Uncaping-read me, worth a look.

Boston

Writen up by razor112, a moderator at speedguide.net

it doesnt deal with the lastest cable interent standard, maybe hubson could fill that bite in for us.

Usually illegal, always unethical and generally a violation of your contract, "uncapping" refers to removing the download or upload bandwidth cap imposed by your cable or xDSL ISP.

Uncapping xDSL.

Three words: "Don't even bother".

xDSL technology doesn't work in a way that permits you to have any settings that diverge in the slightest from what you're supposed to have. Any differences and the system cuts you off. Period. This is because xDSL is shared at the DSLAM and not on the medium. Each line is treated as a individual connection, and configured as such. You get what you pay for. And no more. Cable, on the other hand, works differently.

Uncapping Cable.

Cable is a shared medium, each area it serves is somewhat like a LAN.

This means there's X amount of bandwidth for ALL the users on the node to share, and there's a lot of bandwidth. Now, there is a LOT less upstream bandwidth than down, for a variety of technical reasons I won't go into, just understand it is a necessary part of the design. Some people feel cheated by this and want a way around this inherent limitation. Some other folks just want their share of the bandwidth, YOUR share of that bandwidth, and MY share as well, as much as they can get away with and damn the consequences to everyone else.

Fair?

Not really, but then again we're talking about people you can't see, and apparently it's okay in some folks' mind to steal from others, as long as they can't see them. It's an infantile "nyah-nyah-nyah I can't see you so you don't exist so this has no consequences" type behavior.

My dog is smarter than that. She at least has figured out that even if she can't see something, it might still be there. Apparently though, the "reality is defined only by what I *see*" thing is about as heavy a concept as some folks can handle. Anyways, back to "uncapping".

The Myth.

Unfortunately there is this persistent urban myth that simply changing one or two 'super secret settings' somewhere on some 'hidden interface' will magically turn any cable or xDSL modem into WOPR from Wargames. Giving it the ability to: Control nuclear missiles remotely, Blazing fast downloads and uploads, 2 millisecond pings to the MIR space station, and play a helluva game of Tic-Tac-Toe while it's at it! Now, all good urban myths have some tiny kernel of fact, and this one does as well.

The Origin.

See, in one or two older NON-DOCSIS systems, using a particular brand of modem and one version of firmware it WAS possible to put the modem into a sort of "router bypass" mode, and ignore configuration instructions, by ignoring the CMTS. A clever fellow created a program and a series of instructions to do just that against the European cable provider UPC. That was pre-DOCSIS though.

CMTS? DOCSIS? What are they, and what are the facts?

The Facts.

So you know, DOCSIS is the "Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification". It's a standard that governs how cable modems behave and interoperate. The majority of systems out there, especially from the big cable ISPs, are DOCSIS compliant. The rest are headed that way.

The upside is that if you own your modem, and move to a new locality, if they are DOCSIS compliant you can use the same modem regardless of what kind they normally lease or sell. The downside is that boo-hoo, you can't steal from others. No uncapping.

The reason it doesn't work is that under DOCSIS, the modem goes through a whole series of steps before you are ever allowed on line. The short version is as follows:

After power is applied:

The modem "ranges" for useable download/upload frequencies that no one else is using.
Having found useable frequencies, it contacts the Cable Modem Termination System, (CMTS) sometimes called the headend.
The headend responds with some information, one part of which is the address and name of a configuration file.
The modem goes to this address at the headend and downloads the configuration file which contains IP addresses, cap settings, and a whole host of other signalling and troubleshooting instructions.
The modem applies this file internally.
The modem then authenticates these settings with the CMTS.
NOW it may begin to transmit.
As you can see, it's a complicated process, and until it's complete, you MAY NOT transmit data. Period. It's also periodically refreshed. The modem recieves the "config settings" file every so often from the CMTS and re-applies the settings, making any changes the new settings may dictate. This means that system adjustments can be done on the fly, which is an advantage from a systems management perspective.

There are multiple reasons why it's so complicated. Remember that the process must make sure that:

No one can simply plug a modem in and start using the service.
To make sure the service caps are enforced.
It's also designed to allow for reliability throughout the system so that no singular haywire modem is jamming the entire spectrum and taking down multiple users.
Finally, each modem MAY have it's own file. So that if you buy a work account, you might have more access than your neighbor with the home account. You pay more for that of course. This is a business after all. So that's the brief version of the DOCSIS system, and why uncapping it is a semi-myth.

As to the guy who wrote the "uncapper" program?

Last we heard, he was headed into court on some fairly serious charges. And the firmware has long since been fixed.

The Conclusion.

It would be easier if "uncapping" were simply a myth end to end, then I wouldn't have to explain all this. Point is still the same though. If you have DOCSIS, you get what you pay for. Stop trying to steal from your neighbors, they'll be happier and you'll be happier. And you won't have to go to court on 'theft of service' or possibly Federal equipment tampering charges.

Labyrinth

And of course with xDSL, you cant actaully transmit higher that the speed of the link.

If the telco/isp is capping the link speed to something lower, then its being done in the DSLAM usually, so theres bugger all you can do about it....

Ace

hudson806

it doesnt deal with the lastest cable interent standard, maybe hubson could fill that bite in for us.

WRT uncapping etc., the main difference between the current DOCSIS 1.0 standard and DOCSIS 1.1 will be fuller support for IP QoS (Quality of Service). Using IP QoS, it will be possible to have very tight control over what is offered to the user. For instance, a residential user could get something like 512k max, 64k min with no ability to burst. A business user could get 512k constant (ie, a leased line), bursting to 1Mb. All of which means that uncapping will become even more of a distant memory than it is already.

Of course DOCSIS 1.1 is still some way away.

If the telco/isp is capping the link speed to something lower, then its being done in the DSLAM usually, so theres bugger all you can do about it....

This is extremely unusual these days - the number of telcos doing this could be counted on the fingers of one hand! Most telcos now use DMT compliant kit which allows the bandwidth to be contolled further upstream at the IP layer. Of course, that doesn't make it any easier to uncap...

Labyrinth

Originally posted by hudson806


This is extremely unusual these days - the number of telcos doing this could be counted on the fingers of one hand! Most telcos now use DMT compliant kit which allows the bandwidth to be contolled further upstream at the IP layer. Of course, that doesn't make it any easier to uncap...

True, they are shaping the traffic..... to use IP Qos, all devices downstream must support. it.. The point I was making was that if they choke your dsl connection ( by whatever means ) the actual transmission time ( serialisation delay ) cant actually be changed because that is directly related to the speed of the link. In most instances I have come across, the input rate is choked at the head end, because most providers dont control the customer end device - and hence dont trust it. This is mostly stateside where by law you can provide your own cpe, and also in non telco ISP's

Ace

( Im not disagreeing with you, just that things like Diffserv and TOS settings have to be supported across all the network - not just the head end )