Eli5:How do ISP’s control different data rate speeds. Is there a particular switch at their end to cater to different customers with different subscription rates?
In: Technology
Pretty much, yeah. Most modern switches and routers can rate limit – set a ceiling on how fast in/out bound traffic can go. Based on your specific account, they adjust the rate limit on your connection.
Now, there are caps on what some lines can physically do – DSL is never going to be as fast as fiber – but most of the time, it is artificial.
Mostly it’s handled by your router/modem. The device communicates at startup with your ISP and asks for configuration info. Part of that is speed up and down. Then it limits the data sent and received.
Fiber works a bit different. It’s your ONT (the box in your garage or on the side of your house) that does the speed limiting.
The kind of network routers they are using at their end (probably in the first exchange you connect to but potentially anywhere along the line) are able to limit traffic on a per port basis (Even something like [this](https://mikrotik.com/product/CRS326-24G-2SplusRM) which is probably a few steps below what they would use can limit bandwidth individually on each port)
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