What Is Download and Upload Speed?
You have probably heard of the terms upload and download speed before or have done a speed test on your computer, but what does all that information really indicate? This blog post will delve into the meaning of internet, upload, and download speeds, speed tests, and why it is important to have good speeds.
Simplified Explanation of Internet speed: The amount of data that can be transferred over the web on a single connection in a given amount of time.
How Is Internet Speed Measured?
Internet speed is measured by megabits per second (Mbps). One megabit is equal to 1,024 kilobits. This number represents the bandwidth of an internet connection that is transferred within each second.
Bandwidth: The maximum volume of data transmitted that can be transmitted over an internet connection in a given amount of time. The higher the bandwidth, the faster your internet speed is.
Upload Vs. Download Speed
Download Speed |
Upload Speed |
|
| Definition | The speed at which data travels from the internet to a device | The speed at which data travels from a device to the internet |
| Examples | 1. If you go to Facebook on your computer, your download speed would determine how long it takes to load your facebook feed. 2. Watching Netflix/ YouTube 3. Shopping online 4. Streaming music services |
1. If you post to your Facebook timeline, your upload speed would determine how long it takes for your post to go live. 2. Video calls or conferences 3. Sending emails with large attachments 4. Working on live, cloud-hosted documents like Google Docs |
| Ideal Speed | At least 25 Mpbs | At least 5 Mpbs |
Speed Tests
Speed tests are a quick way to see just how fast - or slow - your internet is. Your internet service provider (ISP) can limit your download and upload speed based on the plan you have.
If your ISP promised you up to 50 Mbps of download speed, yet when you run a speed test you are constantly getting results lower than that, you can call your service provider and get your internet adjusted to get your money’s worth!
How Does the Speed Test work?
Steps:
The speed test client will determine your location and the closest test server to you. With the test server in place, the Speed Test sends a simple signal (a ping) to the server, and it responds.
The download test begins. The client opens multiple connections to the server and attempts to download small pieces of data like sample files. It measures the amount downloaded in the time allotted, and presents a download speed.
Next is the upload test. It’s essentially the same process as the download test but in reverse. Instead of pulling data from the server to your device, the client uploads data from your device to the server and measures how much uploaded in the time allotted and then presents an upload speed.
There are so many great speed tests that you can use to test your internet speed:
Some include:
Simply typing Speed Test in Google will bring up an internet speed test.
Factors that can impact the accuracy of a speed test:
The tests use small sample files. Instead of testing the upload and download speeds with things that you usually use the web for like streaming, uploading content, etc, the test uses small data and gives you a result.
Your activity. What else do you have active on your Wi-Fi connected devices? Things like watching a movie in the background will make a big difference; so if you want to get the most accurate estimation possible, close any other applications that might compete for bandwidth.
Location. The tests involve sending and receiving information between your computer and the test giver’s server. The location of that test server changes your results since you would see a difference between a test server in the same state as you versus out of state.
Amount of people online. If you were to do the speed test at 2am in the morning, you might get a much better test result as opposed to doing the speed test at 10am since during work hours, more people are online in your area.
Internet Service Providers. The internet service plan that you have plays a part in your speed test since some ISP’s put a limit on how your download and upload speeds are so that it creates tiers of plans for people to buy. If you notice that your speeds are very slow, check if that is part of your plan and if you need to upgrade, or if you are not getting what you are paying for.
Real Example
I conducted a speed test on my computer by searching ‘Speed Test’ in Google and doing the internet speed test provided. This process is common for other speed tests you may use. When you run the speed test, it will test the download speed then move on to the upload speed while showing the megabits per seconds fluctuating.
From the test results, my download speed and upload speed show that my internet is very fast since they box exceed the ideal speed for both download and upload speed.
Let’s break down the results:
Download speed: 65 Mbps
This is a great speed considering a speed above 25mpbs is considered good and I am well above that.
Upload Speed: 18.6 Mbps
The ideal upload speed is 5 Mbps and higher, and 18.6 is definitely a good speed.
Latency: 8ms
This is also known as the Ping rate. This is the amount of time it took to send a signal (ping) the test server and get a result.
Server: New York
The server that my speed test was using was located in New York. I conducted the test from New Jersey, so my speeds might be a lot lower than what it would look like if it used a server based in New Jersey.
Overall: Fast
Why is it Important to Have a High Upload and Download Speed?
If your internet connection is unreliable and slow, you will not be able to surf the web or your experience will be frustratingly slow since web pages will take very long to load. With a reliable and fast internet connection, it is easy to do anything you want online like searching, posting, streaming media, doing work, accessing emails, etc.
Thanks for reading!! Share this with your friends and family!
Sources:
https://www.bandwidthplace.com/download-speed-vs-upload-speed-whats-the-difference-article/
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/the-consumers-guide-to-internet-speed#uploadvsdownload
https://www.allconnect.com/blog/consumers-guide-to-internet-speed
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/the-consumers-guide-to-internet-speed
https://www.ncta.com/whats-new/how-do-internet-speed-tests-work-2