Why Upload Speed Matters
With more people now working from home and doing more on the Internet, upload speeds have become far more critical than ever before. Multiple people in your home can do video conference calls simultaneously. Virtual staff meetings commonly have over 50 people on a video call. You upload huge presentations and documents. Online gaming is going on in the other room. You start experiencing freezing and pixelated images during your call. Your upload fails. Games start lagging and buffering. Does this sound familiar?
Every Internet connection has two speeds – a download and an upload. Download speeds determine how fast you receive from the Internet, while upload speeds determine how quickly you can send data from your devices to the Internet. The typical Internet user downloads more than they upload, but with more cloud-based services such as video calling like Zoom and online gaming, the need for greater upload speed is increasing. Upload speeds impact how others see and hear you on the other end of your video conference or online game. Slow or unstable upload speeds are often the cause of broken audio and frozen screens when using applications like Zoom or Skype.
These speeds can be different depending on the type of connection that you have. Broadband services like cable have different download than upload speeds. While advertising up to 400 Mbps, most cable Internet providers only have maximum upload speeds of 30 Mbps to 35 Mbps. With broadband, you can pull much faster than you can push, resulting in choppy calls and broken or pixelated video streams.
Most people don’t know that if you max out your upload speed, it will considerably affect your download speed. Technically, the way that data transmission works via TCP/IP, the server expects an acknowledgement from your PC confirming it received the data correctly. If the upload is maxed out, this acknowledgement will have to wait its turn, slowing your connection down. This is one of the main reasons why symmetrical is much better than asymmetrical connections with slow upload speeds. With symmetrical 1 Gbps, your speed is always fast.
Fiber-to-the-home providers like Smart City Telecom deliver a symmetrical speed, giving you the same speed up and down. Fiber delivers a reliable connection when it counts the most so when you sign up for fiber Internet, you can expect:
- Quicker cloud access.
- A reliable connection that helps deliver a reliable VPN connection.
- The ability to share files.
- Conduct and participate in video calls/conferences, especially if there are many participants.
- Deliver presentations over video.
To help increase your Internet speed:
- Reboot or restart your modem, router, and other equipment can sometimes clear system errors and give you a better connection.
- Bring your device closer to your router or move the router to a different location.
- A Wi-Fi extender, or a whole home solution, may help if you have a larger home.
- Connect via an Ethernet cable to get a faster, more reliable connection than Wi-Fi.
- Conduct regular software and firmware updates.
- Turn off or disconnect devices when you don’t need them.
- Conduct a speed test to see what you are receiving. If your upload speeds fall below your needs or expectations, you can upgrade to a faster plan or switch to a fiber provider.
Smart City Telecom delivers symmetrical speeds, so you get the same upload as our advertised download speed. Call 407-828-6700 today to find out how you can get Smart City Telecom 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home and Home Wi-Fi to get the best Internet experience in Celebration. Visit fibersignup.smartcitytelecom.com to sign up today.