Comcast Throttling My Internet
Comcast Xfinity Is Throttling My Internet: How To Prevent [2021]
RobotPoweredHome is reader-supported. When you buy through links on my blog, I may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying high-speed internet not only means delays in work projects but lack of entertainment and functionality as those with a smart home hub, throttled internet connections can be a major some people may have the luxury to change their Internet Service Providers to enjoy a seamless connection, others who are like me may not have the luxury to choose their, it is crucial to understand why you may be facing slow internet connections and how you can fix throttling of your Xfinity internet connection can be a result of network congestion, paid prioritization, or if you are accessing forbidden websites or services. If you believe your Xfinity internet connection is being throttled, check if you have exhausted your data cap and try using a trusted VPN to see if your speed improves. What is Throttling? Throttling refers to your Internet Service Provider intentionally limiting your internet speed or bandwidth. This means that you aren’t getting full speed on ’s different from your Wi-Fi disconnecting because your connection to your router is stable, your internet speed is just slow because of your ISP intentionally limiting throttling can occur if you have reached your present data cap for the month, or when you are visiting specific websites, or your ISP detects activities on your connection such as using torrents or if you think it’s the Wi-Fi connection that’s at fault and use your ethernet connection, your speed will be slow because your internet connection is being throttled by your to test if Xfinity is throttling Netflix and other services with a VPNTo detect if your ISP is throttling your internet connection, you will need a VPN. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that helps you hide or encrypt your data from your to the VPN, ISPs will not be able to detect the traffic coming to and from your connection, which is useful if you’re experiencing a slow connection when streaming or downloading you’ve selected your preferred VPN, run a speed test on your connection twice: once with your VPN turned off and once with it turned on. If you notice discrepancies between the two tests, your ISP is likely throttling your internet ever, this test is not conclusive; it only helps when your ISP throttles your connectivity for specific websites or addition, there may be other reasons you may experience slow connectivity, such as paid prioritization, network congestion, or data does Xfinity Throttle my Internet? Internet Service Providers can throttle your internet connection for several mmonly, people experience slow connectivity because of data caps or network congestion, but there may be other reasons as twork congestionDuring peak hours of internet usage, network congestion may occur. In such cases, some people may enjoy a fast internet connection while others have no network at prevent this, ISPs may decide to throttle the internet connection in that area so that all houses can connect to the internet rather than some people having no capsAre you experiencing throttled internet connection towards the end of the month? It may be because you have hit your data cap for the ISPs have a data cap, limiting the amount of data you can upload or download at maximum speed during a billing data limit is usually mentioned in the service agreement provided by your ISP, so ensure that you go through your account details when you experience a throttled internet connection. Use Xfinity’s My Account app to monitor data use prioritizationUnfortunately, with the repeal of net neutrality laws in 2018, it became easier for ISPs to throttle internet connections to advance paid prioritization metimes, ISPs may throttle internet connection for specific websites or services because they want you to use their service example, if your ISP also runs any streaming services, they may throttle your internet connection when visiting sites such as Hulu or Netflix to encourage you to use their own may also throttle connectivity for specific sites because they want those websites to pay for faster loading times. Unfortunately, if the website decides not to pay, deal with a slow network connection whenever you decide to go to that metimes, ISPs may throttle internet connections for specific kinds of data as they can use up a lot of bandwidth, creating a lot of pressure on the prevent this strain, ISPs throttle the internet connection, especially for large rbidden activitiesIf your ISP detects that you are on illegal websites, such as popular domains known for pirating content, they may throttle your internet speed to prevent you from accessing this case, the ISP may be interrupting your connection to comply with government do I stop throttling? As mentioned earlier, a VPN can help you hide your traffic from your ISP. Hence, if you are facing slow connectivity because of your internet activity or visiting specific websites, using a VPN can be that you research the available VPN connections well; using a VPN adds a step between your ISP and your, the VPN itself may cause some latency issues, which defeats their purpose capsIf you spend a lot of your time on the internet, then the chances are that you are facing lower internet issues due to data deal with this issue, you need to track your internet usage to see how much data you use in a you have figured out your average monthly data usage, you can combat throttling issues by: Reducing your monthly data usage and staying under your monthly data cap. Paying extra for more high-speed data after you have reached your monthly data cap Upgrading your plan to increase your monthly data cap, or Switching to a service provider that does not have any data caps on monthly twork congestionWhen you experience slow connection during specific timings before you have hit your monthly data cap, network congestion may be the issue. