Quantifying the Shift in Network Usage Upon Bandwidth Upgrade

Traffic flow classification is an important enabler in network design, capacity planning, identification of user requirements and possible tracking of user population growth based on network usage. In this paper, results from the Internet traffic flow characterization in 1 Mbps community network for a three-week snapshot representing three months of study show that during peak traffic, the network is overwhelmed and service degradation occurs. When the network is upgraded to 10 Mbps the network bandwidth utilization immediately increases dramatically to close in on the new capacity with 20% left unused during peak traffic. The situation gets worse one month later where the network utilization is only 3% away from the maximum capacity. Traffic categorization show that the applications crossing the network are legitimate and acceptable. Since 10 Mbps bandwidth is the capacity that is sustainable for the community and supported by existing technology, bandwidth management is essential to ensure the network remains usable and continues to provide acceptable user experience.