Around the world, ISPs have discovered that Bit Torrent is affecting their networks and have started restricting traffic, especially during peak hours. What this means for the average torrent user is that downloads could be slow or worse, completely stop during peak hours. It also means that you may not be able to watch your favorite TV show whenever you want. There is an alternative: watching television online through streaming technology.
What is shaping, exactly?
Shaping, simply put, is the restriction of certain traffic. This can happen during peak hours or all the time. How ISPs do this is up to their technical staff, but they target the elements that are putting the most load on their network, and Bit Torrent is at the top of the list today as it is putting the higher load on the networks. As an example, Comcast in the United States still allows torrent users to download shows, but does not allow seeding. While Atlantic Broadband restricts Bit Torrent bandwidth, effectively slowing down downloads. They are within their right to do this, because they have to serve all users and during peak periods especially, they could restrict certain traffic.
How do you move shaping?
There are actually a couple of ways to avoid training. The first way is to encrypt your torrent to fool the ISP. You have to have the clue to do this, but it is possible. The other way is to find an alternative way to get the data to your computer.
Streaming and why ISPs see it differently.
Without being too technical, to an ISP, streaming video looks like normal traffic. The computer language it uses, known as Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), is very similar to the HTTP protocol that most websites use in one way or another. Because it is so similar, they don’t focus on it like they do with Bit Torrent. For all intensive purposes, the stream is invisible to ISPs and therefore goes unnoticed.
What are the disadvantages?
There are some downsides to using streaming, just like with any other technology. During peak periods, at the same time that ISPs are madly shaping their traffic, the image may be choppy or of lower quality. During off-peak periods, this shouldn’t be a problem.
How can I use streaming to watch TV online?
There are two main ways to use streaming to watch a TV show online. The first is through the network website, if you are in the program’s home country. The other way is to use a client, which is actually very similar to using a client to download via Bit Torrent. Once the customer is at their computer, they can choose the channel they want to watch. The great advantage of going with a client is that you can watch TV shows online in real time and you are not restricted to the country of origin. Be careful though, there are two types of clients, the type uses torrenting methods and is known as Peer to Peer TV or P2PTV, and the other is a streaming client. The one you are looking for is the last one, because it is the one that moves giving shape.
Streaming is probably the best way to shape ISPs if you want to watch TV online. If your ISP restricts traffic, consider this alternative and I’m sure you’ll be back to watching the TV shows you want to watch soon.