Cox agent confirms that they do throttle speeds

Don't waste your time with support. They won't do sh*t except schedule a tech to come out, then they never show up.
I've been having the same issues for over 3 weeks now. Every night starting around 4:30-5:00 my internet slows down to nothing.

Here's my last speed test and it's like this every night.

I'm just collecting evidence to file small claims against them. It's obvious they have screwed something up in the past month and aren't trying to help customers out.

Good luck with your issues.

The question I would have asked is "how" and then see them stammer. Sounds like a scare tactic to get you to upgrade tiers. If it was throttling, wouldn't the speed be reset to normal every month when your bandwidth cap is reset? 

That's not entirely true.  It would make SENSE to throttle only during the period when you've gone over your data cap and then restore it to normal on the beginning of your new cycle, but that doesn't always happen.  I've worked with a couple of ISPs (not going to name any names) with throttling policies and it was pretty normal for customers speed to be throttled even after the cycle of excessive usage.  I think that was due to unsophisticated software.

But anyway, I did ask him how that was possible when it's not written in Cox's policy and he quoted a portion of the policy which stated "If your data usage exceeds the amount included in your Internet package, Cox may suspend the Service or require you to upgrade the Service to a higher package and/or pay additional fees" to which I retorted suspension and throttling are two completely different things.  I decided to leave it there because he pretty much already gave me the answer to my question and there was point in nitpicking the policy quote.

My speeds look like they've normalized for now (I started my new cycle about a week ago), they'll most likely drop down later today though.  My main concern isn't the fact that I'm being throttled but that Cox's written policies don't seem to coincide with applied practices.  If it was in the policy from the start then I would have accepted it and moved on, and wouldn't have gone through hours of troubleshooting my connection.  It would be nice if a moderator could give their opinion on what Cox's stance on throttling is.

Did you happen to get any names? Can a moderator confirm?

Hi Everyone, 

Cox does not shape or throttle internet traffic. If you'd like to take a closer look at our Acceptable Use Policy you can do so here http://www.cox.com/aboutus/policies.cox#acu

  For any questions regarding this AUP, complaints of violations, or cancellation notices, please email abuse@cox.net

 My internet is down every night and they can't find anything wrong with my connection, so it's obvious that they are throttling my speeds.

I've been lied to by customer service 3 times in the past 2 phone calls with them and yet you have the nerve to basically call the OP a lier? 

*edited by moderator

If this isn't throttling then wtf is wrong with your service? Quit spreading lies!

jayw said:
the nerve to basically call the OP a lier? 

Not a liar, but given misinformation for bad intent. Don't get me wrong, I am not letting Cox off the hook here. Thats why I wanted you to get names. If its not misinformation then it's front page news. Moderator confirmed Cox does not throttle, and since that seems to fit their ToS and observed practices, I am likly to believe them. The question is why were you told something opposite when you called in?

I'm not particularly surprised to hear this.  I completely agree with you that Cox should change their T&C if this is authorized throttling.  It seems only fair.

What does surprise me is that they didn't simply hit you up for more money when you "exceeded your cap".  Isn't that what the cell providers do?

As a side note to Jayw, sometimes slow speeds aren't directly due to Cox's actions - we're on a cable network and we share bandwidth, so all your neighbors traffic gets lumped with yours at some point (tech savvy folks feel free to explain this), so when we're all streaming video at night our individual speeds are gonna fall.  

One thing that keeps me from upgrading to faster service is the fact that many/most of the sites I hit aren't able to return content to me at 50+ Mbps, so what's the point?

They do throttle but its only for excessive usage, better than charging overages. I know it was cool there was a time when data was unlimited but in these days of high speeds and people taking advantage of such, e.g. too much torrenting, etc they kind of have to. I know the AUP and TOS will say they do not but I'm a former employee from the resi tech support call center division in Vegas as well as having spoken to many Field Supervisors in the field that would tell me they would throttle excessive usage. If they didn't throttle they would send cease and desist letters to peoples address (AUP). I would even see config files on peoples accts flagged for excessive usage that were forced on for the duration of the overage. They have no data configs they can use for the MTAs that allow just a few mbps for the QoS for the phone only VOIP home phone service to work or if someone goes on seasonal status. They can and do throttle when necessary or disco your service entirely it literally is labeled nodata but its really "lowdata". But I mean you gotta be a serious burden on the network for something to happen. One way it happens is unsecure wifi and viruses. Or crazy torrenting. I don't see them jump on people when they go over the cap its more like excessively going over the cap constant month after month, etc. Sometimes I know people buy the higher speed plan packages just cause they need to use more data or go with Cox Business. They might not need the higher speeds but they need more data allowance. Pretty much at that point they have Hi Cap Fiber solutions you can look into on the CB end coming to Resi shortly. But people on the phone would always say "More money less speed" but I'm like you get like 24/7 on site technical service with CB where Resi its just 8-7 or w/e ur market allows and availability. Static IPs, etc. Back to the Throttling topic yep shh they do not Throttle according to the ToS.