Commercial grade satellite Internet can accommodate a wide variety of speed and throughput requirements. Each plan includes a certain amount of gigabytes of allotted throughput.
A Fair Access Policy is required to ensure that all users have access to their contracted bandwidth and throughput in a given period. Those users who exceed their contracted allotment must either be billed for the overage, as in metered billing or consumption based billing, or they must have their bandwidth restricted so their future throughput falls to their contracted allotment.
Dustyfoot’s partner, Skycasters, offers both a Fair Access Policy option as well as a metered billing option. Skycasters calls these plans Option 1 (metered billing) and Option 2 (billing governed by the Fair Access Policy)
Option 1 Option 1, or metered billing, customers are charged for additional usage when they go over their monthly throughput, based on their contract.
Option 2 An Option 2 customer experiences reduced maximum information rate, and zero committed information rate until their usage is back in profile. For accounts with separate upload and download throughput allowances, upload and download speeds are adjusted independently.
Option 2 customers who exceed their allotted throughput will experience maximum information rate reduction as follows:
- The “throttle speed” is a percentage of the contracted Committed Information Rate (CIR).
- The customer’s Maximum Information Rate is set to the “throttle speed.”
- The customer’s CIR is set to zero.
- Sometimes Option 2 customers (or Fair Access Policy customers) have changes in business Internet needs, and may consistently exceed their throughput allotment. In all such cases the customer is required to upgrade their service plan or switch to metered billing (Option 1).
Each month on their billing date, the Option 2 customer’s month’s usage is compared to their contracted throughput. If they’ve used more than their allowance, the customer is emailed a throttling announcement, and approximately 24 hours later, their Committed Information Rate is set to zero, and their Maximum Information Rate (up-to speed) is diminished as in the chart above.
Once a customer’s account is throttled, Customer Care monitors their throughput usage on a weekly basis. Once their usage falls to less than 7/30ths of their monthly allowance, the customer is alerted by email, and their speeds are restored to their contract rates within 24 hours.
If you use twice or more of your throughput allowance for two consecutive billing periods, 150% or more for three consecutive billing periods, or 110% or more for four consecutive billing cycles, you will be required to move to a plan with higher allowable throughput, or switch to metered billing.
Getting Unthrottled
Get your Committed Information Rate and your Maximum Information Rate fully restored by upgrading to a higher throughput service plan.
If you wait, you must have 7 consecutive days of throughput within the weekly average of your monthly service plan allotment before your contract service is restored. If your throughput never falls below the weekly allotment, you stay throttled until it does.
Your monthly allotted throughput is on your original contract. You may monitor your usage daily by reviewing your account frequently at www.skycasters.com/cstinfo (your username and password are on the original paperwork that came with the modem, or you may contact the Customer Care department at any time). Get your daily allotment by dividing your Service Plan throughput by 30. If you get throttled, please review your Internet activities you or your users are performing and determine if these activities are necessary.
If your business relies on satellite Internet, consider upgrading your Service Plan. Just call Customer Care, and we will be happy to help you select the Service Plan that is right for you.
Throughput Robbers.
Just as viruses may disable your computer, and thieves may take your wallet, so too do non-business activities as simple as video downloads or as complex as computer malware easily push the throughput on your system to excessive levels.
Such undetected issues can quickly – even in a day or two – push your satellite Internet account many gigabytes past your monthly throughput. Regardless of which plan you’re on, Option 1 or Option 2, exceeding your monthly throughput can have unforeseen consequences it may be difficult to comprehend.
Throughput theft mitigation strategies include closely monitoring your usage, and becoming familiar with all the security features of your computer system. Wireless routers, if not password protected, are easily hijacked by people sitting in a car in your parking lot, or even visiting your company offices. Your wireless router should be password protected.
Your computer may be similarly hijacked by a type of malware that pumps data back and forth over the Internet. This program may run completely invisibly, but may run day and night. Your satellite Internet ISP’s NOC should be able to identify whether your connection is affected by such a malicious program.
