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Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

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Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#151
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think zero rating is considered a violation of net neutrality by most people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-rating

I think that this is one of the main reasons that it is harder than it should be to convince average people in the US, especially on the political right, that we need net neutrality. Take the plan I'm on with T-Mobile. I pay a fixed monthly amount and get 3 GB of data per month. If I go over 3 GB, T-Mobile reserves the right to give me lower speed for the rest of the month. T-Mobile has a thing called "Music Freedom"…

Zero rating isn't free, there are bits transiting the network in all cases. That transit costs actual resource and is paid for.

It's a trope when someone points out that google isn't free, and if you are getting something for free then you are not the customer actual. With zero rating, it's not even free! So then you ".. pay a fixed monthly amount .." to be the carrier's product, no?

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#152

Tip of the iceberg. Carriers see communication services as their turf, and they go to byzantine lengths to protect that. Politically it can get funny. If you work at a handset manufacturer, and sit in on sales calls, and one of your team members brings up anything remotely related to this or VOIP, you might see the carrier buyers get visibly upset and literally walk out of the room. I could never tell if they were 'a…

You know what upsets me is that I can call people on my phone and the audio quality is terrible if they're not on the same carrier (T-Mobile in the USA). I had to tell my friend to just call me on Skype the next time cause it's always a struggle to hear them clearly over the phone. I can't believe that my carrier has "HD Calling" but everyone else sounds like the calls being patched through a sewage pipe.

What’s shocking is the first time you go from a cell phone to a high quality office phone (yes, I’m young). Holy crap are modern phones crystal clear, the stuff we’ve accepted on cell phones is garbage in comparison.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#153

Sprint is legit garbage, but it is worth noting that even under Wheeler, Net Neutrality rules have never applied to mobile networks. It’s a big reason many of us were disappointed with the legislation even when it was passed. I’d rather have something than nothing, but mobile carriers have always been expent from NN.

This is wrong, the 2015 rules applied the exact same rules to mobile networks as landline ISPs.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what upsets me is that I can call people on my phone and the audio quality is terrible if they're not on the same carrier (T-Mobile in the USA). I had to tell my friend to just call me on Skype the next time cause it's always a struggle to hear them clearly over the phone. I can't believe that my carrier has "HD Calling" but everyone else sounds like the calls being patched through a sewage pipe.

What’s shocking is the first time you go from a cell phone to a high quality office phone (yes, I’m young). Holy crap are modern phones crystal clear, the stuff we’ve accepted on cell phones is garbage in comparison.

Old ma bell was a monopoly and long distance cost over a dollar a minute, but land lines were crystal clear for half a century and more. The shape of old phones also were really great for isolating the phone conversation from everything else.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Voice calls are free on cell phone networks Since when?

Since in the USA. Assuming you already need to pay for data. And don't want to make voice calls to other countries.

What? There are lots of plans in the US with data that don't have unlimited calling.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since in the USA. Assuming you already need to pay for data. And don't want to make voice calls to other countries.

What? There are lots of plans in the US with data that don't have unlimited calling.

I bet they exist somewhere but a quick survey of prepaid/budget services (Cricket, Straighttalk, USMobile, ...) shows that they all bundle unlimited calling with any plan that has data. All the major post paid carriers have been on unlimited calling plans for many years.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#157
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that this is one of the main reasons that it is harder than it should be to convince average people in the US, especially on the political right, that we need net neutrality. Take the plan I'm on with T-Mobile. I pay a fixed monthly amount and get 3 GB of data per month. If I go over 3 GB, T-Mobile reserves the right to give me lower speed for the rest of the month. T-Mobile has a thing called "Music Freedom"…

> If we keep net neutrality focused just on making sure that we get the data we pay for, free of blocking and throttling [...] If I didn't get included in your zero rated list of services, or put forth the effort to conform to your amp-like provider-specific rules, then I am blocked or throttled or charged more for or whatever. Pipes picking and choosing winners should be a no compromise situation. But you have to ta…

If I didn't get included in your zero rated list of services, or put forth the effort to conform to your amp-like provider-specific rules, then I am blocked or throttled or charged more for or whatever.

If you aren’t willing to put forth the effort to be competitive, whose fault is that?

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#158
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another agency, the FCC, was founded on the premise that we need to ensure some communicators don't degrade the communications of others unintentionally. Spectrum needs management. It's funny we lack the same conviction when ITCs actively degrade each other...

What's an ITC?

I meant something like "information and communications technology company," but apparently made up a new acronym that doesn't even match to that.

Sorry for the confusion, ITC is not a thing, except in international trade contexts.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communicatio...

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#160
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Centurylink has mediocre peering via IPv4, but decent peering via IPv6 (which seems to be caused by peering with Hurricane Electric on IPv6 only).

I've noticed they don't seem to interconnect very effectively at the Seattle exchange at least for IPv4, I'll have to try v6 as well; thanks for the tip. in v4, I see a lot of things like go through Seattle to San Jose or Chicago and then back to Seattle. :(

Yep, purposefully shit peering on IPv4 causes that.
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