Disclaimer
The Author of this posting offers the information contained within this posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any purpose. Information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind. Usage of this posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.
Liability Disclaimer
In no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profit) arising out of the use or inability to use the posting's information even if Author has been advised of the possibility of such damage.
Posting
Rate-limiting can control egress bandwidth utilization, but is not as effective for ingress bandwidth utilization.
As you've already noted, TCP flows, seeing drops caused by the rate-limiter, should slow although this after they've already burst above your rate limit.
Non-responsive flows, i.e. most non-TCP flows, will not slow their transmission rate although rate limiting can cause havoc with the application using that flow.
Ideally, you want to control the far side's egress too, but generally this is not possible if it's an ISP interface.
PS:
BTW, you can also control bandwidth with a shaper (but don't use for ingress).
