Measurement Lab (Does your ISP blocks/throttle traffic?)

[pandlouk]

Do you want to measure your internet speed? Does your ISP throttles or block torrent traffic? The new beta tool from google can answer these questions. Now you can test it with the new beta Measurement Lab (http://www.measurementlab.net/) of google!


-{ Quote: "Google and a group of partners have released a set of tools designed to help broadband customers and researchers measure performance of Internet connections.

The set of tools, at MeasurementLab.net, includes a network diagnostic tool, a network path diagnostic tool and a tool to measure whether the user's broadband provider is slowing BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P-to-P) traffic. Coming soon to the M-Lab applications is a tool to determine whether a broadband provider is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic, and a tool to determine whether a provider is degrading certain users or applications.

"Transparency is our goal," said Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google and a co-developer of TCP/IP. "Our intent is to make more [information] visible for all who are interested in the way the network is functioning at all layers."

The tools will not only allow broadband customers to test their Internet connections, but also allow security and other researchers to work on ways to improve the Internet, Cerf said. Current Internet performance tools "are geeky to the extreme," he said during a Washington, D.C., forum on the M-Lab tools. " }-
More info here (http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/274715/google_partners_release_net_neutrality_tools)

ps. I would advise you to test it in different hours of the day and night because some ISPs throttle during the day hours (usually from 7-8 to 21-23) but not during the night. In Italy, for example, Telecom(Alice) and Tiscali use extreme traffic shaping, on the emule download traffic, only during the day hours, even thow they deny it...

Panagiotis

Edit:
Just for the record, I am not against throttling/traffic shaping. If the ISPs did not do that we all would have problems with our internet experience. I do not understand thow why they continue to deny that they do it, why they do not include those details in the contracts, between them and their customers, and why they do not tell their customers how much of the bandwith will be allocated to p2p or encrypted traffic and which hours during the day.

[Meriadoc]

Nice find.

I have suffered with my ISP throttling back and the first thing I did was change the port defaults and encrypt my traffic...

Change the bittorrent port numbers, do not use the defaults - the easiest way for me so I could easily know it was bittorent in my log was just to add a number in front of the port numbers I was using - 16881-16889.

here's a guide(zeropaid) (http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=17671) I found.

[pandlouk]

-{ Quote: "Nice find.

I have suffered with my ISP throttling back and the first thing I did was change the port defaults and encrypt my traffic...

Change the bittorrent port numbers, do not use the defaults - the easiest way for me so I could easily know it was bittorent in my log was just to add a number in front of the port numbers I was using - 16881-16889.

here's a guide(zeropaid) (http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=17671) I found." }-
Changing ports does not help if the ISP does a good job with traffic shaping.
Changing port and allow only obfuscated traffic will help for torrent traffic shaping.
On the Emule protocol the things are a bit different and easier for the ISPs to handle:
Kad Udp does not support obfiscated traffic -> If you use KAD your ISPs will know you are using Emule and will adjust the traffic shaping.
If you use EDK2 servers -> is even easier for them to know that you are using Emule. (there are few servers and if you connect to those IPs/ports even obfuscated means you are using Emule).

ps. for the record some ISPs use traffic shapping by default on encrypted traffic; I have seen it when I connect with Teamviewer with my parents and my sister or when I send or receive a file with skype. I guess that nowadays policy of the ISPs is: "Since we cannot see what is the protocol we'll throttle the traffic to the specific port..." ::) ;D

Panagiotis

[Meriadoc]

-{ Quote: "ps. for the record some ISPs use traffic shapping by default on encrypted traffic; I have seen it" }-
Well I suppose if you have to do anything you have the wrong ISP. Trouble here at home they changed the rules with no notification and I went from an unlimited no throttling connection to throttling and capping:o . Had an interesting discussion with support that I could reach my limit in 2 days.

[rdsu]

Use port above 60000, because normally ISP's doesn't lock at them...

[dw426]

Well, the good news is I don't get throttled. I'm not sure I agree with ISPs' and Emule. For one thing, the protocols shouldn't make a difference, obfusication should work the same way. And besides, if it were an issue as you say with Kad, no one at Emule would be constantly, almost like a broken record, saying use Kad and not the servers. I'm not saying I don't believe you, just that it doesn't make much sense.

