Have you ever noticed your internet slowing to a crawl when you‘re trying to stream HD videos or play online games? Web pages take forever to load and even downloading files seems way slower than normal.
If this sounds familiar, I have some bad news…Your internet service provider is likely throttling your connection.
Internet throttling is when your ISP deliberately slows down your internet speeds. It‘s an annoying practice that makes it nearly impossible to enjoy bandwidth-heavy tasks like streaming movies or using data-intensive apps.
In this detailed guide, I‘ll walk you through exactly how throttling works, why ISPs do it, and most importantly—how to identify it and what you can do to fix it.
As an information security professional with over 15 years of experience dealing with internet providers, I‘ve seen firsthand how excessive throttling can negatively impact users. My goal is to help equip you with the knowledge to take control of your internet speeds, regardless of your ISP‘s policies.
Let‘s get started!
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What Exactly is Throttling and Why Are ISPs Doing It?
Throttling is when your internet service provider (ISP) intentionally limits the bandwidth they provide you, which reduces your internet speeds. Essentially, they put a "speed limit" on your connection that prevents you from experiencing the full performance you‘re paying for.
According to a 2022 study by Microsoft, major U.S. ISPs including AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon throttle internet speeds an average of 18% to 55% during peak congestion times.
Your ISP has direct control over your bandwidth, and here are some of the ways they can throttle your connection:
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Reducing download/upload speeds – By capping your bandwidth, they limit how much data you can access at one time. This is one of the most noticeable impacts of throttling.
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Increased buffering – You‘ll experience constant lag, buffering wheels, and interruptions when streaming videos.
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Blocking access to certain sites – In some cases, ISPs target and prevent access to specific websites and apps.
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Degraded video quality – Streaming services will be forced to lower video quality due to insufficient bandwidth.
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Disrupting data packets – Your ISP can actively delay packets to and from their network, hampering speeds.
The end result is you end up with slower internet than advertised. You pay for high-speed internet, but your ISP throttles you without your knowledge.
Now you might be wondering, why would my ISP intentionally slow down my connection like this?
There are a few motivations behind their decision to throttle customers:
Manage Network Congestion
One of the most common reasons ISPs throttle connections is to ease congestion on their networks during peak evening usage times.
For example, if a large number of people in your neighborhood are streaming 4K videos at night, it adds significant bandwidth strain. By throttling a portion of this traffic, your ISP ensures critical apps and services aren‘t disrupted due to congestion.
Limit Data Usage
Many ISP plans have monthly data caps which limit how much data you can use before facing overage fees. To prevent customers from exceeding caps too quickly, ISPs will throttle speeds after you reach a certain threshold.
For instance, your ISP might severely throttle your connection after you’ve used 80% of your monthly data allowance. This encourages you to upgrade to a more expensive plan with higher data limits.
Promote Paid Prioritization
Some shady ISP practices I‘ve seen involve throttling traffic to certain sites or services like Netflix and YouTube. But then they‘ll offer normal speeds if you pay an extra monthly "HD streaming package" fee.
Discourage High-Bandwidth Uses
If you‘re downloading large torrent files or running a home server, your ISP may throttle your connection to discourage these high-bandwidth activities that could impact other customers.
As you can see, the motivations usually come down to ISPs wanting to reduce network usage and operating costs, while increasing profits.
Next, let‘s go over how you can actually detect throttling to know for sure if your ISP is limiting your speeds.
How to Identify Signs Your ISP is Throttling You
Before you try any fixes, you need to confirm your ISP is actually throttling your connection. Here are some telltale signs to look out for:
Webpages load slower than usual – Even basic sites with some images take longer than normal to load.
Constant buffering when streaming – Videos, especially HD/4K, buffer frequently or won‘t play at all.
Slow downloads – Downloading files and apps from the internet takes way longer than it should.
Connection drops – You lose your connection temporarily when streaming or gaming.
Pixelated video quality – Netflix or YouTube default to lower resolutions despite fast internet speeds.
Can‘t access some websites – You can‘t open certain sites for no clear reason. This is a sign of blocking.
If you notice some of these issues happening frequently, there‘s a very good chance your ISP is throttling your bandwidth. But to know for sure, you‘ll need to run some tests to confirm it.
Check with Your ISP
First, I suggest contacting your ISP‘s customer support by phone or chat. Directly ask them if any throttling policies are in place that could explain your speed problems.
Many ISPs will openly admit if they throttle connections during peak hours or after data limits are reached. If they deny throttling, don‘t just take their word for it. Proceed with the steps below:
Monitor Your Data Usage
As I mentioned before, ISPs often throttle users who exceed their monthly data allowance so log into your account to check. If you went over your cap this month, ask your ISP if this triggered a speed reduction.
Some ISPs provide data usage monitoring tools that show throttling once you pass your cap. Review this to see if any slowdowns correlate with your data consumption.
Check Peak Usage Times
Network congestion happens mainly during peak evening hours when everyone is streaming and browsing at home after work or school.
Take note of when your speed issues primarily occur. If slowdowns tend to happen during peak times, your ISP is likely throttling due to congestion. You can confirm this by running tests late at night when fewer people are online.
Use Speed Testing Tools
To definitively identify throttling, use internet speed tests like Speedtest.net and Fast.com. Run tests when experiencing slow speeds, then connect via a VPN like ExpressVPN and re-test.
If speeds are significantly faster using the VPN, that‘s concrete proof your ISP is throttling your connection when VPN is disabled. A VPN can successfully bypass the throttling.
I recommend ExpressVPN‘s speed test tool since it makes it easy to directly compare performance with the VPN enabled vs. disabled.
Check for Targeted Throttling
To determine if your ISP is throttling specific sites and services, you need to test performance across different online activities:
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Run a general speed test to check overall connectivity.
