Comcast engaging in data discrimination, claims AP

ISPs throttling or downright banning access is certainly not unheard of outside of America, but for Comcast customers fully expecting an unadulterated portal to the intarwebs, the AP's latest findings may cause some serious kvetching. Reportedly, the Associated Press has "confirmed through nationwide tests" that Comcast is indeed "actively interfering with attempts by some of its high-speed internet subscribers to share files online." Deemed the "most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a US internet service provider," the outfit seems to be stifling BitTorrent uploads (but not downloads), and spokesman Charlie Douglas even went so far as to confirm that the company utilizes "sophisticated methods to keep web connections running smoothly." Granted, we're not shocked at all that Comcast is engaging in traffic shaping, but as of now, it has yet to come clean about its apparent involvement in hindering P2P uploads. So, dear Comcast users, have any of you noticed any such shenanigans going on?

[Thanks, Jerry]

[Ghen @ Oct 19th 2007 2:54PM]

Ever since the days of suprnova.org I've been torrenting on comcast. I've always kept my upload speed throttled to 40Kb/s which is just slightly under the cap of 44kb/s (IIRC) I've never noticed throttling on my uploads.. they always go at max speed on high-demand torrents and mostly at max speed on low-demand ones.

[rodan32 @ Oct 19th 2007 3:45PM]

Gotta say I've seen it differently. Anytime a torrent client opens on my network, speeds drop tremendously, no matter how I throttle it. QoS on my Smoothwall doesn't help, either. I've tried different computers, bypassing the Smoothwall, and in every case, I'm getting smacked. I think there's something to this. I haven't done any testing; maybe I'll do a speedtest with a torrent client opened and throttled tonight and see what I get.

[kdoh @ Oct 19th 2007 3:56PM]

I have Comcast in NJ(Bergen County) and they definitely cap the upload. I connect to my computer from work through a secure SSH tunnel (so they won't know what I'm transferring) and regardless of what kind of file I transfer, it starts off at a nice 180kb/s... then slowly throttles down until I get a steady 40kb/s. Happens every time.

Comcast blows. I needed Fios like yesterday.

[Przd @ Oct 19th 2007 6:04PM]

In my experience, it works fine if you're up- and downloading, but if you're just seeding, Comcast seems to send a "stop" message every few seconds. However, it seemed easy to get around this last time I tried, by choosing in Azureus "forced seeding" or "forced start" for the seeding-only torrent. At that point Azureus seemed to ignore the stop signals, and chugged along nicely. YMMV.

[Kevin @ Oct 19th 2007 8:48PM]

at speedtest.net my download gets 60% completed then jumps to 100%. I think that has something to do with the 'speedboost' - Comcast probably trying to cheat bandwidth tests.
My upload's okay where I am, old Adelphia backbone maybe? In South FL.

Anybody know if they still use the old Adelphia fiber and routers, equipment to Buffalo, NY. Or are we all going thru Comcast 100% A to Z?

[pg5of16 @ Oct 19th 2007 11:20PM]

On large public trackers where I am more likely to find a connectble peer, no. But on small private trackers where there aren't as many people to connect to, yes. Basically what me and many others on this small private site are expieriencing is uploading for about 15-30 seconds and then dropping the connection to a peer for a minute and a half or so, and then reconnecting etc, so you get something like a sin wave in the speed section of your torrent client.

All I can say is, bring on the FiOS

[indyshadow @ Oct 20th 2007 12:02AM]

Whenever I download a torrent I always just let it seed to at least 100% but about 5 weeks ago we got a call from Comcast are provider saying that they noticed that I was uploading more than 1gb a day they said if I keep doing so that they would flag me which in other words means they will cancel my account.

[Amandyke @ Oct 19th 2007 3:01PM]

Nope, everything works fine for me.

[Carl @ Oct 24th 2007 8:46AM]

i've noticed. i put the cap at 10kbps per task, and it stopped at 8kbps and put my ping for WoW at over 3000ms

[makishima3 @ Oct 19th 2007 3:02PM]

Same here. I have comcast and I've never noticed any throttling that wasent my own cap I set.

