Performance, Commercial Terms and Network Management Disclosures

Performance Characteristics

Description of the Service
Insight provides you with access to the Internet via cable modems linked to your personal computer or home networking device by Ethernet cable and connected to the company's hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) cable network. The modem enables our cable system headend to communicate with your computer, and vice versa. A dedicated portion of Insight's network bandwidth is allocated for upstream and downstream data transmissions to and from the Internet. To provide you with Internet access, Insight utilizes special equipment at its system headend, including a Cable Modem Termination System ("CMTS"), which manages data traffic flowing between customer computers, the cable system and Internet. The CMTS contains "upstream" ports which process data flows from your computer to the Internet, and "downstream" ports which manage information flowing from the Internet down to your home. At the CMTS, upstream data from customer homes is passed to routers connected via fiber optic links to national Internet backbone facilities which transmits the data query to the Web site address queried by the customer. Information from that Web site then traverses in similar fashion back to the CMTS and then downstream to your computer.

Your Internet Service Speeds
Insight provides residential and commercial customers with a variety of high speed Internet plans from which to choose, ranging from our Broadband 10.0 offering (with download speeds up to 10 megabits per second ("Mbps"), and upload speeds up to 1 Mbps) to our Broadband 50.0 offering (with download speeds up to 50 Mbps and upload speeds up to 5 Mbps). These options allow customers to select an offering most suited to their needs – faster speed plans can result in quicker upload or download of files, can reduce delays sometimes encountered when surfing the web, and can facilitate playing games online or other real-time applications. Insight provisions its customers' modems and engineers its network to enable its customers to enjoy the speeds to which they subscribe. However, Insight does not guarantee that a customer will actually achieve those speeds at all times. Insight advertises its speeds as "up to" a specific level based on the tier of service to which a customer subscribes.

The "actual" speed that a customer will experience while using the Internet depends upon a variety of conditions, many of which are beyond the control of an ISP such as Insight. These conditions include:

  1. Performance of a customer's computer, including its age, processing capability, its operating system, the number of applications running simultaneously, and the presence of any adware and viruses.
  2. Type of connection between a customer's computer and modem. For example, wireless connections may be slower than direct connections into a router or modem. Wireless connections also may be subject to greater fluctuations, interference and congestion.
  3. The distance packets travel (round trip time of packets) between a customer's computer and its final destination on the Internet, including the number and quality of the networks of various operators in the transmission path. The Internet is a "network of networks." A customer's connection may traverse the networks of multiple providers before reaching its destination, and the limitations of those networks will most likely affect the overall speed of that Internet connection.
  4. Congestion or high usage levels at the website or destination. If a large number of visitors are accessing a site or particular destination at the same time, your connection will be affected if the site or destination does not have sufficient capacity to serve all of the visitors efficiently.
  5. Gating of speeds or access by the website or destination. In order to control traffic or performance, many websites limit the speeds at which a visitor can download from their site. Those limitations will carry through to a customer's connection.
  6. The performance of the cable modem you have installed. Modem performance may degrade over time, and certain modems are not capable of handling higher speeds.

This is the reason that Insight, like all other ISPs, advertises speeds as "up to" a particular level, and does not guarantee them.

Speed Tests
The average upload speed, download speed and mean roundtrip latency for Insight Broadband 10.0 were measured in speed tests supervised by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The entire performance test can be reviewed by clicking http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0802/DOC-308828A1.pdf and www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america#data. Insight's results from the FCC tests are listed below. The FCC did not measure Broadband 20.0, Broadband 30.0, and Broadband 50.0 services.

The 24-hour mean Monday-Sunday average speeds for Broadband 10.0 are summarized in the table below:

The peak hour (between 7:00 AM and 11:00 PM) results for Insight Broadband 10.0 are summarized in the table below:

1/     Latency is the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets on a network. Latency is primarily a function of the distance between two points of transmission, but also can be affected by the quality of the network or networks used in transmission. Latency is typically measured in milliseconds, and generally has no significant impact on typical everyday Internet usage.

Insight offers its customers the ability to test the speeds that they are receiving on Insight's network - from the customer's computer to a test site on Insight's network. Simply go to http://www.insightbb.com/speedtest/default.aspx to test your connection. This site also provides links to useful information related to your Internet service. These tests are heavily dependent on a customer's home network configuration, modem, computers, personal firewalls, security software and work VPN configurations, and therefore do not reflect the performance of the Insight network only.

