Internet Service Providers (ISPs) usually allocate you a specific amount of bandwidth depending on the amount of money you paid (package subscribed). Bandwidth is the amount of data that your ISP transfers to you and are measured in bits per second(bps). However, it is usually expressed as Mbps on ISP packages. This is also what most people refer to as speed as it determines how fast you will download your files, or which quality will you be able to stream your videos. The higher the bandwidth, the more speed or higher quality you will get.
带宽限制
Almost everybody has experienced this injustice when doing any data intensive task. For instance, you may have been streaming online videos legally the whole day, and at a certain point, you realize that the quality dropped. Or you could have been torrenting, and at specific times you realize your speed drastically declined. Most people will assume it’s the links that have been congested or give another reason and wait for the speed to be normal. But that’s not the case; the link will be free most times, the fault goes to your ISP. If you doubt this, next time you experience a reduction in video quality, just do a speed test. The figures (Mbps) you will get are not the ones you paid for.
为什么互联网服务提供商会限制您的带宽？
有很多原因或借口可以解释为什么互联网服务提供商决定限制您的网速。以下是其中一些；
- 他们在带宽上撒了谎--这就是虚假营销的可疑之处。互联网服务供应商可能宣传 20mbps，但当您进行速度测试时，即使没有任何下载活动，您最终得到的也总是 13mbps 至 15 Mbps。在这种情况下，互联网服务供应商无法履行承诺，因此缺乏带宽。在这种情况下，最好的办法就是退出该互联网服务提供商，寻找更好的互联网服务提供商。
- 高峰时段- 这是所有人都在使用互联网的时段。在高峰时段，需求量非常大，ISP 的基础设施无法有效处理服务。为避免出现故障，互联网服务提供商会按一定比例限制带宽，以便每个人都能使用互联网。虽然这是件好事（互联网平等），但也是非常错误的，因为人们用的是自己的血汗钱，反过来却得到了糟糕的服务。
- Data-intensive services – some ISPs may decide to limit bandwidth on some services to strong-arm users to pay more. For instance, ISPs may throttle data coming from streaming and P2P services. They will then come up with another pricier package that allows you to use the said services smoothly.
阻止互联网服务提供商限制带宽
如果在进行了几次测试后，您发现所获得的速度与您支付的速度不符，那么您就是 ISP 带宽节流的受害者。接下来你应该做的就是停止这种不公正的行为，但需要付出少量的额外费用。
为了限制带宽，互联网服务供应商通常会了解你在他们的网络上做了什么，也就是说，他们会持续监控你访问了哪些服务等。要避免节流，您必须首先向互联网服务供应商隐藏您的网络流量。最可靠的方法是使用虚拟专用网络（VPN）。
A VPN encrypts all your internet traffic and channels it through a secure tunnel that even your ISP won’t be able to see. Hence your ISP won’t be able to throttle your bandwidth if the ISP doesn’t know what you are doing. But you should expect a small drop in the bandwidth like <1mbps due to encryptions involved.
