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Test Your ISP

Test Your ISP

In May 2007, Comcast began engaging in protocol-specific interference with the activities of its subscribers. When confronted by users and by EFF, Comcast responded with denials and answers that told less than the whole story. In October 2007, however, after independent testing by the Associated Press and EFF, it became clear that Comcast was, in fact, interfering with BitTorrent, Gnutella, and potentially other common file sharing protocols employed by millions of Internet users. In specific, Comcast was injecting forged RST packets into TCP communications, in an effort to disrupt certain protocols commonly used for file-sharing. The interference efforts were triggered by the protocol that the subscriber used, not by the number of connections made or amount of bandwidth used by the subscriber.

After a wave of public outcry, lawsuits, and an FCC proceeding, Comcast eventually anounced that it was planning to phase out discrimination against P2P protocols. We look forward to seeing them do that.

Meanwhile, the Comcast affair inspired us to launch our Test Your ISP project. Our aim is to ensure that the Internet community has the tools and organization to quickly recognize when ISPs engage in interference or protocol discrimination in the future. At a minimum, consumers deserve a complete description of what they are getting when they buy "unlimited Internet access" from an ISP. Only if they know what is going on and who is to blame for deliberate interference can consumes make informed choices about which ISP to prefer (to the extent they have choices among residential broadband providers) or what counter-measures they might employ. Policy-makers, as well, need to understand what is actually being done by ISPs in order to pierce the evasive and ambiguous rhetoric employed by some ISPs to describe their interference activities. Accordingly, EFF is developing information and software tools intended to help subscribers test their own broadband connections. We are also collecting information about software and tests being developed by other groups around the world. While these tests initially will require a relatively high degree of technical knowledge, we hope that we will be able to develop tools that will bring these testing efforts within reach of more subscribers. This web page will collect EFF's white papers, software tools, blog entries, and other materials relating to this ongoing project. We are also maintaining a list of known ISP testing projects: Known ISP Testing Software

Tool	Active / Passive	# Participants per Test	Platform	Protocols	Notes
Gemini	Active(?)	Bilateral	Bootable CD	?	Uses pcapdiff
Glasnost	Active	1.5 sided	Java applet	BitTorrent
ICSI Netalyzr	Active	1.5 sided	Java applet + some javascript	Firewall characteristics, HTTP proxies, DNS environment
ICSI IDS	Passive	0 sided (on the network)	IDS	Forged RSTs	Not code users can run
Google/New America MeasurementLab	Active	2 sided	PlanetLab (server), Any (client)	Any	A server platform for others' active testing software
NDT	Active	1.5 sided	Java applet / native app	TCP performance	A sophisticated speed test
Network Neutrality Check	Active	1.5 sided	Java applet	No real tests yet	Real tests forthcoming here ; discussion here
NNMA	Passive	Unilateral	(currently) Windows app	Any
pcapdiff / tpcat	Either	Bilateral	Python app	Any	A tool to make manual tests easier. EFF is no longer working on pcapdiff, but development continues with the tpcat project.
Switzerland	Passive	Multilateral	Portable Python app	Any	Sneak preview release just spots forged/modified packets
Web Tripwires	Passive	1.5 sided	Javascript embed	HTTP	Must be deployed by webmasters

EFF's Test Your ISP Software EFF has released Version Zero of Switzerland, our sophisticated ISP testing software. Switzerland uses a semi-P2P, server-and-many-clients architecture to detect modified or spoofed traffic between multiple clients. You can learn more about Switzerland here. The Test Your ISP project previously released a much simpler piece of software called pcapdiff. Pcapdiff is a simple command line tool that lets you compare "pcap" packet captures from either end of an Internet communication; it reports when packets are dropped and spoofed between the endpoints ("pcap" packet captures can be recorded with standard packet sniffing tools like tcpdump and wireshark). Running tests with pcapdiff is a technically involved process; we have a whitepaper outlining the steps involved.

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EFF Related Content: Test Your ISP

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Last week, the FCC announced the "FCC Open Internet Apps Challenge," a contest to attract software that helps ordinary users measure whether their Internet services — both mobile broadband and traditional "fixed" broadband — are consistent with open Internet principles. The FCC is also asking for submissions of "research... ●Read more about FCC Contest Seeks More Data for a Better Net Neutrality

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Court Rejects FCC Authority Over the Internet

In a ruling that imposes important limits on the FCC's authority to regulate the Internet, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today overturned the FCC ruling against Comcast for interfering with the BitTorrent traffic of its subscribers. The court found that the Commission... ●Read more about Court Rejects FCC Authority Over the Internet

Deeplinks Blog by Richard Esguerra | January 27, 2010

FCC's Net Neutrality Plan Would Permit Blocking of BitTorrent

Remember what put the debate over net neutrality into high gear? In 2007, EFF and the Associated Press confirmed suspicions that Comcast was clandestinely blocking BitTorrent traffic. It was one of the first clear demonstrations that ISPs are technologically capable of interfering with your Internet connection, and that they... ●Read more about FCC's Net Neutrality Plan Would Permit Blocking of BitTorrent

Deeplinks Blog byCorynne McSherry | October 21, 2009

Is Net Neutrality a FCC Trojan Horse?

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Deeplinks Blog byPeter Eckersley | January 28, 2009

Laboratories and Roadmaps for Network Testing

Today, the New America Foundation, PlanetLab and Google announced the launch of the Measurement Lab project, an initiative to provide server resources for researchers interested in network neutrality and performance testing. This is good news for the community of academics and activists who are trying to map, measure and... ●Read more about Laboratories and Roadmaps for Network Testing

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