Peering Wars: Why Twitch Lags on High-Speed Fiber

The internet is a network of networks. ISPs connect to each other at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Usually, this traffic exchange is free (settlement-free peering).

1. The "De-Peering" Tactics

Sometimes, a residential ISP demands payment from a content provider (like Netflix or Level3) because of "sending too much data." If they refuse to pay, the ISP deliberately refuses to upgrade the port capacity at the exchange point.

The Result: The pipe between ISP and Twitch gets full during prime time. Packets drop. You lag. But your speed test to a local server shows 1000 Mbps because that traffic stays inside the ISP's own network.