In the United States, at least, upload and download are not treated equally. Companies happily sell you upload bandwidth at 1/10 the download rates you’re entitled to. A download speed of 50Mbit will let you download high-definition movies in 10-20 minutes. But 5Mb uploads — a typical high-end offering from many providers — will take hours for the same amount of information.
One reason this is problematic is because it points to the growing mismatch between how people use their PCs, smartphones, and tablets, and what kind of service ISPs sell. If you’re a heavy user of Google Drive, iCloud, Flickr, or any number of other cloud-based data services, you may saturate your upload bandwidth every time you back up a system or transfer photos or video.
Because upload bandwidth is relatively limited, it’s important to make sure that other services aren’t using it. If you’re trying to upload photos at the same time you’re watching Netflix, you may find that using one service precludes using the other. When you push upload bandwidth to maximum, you’ll often find that download performance degrades substantially.
One way to get around this problem is to use a third-party utility to manually tune how much bandwidth various applications can use on a system. Alternatively, some routers allow you to set rules at the hardware level regarding how much bandwidth should be allocated to individual PCs. Unlike download bandwidth, which is generally available for multiple high-end users simultaneously, it’s not hard for one person’s upload activity to sap the performance of an entire network. Certain actions, like backups and file uploads, are best performed at night or early in the morning when few people are tapping the available resources.
In addition, don’t be afraid to contact your ISP if you don’t think you’re seeing the performance you should be. Speed tests like those available at Speedtest.net can be used to test your network’s upload and download performance. If you aren’t seeing what you’re paying for in terms of allotted bandwidth, contact the ISP and discuss the issue with them.
If time-shifting your usage doesn’t fix the problem, and you don’t have old or faulty hardware attached to your network, buying a more expensive internet plan may be the only option. Some ISPs offer business-class plans with symmetrical connections (meaning they’ll give you 20Mbit in both directions, as an example). If you have a lot of heavy uploading to do, opting for one of these plans may be a good idea.
One reason this is problematic is because it points to the growing mismatch between how people use their PCs, smartphones, and tablets, and what kind of service ISPs sell. If you’re a heavy user of Google Drive, iCloud, Flickr, or any number of other cloud-based data services, you may saturate your upload bandwidth every time you back up a system or transfer photos or video.
Because upload bandwidth is relatively limited, it’s important to make sure that other services aren’t using it. If you’re trying to upload photos at the same time you’re watching Netflix, you may find that using one service precludes using the other. When you push upload bandwidth to maximum, you’ll often find that download performance degrades substantially.
One way to get around this problem is to use a third-party utility to manually tune how much bandwidth various applications can use on a system. Alternatively, some routers allow you to set rules at the hardware level regarding how much bandwidth should be allocated to individual PCs. Unlike download bandwidth, which is generally available for multiple high-end users simultaneously, it’s not hard for one person’s upload activity to sap the performance of an entire network. Certain actions, like backups and file uploads, are best performed at night or early in the morning when few people are tapping the available resources.
In addition, don’t be afraid to contact your ISP if you don’t think you’re seeing the performance you should be. Speed tests like those available at Speedtest.net can be used to test your network’s upload and download performance. If you aren’t seeing what you’re paying for in terms of allotted bandwidth, contact the ISP and discuss the issue with them.
If time-shifting your usage doesn’t fix the problem, and you don’t have old or faulty hardware attached to your network, buying a more expensive internet plan may be the only option. Some ISPs offer business-class plans with symmetrical connections (meaning they’ll give you 20Mbit in both directions, as an example). If you have a lot of heavy uploading to do, opting for one of these plans may be a good idea.
