Skip to Content

Bandwidth Restrictions

Regardless of the amount of bandwidth that users consume, all Federal, State, and University policies regarding copyright apply when using the network.

(Bandwidth usage restrictions only apply to Residential Network connections. Staff and faculty computers that abuse our bandwidth will be limited on a case-by-case basis, usually after much less than 10 GB.)

Users of the residential network are limited to 10 GB of Internet usage per 7 consecutive days (uploads and downloads combined) per NetID. Multiple computers registered to a single person all count towards the single 10 GB limit per NetID. Each time users exceed this limit their connection to the Internet will be speed restricted. The restriction may cause applications that require a lot of network resources to work poorly or not at all. When this restriction is triggered, users will be sent a warning to their University email address. If users exceed this limit three times over the course of one semester they may be restricted for the remainder of the semester, and they may be referred to the Dean of Student's Office for possible disciplinary action. If users think they may exceed this limit due to legitimate academic pursuits, they must apply for a waiver by contacting security@uconn.edu.

About the Bandwidth restrictions

"Bandwidth" is the term that is used to measure how much Internet traffic a computer or program consumes. Bandwidth is measured like space on a hard drive is measured - in bytes, not bits like network speed is measured. Every week residential network connections are allowed a total of 10 gigabytes (10 GB) of incoming and outgoing network traffic on our Internet connection (on-campus traffic is not counted). This means that if you upload 7 GB of files to the Internet you will be able to download less than 3 GB of files to your computer, or you will be over your limit. If you go over your 10 GB limit in any 7-day period, your connection will be speed restricted. This restriction will be in place for approximately 7 days. Be sure to immediately decrease your usage when this happens, or else when your connection gets returned to normal speed you may quickly exceed your limit again and get restricted for another 7 days. If you go over the limit three times in one semester, your connection may be restricted for the rest of the semester and you may be referred to the Dean of Student's Office for possible disciplinary action.

Common Reasons for Exceeding Your Limit

Many users exceed their bandwidth limit by using peer-to-peer (P2P) applications. For example, a user uses BitTorrent to download the Linux Operating System and forgets to close the application which downloaded it, causing the file to be shared (uploaded) to the Internet using up bandwidth. Users that use P2P applications should take extra precautions to make sure that their use will not cause them to exceed the bandwidth limit.
Closing these applications all of the way can be tricky. Most of them do not close fully when you click on the close box, they only minimize themselves and hide in your system tray. To see if an application is fully closed, look by the clock and hover over each of the small icons there. If you see an icon you know is a P2P application, or the name of a P2P application you use appears over one of those icons, right-click on the icon and select "Close" or "Exit". This will shut the application off and stop it from uploading or downloading files.

How to Use the Host Traffic Tool

The "IP Audit - Host Traffic" report is a tool that keeps track of all of the Internet traffic that comes in and out of your computer (it does not count any on-campus traffic). The first section tells you how much you have used in the last 7 days, and how much more bandwidth you can use before you exceed the limit. It also tells you whether or not your connection is currently being restricted, and when it first got restricted. If you are currently being restricted, your connection should be returned to normal speed 7 days after the date shown. The next section shows you how much bandwidth you have used in the last 7 days, and it splits it up so you can see incoming traffic, outgoing traffic, and your total traffic. The last section shows you a history of how much bandwidth you have used in the past, by calendar week, for the last four weeks.
If you have any questions about the bandwidth restrictions, why you might have exceeded your limit, or how to read the Host Traffic tool, send an email to security@uconn.edu.

Updated: 10/11/2006