[unprepare]

TL;DR

>For a CMTS port to enter the Near Congestion State, traffic flowing to or from that CMTS port must exceed a specified level (the "Port Utilization Threshold") for a specific period of time (the "Port Utilization Duration").

>Given our experience as described above, we determined that a starting point for the upstream Port Utilization Threshold should be 70 percent and the downstream Port Utilization Threshold should be 80 percent. For the Port Utilization Duration, we determined that the starting point should be approximately 15 minutes

>Thus, over any 15-minute period, if an average of more than 70 percent of a port's upstream bandwidth capacity or more than 80 percent of a port's downstream bandwidth capacity is utilized, that port is determined to be in a Near Congestion State.

>For a user to enter an Extended High Consumption State, he or she must consume greater than a certain percentage of his or her provisioned upstream or downstream bandwidth(the "User Consumption Threshold") for a specific length of time (the "User Consumption Duration").

>we have determined that the appropriate starting point for the User Consumption Threshold is 70 percent of a subscriber's provisioned upstream or downstream bandwidth, and that the appropriate starting point for the User Consumption Duration is 15 minutes

> A user's traffic is released from a BE state when the user's bandwidth consumption drops below 50 percent of his or her provisioned upstream or downstream bandwidth for a period of approximately 15 minutes.

[LockeWatts]

So, if I'm reading this right, if you use more than 80% of what you pay for, they throttle you to 50% of what you pay for?

[unprepare]

hmm, actually i don't think i caught how much your speeds are actually reduced.

Its throttled until you've used less than 50% of what you pay for for at least 15 minutes.

That threshold is so low specifically so that a line doesn't end up cycling between throttled and not every interval if its 79% once then 81% the next, etc.

It seems obvious to me that Comcast et al are vastly overselling beyond their capacity.

They then market these strategies as methods to ensure quality to their customers, when their customers bought a service that was misadvertised as having enough capacity for them in the first place.

Just like airlines - they sell more tickets than they have seats, because they figure they can squeeze more profit out of the people who paid for a ticket but didnt show up, then when everyone shows up, someone has to get bumped.

[CuddlyChud]

I believe it is that if you use more than 80% and someone else is using 60%, IF throttling occurs on the network, the person using 60% will have priority over you.

[virtuallynathan]

Only if the CMTS is also over 80% utilization for over 15 minutes, and you are using your connection at >80% for over 15 minutes.

[CuddlyChud]

Just to add to this. From the document:

Question #1: Is the CMTS Upstream Port Utilization at an average of OVER 70% for OVER 15 minutes?

    Result #1: CMTS marked in a Near Congestion State, indicating
               congestion *may* occur soon.

    Action #1: Search most recent analysis timeframe (approx. 15 mins.)
               of IPDR usage data.

  Question #2: Are any users consuming an average of OVER 70% of
               provisioned upstream bandwidth for OVER 15 minutes?

    Result #2: No action taken.

    Result #3: Change user's upstream traffic from Priority Best Effort
               (PBE) to Best Effort (BE).

  Question #3: Is the user in Best Effort (BE) consuming an average
               of LESS THAN 50% of provisioned upstream bandwidth
               over a period of 15 minutes?

    Result #4: Change user's upstream traffic back to Priority Best
               Effort (PBE) from Best Effort (BE).