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Is Vodafone throttling specific sites like GitHub before the DE-CIX split?
We need to address a developing issue affecting Vodafone Cable subscribers in Germany. As of late November 2025, users are reporting severe download restrictions when accessing GitHub repositories and the GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io). This is not a total service outage; it is a specific reduction in throughput speed.
One documented case from a user in Schorndorf, Baden-Württemberg, highlights the severity. Despite paying for a “Business CableMax 1000” plan (1000 Mbit/s), the user receives only ~1.5 Mbit/s when downloading from GitHub. This represents a massive deviation from expected performance.
Technical Analysis of the Slowdown
The data provided suggests active traffic shaping rather than a hardware failure. When comparing the Vodafone connection against an external server (Hetzner), the performance gap becomes undeniable.
Diagnostic Interpretation
The network establishes connections correctly. The DNS lookup, TCP handshake, and TLS handshake occur within normal latency ranges. The problem isolates specifically to data transfer. The “pipe” opens quickly, but the data flows through it at a trickle. This pattern typically indicates an artificial limit imposed by the ISP or severe congestion at a specific peering point.
The Link to DE-CIX Peering Changes
This performance degradation correlates with Vodafone’s strategic network changes. Vodafone has announced its withdrawal from public peering at DE-CIX (German Internet Exchange), scheduled for full implementation by December 2025.
Routing analysis (Traceroute) shows traffic still passing through de-cix2.fra.github.com. However, seeing the route does not guarantee full bandwidth capacity. ISPs often reduce capacity on routes they plan to abandon or alter routing policies prior to the official cutoff. The throttled speeds likely result from capacity reductions on this specific link as Vodafone prepares to migrate traffic to alternative transit partners like Inter.link.
Recommendations for Affected Users
If you rely on GitHub for professional development or container deployment, this issue directly impacts your workflow. We must determine if this is a localized node issue or a nationwide policy shift.
- Verify Your Speed: Do not rely on general speed tests (like Ookla). Test a direct download from GitHub to see if the throttling targets specific services.
- Check Routing: Run a traceroute to ghcr.io. If you see high latency at hops involving aorta.net or vodafone-ip, the issue lies within the Vodafone transit network.
- Use a VPN: As a temporary workaround, route your traffic through a VPN. This often bypasses specific peering bottlenecks by forcing traffic through a different entry point into the internet backbone.
Please document your experiences. If you are a Vodafone Cable user experiencing similar caps specifically on GitHub or other technical repositories, this data is crucial for establishing a pattern of widespread throttling.