Speeds being throttled by major ISPs and bandwidth providers for smaller ISPs?

[vishalrao]

Lately I've noticed that , at least , Tata Sky as an upstream bandwidth provider to BSNL and small ISP like Microscan is harshly throttling download speeds especially if it's using a single "thread" (single connection) for the file downloads.

Earlier I was on BSNL Bharat Fiber 100 mbps plan and used to get up to around 80 mbps even for most international downloads which I now realise were usually multi threaded due to using either torrents or download managers which open multiple download connections for the same file, or the download would happen from a nearby local server.

Now that I've upgraded to 300 mbps and 200 mbps plans respectively for BSNL and Microscan , both of which use Tata/VSNL as their upstream providers, it's become more evident this speed throttling, because if you use a download manager to test downloading various files from various locations both with and without multiple connections enabled you can observe this issue.

Easiest way to test and observe is to run speedtest.net selecting various international servers with the single/multi option selected before running the test.

Anyone else seeing such throttling, especially from the other major ISPs like Airtel or Jio?

Any appropriate place to report/complain about this to Tata to get them to look into this and reverse this limitation?

I know they will hide behind TRAI loophole saying speeds guaranteed up to 80% only and only up to nearest ISP node, and blah blah.

 

[Trex]

Yes single thread speed is 25 to 30 mbps. Used both 100mbps plan and 60mbps.

 

[SVK]

Source

Check my Speed from local ISP.
I have 30 Mbps plan. WIth Multi connection, I am getting 31 Mbps Download, 16 Mbps Upload. But with Single I am getting 14 Mbps Download, 1 Mbps Upload speeds.

How to check who is upstream provider for my ISP?

 

[AAK]

This is true . I was using local isp with tata being their upstream provider. Speeds to international servers , especially single threaded connections was intensely throttled.
Talked to lco multiple times to no avail. Had to switch isp finally.

Whats your speed on speedtest.xfinity.com @vishalrao

 

[vishalrao]

@AAK which is your new ISP and their upstream provider? No throttling issues there? I'll check the xfinity test later tonight.

@SVK I usually check the upstream provider by running traceroute and then pasting the ip addresses one by one into ipinfo.io to see what details it shows... not smart or efficient but at least just a one time effort. There may be tools to do this directly like MTR or WinMTR but I haven't tried them recently

 

[vishalrao]

@SVK what is your ISP name? Maybe others will know the upstream or you can search bgp.he.net website

 

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[Sayantan]

Bro Microscan provide u a fake fiber 😋

use bsnl and airtel dongle 🙂

 

[shashankb]

@sayangr A fibre is still a Fiber connection. The dongle does not replace it

Dongles don't really have CA speeds which makes them unworthy also keeping aside the data quota we have on Fiber

 

[Sayantan]

@shashankb he knows what I mean 😉

 

[AAK]

@AAK which is your new ISP and their upstream provider? No throttling issues there? I'll check the xfinity test later tonight.

My new isp has Den as upstream which further has Jio upstream .
Initially when i took connection , speeds were fine on most of the servers but now it too seems capped.
Today I tested speed on single connection with servers in Chicago, seattle , London , Australia and speed seems to be capped at 20-22 Mbps. I am on 60Mbps plan.

Do check downloading speed in browser(preferably chromium based) for Ubuntu , select first few USA specific mirrors ( Princeton University etc) from their alternative downloads page.
I noticed slower speeds in opera compared to Brave Mobile ( chromium based).

Also do check speeds on DataPacket servers from their public speedtest servers.
Select international server location.
They have peering with most of the Indian Telecos.

 

[pillaicha]

I tested a 60Mbps BSNL connection of a friend right now. So it's safe to call it peak hour testing. Single stream downloads from international servers are 1-6Mbps.

Uploads are fine >55Mbps. Also multistream download gives >60Mbps. Don't know what to make of it.

 

[Manoj Mathew]

Low single threaded bandwidth is usually a sign of congestion on the provider-isp link and more often than not is an issue with local provider. Had the same issue with a Microscan sub-operator and had to fight a lot to get Microscan to address the issue. Then the lockdown happened and again everything went for a toss, as household demand for bandwidth increased dramatically. Small operators love to hihjack dns due to this very reason, only their peered bandwidth is good, their upstream isp bandwidth is usually not sufficient. Sometimes even their local network quality affects the high latency long routes and single stream bandwidth suffers. I would advise avoiding small operators like the plague unless usage is only youtube, Amazon, google apps etc.

 

[akash_99]

I'm getting full speeds download speeds to Singapore and US on BSNL fibre. Upload seems to be half. 60 MBPS plan

 

[pillaicha]

Upload being half is usually a device/router limitation on 2.4Ghz wifi. BSNL FTTH speeds are symmetric

 

[SVK]

@SVK what is your ISP name? Maybe others will know the upstream or you can search bgp.he.net website

bgp.he.net mentions as My ISP > Silicon Care Broadnet Pvt. Ltd. > Intech Online Pvt. Ltd. > Bharti Airtel Ltd.