Upload speed test: Which is more important download or upload?
Every upload download speed test measures connection speed based on 3 main specs: ping rate, download and upload speed. Do you think downloading and uploading is the same? or Have you ever thought we just need downloading? Today, we are going to discuss the difference between download and upload speeds as well as answer the question “Which is more important download or upload speed?”.
Why are my download speeds slower than upload?
What is download speed?
Download speed dedicates to the speed at which your network connection is able to retrieve data from the Internet to your device. The data can be in the form of images, videos, text, files, and audio.
Every download upload speed test measures this speed in megabits per second or Mbps or Mbit/s or Mb/s. Each megabit per second (Mbps) provides the capacity to transmit one million bits per second, or about one tiny photo every second.
What is download Mbps?
What is upload speed?
Another main important spec in paid or free internet speed test is upload speed. Upload speed refers to how fast digital data is transferred from a place like your computer to another like the server or your friend’s computer on the Internet.
Upload speed is also measured in megabits per second (Mbps). During the pandemic, upload speed is more and more concerned and improved. In detail, the average upload speed has been increased by 54% in 2020. The UK average upload speed in Nov 2020 stays at 21.6 Mbps, according to Ofcom research.
What is Mbps upload?
Upload speed vs Download speed
The difference in transferring way
The only point between download and upload speeds is the measurement - Mbps. It all comes down to how quickly data can be sent to or from your computer but the download is totally different from upload.
The easily seen difference between the two main specs is their transferring way. If download speed refers to speed data is taken from the Internet to your device, uploading is in converse. Upload speed refers to the speed at which data is taken from your device to the Internet.
Difference between download and upload speeds
To understand their difference more easily, you can see the list of common online activities to know more about their transferring.
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Uploading activities |
Downloading activities |
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The difference in users
Which is more important download or upload speed? Is upload speed important? In general, people appreciate good download speed due to lots of activities taking up downloading data.
Upload speeds for the home network are sometimes 1/10 of your download speed. However, depending on which types of based-internet activity you often do, upload speed is more important or not.
Why does download speed matter?
For most internet users, their online habits rely on mainly download speeds. This speed is able to influence their experience from loading web pages and images to listening to music, downloading files. They are all basic internet activities. However, these require the minimum downloading speed so that maybe they don’t realize download speed plays an essential part in our online experience.
In contrast, if you often stream Netflix movies, play online gaming, or even download a big file, you will need a fast speed. If not, you might have some problems with buffering, no download image, or slow loading page time.
Netflix movies are so great and it seems to be a common habit to watch Netflix daily. However, have you ever encountered frustrating problems such as Netflix freezes, stops responding, or getting stuck loading? That’s a sign of slow downloading speed. Also, this situation makes you realize the role of downloading.
To watch Netflix smoothly, you need fast download speeds
This is also similar to the case of downloading a big file. For example, if your file size is 1 GB, you will need more than 13 minutes to download it with a download speed of 10 Mbps. However, it just takes 2 minutes with a rate of 65 Mbps.
As long as you get data from the internet to your device, then download speed matters.
Why does upload speed matter?
Which activities does it take lots of uploading data? For whom, this speed is important? As mentioned above, when you send data to the Internet, you are using uploading data. We do upload activities all time, more than expected however we do not notice that.
Every day, we post a photo on Facebook, Instagram or send emails, up files/ documentation to your Google Drive. That’s uploading activities. Especially, the role of uploading is displayed clearly in the live streaming industry and video calling platforms.
Is upload or download speed more important for streaming? If you broadcast Livestream on video streaming platforms like Youtube, Twitch, Diecast that means your send data to another place such as other devices, other servers, that time upload speed matters.
In another case, if you stream Netflix movies that means you take digital data from the Internet to your smart TV, that time download speed matters.
Live streaming need fast upload speeds
Besides, upload speed is really necessary for people who often conduct video calls, video conferences. The Covid-19 pandemic forces an unprecedented number of individuals to study and work remotely, for better or worse. Along the way, we just need a laptop/ a smartphone and good internet speed to connect with others. As a result, along with the development of video calling software, upload speeds are increasingly important.
Upload speeds become significantly more crucial when using interactive software like Zoom, Google Meet, or uploading information or video to a remotely delivered course.
Upload speed becomes more crucial for interactive software
Internet providers with fast download and upload speeds
As mentioned above, every online activity requires different internet bandwidth. Here is the list of good internet service providers you can consider registering.
|
Internet Service Provider |
Download speed up to (advertisement) |
Upload speed up to (advertisement) |
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AT&T DSL |
25 Mbps |
2-5 Mbps |
|
AT&T DSL |
75 Mbps |
20 Mbps |
|
AT&T DSL |
100 Mbps |
20 Mbps |
|
AT&T DSL |
500 Mbps |
100 Mbps |
|
AT&T Fiber |
50 Mbps |
50 Mbps |
|
AT&T Fiber |
100 Mbps |
100 Mbps |
|
AT&T Fiber |
300 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
|
AT&T Fiber |
940 Mbps |
880 Mbps |
|
Cox |
25 Mbps |
3 Mbps |
|
Cox |
150 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
|
Cox |
500 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
|
Cox |
940 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
|
Spectrum |
200 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
|
Spectrum |
400 Mbps |
20 Mbps |
|
Spectrum |
940 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
|
Verizon Fios |
200 Mbps |
200 Mbps |
|
Verizon Fios |
300 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
|
Verizon Fios |
940 Mbps |
880 Mbps |
|
Xfinity |
25 Mbps |
3 Mbps |
|
Xfinity |
100 Mbps |
5 Mbps |
|
Xfinity |
200 Mbps |
5 Mbps |
|
Xfinity |
1,000 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
Data from allconnect.com
Is upload speed important for streaming? The answer is yes and you will need a fast internet connection for streaming videos smoothly. What is more important upload or download speed? Each internet user has his own answer himself because it depends on regular online habits. Choosing the best ISP and enjoying stable fast internet speeds ( wired connection and wireless connection).
Visit MySpeed to get more interesting information.
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