[Porfuse @ Oct 19th 2007 3:03PM]

i smella lawsuit ?
free money anyone ?

[David Clark @ Oct 19th 2007 3:04PM]

All ISP's limit your upload (and download as well to a certain extent) speeds. Not necessarily to prevent P2P, but because they always have this irrational fear that you'll resell your bandwidth and leech from their potential customerbase. (At least this is what I've always been told).

[XmemeRefrence_hereX @ Oct 19th 2007 3:04PM]

I have.

[Zach @ Oct 19th 2007 3:05PM]

Yeah everything is fine here still, and when/if they implement it I certainly have a backup plan.

[MIC4311 @ Oct 19th 2007 3:07PM]

I have comcast here in NJ, its the old Garden State Cable Company they bought out years ago. I haven't noticed anything weird with my connection speeds and torrents. Comcast are whores and if they don't packet shape in my area now I'm sure they will soon. I'm looking forward to Verizon tv/internet service coming around soon.

[Darkest Daze @ Oct 19th 2007 7:48PM]

Same here. I don't use BT a whole lot, but when I do, the traffic seems to be running normally. I won't doubt them doing it in the future though. Unfortunately, I doubt Fios will be hitting my part of NJ anytime soon.

[randy @ Oct 19th 2007 3:08PM]

I hope you Comcast users out there prepare to move your butt and actually make the honest-to-god switch to DSL or HSDPA.

Because any of you out there who continue to pay money to Comcast with full knowledge of their efforts to actively BLOCK, CENSOR, and INTERFERE with your Internet connection are henceforth, because of this news today, officially and publicly supportng Comcast, CHINA, that dark side of the PATRIOT ACT, and ALL other entities and institutions that support the argument that the World Wide Web ought to be monitored, manipulated, and controlled.

If you think this ends with bittorrent, we are all in for a rude awakening. THIS IS JUST BE BEGINNING.

[True_Darknight @ Oct 19th 2007 3:08PM]

Ok so Comcast in it's infinite wisdom is protecting the consumer from the RIAA. Think about it. The problem is not downloading the torrent, it's sharing it!

Thanks Comcast!

P.S. if you do have encryption enabled on your torrent proggy then they have no way to help you!

HAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Michael McQuaig @ Oct 19th 2007 3:09PM]

YES! Comcast is evil.

[Brad @ Oct 19th 2007 3:09PM]

I am a Comcast customer in Chicago. Unfortunately, the company I work for uses Lotus Notes. Even more unfortunate is that Comcast's attempt to put a lid on file sharing prevents my Lotus Notes email client to send anything over 2MB. I raised a trouble ticket with customer service two weeks ago. They said they'd get back to me, but never did. I'm switching back to DSL soon.

[True_Darknight @ Oct 19th 2007 3:18PM]

how dare you think you can work from home?

[tcc3 @ Oct 19th 2007 3:28PM]

Working from home? I'm afraid you'll need to pay for Business class cable.

No, no. Its too late. You already said it. You cant take it back.

[JD @ Oct 20th 2007 8:53AM]

i am with a small company in southern NJ... we can almost see the new comcast tower in downtown philly from my office. We are also LOTUS NOTES email users and have been having same problems with emails that have attachments even it is 0.5Mb size. We worked with comcast to resolve but they keep blaming the problem on issues outside of comcast...but now I know for sure that we aren't the only ones and yes, comcast is choking the lifeline of our business by pulling this sort of stunt that affects legitimate internet traffic like business emails running on LOTUS NOTES platform.

after much efforts of 2-3 months, we have switched to DSL ... and now hoping for FIOS to arrive soon !

[Ryan @ Oct 19th 2007 3:10PM]

so perhaps comcast is not com-cas-tic, more like path-e-tic.

I've never liked comcast anyways...they always bashed Satelite TV...righttt like comcast is so much better.

