Just how big a load are UDP broadcasts?

["Dick St.Peters" <stpeters () netheaven com>]

I run a small network of small sites, including a couple in the
Adirondacks with 56k feeds.  When a user of one of these sites uses
one of the UDP audio or video services it drives the 56k to 100%
saturation (load 255/255) and makes the site unusable for everyone
else.

Recently I "solved" this problem by blocking this traffic at the entry
port for my T1 feed.  To my surprise, both the average and peak
traffic on the T1 dropped by a factor of 3, although less than 2% of
my users complained.

Traffic on my T1 wasn't the issue, but this has me wondering: how much
of the Internet congestion my users do complain about is due to UDP
audio/video services?

In my very limited view of the world, UDP is a very poor network
citizen among protocols.  Am I wrong in that view?

--
Dick St.Peters,       Gatekeeper, Pearly Gateway, Ballston Spa, NY
stpeters () NetHeaven com     Owner, NetHeaven 518-885-1295/800-910-6671
Internet for Albany/Saratoga, Glens Falls, North Creek, & Lake Placid
          First Internet service based in the 518 area code
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