Why is uploading slower than downloading?

Answer 1

For many users, uploading files is quite a bit slower than downloading files. This is usually normal, because most high-speed Internet connections, including cable modems and DSL, are asymmetric — they are designed to provide much better speed for downloading than uploading. Since most users spend much more time downloading (which includes viewing web pages or multimedia files) than they do uploading, high speed Internet providers have designed their systems to give priority to downloading. So if your upload speed appears to be slower than your download speed, this is probably expected.

Another factor to be aware of is that providers advertise their speeds in kilobits, whereas Fetch reports speeds in kilobytes. 8 bits equal 1 byte, so the numbers you see in Fetch will appear to be smaller than the numbers advertised for your connection. Multiply the number you see in Fetch by 8 for a better comparison. For instance, a 384/128 DSL connection is rated for 384 kilobits per second download, and 128 kilobits per second upload — which is equivalent to 48 kilobytes per second download and 16 kilobytes per second upload.

Your upload and download speeds will almost never match the maximum advertised speed of your connection. It's normal to only get 80-90% of the advertised maximum, and in the small print of your service provider's advertising you'll find that they only promise "up to" the advertised speed, not that you will always get that speed. This happens for several reasons. First, your connection may be shared with other people in your building or neighborhood, so if a lot of other people are using the Internet you may experience a slowdown. Second, servers may be busy uploading and downloading files for many different users, so they are unable to provide the maximum possible speed for your files. Finally, other network activity on your computer may slow down your transfer, since it must all share the same connection. If you try to transfer two files at the same time (in different transfer windows), each transfer will go slower because Fetch must split the network connection between them. Surfing the web or answering your email should only have a minor impact on transfer speeds.

Nevertheless, if you feel you are getting slower transfer speeds than normal, there are websites that you can use to test your connection speed. Your Internet service provider may have one, or you can try one such as the BroadbandReports.com speed test. If you are repeatedly getting transfer speeds much lower than the ones reported by a test, you should try transferring your files to a different server to see if they go faster; and if so, contact your main server's administrator to see if there is a problem.

Answer 2

Because far more people "download" than ones who upload, and "the powers that be" had to split the single bandwidth in the most practical way between the download stream and the upload stream for the masses.

Answer 3

Because people download much more than they upload. So your ISP generally gives you more bandwidth for downloading and less for uploading.

By the way, if you want to check out your Download/Upload speeds, the following link is the best site I've seen so far to test it.

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest

Choose the server closest to you.

Answer 4

Easy answer- since more people download than upload, the industry made transmission speeds for downloads faster.

Answer 5

the internet connection relies upon on numerous issues like. a million. The persons your sharing your information superhighway with (buddies and family). 2. the place your on the cyber web (some web pages might have allot of site visitors). 3. the gap your out of your "WLAN" router (if your related on the spot). 4. the internet velocity you pay out of your provider. 5. for sure what variety of computing device you utilize (older computers is going slower). i might desire to pass on and on yet while i grow to be such as you i might call my provider and discuss with them approximately it, cuz maby they are having issues or something else.

Answer 6

Because generally your DSL or cable connection has less bandwidth up than down. That may not be true with a commercial connection ;)