TurboCell Data Rate Throttling

Perhaps one of the most innovative features of the TurboCell PC Driver is the ability to restrict the actual data throughput rate of wireless clients. This is done not by changing the transmission bitrate of the radio card, but by flow control of the actual data transmitted across the wireless link.

The TurboCell data rate throttle restricts data flow in both directions, not just on upload or just download. This enables Wireless Internet Service Providers to sell service to their customers at a particular data rate, which is important for allocating bandwidth between many customers.

The data rate throttle is set at the remote client and is enforced by the TurboCell License Number, which prevents users from changing their data rate setting without administrator approval. This gives service providers peace of mind that the customer is receiving the service paid for and nothing more.

It is important to note that this is a maximum data rate setting, and not a guaranteed data rate setting. Actual data throughput for a particular customer depends on thousands of factors, including radio signal strength and interference, current system load, and speed of the connection to the server the customer is connecting (e.g. the network connection to an Internet FTP server).

Planned for release in Q1 2000, administrators will be able to set a user's data rate centrally when authenticating to RADIUS.