Leveraging actual cable network usage

An apparatus for determining a bit rate at which to deliver a packet stream over a network link, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums storing one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed, cause:
• an origin device transmitting over the network link unsolicited data packets to a destination device while contemporaneously transmitting over the network link a first packet stream encoded at an initial bit rate to the destination device, wherein said unsolicited data packets are sent for purposes of placing a measurable load upon the network link and are dropped by the destination device for being unneeded, and
• the origin device determining whether the network link supports delivering a second packet stream in lieu of said first packet stream, wherein said second packet stream is encoded at a new bit rate, higher than said initial bit rate, which is based on an amount of retransmission requests the origin device receives for packets in said first packet stream from said destination device.