Is Comcast Choking My Bandwidth To Keep Me From Watching Too Much TV Online?

Gen fears Comcast is choking his bandwidth because he’s streamed too many TV shows. He keeps getting suspicious messages that say his internet connection has slowed when he tries to watch episodes of Law & Order: SVU.

He writes:

Today I decided to treat myself to an SVU marathon, courtesy of Netflix watch instantly. Many times today I found that Comcast has been choking my bandwidth when watching the episodes – the message that says: “your internet connection has slowed, we are adjusting playback to prevent further interruption” came up at least 20 times (I watched two seasons). I heard that Comcast had been caught choking bandwidth for Hulu and websites like this – is this true? If so, would you mind publishing this story (it could be in conjunction with similar complaints) because it is outrageous that I pay for the high speed internet and the Netflix service just to be interrupted continually.

Such messages are fairly common for Netflix streaming, but it’s tough to figure whether Netflix’s servers or internet service providers are to blame. Do you think Gen is a victim of coincidence or a pawn in Comcast’s net neutrality fight?

Previously: Get Ready For Anti-Net Neutrality Ads

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