Commerical Terms

Pricing
Information on pricing (including options based on various speed levels available to customers) and additional offerings available to Insight Broadband customers may be obtained by clicking here: www.myinsight.com/selectmyoptions.aspx. There are no usage-based fees for Insight high-speed Internet customers. An early termination fee would apply for certain offers, with the amount of the fee reduced for each complete month that the account balance has been timely paid.

Information on terms of service is available here: www.insightbb.com/terms_conditions/default.aspx#service_agreement.

Privacy Policy
When you sign-up for, register or use Insight Broadband, we collect certain information to conduct our daily business with you. We protect this information in accordance with the terms of the Insight Customer Privacy Policy which you may review by clicking here: www.myinsight.com/CustomerPrivacy.asp.

Redress Options
If you have any question or complaints regarding these disclosures or Insight Broadband, you may contact us by phone. Local Customer Service contact numbers can be found using the zip code look-up at www.myinsight.com/ZipCodeLookup.asp.

Network Management

The Internet is changing all of our lives and we want our customers to enjoy all that it has to offer - from up-to-date news and information, online shopping, communications tools, movies, streaming video, music, gaming and an array of online services that help us organize our digital assets. For more than a decade, Insight has been at the forefront of bringing the Internet into our customers’ homes and has invested in a high-capacity advanced network that is fast, safe, reliable and affordable. Like any other Internet service provider, our network management practices include growing, upgrading and optimizing the network and seeking to remove spam, viruses and malicious content.

Why does Insight manage its network?
Insight manages its network with one goal: to deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers. All Internet service providers need to manage their networks in some fashion and Insight is no different. In fact, many of them use the same or similar tools that Insight does. If we didn't take steps to manage our network, our customers would face greater exposure to the negative effects of spam, viruses, security attacks, and other risks and degradations of the service. By engaging in reasonable and responsible network management, Insight can deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.
How does Insight manage its network?
Insight uses various tools and techniques to manage its network, deliver its service, and ensure compliance with the Broadband Service Agreement available at www.insightbb.com/terms_conditions/default.aspx#service_agreement. These tools and techniques are dynamic, like the network and its usage, and can and do change frequently. For example, these network management activities may include identifying spam and preventing its delivery to customer email accounts, detecting malicious Internet traffic and preventing the distribution of viruses or other harmful code or content and using other tools and techniques that Insight may be required to implement in order to meet its goal of delivering the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.

Insight does not employ network management techniques that manage congestion by targeting specific protocols, applications, or categories of traffic.
Does network management change over time?
Yes. The Internet is highly dynamic. As the Internet and related technologies continue to evolve and advance, Insight's network management tools will evolve and keep pace so that we can strive to deliver an excellent, reliable, and safe online experience to all of our customers. For example, in some communities, Insight will soon begin testing a network management tool designed to alleviate the affects of network congestion. While congestion is not the normal state of any network, when it happens, just like being stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, it can be frustrating. So, Insight is exploring ways to manage congestion to minimize the impact of temporary broadband traffic jams.

The new tool we currently are exploring does not manage congestion based on the online activities, protocols or applications a customer uses. Instead, it would focus only on the heaviest users in real time. If a certain area of the network nears a state of congestion, by employing this technique Insight would seek to ensure that all customers have a fair share of access to the network. This approach would identify which customer accounts are using the greatest amounts of bandwidth and their Internet traffic would be temporarily managed until the period of congestion passes. Customers would still be able to do anything they want to online, and many activities would be unaffected, but they could experience things such as: longer times to download or upload files, surfing the Web may seem somewhat slower, and playing games online or other real-time applications may seem somewhat sluggish. The effect of this new technique would be temporary, and the effect would be dynamic based on prevailing network conditions.

While this new technique would differ from our current practice of not actively managing network congestion, it is similar in this respect - very few customers should be impacted or notice a significant difference. In fact, we expect the new technique would actually help ensure that all customers get their fair share of bandwidth.