[andy @ Oct 19th 2007 3:13PM]

comcast bashing?


You mean like the old lady in Virginia with the hammer:


/Smacks the comcast office's phone with the hammer/.... "Do I have your attention now?"

[Ryan @ Oct 19th 2007 3:24PM]

Comcast got what they deserved, pitty she had to go to jail...

[andy @ Oct 19th 2007 4:05PM]

no jail. Fine, restraining order, and 12months probation for disorderly conduct.

I was listening to her do an interview this morning on the MJ Morning Show out of Tampa, FL (also heard in STL where I am).

[andy @ Oct 19th 2007 3:10PM]

I'm on Charter Cable, and within the last month, they have completely shut down torrets.


Yes, I'm sure it's not me. I use utorrent and have tested the server port connection using the built in connection tester. I can connect network wise, it's just that I get no response from any major trackers. I can log onto the trackers in HTTP, but not using a torrent client.

[True_Darknight @ Oct 19th 2007 3:12PM]

enable your encryption in utorrent. should bypass

[andy @ Oct 19th 2007 3:14PM]

encryption enabled.

I was humming along for months, and now I'm not.

[rodan32 @ Oct 19th 2007 3:47PM]

Same here - encryption makes no difference.

[xrmb @ Oct 19th 2007 3:14PM]

It took comcast only one week from changing me from a customer to a target. Emule traffic, 200kb/s up... after one week all connections were reset within seconds, no data flow in or out possible. Calling support: not our problem, must be something on your side (of course, I'm stupid). Turned on the protocol obfuscation, seems to work great with comcast routers, no more resets, full speed.

[Wesburl @ Oct 19th 2007 3:15PM]

I have recently switched to Comcast (from Suddenlink).

The first few days went without a single hiccup, and downloads with my modderate protection (PG2 Squid etc) implemented were cruising around 900 KB/s.

Then the throttleing domino effect started. All my friends (with Comcast) noticed a large difference ranging from 25 KB/s to max of 60 KB/s down and 10 KB/s up.

Of course I had no issues with my encrypted VPN connections availiable, 8 avaliable wireless networks (I live in an apartment, and no I don't pay for 8 connections) and firewall to firewall heavy encryption if I decide to go that far.

Wesburl: 1

Comcast: 0

[Wesburl @ Oct 19th 2007 4:16PM]

By the way, for those less fortunate Comcast users, I suggest paying for a VPN connection from another ISP or service not in the USA.

The RIAA and MPAA have much less authority outside of the US. For a service I may or may not be using, that I may or may not use for legal or sudo illegal activities... I suggest Relakks.

Do some research on how VPN tunnel encryption works and how it will affect P2P or torrent activites. If your lazy, or inept in the computer area, summarized it is the Staples Easy button for DLing for 5 Euro a month. Check it out after the break!!

[Jerry @ Oct 19th 2007 3:19PM]

Also just so you all know, if you force your torrent client to encrypt it's transmissions then you should be able to bypass Comcast's traffic shaper.

[Randy Stark @ Oct 19th 2007 3:20PM]

So my friend got a letter from Comcast and HBO for downloading Entourage and he has to go to court. Apparantly they are cracking down so watch out!

[jason @ Oct 19th 2007 3:23PM]

As much as I hate time warner's TV service, I can't complain about their internet. No issues since they took over adelphia and I'm averaging 480 Kbps.

[fady @ Oct 19th 2007 3:26PM]

Yes, not only torrents but they also filter out xbox live. I was told by a service technician after being disconnected many times (and having Open NAT per xbl) and he said they only stop filtering out xbl when you get the higher priced 16mbps gaming tier.

[Wesburl @ Oct 19th 2007 4:39PM]

That is against the law...

[Segarsj @ Oct 19th 2007 5:52PM]

@Fady

We have the exact same problem here in Tallahassee!

We had no problems with Comcast throttling the bandwidth until this week, but it's made it virtually impossible to play a single match in Halo 3.

