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You are currently in the Satellite Internet VSAT section
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What is Bandwidth?
Simply put, bandwidth is the carrying capacity of a network. It's rather like a highway. Three lane highways can carry more traffic than two lane highways. However, neither can carry an infinite amount of traffic. At a certain level, even a six lane highway can become saturated. Bandwidth is finite.
Speed and performance on a network (or highway) is inversely proportional to the amount of traffic carried - that is:
more traffic, slower speeds. Performance is based on volume of traffic.
Like a highway, a data network is shared by all the users who have access to it. In other words, there are no reserved or express lanes. The more bandwidth any one individual uses, the less there is available for the rest of the user population. Bandwidth is shared.
What are peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs?
P2P file sharing programs are designed to let people easily exchange music, movies, video and other files over the Internet. Some common programs are KaZaa, Gnutella, iMesh and eDonkey. Many of these programs are used to distribute copyrighted materials and thus violate copyright laws.
What effect do P2P file sharing apps have on bandwidth?
The same effect that a herd of elephants have on a small watering hole: They use it all. Every last bit of bandwidth that is available will be sucked up by file sharing applications. Peer-to-peer apps have no shame about what they use when it comes to using bandwidth.
How do file sharing apps use so much bandwidth?
The size of the files being shared and the act of sharing combine to eat up a network's limited amount of bandwidth.
File sharing apps like KaZaA have two aspects, they act as clients, enabling you to download files from other participating systems, and they convert your computer into a server, allowing other clients to download material from you.
When you install a peer-to-peer application on your computer, the default installation process sets your computer up as a server. The net effect is that hundreds of thousands of users around the globe, who would otherwise have no interest in you or MSU-Northern's network, now want to utilize your PC and our bandwidth to download files. ANY media that exists on your computer is searched for by these programs and shared to the rest of the community of users.
It's a bit like throwing a barbecue and having everyone who smells the smoke drive down your street, park in your driveway, and come into your backyard. Only the smoke isn't limited to your neighborhood. It travels around the world and everyone who likes what you're cooking is free to come. In very short order, the carrying capacity of your street, not to mention your backyard, is exceeded. File sharing apps can have a significant adverse effect on your PC's performance.
While you're trying to use your computer, dozens of other users are accessing your disk and making demands on your memory and CPU.
What about privacy and security concerns associated with P2P apps?
Privacy concerns are real. Many users of file- sharing programs have inadvertently made highly personal information available to other users. Once one personal file is discovered on a P2P user's computer, a feature on Kazaa called "Find More from Same User" will reveal every file being shared on that user's computer. Use of this feature can result in the disclosure of a wide range of highly personal information about the user ranging from tax returns, medical files, legal documents, personal correspondence, business files and more.
Many P2P apps also contain spyware, that can monitor your Web browsing habits or record your passwords, credit card data, and adware which causes advertisements to appear. KaZaA bundled a back door into their distribution that would allow them to create a network within a network using the millions of systems that have installed their software.
KaZaA and other peer-to-peer file-sharing apps are now also the targets of viruses, worms and Trojan horses.
So... How can I reduce my bandwidth usage?
The best way to avoid being a bandwidth hog is to remove (uninstall) all peer-to-peer file-sharing programs from your computer.
Adware, spyware, and internet parasites are among what they are usually called. These are scouts that monitor your web activities. The work undercover to check on your surfing patterns, spending habits, items bought, they extract email addresses, hijack browsers, steal credit card information. These are just some of the things a spyware is capable of.
A spyware is mainly an information hungry parasite determined to gather data from a user or surfer without him knowing it.
The information gathered by these parasites are then sent to the originator without the users consent. Most often, the information gathered by the spyware are used to generate ads and pop-ups on the user's PC. Spywares and Adwares aside from being a nuisance and an invasion of privacy can also jeopardize the optimal performance of your PC. They can eat up unused disk spaces and position themselves in an inconspicuous location in your hard drive. They can also eat the bandwidth, crash your system and oftentimes inflict themselves in the Registry or in the memory of your computer :
1. Some spywares continuously broadcast information over the Enterprise networks, sapping valuable bandwidth that could otherwise be used for faster communications.
2. If companies are not aware that spywares are responsible for wasting their bandwidth, they may incur unnecessary expense to purchase additional bandwidth
Now Most of your VSATs in American Camps 100% all use Peer to Peer which leads to all the above problems and then they call you blaming the service providers.
Internet Cafes have no controls and each PC even if it has 1 spyware minimum can lead to 60% of bandwidth wastage and causing the PCs to behave as mentioned above.
So please assure these basics PLUS the fact that Viruses make all this 10x more worse . So if a PC has Peer to Peer, Adwares, Spywares and Viruses 100% of your bandwidth is gone! so What's left!
We hope this is kept and understood at all times.
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