At Insight, we are always actively reviewing and refining our network management tools and techniques. We will provide updates here and in other appropriate locations if we make important or significant changes to our network management techniques. Accordingly, these disclosures are subject to change at any time and without notice. Further, they are not intended to be treated as a contractual obligation between Insight and its customers.
Does Insight currently manage congestion by targeting peer-to-peer ("P2P") or other applications like BitTorrent, Gnutella, or others?
No, we do not do that today and have no plans to utilize network management tools that would address congestion in such a fashion thereby allowing traffic to continue to be managed in a "protocol-agnostic" manner, which means that the system would not manage congestion based on the applications being used by customers. However, Insight may enter into arrangements to provide Internet service to third party establishments (such as educational institutions, coffee shops, bookstores, hotels or libraries) who then may offer such service to their students, customers, guests or others. Nothing herein is intended to address network management practices, performance characteristics or commercial terms that may be adopted by such third party premises operators in connection with the provision of Internet access service to others.
Does Insight Phone 2.0 affect the speed of my Internet service in any way?
Insight Phone 2.0 receives quality of service treatment due primarily to latency sensitivity of the service, but has no material impact on the overall availability of broadband capacity.
Does Insight discriminate against particular types of online content?
No. Insight takes a content neutral approach to management of its network. Insight provides its customers with full access to all the lawful content, services and applications that the Internet has to offer. However, we are committed to the goal of protecting customers from spam, phishing and other unwanted or harmful online content and activities. Insight uses industry standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies to help it meet this customer commitment. In cases where these tools and policies identify certain online content as harmful and unwanted, such as spam or phishing Web sites, this content is usually prevented from reaching customers. In other cases, these tools and policies may permit customers to identify certain content that is not clearly harmful or unwanted, such as bulk email or Web sites with questionable security ratings, and enable those customers to inspect the content further if they want to do so.
Does Insight employ network security practices?
Yes. Insight employs a number of practices to help prevent unwanted communications such as spam as well as to protect the security of our customers and network. Insight currently offers its customers, at no additional cost, security software from a third-party which provides certain protection against viruses, spam, inappropriate content, lost files and data corruption. Insight limits the number of SMTP and DHCP transactions per second (at levels far above 'normal' rates) that customers can send to Insight's servers in order to protect them against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. We do not disclose the exact rate limits in order to maintain the effectiveness of these measures, which ensure that these critical services are available for all of our customers. In order to further protect our customers, Insight also manages the volume and speed of mass email communications in a variety of ways and blocks ports as needed to deter exploitation by spammers, botnets and purveyors of malware.
Does Insight have rules regarding the attachment of devices to its network by customers?
Insight does not restrict devices that can be connected to its network, other than that: 1) customers may not connect devices that cause harm to the network and 2) cable modems that are used in connection with Phone service from Insight must be provided by Insight. Cable modems that are used for Broadband service only may be either provided by Insight or by the customer. Cable modem devices provided by Insight must pass CableLabs certification, UL certification, FCC certification, and Insight device testing covering matters such as DOCSIS performance and integration with Insight's network and systems.
How can I contact Insight if I have any questions about network management?
Any questions about Insight service including network management can be addressed by contacting Insight Customer Service. Local Customer Service contact numbers can be found using the zip code look up at http://www.myinsight.com/ZipCodeLookup.asp.
Why does Insight manage its network? To top of page Insight manages its network with one goal: to deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers. All Internet service providers need to manage their networks in some fashion and Insight is no different. In fact, many of them use the same or similar tools that Insight does. If we didn't take steps to manage our network, our customers would face greater exposure to the negative effects of spam, viruses, security attacks, and other risks and degradations of the service. By engaging in reasonable and responsible network management, Insight can deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers. How does Insight manage its network? To top of page Insight uses various tools and techniques to manage its network, deliver its service, and ensure compliance with the Broadband Service Agreement available at www.insightbb.com/terms_conditions/default.aspx#service_agreement. These tools and techniques are dynamic, like the network and its usage, and can and do change frequently. For example, these network management activities may include identifying spam and preventing its delivery to customer email accounts, detecting malicious Internet traffic and preventing the distribution of viruses or other harmful code or content and using other tools and techniques that Insight may be required to implement in order to meet its goal of delivering the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.

Insight does not employ network management techniques that manage congestion by targeting specific protocols, applications, or categories of traffic.

Does network management change over time? To top of page Yes. The Internet is highly dynamic. As the Internet and related technologies continue to evolve and advance, Insight's network management tools will evolve and keep pace so that we can strive to deliver an excellent, reliable, and safe online experience to all of our customers. For example, in some communities, Insight will soon begin testing a network management tool designed to alleviate the affects of network congestion. While congestion is not the normal state of any network, when it happens, just like being stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, it can be frustrating. So, Insight is exploring ways to manage congestion to minimize the impact of temporary broadband traffic jams.

