Wired/Wireless Network Bandwidth Usage Guideline

Network Bandwidth Policy

The university data network is a shared resource for faculty, staff and student use at Carnegie Mellon University. Because of its shared nature, if this resource is abused, all others attempting to use the network may experience poor performance.

Monitoring of Bandwidth

Network bandwidth is used when a person uploads or downloads data to or from the Internet. Computing Services monitors university data network and Internet bandwidth consumption to make sure that this shared resource is not abused.

If we detect a device consuming an abnormally large amount of data, the university owner of the device will be contacted for additional information. If the device has a legitimate need to transfer large amounts of data, we will work with the owner to make sure that this is done in a way that minimizes the impact on the network and others in our community.

If a large data transfer is anticipated for legitimate university purposes, please contact the Computing Services Help Center so that we can work with you in advance to make sure it is done in a way that minimizes impact to the entire community.

In cases where a user has been asked to lower bandwidth use, and does not do so, Computing Services may revoke access to the network and initiate appropriate disciplinary procedures against the user.

Refer to the Privileges and Responsibilities section of the Carnegie Mellon University Computing Policy for more information.