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about it, especially if you can only use the internet during peak you can, try to keep your heavy-duty data usage such as large downloads or streaming services during the off-peak, ensure that you keep track of when you seem to be facing slow internet nally, if you are experiencing it more often than not, be sure to raise a complaint with your ISP to get them to fix the ually, your ISP may ignore the issue, but in some cases, you may end up getting a complimentary upgrade on your plan as Can You Manage Usage And Throttling? Understanding why ISPs throttle your internet connection can help you prevent it in the future. In some cases, simply getting a VPN may not be may want to look into changing your internet service provider as well. This will involve going through their early termination procedure to avoid cancellation go ahead and try out the fixes for your throttled Xfinity internet connection so that you can go back to enjoying your weekend binges! You May Also Enjoy ReadingHow To Change Firewall Settings On Comcast Xfinity RouterComcast Xfinity Wi-Fi Not Working But Cable Is: How To TroubleshootXfinity Upload Speed Slow: How To Troubleshoot [2021]Xfinity Ethernet Not Working: How To Troubleshoot In SecondsXfinity Modem Red Light: How To Troubleshoot In SecondsMoCA For Xfinity: An In-Depth Explainer [2021]xFi Gateway Offline [Solved]: How To Fix In SecondsDoes Netgear Nighthawk Work With Xfinity? How To SetupFrequently Asked QuestionsIs throttling your Internet connection Illegal? For most cases, such as when there is network congestion or hit your monthly data cap, throttling internet speed is much download speed do I need for streaming? A download speed of 3 Mbps would be best for a comfortable streaming Wi-Fi booster increase internet speed? Some Wi-Fi boosters can help increase your internet speed and even add new features to your is my internet so slow at night? Network congestion, which occurs when many people use the connection simultaneously, can cause your internet to become slow at night.
How Can I Tell If My ISP Is Throttling My Internet?
Aug 23, 2021 Share
FAQ, Internet Speed Guides
To determine if your internet service provider (ISP) is throttling your internet connection, plug a computer into your modem and run our speed test. After that, open a virtual private network (VPN) client—we provide a list of the best VPNs—and rerun the test. If your connection is significantly faster while using the VPN, your ISP is likely throttling your service.
This trick works because ISPs sometimes throttle your speeds when they notice certain types of traffic, like torrenting. However, a VPN encrypts your data and connection, so the ISP can’t see what you’re doing online.
Of course, there are reasons for slower speeds other than ISP throttling, like traffic congestion and general connection issues. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about internet bandwidth throttling to determine if that is indeed your issue.
Throttling is when your ISP intentionally limits your connection’s bandwidth. Providers do this for several reasons, and it usually manifests as a sloth-like connection.
Why do ISPs throttle your connection?
ISPs have many reasons for throttling your internet connection. But these are the top four culprits:
Network congestion
Exceeding data caps
Paid prioritization
Forbidden activity
Cable internet providers sometimes throttle a specific area during times of heavy use. Throttling balances all connections so that certain houses don’t use more network bandwidth than others. Peak times likely happen between 7:00 p. m. to 11:00 p. m., although service group congestion is less of an issue now than it has been in recent years.
Some ISPs limit how much data you can send and receive during one billing cycle. They will reduce your bandwidth if your downloads exceed that limit.
Keep in mind that everything you access online requires a download, whether it’s just a web page, a mobile app, or streaming video. Moreover, everything you do requires an upload, too, like requesting access to a website, sending an email, posting to social media, and so on.
All this interaction with the internet uses your monthly data allotment. ISPs usually offer a way to monitor your data usage through an online portal, so you don’t go overboard throughout the month.
Any ISP that enforces a data cap must include that information in your service agreement. So, if you’re experiencing throttling, take a look at your contract or call customer service.
Here’s a list of internet service providers with data caps:
AT&T
Buckeye Broadband
Cable ONE
CenturyLink
Cox
HughesNet
Mediacom
Viasat
Xfinity
A few internet providers without data caps are Spectrum, Frontier, and RCN.
Some bandwidth throttling has nothing to do with your specific web surfing habits. Here are a few examples:
An ISP provides a proprietary streaming service and will throttle Netflix, Hulu, and similar services.
An ISP wants a specific website to pay for faster load times.
Certain types of data—large downloads, torrents, FTP file sharing—use a lot of bandwidth and put pressure on the network.
All of this is good for ISP but terrible for consumers. Moreover, paid prioritization used to be illegal until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the net neutrality laws in 2018.
What is net neutrality?
Net neutrality is the idea that your ISP shouldn’t control what you can and can’t access on the internet. With net neutrality, all ISPs must treat lawful internet data equally.
The legislation was passed in 2015 in the US to protect net neutrality. But those protections were repealed in 2018, leaving control of the internet up to corporations who greatly benefit from practices that hurt the free internet and everyone who uses the internet—things like paid prioritization, censorship, and throttling.
We support net neutrality because a free and open internet is imperative to free speech in America.
Contact your Senator to support net neutrality and the Save the Internet Act.
