Netflix Isn't Swamping the Internet 208
itwbennett writes "Remember the Sandvine report from earlier this week that said Netflix gobbles up 30% of Internet traffic during peak hours? It needs clarification on a couple of important points, says blogger Kevin Fogarty. First, yes, Netflix traffic spikes during prime time, but only across the last mile. Second, ISPs underestimate what a 'normal' level of Internet use really is. 'When AT&T announced its data caps – 150GB per month for DSL users and 250GB for broadband – it called the data levels generous and said limits would only affect 2 percent of its customers. It turns out Netflix users take up an average of 40GB per month just from streaming media, according to a different Sandvine report (PDF).'"
Re:DSL vs Broadband? (Score:5, Informative)
presumably, in poster's mind, broadband = cable. Maybe it means fiber but i would think cable. Most of the dsl implementations are pretty crappy around the states (based on setups around the east coast mainly, seattle was good). Because of this, most people think dsl is inherently inferior to cable broadband. having used some excellent dsl providers in london, it definitely comes down to the service provider.
Re:For those that are confused (Score:5, Informative)
They did use Akamai, then switched to Level3. Remember that whole fiasco with Level 3 and Comcast? That was because Akamai paid Comcast for some stupid reason to make it so Comcast had less load on their peering points, and Level 3 didn't pay. Comcast wanted them to pay, and they did in the end.
Very stupid, I would have just let Comcast oversubscribe their peering points & come back when they wanted to get the load off for free.
Re:Lies, damned lies, (Score:5, Informative)
fiber-based "triple play" internet/quasi-cableTV/telephone being rolled out by the telcos generally split the available downsteam bandwidth between the real, user-visible, internet bandwidth used for the internet connection part of things, and the non-user-visible bandwidth dedicated to sending digital media streams down the wire that are sold as "cable" rather than "internet streaming".
Actually, the way Verizon FiOS is set up, you have one light carrier dedicated specifically for video broadcasting. It runs through an optical transducer, which outputs a real QAM modulated digital cable signal, directly usable by any TV or PC tuner card that supports QAM.
Sandvine? where have I heard that before... (Score:5, Informative)
So a company that sells network control and monitoring software, and who has a dodgy past, says the bandwidth caps are OK.