[ NNSquad ] Re: Richard Bennett on Comcast and Fairness (from IP)

[Barry Gold <bgold@matrix-consultants.com>]

David Farber wrote:
>The carriers are often criticized for not using packet drop to resolve 
fairness problems, but that's not really the scope of packet drop, which 
is actually a solution to Internet congestion, not to the lack of 
fairness that may (or may not) be the underlying cause of the 
congestion. We need a different solution to fairness at layer 3, 
especially on layer 2 networks  like DOCSIS where packet drop closes the 
door after the horse has run off.

Nonsense.  As Brett's comments have made clear, most of the time an 
"excessive" user causes problems for the ISP at the _upstream_ end (the 
backbone or bigger ISP, where the ISP has to pay for the packets it 
sends and/or the total bandwidth it reserves), not on the "local loop" 
between the user and the ISP's router.

But even if the "excessive" user _were_ "blocking the line to 
the...buffet" (presumably by filling the local loop up with his 
packets), dropping packets is a useful solution.  The ISP can (or should 
be able to) program the cable modem to drop the packets before they ever 
get on the local loop -- right there in the user's 
house/apartment/business.  Or if the user owns the modem, the ISP can 
put a minimal router with usage control at the point where the wire 
emerges from the user's building, or where it connects to the main cable 
at the utility pole or undergound system.

I put "excessive" in quotes because a given level of use can only be 
_really_ excessive if the ISP has specified a limit -- thou shalt not 
use more than X GB/month (or per day or whatever).