Why is upload slower than download

Let us differentiate ‘uploading’ and ‘downloading’ before explaining the reasons behind the differential speeds of operation. It’s all in the name, after all. Downloading, put simply, is loading a file from a server down to your hard drive. Uploading, on similar lines, is feeding your own file up to a distant server. Though these are complementary processes, the speeds at which they happen differ, and quite a lot at that. For instance, a usual 384/128 DSL connection will allow you to download a song in close to three minutes but uploading the same content might even take ten minutes! Not only DSL, but also most of the other high speed Internet connections exhibit this discrepancy. Actually, this is not a discrepancy.

The fact is that these connections are designed to prioritize downloading, and uploading takes a relative backseat. Most of us would agree that we do not require uploading as frequently as we need downloading. And this ideology, in a way, forces service providers to offer connections that offer high downloading speed, even if it means compensating on the uploading speed. Plus, there is no second opinion regarding the assertion that companies are not quite able to offer the 100 per cent resources they promise. Consequently, the uploading, already deficient in resources, takes all the more long. Several factors come into play. Firstly, your bandwidth is not all yours. In fact, your neighbors might also be making use of the same bandwidth for their internet usage.

Obviously, this leads to a reduction in the amount of resources you can play with. And then, the servers of your service provider are always engrossed in multiple transactions going on throughout the geographical location. Add to it the fact that you rarely get your hands on anything more than eighty five per cent of the top uploading and download speed, and you have all the ingredients that make up this dish, the rather unpalatable one of tortoise uploading speed. Hence, it is quite normal to have drastically lesser uploading speeds than downloading speeds. However, you should make it a point to check your connection speed every now and then to ascertain hat you are being given at least an acceptable share of the promised resources.