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Stream HD video and make note of any buffering or quality issues.
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Download files from sources like torrent sites.
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Try accessing services your ISP may restrict like BitTorrent and Skype.
If you only notice speed problems when doing certain tasks like streaming Netflix, your ISP is likely targeting and throttling those services specifically. But if your speeds are consistently slow everywhere, they are throttling your whole connection.
Using these throttling identification tips, you should be able to confirm if your ISP is limiting your bandwidth. Next, I‘ll explain effective ways to stop the throttling and regain your normal speeds.
How to Stop ISP Throttling and Bypass Internet Slowdowns
Once you‘ve determined your ISP is actively throttling your connection, the next step is finding ways to mitigate the effects so you can browse and stream normally again.
Here are the best ways I recommend to counter ISP throttling:
Use a Trusted VPN Service
The most effective solution I‘ve found for bypassing ISP throttling is using a virtual private network (VPN).
Here‘s how it works:
VPN services route all your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to their servers before exiting to the open internet. This hides what sites you visit and what kind of activity you engage in from your ISP.
Since your ISP can‘t analyze your traffic, they‘re unable to identify and target throttling against streaming services, game downloads, torrents, etc. The VPN masks the contents.
I always recommend ExpressVPN for defeating ISP throttling thanks to its reliable connections, fast speeds, and expansive server network:
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Lightway protocol – Optimized for speed, Lightway overcomes throttling-related slowdowns.
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Unlimited bandwidth – No caps on data allow you to maximize your speeds.
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3000+ global servers – More server options make it harder for ISPs to throttle you.
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AES-256 encryption – Strong encryption prevents ISPs from studying your activity.
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No traffic/activity logs – ExpressVPN doesn‘t record your usage, protecting you from profiling.
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Kill switch – Prevents leaks if the VPN drops unexpectedly.
With ExpressVPN active, I immediately notice faster speeds since my ISP can no longer identify and throttle my traffic. I can stream and download at full speed thanks to bypassing the throttling.
Limit High-Bandwidth Uses
If your ISP throttles you for heavy downloading and internet usage, try to scale back these activities if possible. Avoiding the behavior they target can potentially reduce some of the speed restrictions.
Upgrade Your Data Plan
If you frequently exceed your data cap causing throttling, upgrading to a higher tier with more data may help avoid slowdowns.
Just keep in mind even "unlimited" plans can face some throttling during peak congestion times or when using extremely high amounts of data.
Use the Internet During Non-Peak Hours
ISPs often throttle the most during evening peak hours when everyone is fighting for bandwidth.
Plan high-bandwidth activities like big game downloads for late night or early morning instead. You‘ll have a lower chance of facing congestion-based throttling.
File an FCC Complaint
If your ISP‘s throttling seems unfair, excessive, or harms your internet experience, you can file a formal complaint with the FCC.
ISPs must follow the FCC‘s "Open Internet" rules against unreasonable network management. Restricting speeds to certain sites/services or paid prioritization could violate these policies.
Describe how the throttling impacts your daily internet usage in your complaint. The FCC can potentially penalize ISPs engaging in anti-consumer throttling.
Switch Providers
In some cases, your ISP‘s throttling policies may be so restrictive that switching providers entirely is your best recourse.
Research competitors in your area and look for guaranteed speeds. Opt for a plan with sufficient data limits and speed capabilities to support your usage.
I recommend major broadband providers like Verizon Fios that are less likely to throttle compared to smaller ISPs. This can provide a data buffer without slowdowns.
Carefully read the new ISP‘s traffic management policies to confirm they don‘t engage in excessive throttling.
Advanced Tips to Stop Throttling for Good
If you want to go above and beyond to stop throttling, here are some advanced techniques I recommend exploring:
Use a Custom Router Firmware
Replacing your router‘s default firmware with open source options like DD-WRT lets you customize traffic management policies. You can prioritize certain types of traffic to avoid some throttling.
Leverage a Seedbox for Torrenting
Seedboxes provide remote, high-bandwidth servers for torrenting files without throttling. You can download torrents to the seedbox then transfer them to your computer.
Consider Business Class Internet
Business class internet plans from ISPs often have guaranteed speeds and no blocking/throttling of certain services since they cater to businesses.
Utilize Multiple ISP Connections
Having a secondary ISP connection via another technology like 4G or satellite internet lets you switch between providers if one ISP throttles you.
Mask Traffic via a Shadowsocks Proxy
Advanced proxies like Shadowsocks add an extra layer of encryption and obfuscation making it nearly impossible for your ISP to identify and throttle your traffic.
Key Takeaways – Regain Control Over Your Internet Speeds
Getting throttled by your ISP can seriously impact your ability to work, play, and stream online. I hope this guide gave you a better understanding of what internet throttling is, why ISPs do it, and most importantly, how to confirm if throttling is happening and fix it.
Here are the key tips to remember:
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Monitor your speeds and data usage closely to identify patterns that point to ISP throttling.
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Run speed tests with a VPN enabled/disabled to definitively prove throttling.
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Consider a quality VPN like ExpressVPN to bypass and prevent throttling restrictions.
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Limit your bandwidth usage or upgrade your data plan if you frequently exceed caps.
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Use your connection during non-peak hours to avoid congestion-based throttling.
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File an FCC complaint if your ISP‘s throttling seems unfair or excessive.
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Don‘t hesitate to switch providers if your ISP‘s throttling policies are overly restrictive.
With this knowledge, you should feel empowered to take back control over your internet speeds, regardless of your ISP‘s efforts to restrict them. Never accept slow internet simply because your provider throttles you.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help fellow internet users maximize their connections.
