, far worse.