I just finsihed another 'session' with my ISP. Several years ago they turned on the packet shaping features of the CISCO NBAR routers they were using, and then later tried using a SANDVINE hardware/software bandwidth control .

Both cases disrupted uploads (not just throttled, as the screenshots of the upload statistics showed), and took quite a while to resolve. Search my username for SANDVINE for more of the details.

The help desk people were unaware what the internet admins were doing. In fact, the guys were ready to order my cable dug up and replaced.

The solution, once other members of this forum helped identify the problem, was to sign up for a free trial with the competing telco. I was thus able to show screenshots of the uploads being disrupted by the cableco, but flowing smoothly through the telco.

Bottom line? The help desk had the internet admins exempt my IP from the packet shaping. This is a problem for the internet admins, since if my IP changes or their system needs rebooting, they are reluctant to manually configure my IP. Each time I've needed the change (about 4 times, IIRC), it's taken a weekend to get back to uploads.

However, I've been with them for well over a decade, and they are a co-op which I support, so I continue to work with them. Plus, it's been fun trying out the competition for free