Qwest isn't sure if its throttling bandwidth

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It seems that Qwest can't decide if it's throttling bandwidth or not. A user on Consumerist.com states that Qwest tech support told him that they do throttle their bandwidth for excessive users, and then sometime later, the tech support agent called him back and reported that they do not throttle bandwidth.

According to the user who is based in Washington, Qwest puts rate limits on streaming intensive sites like Youtube. The user confirmed this by running several speed tests and then viewing Youtube again and was receiving the slower data rate. Then by using an external proxy he was able to achieve much faster speeds than if he directly connected to the site.

After several escalations of different help departments the user was cited to the TOS where it discussed rate limiting for heavy users. After ending the call the Qwest user received a call back from the tech agent who then stated that the company does not throttle bandwidth.

While we may never know the truth about ISP's and bandwidth throttling one thing for sure is that the practice is becoming more wide spread. Time Warner and Comcast are already testing the waters and it won't be long before it's rolled out nationwide.

#1 Avi on 06 May 2009 - 13:16

Many ISPs act this way. They keep playing the customers while not providing the full speed of the packages they offer.

(1 reply) #2 sava700 on 06 May 2009 - 13:26

You gotta keep an eye on your connection. Most normal users won't pay attention and won't need it but those of us that are usually here on this site are "Power users" and we pay for the bandwidth and must keep an eye on what the ISP is doing. Sure there may be a TOS but that doesn't mean they can rip you off.. I've never signed a "RMO" or Rip Me Off agreement.

#2.1 Shadrack on 06 May 2009 - 22:14

sava700 said,

Agreed. I do not like these vague statements in TOS either. What differentiates "normal usage" from "heavy usage." This needs to be clarified.

(5 replies) #3 Alex_The_Cat on 06 May 2009 - 13:28

That happens because in the US, major companies get exclusive right for an area.

I live in Romania, and around here if any major ISP would start throttling bandwidth or add caps, all their clients would jump to the competition faster than rats abandoning a sinking boat.
We don't bother to call customer support to ask about it and we don't take their explanations for granted. If we don't like it we just cancel our contracts in an instant and choose an alternative.
There are at least 3 cable operators and 4 mobile phone networks in my area alone, not to mention all the small ISP's who are just waiting to hear about annoyed clients and start making offers.

These days, they can't afford to scare away existing/potential clients.

Last edited by Alex_The_Cat on 06 May 2009 - 13:44

#3.1 ricknl on 06 May 2009 - 13:52

Last year I moved to New York from Holland and this is one of the things that had surprised me the most. There is only 1 ADSL company here whereas back in Holland I could choose among at least 10.

#3.2 PureLegend on 06 May 2009 - 15:35

Problem is you get tied into 12 month minimum contracts.

#3.3 PureLegend on 06 May 2009 - 15:35

#3.4 Majesticmerc on 06 May 2009 - 16:31

Alex_The_Cat said,

That happens because in the US, major companies get exclusive right for an area.

That's screwed up! The bureaucrat that allowed this needs shooting!

#3.5 mmck on 06 May 2009 - 18:14

In the UK you can pretty much use any ADSL company you like, you pay for line rental to BT who maintain the cables then pay a separate monthly rate to an internet provider. Or you just use cable if you live in a city.

#4 souldreamer on 06 May 2009 - 13:41

I had an ISP some years ago that throttled emule and torrents to 2KB/s. Today no one knows what is made of that company.

#5 roadwarrior on 06 May 2009 - 14:15

While throttling is bad, at least it isn't as evil as limits on how much you can download or upload in a month. Fortunately for me, my ISP has neither type of limit.

#6 Archangel Tyrael on 06 May 2009 - 14:48

Free the internet, remove the throttling.

Kkthx?

#7 JudeCper on 06 May 2009 - 14:51

Interesting, Our ISP (outside USA) has the max of 2Mbits/s and if you need more you have to go for HSDPA, Im having a 512Kbits/s .

With the Technology getting better and better its getting lesser BW ? Recession ??

(1 reply) #8 Antiprophet on 06 May 2009 - 16:09

you know in ireland we have unthrottled, uncapped (i think, i download a lot and so do my 3 house mates, so unless the cap is 500gb/month...) 24 meg dsl.
we also have potatoes.
and bono.... damn it was going so well...

#8.1 briangw on 06 May 2009 - 17:45

Antiprophet said,

Hey, you guys also have the Sterophonics, Muse, and Coldplay in the area. It's not all that bad!

#9 Turge on 06 May 2009 - 16:25

So a user noticed his YouTube downloads are being throttled? I would think at least 1 more person would need to confirm this to make up a news story. I guess I was wrong.

(1 reply) #10 -Vivicidal- on 06 May 2009 - 16:27

I'm so glad Virgin Media has just sent me a new ultra-fast modem. UK FTW!

#10.1 +M2Ys4U on 06 May 2009 - 17:01

-Vivicidal- said,

not that you'll be allowed to use that bandwidth, VM are notorious for throttling.

(1 reply) #11 psionicinversion on 06 May 2009 - 22:24

I'm with virgin media and they do throttle the connection speeds at peak times if ya download to much so I think someone on a 50mbit connection achieving full speeds is gonna get ya throttled pretty damn quick

#11.1 Anarki on 07 May 2009 - 01:19

psionicinversion said,

Virgin media doesn't throttle the XXL (50Mb) customers.

#12 Stormeh on 07 May 2009 - 06:14

Thank god my ISP doesn't throttle.

But the Chinese govt block everything that is awesome, so it doesn't really matter now does it?

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