I was told that this uses a lot of bandwidth. True? Our network has ~20 PCs.

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

Really depends on what you're streaming and the bandwidth of your network connection. If it's a problem, the IT contractor should adjust the QoS setting on the router(s) to not allow any one of the PCs to hog bandwidth.

I stream radio stations and music from various sites. I'm skeptical that it uses a lot of bandwidth. Then again, I don't know anything about our network either. My co. has a lot of financial resources so...

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

Music isn't that bad, not like video.

Yeah, def not video. Stream music, that helps productivity.

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

They have these really cool things, perhaps you've heard of them - they're called "radios."

Smart a$$ aside, yes - it sucks significant bandwidth. One or two folks doing it - perhaps not a big deal. Problem is, it's rarely one or two folks.

Anyone who has managed a network, knows full well how quickly crap like this can spread. What is one person's cool discovery this week, ends up on everyone's desktop next week.

We killed all audio streaming on our network last year (~2500 PC's), and reduced our Interent bandwidth consumption by almost 20% overnight. This was after killing video streaming from the popular non-work related sites - which as mentioned, is far worse. That move, cut our traffic in half.

Brute-force approach and crap like that is why IT folks are hated by some. Why not just shape the bandwidth?

Okay, thx - that's what I thought. I wasn't sure if this employee was overeacting, since I've never seen a policy. (I'm sure it's there somewhere)

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

What difference does that make? I have a lot of financial resources but that does NOT mean I would choose to allow you to take what you desire.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

No, IT reflects management policy. If management says "blanket it" they have to blanket it.

It is a company not a personal entertainment center. You wanna play, do it off hours on your own bandwidth and not make me have to pay for more to accommodate you for NON company related browsing.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Why should we invest 1 minute of time or $1 dollar of resources, to ensure people on the clock can watch YouTube? The entitlement mentality of employees with Internet connections, never ceases to amaze me.

Besides - shaping doesn't eliminate the bandwidth costs associated with the content in question - it simply ensures it's given a lower priority, than data deemed more critical. And, when the YouTubers or Pandora users bump against the bandwidth quota, and their apps start to buffer or fail - how do you think they respond? I assure you, they don't say to themselves "Oh...the QOS must be keeping me from watching my cat chase a laser in HD." He!! no - they pick up the phone, call the Help Desk, and proclaim "The Internet is broken."

Having been doing this for many years, there's a truism that applies more often than not. Those who b!tch the loudest about IT policies, are the biggest abusers, and least productive employees.

We're quite liberal with our Internet access. We allow virtually unlimited surfing - porn, gambling, and violence sites are the primary exceptions...policies handed down by legal, not IT.

Beyond that - nothing makes our phones ring faster, than bandwidth issues. Blasting a handful of items that have zero work related value, cuts our astronomical monthly bill significantly, and keeps legitimate complaints about bandwidth issues to a minimum.

Iffin' the above policies really chap one's hide - bring your smartphone to work, and use yer own damn bandwidth for whatever you like.

Happy employees are productive employees. Anyway, if an employee isn't being productive, they'll find a way to waste time, Internet or not. Either structure their pay in such a way that they have incentive to be productive, or kick them out the door. It's a management issue, not a technical one, and technical solutions are merely CYA for incompetent management or hiring.

Furthermore, things like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter can actually be useful at work. Great as marketing tools, and often can be used to get answers to questions as well (having the "cloud" do research for you, essentially).

BTW, I do IT on a contract/freelance basis. Fortunately, that gives me the luxury of being able to tell management to make back-door love to a close relative if they suggest something rather boneheaded.

Hence the issue, isn't it? I have to shape my organization and pay more simply because you feel you are entitled to watch TV on the time I pay you to do actual work

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Well, they can be happy they have a job or they can go to the unemployment lines and beg for food. A job is NOT part of your birthright handed down to you by your parents. If you feel you cannot work, quit. It is not my job to make you happy as an employee and thus have to coddle you to work. As an employee, it is NOT my employer's job to make me happy either. If I am not, I walk. If they are not, they fire me and hire someone else who will be grateful to have a job.

You are paid to do a job not guide the company or be the "Morale Officer". And yes, they too have the luxury of telling you to take a hike and blacklist you. Having been on both sides of the counter, I can safely say that we do not lack contractors. We lack contractors that can do the job and not let their personal feelings come into play. Sure, they can raise their objection but as the commissioner of the work being done, it is my call and NOT yours.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

And I didn't say it was. But there's a middle ground. In the grand scheme of things, $1/mo for the extra bandwidth that an employee may use to listen to music is trivial compared to the other costs of hiring and doing business.

As far as people *****ing about things like Pandora not working, the rule should be clear -- non-work related things get lowest priority from help desk.