ISPs can throttle internet connections when the customer participates in illegal online activities.
How do I stop throttling?
Use a VPN to bypass ISP throttling. It creates a secure, encrypted tunnel between you and a dedicated server. This server then decrypts your data and sends it to the destination in plaintext. This data does not include your IP address or any other information that can link back to you.
However, some ISPs may throttle your bandwidth if they detect your VPN (some VPNs can ignore this). Be sure that you’re using the best VPN for your needs, as the wrong one can make your internet throttling issues worse.
Unfortunately, a VPN won’t help with throttling caused by network congestion or data cap overages. In these cases, your ISP restricts the total amount of bandwidth rather than a specific type of data.
If your throttling issues stem from data cap overages, you have four options:
Reduce your monthly usage.
Pay for more bandwidth.
Upgrade to a plan with a higher data cap or unlimited data.
Switch to a provider without data caps.
If you have cable internet and you experience slow speeds during peak hours, try one of the following:
Upgrade to a faster plan
Use the internet during off-peak hours
For example, try downloading large files between 11 p. and 7 a. when most of your neighbors are asleep. On the flip side, if you’re only paying for 100 Mbps and you need more speed, a 400 Mbps plan may be a better option.
Monitor your download speeds often—especially if you notice continuously slow speeds. Complain to your ISP if you don’t see speeds anywhere near your plan’s advertised bandwidth. You may not get the response you want, but you could also hit the jackpot and receive a free upgrade.
Is your ISP is too throttle-happy for your liking? You should look into other options by entering your zip code below.
Other reasons for slow internet
Beyond ISP throttling, there are plenty of reasons for slow internet.
First, check the health of your home network if you’ve already ruled out external factors like ISP throttling.
Second, your plan may not supply enough bandwidth to your household. As we rely on the internet more and more for everything from home security to entertainment, it’s easy to grow out of the internet plan you signed up for a few years ago.
If you’re not sure how much bandwidth you need, start with a speed test. We’ll give you a quick, personalized speed recommendation based on how you use your connection for.
How much speed do you need?
Author – Rebecca Lee Armstrong
Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more than six years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in creative writing at the University of Evansville and has found her niche writing about home networking, routers, and internet access at Her work has also been featured on Top Ten Reviews, MacSources, Windows Central, Android Central, Best Company, TechnoFAQ, and iMore.
Editor – Cara Haynes
Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she’s edited all things internet for for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she’s not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a good internet connection significantly extends your life span.
Comcast Xfinity Is Throttling My Internet: How To Prevent [2021]
RobotPoweredHome is reader-supported. When you buy through links on my blog, I may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying high-speed internet not only means delays in work projects but lack of entertainment and functionality as those with a smart home hub, throttled internet connections can be a major some people may have the luxury to change their Internet Service Providers to enjoy a seamless connection, others who are like me may not have the luxury to choose their, it is crucial to understand why you may be facing slow internet connections and how you can fix throttling of your Xfinity internet connection can be a result of network congestion, paid prioritization, or if you are accessing forbidden websites or services. If you believe your Xfinity internet connection is being throttled, check if you have exhausted your data cap and try using a trusted VPN to see if your speed improves. What is Throttling? Throttling refers to your Internet Service Provider intentionally limiting your internet speed or bandwidth. This means that you aren’t getting full speed on ’s different from your Wi-Fi disconnecting because your connection to your router is stable, your internet speed is just slow because of your ISP intentionally limiting throttling can occur if you have reached your present data cap for the month, or when you are visiting specific websites, or your ISP detects activities on your connection such as using torrents or if you think it’s the Wi-Fi connection that’s at fault and use your ethernet connection, your speed will be slow because your internet connection is being throttled by your to test if Xfinity is throttling Netflix and other services with a VPNTo detect if your ISP is throttling your internet connection, you will need a VPN. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that helps you hide or encrypt your data from your to the VPN, ISPs will not be able to detect the traffic coming to and from your connection, which is useful if you’re experiencing a slow connection when streaming or downloading you’ve selected your preferred VPN, run a speed test on your connection twice: once with your VPN turned off and once with it turned on. If you notice discrepancies between the two tests, your ISP is likely throttling your internet ever, this test is not conclusive; it only helps when your ISP throttles your connectivity for specific websites or addition, there may be other reasons you may experience slow connectivity, such as paid prioritization, network congestion, or data does Xfinity Throttle my Internet? Internet Service Providers can throttle your internet connection for several mmonly, people experience slow connectivity because of data caps or network congestion, but there may be other reasons as twork congestionDuring peak hours of internet usage, network congestion may occur. In such cases, some