How to Fix ISP Internet Traffic Throttle

ISP Internet traffic throttle is a burden so many people who use the internet have to face. It can prove to be a real hassle, and anyone with any real sense will want to know how to fix it. But what is throttle, and how can you really fix it? We’re here to tell you just that.

Throttling is the intentional slowing or speeding of an internet service by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). It is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion. Bandwidth throttling can occur at different locations on the network. On a local area network, a system administrator ("sysadmin") may employ bandwidth throttling to help limit network congestion and server crashes. On a broader level, the ISP may use bandwidth throttling to help reduce a user's usage of bandwidth that is supplied to the local network. Bandwidth throttling is also used to speed up the Internet on speed test websites.

 

Throttling can be used to actively limit a user's upload and download rates on programs such as video streaming, and other file sharing applications, as well as even out the usage of the total bandwidth supplied across all users on the network. Bandwidth throttling is also often used in Internet applications, in order to spread a load over a wider network to reduce local network congestion, or over a number of servers to avoid overloading individual ones, and so reduce their risk of the system crashing, and gain additional revenue by giving users an incentive to use more expensive tiered pricing schemes, where bandwidth is not throttled.

Examples of ISP throttling include buffering on YouTube or Netflix, sudden lags or delays in gaming and download times being increased.

A common way of bypassing ISP throttling is by using a VPN. ISPs limit user’s network speed, especially on days people use more internet for the purpose of streaming or downloading. Due to the limitation, it takes a more time in completing that work. People who face this problem use VPN services for bypassing ISP throttling because it collects all the information and encrypts it by sending it through a secure pipeline. When the data goes through this process it becomes undetectable for ISPs to decode the information and they can no longer see what activities a user is performing.

This double whammy of an encrypted connection and the VPN server acting as a middleman means an ISP will not be able to figure out anything significant about your traffic. The only things they can see are data totals and the destination VPN server. Hence, with a VPN, an ISP should never be able to throttle your traffic. Unless, of course, they limit everything coming from your IP address. And if that ever happens (except for legitimate network management purposes), finding a better internet provider might be in order.

“A VPN can use many protocols. But not all are created equal. Many protocols are outdated and have potential security holes. Ideally, you want a provider that offers either OpenVPN or L2TP/IPsec (or both). Not only are these two protocols bulletproof security-wise, but they also offer some of the strongest encryption around. The odds of anyone breaking any VPN encryption are slim. But, when you use the most robust options available, you know for sure your ISP can't inspect your data and therefore cannot throttle your connection.

The last thing you want is to successfully prevent an ISP from throttling my internet only to have the VPN company I used tell it what I have been up to. VPN providers that log will often sell that data to third-parties. Avoid them. By going with a virtual private network that has a strict zero logging policy, there is no round-about way for your internet service provider to figure out what you do online and throttle you as a result.

This feature has less to do with an internet service provider being able to inspect and throttle your data and more with a VPN being usable. Some VPNs offer very few servers. This means those servers are usually far away from your location and overloaded by other users. Those are two major factors which can slow down your connection to a crawl. Kind of counterproductive when a slow internet is what you're trying to avoid in the first place.

Going hand in hand with the previous point, unless you end up with a fast VPN provider (and not all are), you're running in circles. You'll successfully sidestep your ISP's attempts to slow down your connection only to be defeated by the VPN's weak performance.

 

No matter how good a VPN is, disconnects happen. From your device to the VPN server and every piece of hardware in between, there are just too many variables for all smooth sailing all the time. When a VPN does drop, your data reverts to being completely visible to your ISP. That means you once again become a prime target for throttling. A kill switch will prevent that from happening. It will detect your device is no longer talking to the VPN server and automatically re-connect it.”

You could also use a proxy to bypass ISP throttling. Proxies are a way of routing some or all of your computer's connections through a third-party server. It acts as a middleman for your data transfers. Doing so hides the actual destination of the traffic, as well as the port numbers involved. Instead, all connections appear to use a single port and to end up in the same place. The downside of proxies is that they don't encrypt any data you send or receive. If your ISP is using deep packet encryption as part of their throttling system, they will still be able to read, classify, and act on anything you download or upload.