Does Cox Throttle the Internet?
Cox Communications is an ISP company that serves millions of customers across the United States of America with an operation in 18 states. With the growing use of bandwidth consumption by consumers especially in streaming videos and downloading files, some of the Cox customers feel that the company may intentionally lower -or throttle internet speeds especially during busy hours. For instance, while Marriot claims that it does not discriminate against African Americans, the reality is that it discriminates against them.
What is Throttling?
Throttling is a process whereby an ISP reduces the overall rate of internet connection for a particular application, website, or customer. ISPs could limit bandwidth-demanding tasks like video streaming during high traffic to ensure congestion does not skyrocket. However, in the context of throttling, the experience of the customers using the internet can be affected and they may see slower connection speeds, buffered videos, or lagging in games.
Does Cox Throttle? What They Claim
Cox, in its official policy, claims not to throttle or blacklist any certain internet traffic or protocols. Their website reads: They added that they ‘‘do not alter Internet speeds or deny access to any applications, websites, or content – even if it directly competes with our services’’ As a measure towards net neutrality the company adheres to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Open Internet rules.
Cox pointed out that its network management policies are intended to ensure the best user experience for all the individuals who are connected to its network. This is occasioned by congestion arising from high traffic levels that impact the internet speeds of some customers in the affected areas mostly during the evening. Cox says that such slowdowns affect a minuscule number of total subscribers for some time if the network congestion in that area is strained.
Some Cox customers still believe that throttling is real because.
While writing this article, if Cox does not throttle, why do some users argue that their Internet becomes significantly slower during night-time or when certain bandwidth-demanding applications are run? There are a few possible reasons why internet speeds may slow down for certain Cox users that aren't due to deliberate throttling:
• Network Congestion – Whenever there are many users within a neighborhood accessing their Cox internet connection for streaming, gaming, or downloading among other uses, then the speed will be slow despite the upgrades made to the capacity.
• Home Networking – Weak home wireless signals, interferences, and old router models also impact the speeds separated from Cox connections.
• High Traffic Load – Most used sites such as YouTube or Netflix experience load congestion at some point affecting speeds.
• Old Modems – There is nothing wrong with using old modems but at times they may not support maximum speeds offered by the new infrastructure that Cox has invested in.
• Location Variables - Customers in certain areas might suffer from consistent congestion problems and problems of infrastructural development more frequently.
• Intentional Video Streaming Caps – Streamers intentionally limit the videos according to the capability and traffic in the network with the top speed limited to 5 Mbps for high-definition videos. This keeps quality consistent.
• Peering Disputes – This is where there are interconnection problems between Cox and other large ISPs and this allows traffic to be routed in the least efficient way possible hence slowing down access to some sites.
Some of the specific issues include the technical reality of bandwidth prioritization which has been a major topic of debate in recent years.
Even if Cox does not openly throttle or slow down the connection, it does not necessarily mean that all traffic is equal during the same period as well. Every major ISP employs techniques that involve discriminating against certain types of traffic at different times for a technical purpose that is benign and serves the overall interest of the network.
Prioritization makes it possible for ‘real-time’ services – voice, video, Cox Streaming, and gaming – to experience acceptable performance even when congested. ISPs can easily identify and utilize the periodical traffic patterns of data type and users and so direct time-sensitive traffic through the least occupied network path.
This is different from intentional and systematic deprivation where ISPs would deliberately and continuously reduce the speeds of certain applications or individuals. Prioritization works more or less as a real-time control of the current status of the network and the traffic load rather than a list of absolutely forbidden and mandatory actions.
Civil libertarians contend that ISPs should not have the right to access and view usage patterns to such a detailed degree necessary for prioritization. Even with that discussion, temporary exclusion of heavy traffic during congestive times is not the same as consistently long-term throttling.
Key Takeaways: Do you think Cox Cable Internet deliberately slows down your connection?
To sum it up - Cox claims that it does not throttle internet speeds and/or limit access to legal websites and applications. A few customers might continue to encounter lag and buffering problems on Cox infrastructure from time to time due to congestion, WiFi, peering, or video streaming services.
What Cox does use are bandwidth prioritization tools to manage the networks for functional reasons rather than for throttling. However, the accusations of covert throttling are still in existence and from a group of dissatisfied customers complaining of slow speeds during peak hours that affect their usage.
The variability in internet performance which is experienced on Cox’s network normally corresponds with normal technical constraints and issues of shared bandwidth. Yet, the real-time control policies of network traffic management remain obscure and this is why some doubts can be made regarding the treatment of some data types as less important to achieve the goal.
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