people may enjoy a fast internet connection while others have no network at prevent this, ISPs may decide to throttle the internet connection in that area so that all houses can connect to the internet rather than some people having no capsAre you experiencing throttled internet connection towards the end of the month? It may be because you have hit your data cap for the ISPs have a data cap, limiting the amount of data you can upload or download at maximum speed during a billing data limit is usually mentioned in the service agreement provided by your ISP, so ensure that you go through your account details when you experience a throttled internet connection. Use Xfinity’s My Account app to monitor data use prioritizationUnfortunately, with the repeal of net neutrality laws in 2018, it became easier for ISPs to throttle internet connections to advance paid prioritization metimes, ISPs may throttle internet connection for specific websites or services because they want you to use their service example, if your ISP also runs any streaming services, they may throttle your internet connection when visiting sites such as Hulu or Netflix to encourage you to use their own may also throttle connectivity for specific sites because they want those websites to pay for faster loading times. Unfortunately, if the website decides not to pay, deal with a slow network connection whenever you decide to go to that metimes, ISPs may throttle internet connections for specific kinds of data as they can use up a lot of bandwidth, creating a lot of pressure on the prevent this strain, ISPs throttle the internet connection, especially for large rbidden activitiesIf your ISP detects that you are on illegal websites, such as popular domains known for pirating content, they may throttle your internet speed to prevent you from accessing this case, the ISP may be interrupting your connection to comply with government do I stop throttling? As mentioned earlier, a VPN can help you hide your traffic from your ISP. Hence, if you are facing slow connectivity because of your internet activity or visiting specific websites, using a VPN can be that you research the available VPN connections well; using a VPN adds a step between your ISP and your, the VPN itself may cause some latency issues, which defeats their purpose capsIf you spend a lot of your time on the internet, then the chances are that you are facing lower internet issues due to data deal with this issue, you need to track your internet usage to see how much data you use in a you have figured out your average monthly data usage, you can combat throttling issues by: Reducing your monthly data usage and staying under your monthly data cap. Paying extra for more high-speed data after you have reached your monthly data cap Upgrading your plan to increase your monthly data cap, or Switching to a service provider that does not have any data caps on monthly twork congestionWhen you experience slow connection during specific timings before you have hit your monthly data cap, network congestion may be the issue. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about it, especially if you can only use the internet during peak you can, try to keep your heavy-duty data usage such as large downloads or streaming services during the off-peak, ensure that you keep track of when you seem to be facing slow internet nally, if you are experiencing it more often than not, be sure to raise a complaint with your ISP to get them to fix the ually, your ISP may ignore the issue, but in some cases, you may end up getting a complimentary upgrade on your plan as Can You Manage Usage And Throttling? Understanding why ISPs throttle your internet connection can help you prevent it in the future. In some cases, simply getting a VPN may not be may want to look into changing your internet service provider as well. This will involve going through their early termination procedure to avoid cancellation go ahead and try out the fixes for your throttled Xfinity internet connection so that you can go back to enjoying your weekend binges! You May Also Enjoy ReadingHow To Change Firewall Settings On Comcast Xfinity RouterComcast Xfinity Wi-Fi Not Working But Cable Is: How To TroubleshootXfinity Upload Speed Slow: How To Troubleshoot [2021]Xfinity Ethernet Not Working: How To Troubleshoot In SecondsXfinity Modem Red Light: How To Troubleshoot In SecondsMoCA For Xfinity: An In-Depth Explainer [2021]xFi Gateway Offline [Solved]: How To Fix In SecondsDoes Netgear Nighthawk Work With Xfinity? How To SetupFrequently Asked QuestionsIs throttling your Internet connection Illegal? For most cases, such as when there is network congestion or hit your monthly data cap, throttling internet speed is much download speed do I need for streaming? A download speed of 3 Mbps would be best for a comfortable streaming Wi-Fi booster increase internet speed? Some Wi-Fi boosters can help increase your internet speed and even add new features to your is my internet so slow at night? Network congestion, which occurs when many people use the connection simultaneously, can cause your internet to become slow at night.
Frequently Asked Questions about comcast throttling my internet
How do I fix Comcast throttling?
If your throttling issues stem from data cap overages, you have four options:Reduce your monthly usage.Pay for more bandwidth.Upgrade to a plan with a higher data cap or unlimited data.Switch to a provider without data caps.Aug 23, 2021
How do I stop Comcast from throttling?
Once you have figured out your average monthly data usage, you can combat throttling issues by:Reducing your monthly data usage and staying under your monthly data cap.Paying extra for more high-speed data after you have reached your monthly data cap.Upgrading your plan to increase your monthly data cap, or.More items…•Oct 7, 2021
How can you tell if your internet is being throttled?
The best way to know if your internet connection is being throttled is to run 2 speed tests: a regular speed test, and then another test using a VPN. If your connection is much faster when the VPN is on, it’s likely that you are being throttled.Oct 6, 2021