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Revised BitTorrent protocol removes the need for ISP throttling
BitTorrent Inc. is preparing to launch a redesigned implementation of the BitTorrent protocol that could benefit both ISPs and users. Internet providers have long been interested in having a tighter grasp on bandwidth consumption, so heavy users of P2P networks are a natural enemy. Many providers throttle BitTorrent connections by arguing that they affect the speed of other traffic.
Recognizing this, BitTorrent Inc. has been working on a solution that should please both the throttlers and the throttlees. BitTorrent 2.0 -- or "uTP" -- supposedly senses congestion by calculating the time it takes for packets to reach their destination. If a major delay is detected, the protocol automatically adjusts upload or download speeds.
This new feature is present in uTorrent v2.0 beta, and according to BitTorrent VP of product management Simon Morris, a couple hundred thousand people are already using the client. Would you be ok with running a uTP-enabled torrent client, and do you think this will get service providers off the backs of heavy downloaders?
Recognizing this, BitTorrent Inc. has been working on a solution that should please both the throttlers and the throttlees. BitTorrent 2.0 -- or "uTP" -- supposedly senses congestion by calculating the time it takes for packets to reach their destination. If a major delay is detected, the protocol automatically adjusts upload or download speeds.
This new feature is present in uTorrent v2.0 beta, and according to BitTorrent VP of product management Simon Morris, a couple hundred thousand people are already using the client. Would you be ok with running a uTP-enabled torrent client, and do you think this will get service providers off the backs of heavy downloaders?
User Comments (39)
Post a comment| jurrasstoil on November 2, 2009 3:02 PM | Glasnost can dectect whether your ISP is throttling specific
traffic or
not. [link] |
| JieMan on November 2, 2009 3:18 PM | As for the major use of torrents aside , I think this is going to benefit everyone on the web , its only getting more crowded around here and with more and more streaming video sites ( the real culprits of bandwidth hogging) this might just alleviate things some. |
| njel on November 2, 2009 3:19 PM | This new protocol looks very interesting. And every step,
even if it is small, to accelerate the downloads is
good. It is a shame that uTorrent is not an Open Source project. |
| kibaruk on November 2, 2009 3:45 PM | Considering you pay for internet speed but not limited
bandwith I think this is merely up for ISPs to make things
up to not get crawled up. You constantly pay for a service, in which more and more people connect but no one updates for the connections to be ok, the throttling is a cheap way out ISPs obligue to the user. |
| mattfrompa on November 2, 2009 4:05 PM | I am not in favor of this, and I am very much for net neutrality. |
| paynetrain007 on November 2, 2009 5:04 PM | This could be good. Depends how it would work. |
| elroacho72 on November 2, 2009 5:26 PM | Sounds great, but I don't think anything will take the pressure off BT users; but maybe if they all started buying the stuff instead of downloading it for free."I know nothing! I see nothing! NOTHING!" as Schultz would say. I know showing my age... |
| Rick on November 2, 2009 5:27 PM | mattfrompa: So... care to explain
how this works against net
neutrality?I am not in favor of this, and I am very much for net neutrality. paynetrain007: Why does it depend
on how it works? If it is powered by the satisfaction one
feels every time someone in the world opens a box of
puppies, does that make the end result any better or worse?
What if it uses some unexplainable property unknown
physics... would that make the end result any better or
worse? Why does it depend on how it works? I have some
ideas, but it would be much more interesting if you could
elaborate a bit.
This could be good. Depends how it would work. |
| buttus on November 2, 2009 5:30 PM | I find it very interesting that torrents have been blasted for years by ISP's and yet here is uTorrent taking a proactive approach to help both the ISP and the torrent users out. Still, I'll wait until uTP is out of Beta before installing it. |
| MBK on November 2, 2009 5:31 PM | Seems like a good idea to me, bandwidth needs to be shared
until the lines get upgraded (or a more cost-effective
alternative) increases net bandwidth. I can see many torrent users bypassing this technology though (at least for as long as they can), many people, including myself at times, get bandwidth greedy. |
| wagan8r on November 2, 2009 5:50 PM | It's interesting, but I don't see how this will keep ISPs from throttling or packet sniffing. |
| Kibaruk on November 2, 2009 6:23 PM | @Wagan8r: As the topic says, the protocol will check the delay and auto adjust down/upload speeds. It would become something like concious downloading, so the throttling won't be needed. |
| ken777 on November 2, 2009 7:17 PM | This sounds like it's going to help, but it's not really going to fix things for service providers. As more and more content becomes available (legally) online, bittorrent traffic will stop being such a big issue. Seems like streaming HD video is going to be the next big bandwidth hog. |
| xclusiveitalian on November 2, 2009 7:29 PM | This sounds nice, and id be fine with running uTP, especially if it makes things goes faster. I don't think tho it would get people off the backs of heavy downloaders because most of these "heavy" users are pirates, and service providers can't seem to stop them. |
| InsaneVr6 on November 2, 2009 7:53 PM | If it makes things go faster and work more efficiently, then
why wouldn't someone want to try it out? Since we are talking about torrent's it's well known that most of them are used to pirate software, music, movies, etc. and that is something that probably will never end, but at least Bit-torrent is taking steps in the right direction to help both sides out to use their protocol for what it was designed for. |
| JudaZ on November 2, 2009 7:57 PM | It's up to the ISP to provide bandwidth I pay for...and my
ISP handles that just fine... they dont need to throttle...
