BitTorrent Throttling ISPs Exposed by Azureus
Written by Ernesto on April 21, 2008Data collected by the BitTorrent client Azureus shows that Comcast might only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to BitTorrent throttling ISPs. Early findings show that customers from quite a few other Internet service providers experience an unusually high amount of TCP-resets.
ISPs have been throttling BitTorrent traffic for quite a while, but only since the Comcast debacle has this been picked up by mainstream media.
A few months ago Azureus petitioned the FCC, which led to a FCC hearing in February. One of the complaints from the commission was that there is little data available on the scope of BitTorrent throttling, a gap Azureus now tries to fill by collecting data on the prevalence of TCP-resets among ISPs worldwide.
Last month Azureus published a plugin through which users can help distinguishing the good from the bad ISPs, and today we have a preview of some early findings. A massive 1,000,000 hours of data from over 8000 users has been collected over the past few weeks. The preliminary results again confirm that Comcast continues to use TCP-resets to manage BitTorrent traffic on their network, but they are not alone.
The rest of the Vuze/Azureus report (pdf) includes the median reset rates for hundreds of other ISPs
| ISP | Country | Reset % |
| Comcast | USA | 23.72% |
| Cogeco | Canada | 19.13% |
| Emirates Internet | UAE | 17.86% |
| Cablevision | USA | 17.58% |
| Brasil Telecom Santa Catarina, | Brazil | 17.43% |
| TM Net | Malaysia | 16.80% |
| BellSouth | USA | 15.88% |
| Tedata | Egypt | 15.33% |
| Tiscali | UK | 14.89% |
| AOL | USA | 14.88% |
TCP resets seem to be more common for American ISPs, and Comcast leads the bunch. The Azureus team has sent a letter to Cablevision, Cogeco, BellSouth and AOL, where they request that the companies are open about their BitTorrent throttling practices. Thus far, the ISPs have not responded to the letters.
At the bottom of the list we see the good ISPs, mostly from Europe. There are other ways to throttle BitTorrent traffic, besides using TCP-resets, a list of ISPs who are known to limit BitTorrent traffic is available on the Azureus Wiki.
| ISP | Country | Reset % |
| Telecom Italia France | France | 2.53% |
| Orange Nederland | The Netherlands | 2.57% |
| WiLine | USA | 2.78% |
| Telefonica | Germany | 3.60% |
| Freenet | Germany | 4.21% |
It has to be noted that the data gathering techniques Vuze uses are far from optimal. The plugin detects all TCP resets on a connection and doesn’t make a distinction between BitTorrent and other traffic, and there is no control group.
The Azureus/Vuze team will continue to collect data, and stated:
“We believe that there is sufficient data to suggest that network management practices that ‘throttle’ Internet traffic are widespread. At a minimum, more investigation is required to determine whether these resets are happening in the ordinary course of business or whether they represent the kind of throttling practices which target specific applications and/or protocols, harming the consumer experience and stifling innovation.”
The preliminary results presented here do indeed indicate that Comcast is not the only ISP that uses TCP resets to slow down BitTorrent traffic. People are encouraged to continue using the plugin so more robust data can be presented in the near future.
Previously: Biohazard Bassist Blasts BitTorrent
Next: BitTorrent Tracker Software “Gazelle” Debuts on What.cd
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aol = timewarner, i have timewarner and ive never had any problem’s. hopefully it stays that way.
this same as cheating .
Cox is f-ing huge why the f aren’t they on there?
[quote comment="354415"]I didn’t see Teksavvy on that pdf document. Do they not throttle at all or do I not know how to read?[/quote]
You can’t read. They’re number 32 on the list. Horrible. Only Rogers Canada is worse where I am. Unbelievable. I would sign up with an ISP right now if they could promise me they wouldn’t throttle. I’d even promise not to pirate (for a while…)
I’m angry that Comcast throttles my connection from 6MB down to 800KB anytime I start uTorrent. I was going to switch to Bell South DSL but now I see that they’re also guilty. I guess my revenge will be to leave my computer on with uTorrent running 24/7. The cost of the electricity will be worth it.
throttle this throttle that….why is it such a big deal who the go between is in the ftp scandal. bo hoo “i cant get the new will smith movie any faster that 30kb/s!” ftp-ing movies is agents the law shit sorry to mention that out sharing rights are getting infringed upon.
Glad to not see Verizon on that list :)
I’ve had great luck with their FiOs service (they probably hate me with all the bandwidth I suck from them).
[quote comment="354493"]no mention about bell canada?[/quote]
RTFA and if your scroll mouse is broken, ctrl+F and type “Bell Canada” when reading the pdf.
@ Anonymous poster #13: Teksavvy does not throttle. Bell Canada (the ISP they purchase their bandwidth from) is doing meta-throttling on their behalf. Teksavvy is currently fighting Bell Canada to have the throttling stopped.
> Comcast throttles my connection
> from 6MB down to 800KB
Do you know the different between 6 megabits and 6 megabytes?
how about cox? I always get real good DL/UL speeds with them without any problems. I am also running business
speed at my home.
im on that shit load TM Net,punk ass ISP.i hope throttling come to an end soon.
i really hate the fact that in my area, your only choices are comcast or dialup. so we are BONED.
@ Post #13:
TekSavvy doesn’t throttle, they’re currently having their last-mile connections throttled by Bell, but they’re fighting that with the CRTC (government regulator). That’s probably why they were excluded, the company opposes throttling.
I took the liberty to put a link to this page on my blog since I’m a user of Brasil Telecom here in Santa Catarina. (Santa Catarina is a state on the south of Brazil, just in case)
By the way, thanks BrTelecom, for making my 2mbit conexion look like a 256kbit.
http://etafner.free.fr
Malaysia’s TM Net service is atrocious. They have a crazy monopoly over the country’s internet services and provide piss poor service. Throttled torrents, horrible international connections for gaming, really bad upload speeds.
rapidshare is good solution
http://www.makeoverfun.net
@Ezzy
p2p huh, doest that require u to have a fudging fast upload speed so ur peer can download at a decent speed?
ims only 50KB+ max >.<
They forgot to mention COX. On the dc.dc.cox.net servers they are throttling with reset packets making it very hard to seed data.
if you aren’t too poor, with comcast u can call them and ask them for a faster plan for like 5 bucks more a month. its not something they advertise on their website, but in Wash. DC area they have it, puts your speed at 24Mbit down, and 3-5 Mbit up.
upload speed even gets close to 10Mbit if other person is on comcast network. if you goto one of their offices they have a shitty little price list printed up, its just below where it says you can buy extra ip’s for 5 bucks a month. sucks to have to pay more, but no reset problems, seeding is ok
I would like a program that monitors as client. Then it would be possible to test with Utorrent too.
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