[Pedro]

EFF's page with info and "Known ISP Testing Software":
http://www.eff.org/testyourisp

[pandlouk]

-{ Quote: "Well I suppose if you have to do anything you have the wrong ISP. Trouble here at home they changed the rules with no notification and I went from an unlimited no throttling connection to throttling and capping:o . Had an interesting discussion with support that I could reach my limit in 2 days." }-
Actually, Alice(Telecom) is one of the ISPs that throttle less in Italy (and they do it only on emule during the daytime).Plus, I do not really care since I do not p2p often, and when I do is mostly for linux distros and they are better distributed on torrents which do not get throttled at all.

Panagiotis

[pandlouk]

-{ Quote: "Use port above 60000, because normally ISP's doesn't lock at them..." }-
This won't help if the ISP has a good traffic shaping system.

[pandlouk]

-{ Quote: "Well, the good news is I don't get throttled." }-
The system does not report back if you get throttled. It only reports that you do not get blocked.
-{ Quote: "Note: ISPs may throttle (rate-limit) BitTorrent traffic without blocking it. The results we present here are limited to hosts whose BitTorrent transfers to our servers are blocked, i.e., interrupted by RST packets generated by some ISP along the path. We are still actively investigating techniques to accurately detect throttling. So we do not report any results on rate-limiting BitTorrent traffic at this time and we do not mark such throttled hosts in red. (http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/results/#detail_block)" }-
-{ Quote: "I'm not sure I agree with ISPs' and Emule. For one thing, the protocols shouldn't make a difference, obfusication should work the same way. And besides, if it were an issue as you say with Kad, no one at Emule would be constantly, almost like a broken record, saying use Kad and not the servers. I'm not saying I don't believe you, just that it doesn't make much sense." }-
-{ Quote: "Obfuscation is currently available for ED2k TCP and UDP, Server TCP and UDP and Kad TCP communication. Kad UDP packets are not yet obfuscatable. (http://www.emule-project.net/home/perl/help.cgi?l=1&rm=show_topic&topic_id=848)" }-

Panagiotis

[Firebytes]

My ISP, Cox Communications is testing new throttling techniques in Kansas and Arkansas beginning the 9th of this month. If it makes it there it will go to other markets as well. :( I don't know if they were already doing some throttling already or not but it wouldn't surprise me if they were.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28881125/

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "The system does not report back if you get throttled. It only reports that you do not get blocked.




Panagiotis" }-

I see, well, once I did the math, my UPLOAD is where it should be for my connection. I don't think download speed can accurately be tested for throttling as it isn't your download speed alone that counts, it's the upload speed of others that makes the real difference. As far as obfusication, well, since it's right there in writing, a lot of those people are sorely mistaken (as I was) about Kad being a safer alternative.

I'm much more concerned about the "other" organizations when downloading than I am my ISP though, which is why I keep Peerguardian 2 onboard.

[Kerodo]

-{ Quote: "
I'm much more concerned about the "other" organizations when downloading than I am my ISP though, which is why I keep Peerguardian 2 onboard." }-
Watch out though, your ISP could become a lot more involved if things keep heading in a certain direction in the future....

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "Watch out though, your ISP could become a lot more involved if things keep heading in a certain direction in the future...." }-

Oh I expect it to, and in the next 2-3 years, if not sooner. There will come a point where, unless major changes are made to protocol and more elaborate methods of anti-snooping come along, P2P WILL die out. I always used to say that no matter what happens, P2P'ers will always keep going. I'm slowly but surely changing my line of thinking.

[Meriadoc]

-{ Quote: "Actually, Alice(Telecom) is one of the ISPs that throttle less in Italy (and they do it only on emule during the daytime).Plus, I do not really care since I do not p2p often, and when I do is mostly for linux distros and they are better distributed on torrents which do not get throttled at all." }-
Well yes all I use it for is distros, vms and still it has been really slow certain times.

-{ Quote: "P2P WILL die out" }-
How so? I'm certainly no file sharer that goes after something for free but downloading a linux distro over p2p is really a proficient way for someone to distribute.