When is the data usage bandwidth limit/throttling applied? – SORACOM Support

Soracom strives to maintain a consistently high level of availability of its cellular network services for all customers, and regularly upgrades and optimizes underlying networking equipment in order to stay ahead of increasing demand. However, when some customers utilize an abnormally large volume of data within a short time frame, this may create network congestion and temporarily decrease the speed or responsiveness for other customers.

In order to maintain a stable network environment that all customers can confidently use, when Soracom detects that network congestion may occur, we will implement a data usage bandwidth control (limit/throttling) to ensure the quality of the entire network. Such controls are temporarily enforced, and subsequently lifted as soon as the congestion situation has been alleviated. The specific controls are as follows:

Bandwidth control applies to all subscriptions offered by Soracom.
Bandwidth control is carried out by a method of control so that data bandwidth usage can be leveled between multiple customers using the same equipment. Specifically, it will be carried out in the following order.

In situations where high data usage by specific customers is affecting the reliability of data services for other customers, the data usage bandwidth of the high data usage customers is restricted relative to the other customers. Data usage is calculated according to the total amount of bandwidth consumed by each customer (according to their Operator ID), irrespective of the number of subscriptions (SIMs) belonging to the customer, and bandwidth restrictions may be applied to multiple customers at the same time.
For customers who are temporarily subject to data usage bandwidth restrictions, the bandwidth limit is applied to each subscription (SIM) individually, in order of the subscription (SIM) consuming the most traffic.

Even when bandwidth restrictions are enforced, a certain amount of bandwidth is allocated for each customer, such that customers subject to temporary bandwidth controls are still able to utilize data services. In addition, there is no minimum bandwidth requirement for a subscription (SIM) to establish a connection with the network, meaning that subscriptions (SIMs) will not be forcibly disconnected or barred from reconnecting during the period of enforcement.

Soracom currently does not implement bandwidth control such as pacing or throttling targeting specific applications or port numbers, or irreversible data compression.

As a general rule, bandwidth control is carried out as described above, but if Soracom determines that its network will be affected due to improper network behavior or significant amounts of burst data traffic, we reserve the right to enforce further controls or forcibly disconnect the data sessions.

In addition to bandwidth control applied by Soracom, local mobile network operators may apply their own bandwidth controls. Please also note that even under normal circumstances , the real-world available bandwidth can vary significantly due to antenna size or position, signal quality, nearby interference, and other usage conditions.

If you'd like to get any more information about how we apply bandwidth control, you can refer to the Key Facts Indicator.

To learn more about how to design and operate your fleet to maximize the performance and reliability of each device, we welcome you to consult our SORACOM Air for Cellular Best Practice Guide. If you would like additional guidance, please feel free to contact us and request a consultation with our Solutions Architect team.

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