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Cox traffic management good for VoIP?

January 28, 2009 — 5:05pm ET | By Doug Mohney

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Network libertarians are up in arms again over network management processes. Cable provider Cox Communications has announced it will trial technology to ensure automatically that all "time-sensitive Internet traffic" moves without delay, including voice calls and streaming video. Less time-sensitive traffic, such as file uploads, P2P, and Usenet newsgroups (People still read Usenet?) "may be momentarily delayed," says Cox's Congestion Management FAQ. But even that's too much for some people.

Trials of the new technology will take place in February on Cox's network segments in Kansas and Arkansas. When the network is "congested" - a term undefined by the FAQ - the new technology steps in to slow down what Cox considers non-critical traffic.

Cox goes on to note that the company has taken into account guidance provided by the Federal Communications Commission, and that it has listened to "best practices" discussions in industry and public forums. The company's stated goal - not to be confused with the nefarious knee-jerk flaming that seems to be coming out of all corners - is to ensure that all time-sensitive Internet traffic moves without delay.

Could this technology be good for vanilla VoIP calls and Skype? By default, anything not explicitly defined as non-time sensitive - i.e. bulk transfers of data such as FTP, P2P, software updates, and Usenet - is treated as sensitive, so any sort of voice or video traffic should be unhindered. On the other hand, VoIP and video packets won't get priority over web pages and streaming, so there's no guarantee that they will perform better either.

If the initial trials are successful, Cox plans to roll out the technology to other places on its network.

For more:
- Review Cox's network management statement for yourself.
- Skeptics Eye Cox's New Network Management