What is choke?
Choke is a measure of how much data is being restricted on your computer. When playing games a lot of information is being sent backwards and forwards containing every detail of the game. During heavy games this information can get very high, with every bullet, movement and chat line being sent to your computer.
The game servers are on very large Internet connections capable of transfering several megabytes per second. Most computers on the other hand are restricted by how much they can receive and send. If you are on a standard 56K modem you can only receive about 5-6 kilobytes per second. This is more than is normally required.
Half-Life has the ability to limit how much information it requests, to save clogging up your connection. If it goes over this then you will get what is known as Choke. Choke is a measure of what is missing. So if the server runs out of bandwidth everybody gets choke, if your computer runs out of bandwidth, you alone will get choke.
You can help improve this by adjusting your Half-Life's "rate" setting. This will set the correct maximum limit for your connection. For a quick guide use these settings:
If you are on a 56K modem then you want to set your rate to between 3500 and 4500, experiment with your settings and see what gives you the best results.
If you are on ISDN you want between 6000 and 8000. If you are on anything faster, such as ADSL or Cable then you want to set your rate to 8000.
You can set your rate by typing "rate" followed by the number in your console.