I'm really upset to hear that others are experiencing the same problem, but I'm glad to hear that we are not the only ones.

[Dan @ Oct 19th 2007 6:04PM]

How is that illegal? You're using a private company's network and they're telling you how you can and cannot use it per your service contract...

[Wesburl @ Oct 19th 2007 6:43PM]

"confirmed through nationwide tests" that Comcast is indeed "actively interfering with attempts by some of its high-speed internet subscribers to share files online."

This is due to "ZOMG C0p3sr1tez" aka file sharing.

There is a reason that not many people are reporting xbox360 incompatibilities within Comcast... it’s because they (that particular individual Comcast near Fady) are service scalping (on their own).

Monitoring individual services and disallowing them is similar to a system implemented in China, but until the past few years has been unheard of in the US (except for file sharing).

I highly doubt they had the manpower (that individual Comcast area) to subsidize itself and revamp its legal documents to reflect the necessity of a higher package just to connect to the internet with an Xbox360. I (like I stated above) have Comcraptic and I have 0 problems with Xbox live (FYI using lowest cost internet package). Same with everyone I have come into contact with.

Point being that is an individualized attempt to crank out some extra money... You could most likely hold a strong case, and ask about key things including, what exactly defines your particular usage agreement per service... and also why other Comcast areas do not have the same mentality of "Pay me more to do normal things that are not illegal". The quote below says it all.

“i smella lawsuit ?
free money anyone ?”


This does not bode well for Comcast indeed...

[brandon @ Oct 19th 2007 3:31PM]

I have definitely noticed this. if you can ditch cable and go for Fios it is 10 times better. My folks have it and xfr rates are 3x faster than cable and its actually cheaper! Comcast sorta has a monopoly and they feel they can abuse their customers. I know several people who were cut off because they were downloading too much. so much for "unlimited internet access".

[Jon @ Oct 19th 2007 3:33PM]

Read the link before posting, please. The problem here isn't that Comcast is slowing BitTorrent, it is actually killing connections mid-stream. And, as the guy who was having trouble with Lotus Notes shows, it's not just P2P connections that are being killed. Basically any file upload over a certain size gets reset. It's indiscriminate.

[tgrove @ Oct 19th 2007 3:35PM]

exactly, I transfer files back and forth between work and my home, and i have problems all the time. As well as not having ANY upload capability on BT files

[trevor @ Oct 19th 2007 3:55PM]

THANK YOU! Jesus, wading through these comments was giving me a headache. I've been following this (and effected by it) in northern Colorado for the past couple of months. Download speeds are fine, since you can still download from all peers and some seeds on different ISPs. But Comcast will disconnect any transfers for files you personally are seeding. To boot, Comcast uses deep packet sniffing to identify uploads, so client-based encryption won't help.

If you're like me, and you either use Bit Torrent for legitimate purposes or through a private tracker that watches your Ul/Dl ratio, this is terrible. With no high-speed alternative in the area, I have to sit back and wait for a workaround... or a class-action suit, whichever comes first ;)

[JHosche @ Oct 19th 2007 3:36PM]

On the other side of things - I got a call from Comcast just a few weeks ago saying I was downloading too much and if I appear on their top downloaders list again, they were going to cancel my service for a year. So much for unlimited internet...

[brad @ Oct 19th 2007 3:37PM]

I have definitely noticed it... and with FiOS digging outside my house, I'll be leaving Comcast as soon as FiOS begins offering service here...

[Cagrino @ Oct 19th 2007 3:40PM]

This looks like the gateway to ISPs not only discriminating on the basis of services, but also websites.

e.g. Comcast makes a deal with Yahoo! and all of a sudden your search requests to Google take forever to load. So, you start using the now "faster" Yahoo! for you searches.

This is a lose-lose situation for users.

[Ward @ Oct 19th 2007 3:41PM]

I've been affected for a couple of months now, since pretty soon after the Houston market's forced transition from TW to Comcast. Thankfully, Uverse is now available. Time to stop giving them my money.