The new restriction, known as traffic shaping, essentially erects a divider on the information highway. According to Davis, the alteration has seen enormously positive response in speeding up the network.

Network performance is determined by measuring ping times. One computer sends a ping out to another computer and sees how long it takes the other computer to respond. If the network is highly congested, then it's like trying to get from Cambridge to Boston during rush hour--it will take longer and result in a higher ping time.

According to Davis, ping times of 20 milliseconds or more indicate that the network is overloaded. Earlier this week, ping times were a whopping 150-200 milliseconds. That number dropped to roughly 1-6 milliseconds after the change was made Tuesday night.

But those Harvard network users who frequently upload information to the Internet may be experiencing some delays in the days to come. For example, many student groups on campus post their websites through the network, and Davis said that several of these groups experienced problems following Tuesday's change.

Those trying to access the student groups' websites experienced delays and connection failures, for example. But adjustments were quickly made to accommodate these exceptions, Davis said.

Although Davis said that at least 95 percent of the Harvard population uses the network primarily to download from the Internet, he said that students who need to send information in the outbound direction should be accommodated.

"Tuesday's change is not a perfect solution--this is only a stop-gap measure while we look for permanent solution," he said. "Students deserve good network access, and we need to find a way to ensure that the network is used and not abused."