they have the technology ...they dont sell something they
cant provide.. but a lot of them do.. ...i download a 10 -20 Gb a day ...at least.. no throtteling yet.. and not likely to ever happen .. |
| lynxon on November 2, 2009 8:40 PM | I really hope that this works out how they're hoping and can give people little boosts instead of just slowing the speeds down a bit, although I hardly ever use torrents so this doesn't impact me much. |
| tekkaraiden on November 2, 2009 9:00 PM | My ISP only throttles my bandwidth during peak times 5pm to 11pm. I get full speed any other time so I do most of my big downloads first thing in the morning. |
| zaidpirwani on November 2, 2009 9:03 PM | Bit Torrent in my opinion is the way to the future, we are starting to see sites which are very very bandwidth intensive, we are moving to the cloud, soon all our PC's and laptops will work from the Internet and so that wherever we are, we will be able to get the same personal experience from any machine we use, this is where BitTorrent will really work, also it needs to be properly employed on video sharing sites, if they can work it out somehow, to use bittorrent for content delivery, the bandwidth problem will be half solved. |
| shalimar on November 2, 2009 10:15 PM | While the intent is good I seriously doubt it'll work..
since it's only a matter of a very short time before some
morons liek Comcast, Cogeco or Bell (aka hell) try to
manipulate this for their own benefit. All of the above
have proven they don;t give a rats ass about their customers
after all.. and hence why many of us refuse to deal with
them at all. |
| Puiu on November 3, 2009 12:58 AM | If it's going to help those who aren't downloading but are experiencing slowdowns then i'm all in. I'm going to download uTorrent 2.0 now. |
| waterytowers on November 3, 2009 2:55 AM | I tend to side with the analysis of George Ou, which indicates the congestion control doesn't work that well. I can't see why you would tack congestion control onto the Bittorent protocol. If you want to fight bandwidth issues use traffic control to guarantee all protocols get bandwidth ahead of Bittorrent. Set all bandwidth intensive protocols to a low priority. This should be a default configuration on the router/modem for anyone that runs Bittorrent, otherwise when they run Bittorrent they can't browse the web without long delays. ISPs are in the best position to throttle specific traffic but they are only likely to do this if customers complain because they cant access the web and it is due to congestion from too many Bittorrent users. |
| ron5334 on November 3, 2009 3:04 AM | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutralityI could see where improved bandwidth utilization can
benefit a lot of different users. The real problem with
bandwidth is the ISPs needing to do the upgrades to handle
the increased traffic. Everyday more people are logging onto
the internet, spending more time online and doing more.
Streaming video will most likely become the next big
bandwidth hog. The ISP's will need to upgrade their
infrastructures to handle the increased traffic. Getting the
greedy ISP's to shell out for the upgrades to fiber optic
and other hardware will be the real challenge. When major
companies like Comcast choose to throttle rather than
upgrade or start suggesting new "pricing plans" based on
bandwidth usage, it shows where there priorities really
are. just my humble opinion |
| Rick on November 3, 2009 3:22 AM | If you want to fight bandwidth
issues use traffic control to guarantee all protocols get
bandwidth ahead of Bittorrent. The problem with using
traffic shaping on Bittorrent is that much of the traffic is
encrypted anymore. Without some expensive, massively scaled,
sophisticated traffic analysis, it is far from ideal -- or
even possible -- to treat non-torrent encrypted traffic
fairly.. especially a high percentage of the
time.VPNs, SSL, SSH and other sources of very legitimate, encrypted traffic should be prioritized over bittorrent based upon importance IMO, but encryption makes that tough. You could prioritize traffic that meets certain inspection criteria over standard ports, but many business don't use the typical ports for these kinds of things. You could analyze the traffic for P2P behavior, but then perhaps legitimate services like TOR, Ventrilo, Steam, certain games etc.. suffer. Also, putting BT at the bottom of the priority list doesn't solve the problem. If there's too much BT traffic, then decent BT traffic like Blizzard Updater and other encrypted traffic that appears to be P2P- like (certain games, Steam and such) will become unusable. That would be a shame. This is probably part of a greater solution that should include *some* prioritization as well as infrastructure upgrades. But I'm all for BT regulating itself. The Internet is a big place and it is difficult for a nanny to regulate and monitor, so if protocols can handle this part themselves somewhat reliably, then more power to them. |
| limpangel on November 3, 2009 7:17 AM | ISPs will maybe (and thats a big maybe) stop throtlling only if all bt clients use this technology and that will take some time, even after it is released out in the open by the utorrent developers (if they ever release the specifications). |