The new tool we currently are exploring does not manage congestion based on the online activities, protocols or applications a customer uses. Instead, it would focus only on the heaviest users in real time. If a certain area of the network nears a state of congestion, by employing this technique Insight would seek to ensure that all customers have a fair share of access to the network. This approach would identify which customer accounts are using the greatest amounts of bandwidth and their Internet traffic would be temporarily managed until the period of congestion passes. Customers would still be able to do anything they want to online, and many activities would be unaffected, but they could experience things such as: longer times to download or upload files, surfing the Web may seem somewhat slower, and playing games online or other real-time applications may seem somewhat sluggish. The effect of this new technique would be temporary, and the effect would be dynamic based on prevailing network conditions.

While this new technique would differ from our current practice of not actively managing network congestion, it is similar in this respect - very few customers should be impacted or notice a significant difference. In fact, we expect the new technique would actually help ensure that all customers get their fair share of bandwidth.

At Insight, we are always actively reviewing and refining our network management tools and techniques. We will provide updates here and in other appropriate locations if we make important or significant changes to our network management techniques. Accordingly, these disclosures are subject to change at any time and without notice. Further, they are not intended to be treated as a contractual obligation between Insight and its customers.

Does Insight currently manage congestion by targeting peer-to-peer ("P2P") or other applications like BitTorrent, Gnutella, or others? To top of page No, we do not do that today and have no plans to utilize network management tools that would address congestion in such a fashion thereby allowing traffic to continue to be managed in a "protocol-agnostic" manner, which means that the system would not manage congestion based on the applications being used by customers. However, Insight may enter into arrangements to provide Internet service to third party establishments (such as educational institutions, coffee shops, bookstores, hotels or libraries) who then may offer such service to their students, customers, guests or others. Nothing herein is intended to address network management practices, performance characteristics or commercial terms that may be adopted by such third party premises operators in connection with the provision of Internet access service to others. Does Insight Phone 2.0 affect the speed of my Internet service in any way? To top of page Insight Phone 2.0 receives quality of service treatment due primarily to latency sensitivity of the service, but has no material impact on the overall availability of broadband capacity. Does Insight discriminate against particular types of online content? To top of page No. Insight takes a content neutral approach to management of its network. Insight provides its customers with full access to all the lawful content, services and applications that the Internet has to offer. However, we are committed to the goal of protecting customers from spam, phishing and other unwanted or harmful online content and activities. Insight uses industry standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies to help it meet this customer commitment. In cases where these tools and policies identify certain online content as harmful and unwanted, such as spam or phishing Web sites, this content is usually prevented from reaching customers. In other cases, these tools and policies may permit customers to identify certain content that is not clearly harmful or unwanted, such as bulk email or Web sites with questionable security ratings, and enable those customers to inspect the content further if they want to do so. Does Insight employ network security practices? To top of page Yes. Insight employs a number of practices to help prevent unwanted communications such as spam as well as to protect the security of our customers and network. Insight currently offers its customers, at no additional cost, security software from a third-party which provides certain protection against viruses, spam, inappropriate content, lost files and data corruption. Insight limits the number of SMTP and DHCP transactions per second (at levels far above 'normal' rates) that customers can send to Insight's servers in order to protect them against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. We do not disclose the exact rate limits in order to maintain the effectiveness of these measures, which ensure that these critical services are available for all of our customers. In order to further protect our customers, Insight also manages the volume and speed of mass email communications in a variety of ways and blocks ports as needed to deter exploitation by spammers, botnets and purveyors of malware. Does Insight have rules regarding the attachment of devices to its network by customers? To top of page Insight does not restrict devices that can be connected to its network, other than that: 1) customers may not connect devices that cause harm to the network and 2) cable modems that are used in connection with Phone service from Insight must be provided by Insight. Cable modems that are used for Broadband service only may be either provided by Insight or by the customer. Cable modem devices provided by Insight must pass CableLabs certification, UL certification, FCC certification, and Insight device testing covering matters such as DOCSIS performance and integration with Insight's network and systems. How can I contact Insight if I have any questions about network management? To top of page Any questions about Insight service including network management can be addressed by contacting Insight Customer Service. Local Customer Service contact numbers can be found using the zip code look up at http://www.myinsight.com/ZipCodeLookup.asp.

November 18, 2011