When an internet service provider (ISP) slows down the download and upload speeds of your connection, it is referred to as internet throttling. Internet throttling may occur due to several reasons. One of the main reasons is too many people perform data-intensive online activities through a single connection. This causes the provider to throttle your internet connection so network congestion may be reduced. Read on to find out more about internet throttling and why it happens.
Access Restriction
Internet Service Providers (ISP) typically slow down internet access when there is a heavy data-intensive online activity. Sometimes they may also do internet throttling when people access forbidden websites. They do this to comply with the requirements of their country’s telecom regulator.
Data Caps
A lot of service providers only offer a limited data allowance to their customers. If customers go over their monthly allowed data limit, they will be charged extra. Many providers also do internet throttling so they can monitor how much data is being used by their customers.
Network Congestion
Even though internet speeds today are faster than ever, it is still not unlimited. There will be situations where a service provider may not be able to give the required fast speed. If in a specific area, a high volume of users is all performing high data-intensive activities all at the same time, it will choke the bandwidth. To counter such situations, service providers get forced to resort to internet throttling.
How to Stop Internet Throttling?
Internet throttling can be frustrating for all users. Here are some measures you may take to avoid suffering from internet throttling.
Upgrade Your Internet Plan
Internet throttling often happens when your service provider is unable to cater to your heavy internet usage. If you experience a decline in your internet service, it is time to change your provider. Check out Mediacom Internet plans to get fast and reliable connectivity.
With Mediacom, internet slowdowns will become a thing of the past. They provide fiber-quality internet so you will be assured of getting high bandwidth. You will have access to high-speed internet even when other users in your home or even in your area are performing data-heavy online activities. Contact Mediacom customer service to sign up for one of their plans and experience high-speed internet connectivity.
Keep Tabs on Your Monthly Data Usage
As mentioned earlier, internet speeds often get reduced when you go over your monthly data limit plan of your provider. This typically happens when you are performing high data-intensive activities online. However, this will vary depending on the service provider you sign up with. Some providers may reduce their speeds, while others may subject you to additional charges when data caps are crossed. So you should monitor your monthly data usage to avoid paying these additional charges.
Online gaming and video streaming are among the most data-intensive activities. You might want to cut down on these activities to avoid exceeding data caps. Instead of watching 4K videos, you may perhaps want to watch them in lower resolution. Data monitoring can be challenging. Fortunately, there are applications available online that can help you monitor your data usage.
Use a VPN
Virtual Private Networks (VPN) have become increasingly popular in recent years. Using a VPN will encrypt your digital signatures, like email and IP addresses, and your physical geographic location. This will allow you to hide your identity from your provider as well as your country’s telecom regulator. It helps maintain the secrecy of your online presence so you won’t get tracked. With a VPN, you can hide your browsing activity and prevent others from getting details related to your online activity. Additionally, it also allows people to view blocked content without any consequences.
To do internet throttling, your service provider will need to monitor your online activity. Without a VPN, your ISP can monitor your activity and they can then decide to lower the internet speed. You can get around this by using a VPN. When your provider will not know about your browsing activity, they will be unable to determine if you are a heavy data user and hence will not do internet throttling. However, using a VPN will not prevent internet throttling if there is network congestion or there are data caps.
Another thing to note is that this scenario will only play out if you are using a paid VPN service. Service providers can detect when free VPN applications are being used. When this happens, they may resort to internet throttling. Additionally, free VPNs have some security concerns. They can save your data and sell it to online marketing agencies or anyone else willing to purchase user data.
Summing Up
Internet throttling is not a nice thing to experience for users. You will be particularly annoyed if you use a lot of data-intensive applications. However, you may follow the tips mentioned here to avoid getting into this situation. Hope you will find this content useful.