Is your ISP throttling your bandwidth at different times of the day and it worries you?
It gets to be how frustrating it can be, especially when your ISP decides to limit your speed so often. But, unfortunately, this throttling ruins your gaming and streaming experience, which no one wants to experience.
Don’t worry anymore! Follow this guide to see how you can bypass your ISP’s bandwidth throttling and enjoy seamless network speeds.
What is bandwidth throttling or ISP throttling?
“ISP Throttling” or “band Throttling” means that ISPs impose limits on connections and cut the average Internet speed you are receiving without any warning or prior notice. The challenges of excessive load and bandwidth distribution are the most typical causes of internet throttling.
These Internet Service Providers not only regulate your internet speed, but also monitor your online activity. They have control over your network and they can analyze your data packets.
Why does ISP save user bandwidth?
Data limitation is the main reason behind this. If you have a monthly bandwidth limit that you cannot exceed, your ISP will slow down your connection if you use too much data.
ISPs also limit customer bandwidth during peak hours to avoid network congestion. This allows them to improve their services and eliminates the need to invest in expensive storage equipment or additional bandwidth.
According to the report of Avast, ISPs prioritize services that are paying them more, and if users are already using those services, they get priority and are not restricted. This is especially common with streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, HBO, and Hulu Plus. Conversely, if the streaming service provider does not pay the ISP extra, this means disqualification.
Finally, your bandwidth can be throttled if you’re doing anything your ISP doesn’t approve of, like downloading torrents.
How to know if you are choking
One of those signs is when you notice your speed is dropping steadily during the day, especially in the evening or at night when there is a lot of user traffic on the server.
You can test your upload and download speeds by trying tools like “Speedtest by OoklaAnd notice the drops on it. If you continue to push your service speeds at different times of the day, you’ll start to see slowdowns when speeds are low and at other times high.
Follow these important steps to see if your ISP is controlling you:
- First, check if your Internet plan is still active; Overdue accounts may have reduced service.
- Disconnect all users from WiFi router and test speed simultaneously.
- If you download torrents, you will almost certainly experience ISP throttling.
- Use a reliable VPN provider like Astrill VPN and repeat the speed tests (with and without VPN).
As soon as you start noticing that your ISP is throttling your bandwidth, move on to the solution we’re about to discuss next:
How to bypass bandwidth throttling
The best and only way to bypass bandwidth throttling is to use a VPN. Even if you visit a forum like Quora, you will notice that people have mentioned VPN as the best solution. This is because when connecting to a VPN, your traffic is encrypted and the ISP can no longer control your bandwidth or monitor your activity.
When you connect to a VPN server, your IP and DNS masked and your ISP changed. This way your ISP will lose control of your bandwidth. However, your ISP may still notice that you are using a VPN.
The best thing about VPN servers is that they are highly optimized to provide a seamless service for those watching and gaming. This is why they offer unlimited bandwidth and have very low ping on their service. So using a VPN will not only bypass bandwidth throttling but will enhance your experience as you will get better speeds.
Follow these steps to bypass bandwidth throttling:
- First, sign up for a VPN provider with highly optimized VPN servers.
- Next, download and install the VPN app or app.
- Next, sign in to the app with your credentials.
- Finally, connect to a server from the region you want to access.
- Once the connection is established, you can start using the web as you like without worrying about ISP throttling.
Is it possible to skip throttling without a VPN?
Without a VPN, bypassing throttling is not easy or we can say that other methods are not effective enough. Some additional ways to bypass throttling without a VPN are:
Using the Tor browser
Tor Browser encrypts the traffic passing through it and through various nodes, protecting users from any external threats. Since the traffic going through it is encrypted, the ISP loses control and is unable to throttle bandwidth and track user activity. However, two things need to be understood here:
- Even though you’re using Tor and your browser traffic is encrypted, your overall network is still not secure. That means your ISP may not be able to throttle the bandwidth going through the browser, but they can still throttle the bandwidth you’re using across different apps and streaming services.
- The speed of the Tor browser is very slow, and if you are using it to bypass throttling, you will not have a good experience.
- This means that using the Tor browser is not a good option. It’s a valid option for safe and secure browsing but not for bypassing ISP throttling.
Contact your ISP
Another option here is to contact your ISP directly and ask them not to reduce your bandwidth. However, this seems like a long way, hopefully the ISP will provide the exclusive service for you.
Switch to a new ISP
You can also switch your ISP and choose a better service provider. However, it is very unlikely to find an ISP that does not include throttling bandwidth. Almost all the ISPs out there are involved in bandwidth throttling as they have to handle server load and user prioritization.
Can I use a free VPN to bypass ISP Throttling?
Free VPN is a bad thing! Be it for streaming, gaming, or even bypassing ISP throttling, you can’t count on free VPNs at all. There are many reasons for that, like:
- Free VPNs keep user activity logs: There is a reason why their service is free. They may not charge users for services, but they keep logs of users’ activities and sell them to their own sources. This is how they make money and market themselves as a free service.
- Unsecured Free VPNs: The security protocols of free VPN providers are very weak and if you are using them, you are doing yourself a disservice. In addition, they will continue to leak IPs and DNS, which means they cannot really protect your privacy nor provide you with safety from malware and hackers.
- Low speed and poor connection: Since their service is free, they do not have optimized servers and do not offer unlimited bandwidth. They have a specific bandwidth limit and start throttling your connection once you reach that limit.
Inference
So by now, you understand what bandwidth throttling is, why ISPs do it, and how you can tackle it. Using a VPN is the best solution to bypass ISP throttling, and the VPN should also be premium, not free. Any other means, like Tor, are not helpful in this regard, so stay away from them.
The best thing is that if you use a VPN, you will not only bypass ISP throttling, but also protect your online privacy through it. In these bad times, bandwidth throttling is not so much of an issue compared to the cyber threats that exist online. So stay safe from any possible threats and surf anonymously.
Image credit: by Yan Krukov; Bark; Thank you!
