CPC H04L 41/0896 (2013.01) [G06F 3/04847 (2013.01); H04L 41/0893 (2013.01); H04L 47/20 (2013.01); H04L 47/828 (2013.01); H04W 8/04 (2013.01)] | 17 Claims |
1. A method of managing bandwidth, comprising:
receiving user-selected connection parameters associated with a subscriber device associated with a user;
associating, using a computer processor, a network identifier of the subscriber device with a group bandwidth policy associated with the user, based on the user-selected connection parameters, wherein the group bandwidth policy is associated with at least one other subscriber device associated with the user;
storing, in computer-readable storage media, parameters associated with the group bandwidth policy, in association with the network identifier of the subscriber device;
receiving, at a gateway device, network communication data from the subscriber device;
determining the group bandwidth policy associated with the subscriber device, wherein the group bandwidth policy indicates a maximum bandwidth to be shared by multiple subscriber devices associated with the user;
determining, based at least in part on the maximum bandwidth and a bandwidth usage by the at least one other subscriber device associated with the group bandwidth policy, that a remaining bandwidth available to the subscriber device according to the group bandwidth policy is insufficient to transmit the network communication data to an external network due to the bandwidth usage by the at least one other subscriber device reducing the remaining bandwidth available to the subscriber device according to the group bandwidth policy; and
in response to determining that the remaining bandwidth available to the subscriber device according to the group bandwidth policy is insufficient due to the bandwidth usage by the at least one other subscriber device reducing the remaining bandwidth available to the subscriber device according to the group bandwidth policy, transmitting the network communication data from the gateway device to the external network by treating data transmitted via the gateway device to the external network from the subscriber device and the at least one other subscriber device as if the data were transmitted via the gateway device to the external network from a single device according to the group bandwidth policy.
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