Bandwidth throttling limits the amount of data that can be transmitted between a server and one or more clients, often to free up resources for other users. It is used by ISPs to limit heavy use of upstream and downstream bandwidth, but is controversial and opposed by advocates of net neutrality.
Bandwidth throttling is a process by which the amount of bandwidth that one or more clients connected to a server can use is limited in some way. This can be done in a number of ways and often results in the client user finding his download or upload speed on that server reduced. The purpose of throttling is usually to free up resources used by a client, to allow other clients to more efficiently connect to the server. Bandwidth throttling isn’t necessarily a bad concept, although many Internet users protest its use by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
The idea behind bandwidth throttling comes from how a network is built and used by various people. A network of any type, whether local or geographic, is typically established with one or more hosts or servers, to which one or more clients connect. Someone who uses a computer to connect to the Internet and view a website, for example, acts as a client and connects to a host server that holds information for that website. The term “bandwidth” refers to the speed at which the client is able to send and receive data to and from the host or server.
No matter how complex and powerful a server system is, there are some limitations to the amount of data that can be sent between a host and one or more clients. Additional clients increase the workload on a single server and eventually the bandwidth limit can be hit, which can disrupt client connections to a server or even cause the server to crash. To avoid this situation, a server administrator can limit or reduce the amount of data transmitted between the server and one or more clients. This, in essence, is bandwidth throttling, as the server reduces data transmission with the clients.
Bandwidth throttling is often used by ISPs and other networks in a variety of ways. One of the most common uses is in peer-to-peer connections that clients can use to directly share data with each other. Throttling can be used to target these types of connections, which often create heavy use of upstream and downstream bandwidth and reduce the amount of bandwidth offered to these users. That throttling, in theory, then frees up bandwidth for other users on that network.
Opponents of bandwidth throttling argue that ISPs use these methods to limit the amount of bandwidth that paying customers can use. Many ISPs defend this limitation by claiming that a small percentage of users account for too much bandwidth, and that these limitations allow other paying customers to use the Internet without facing the slowdown caused by customers using a large amount of bandwidth. Those in favor of net neutrality, or net neutrality, condemn the use of bandwidth throttling, as they see it as a way for ISPs to limit Internet access and data distribution for paying customers .
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