Still, if somebody is seeding a torrent file, or uploading something large, without limiting the upload speed for the task, others might not be able to download anything. But you might get the same rate for both directions with a more modern connection, like a fiberoptic service. In most traditional broadband connections, such as one via a cable modem, the download speed tends to be much faster than the upload speed. That said, when the upload pipe is all clogged up, you can’t download anything at all. That’s because your computer uses the upload pipe to send a confirmation to the remote server that it has received a packet and is ready for the next one. While we use more of the download pipe, data transmission - delivered in small portions called packets - needs both directions to work. Things like sending an email, posting a photo or comment to Facebook, saving a file to Google Drive, using cloud-recording/smart devices, etc., use the upload pipe. Upload represents the speed of the opposite direction. (In a speed test, download is the speed from the remote server that hosts the test data to your device.) That said, streaming a movie, surfing a website, downloading a file, getting an email, etc., use the download pipe. Internet speed: Upload vs downloadĭownload speed represents how fast you can pull things from outside your local network. And you might also see a few other values, including ping, jitter, and package loss.įollowing is the breakdown of what they mean. When testing an Internet connection, you’ll get two main numbers, download and upload - sometimes they are called downlink and uplink. But there’s more than the download speed when it comes to the Internet.
So yes, again, faster Internet is always better. Some of these applications - such as automatic updates - even occur within a connected device without you getting involved. If you have more than one person streaming simultaneously, you generally need to multiply those numbers with the concurrent clients to figure out the necessary real-time bandwidth.Īlso, there are a lot more online applications than streaming. Keep in mind that this is the speed required by a single stream. Take video streaming - one of the most bandwidth-taxing online activities - for example you’ll generally need a minimum download speed of: Faster is always better, but most importantly, you need certain speed grades to do specific tasks. It’s generally helpful to know how fast your Internet is.
Why you should care about your Internet speed
How to test a router’s Wi-Fi speed test.What you need to do a real Internet speed test.Why you should care about your Internet speed.