Cox Communications and "Congestion Management"

imamac writes "It appears Cox Communications is the next in line for throttling internet traffic. But it's not throttling of course; Cox's euphemism is 'congestion management.' From Cox's explanation: 'In February, Cox will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on our high-speed Internet network in our Kansas and Arkansas markets. During the occasional times the network is congested, this new technology automatically ensures that all time-sensitive Internet traffic — such as web pages, voice calls, streaming videos and gaming — moves without delay. Less time-sensitive traffic, such as file uploads, peer-to-peer and Usenet newsgroups, may be delayed momentarily...' Sounds like throttling to me."

Well that...

[Anonymous Coward]

...sucks Cox!

Guess the name...

[Darundal]

...describes the executives at the company.

Re:Well that...

[JCSoRocks]

Sounds to me like their customers are all getting screwed by Cox.

First Post!

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless they've decide to throttle /. traffic too

Re:QOS

[Anonymous Coward]

Bingo.

I should add that it sounds like cheap, Open Source socialist "everything should be free" hippies, who still live out of their parents' basements because they can't afford rent want to pay for affordable home service but demand enterprise services.

Sorry guys. Cox is right to do this. Plus, I have no complaints with the way Cox manages its network, and they deliver what they advertise.

Re:Guess the name...

[db32]

My favorite lines...

So...I guess you work for Cox?
Does working for Cox pay well?
Do you enjoy working for Cox?
Is it hard when you work for Cox?
Do you pull a lot of cables working for Cox?
Do you bury a lot of cables working for Cox?

Choice

[jwietelmann]

Your market has choice? Because my market has just Cox and AT&T/BellSouth. BellSouth offers underpowered, overpriced DSL service if you sign up for a one-year contract for an overpriced local phone line. As for Cox, this is a conversation I had with their salesperson:

HER: There is an installation fee of $80.
ME: What's to install? Cable already comes to the apartment.
HER: You're already a subscriber?
ME: No, your people just didn't bother to shut it off after the previous tenant moved out.
HER: Oh, well you're a new customer, so there's an installation fee.
ME: So what is the service you perform in exchange for that $80? One of your technicians flicks a switch off and then flicks it back on again, thereby "installing" my cable?
HER: (blank stare) ... There's an $80 installation fee for new customers.
ME: (blank stare)

Re:So..

[calmofthestorm]

When Comcast did this, it didn't "slightly inconvenience" P2P, it made it take well over a year to download an Ubuntu image.

Of course, Cox's implementation may vary.

Re:Guess the name...

[skuzzlebutt]

'scuze me, ma'am...we're taking a television provider survey today. Would you mind answering a question for us:

Are you happy with cox on the whole?

Re:"time sensitive"?

[tieTYT]

We receive hundreds of MRIs per month... It's not exactly cheap though, but then we're not downloading porn torrents...

You need to get your priorities straight.