Comcast

Comcast P4P trial shows an 80 percent boost for peer-to-peer downloads

Paul Mah — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:49:08 -0500

Comcast engineers have released the results of the first real-world test on P4P technology. P4P attempts to "localize" traditional peer-to-peer transfers by keeping the transfers within an ISP's internal network, which effectively lowers peering-point loads for ISPs. Comcast engineers noted that Comcast's incoming Internet traffic went down by an average of 80 percent at peering points. Article

Comcast unveils new broadband policy

Paul Mah — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:00:22 -0400

Comcast has revealed the details of its new plan to shift from a protocol-oriented approach to a scheme based on aggregate use of bandwidth instead. This comes on the heels of an FCC decision that Comcast's earlier approach violates net neutrality. The new plan works by de-prioritizing heavy users located in a physical section of the network in which a predetermined threshold of traffic is exceeded. A user's priority is reset upon a sufficient period of time. At the moment, this threshold is set at 70 percent of either upstream or downstream traffic. The timer for re-prioritization has been pegged at 15 minutes. Obviously, actual settings might change pending tweaking by Comcast.

To read more about Comcast's new broadband policy:
- check out this ChannelWeb article

Comcast to set monthly bandwidth limits

Paul Mah — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:33:11 -0400

Beginning October 1, Comcast, the largest provider of cable broadband in the U.S., will impose a monthly limit of 250 gigabytes of bandwidth on residential users. Customers who exceed the 250 G-byte limit will be warned to curtail their use. A one year service suspension will result should the limit be exceeded again in the next six months. This is a departure from the current situation where Comcast will contact high-bandwidth users should they cross an internal threshold. The current cap comes on the heels of the FCC ruling that Comcast violated net neutrality principles with their attempts to throttle BitTorrent traffic.

To find out more about this new move by Comcast:
- check out this PC World article

Patch needed for web security

Judi Hasson — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:39:59 -0400

Dan Kaminsky, a director at IOActive, believes there are some major flaws on the Internet that need to be fixed to stop hackers from diverting users to fake websites where personal and financial information can be stolen. Kaminsky intends to layout details at a security conference in Las Vegas next week.

The New York Times reports that Kaminsky has discovered a problem with the Domain Name System, a kind of automated phone book that converts human-friendly addresses like google.com into machine-friendly numeric counterparts.

The newspaper said the flaw in this system can easily allow criminals to redirect web traffic to an impostor site set up to steal the user's name and password. Some major Internet service providers, such as Comcast and Verizon, said that a software patch is already in place, and At&T said it is working on the problem. But the issue is global, and many users are still vulnerable.

For more on this threat:
- see the New York Times article

FCC set to vote against Comcast

Paul Mah — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:01:34 -0400

If reports are to be believed, the majority of FCC commissioners will vote in favor of punishing Comcast for secretly impeding BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing on its network. Scheduled to take place at the FCC on Friday, the entire case stemmed from a request (pdf) submitted by the Free Press in November 2007. On the other hand, Comcast and their supporters do not agree that the FCC has the authority to impose any penalty. (You can read up on more arguments to the effect here) Personally, while I am all for unrestricted Internet access, I question if any Internet Service Provider (ISP) can maintain viability in the face of unrestricted network utilization. Will punishments force ISPs to eventually revert back to metered Internet, or simply spur greater competitiveness? Only time will tell.

For more on this debacle:
- check out this BetaNews article

FCC pushes net neutrality

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:11:42 -0400

If Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, gets his way, Internet providers will be barred from blocking their customers from downloading large video, music and software files. Martin last Friday recommended that Comcast, the nation's largest cable company and a major broadband provider, be sanctioned because it interfered with the Internet connections of customers exchanging files with other users. Martin is a strong advocate of network neutrality--the concept that Internet access providers should not control what flows over their networks. But Internet service providers want freedom to manage their networks as they see fit, saying they need to exercise controls to prevent overloads and slowdowns. Ultimately, they would like a tiered pricing schedule, charging larger users more money for their services. The FCC still must adopt Martin's recommendation for it to take effect. His plan calls for requiring Comcast to change its practices and disclose what it has already done. The broadband industry is not happy, and one could expect this fight to play out for some time in the regulatory arena, Congress, and perhaps the courts.

For more on this net fight:
- See the New York Times article

Comcast testing new methods of throttling bandwidth

Paul Mah — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:00:09 -0400

In the wake of the furor over the way Comcast uses TCP reset flags to throttle BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic, the company is testing out a trio of protocol agnostic methods for controlling network congestion. The tests are being conducted in Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as a third one slated for Colorado Springs later this year. Different types of hardware and configurations will be utilized at every location, with Comcast tightlipped about the exact hardware or rules used to manage the flow of traffic.

Whatever it is, as Comcast has promised to drop its current practice of discriminating against P2P traffic by this year, it certainly will finalize on one method and get it rolled-out nation-wide before then.

For more Comcast:
- check out this The Register article