The Importance of Internet Upload Speed

Have you ever tried talking to someone and you feel ignored or they simply fail to respond? Frustrating, right? An important part of any type of communication is the acknowledgement that the message was received. In all conversations, knowing that the message was received is just as important as sending the message. If we don’t feel the person is receiving the message, then we send the same message again and again (we keep talking), until an acknowledgement is understood. Or, we just give up.

The more sending and receiving occurs in a balanced fashion, the more rewarding, or complete, the conversation is considered. The Internet works exactly the same way.

The Internet is a two-way communication process, and users are “sending” more and more “Up” to the Internet, or the “Cloud,” than ever before.

The Internet works like this: when you “access” the Internet, a small amount of information is requested, then sent, and then it waits on an acknowledgement. If confirmation of that information is received, then a little more and a little larger amount of information is sent. This negotiation continues with larger and larger amounts of information until there is some kind of error, interference, or other limitation.

This is how the Internet is set up, and it works very well. No matter what kind of information is being received, there has to be enough “sending” to keep it coming.  If you are not acknowledging enough, the Internet Protocol slows down and repeats the information.

In layman’s terms, the easier the Internet can understand your requests, the faster it can reply. That is when we users consider our Internet connection “reliable and fast.” You can accomplish this with more “Up” speed.

Have you ever been watching Netflix or Hulu and then the nasty “buffering” symbol appears? (Usually in our experience it is during a heightened moment of the movie). You are most likely experiencing the effects of not enough “Up” speed.

To even add to this equation is the fact that most households have multiple devices accessing the Internet at the same time. If your freeway lane on the “Up” speed highway is not open you will all most likely experience frustration like construction in rush hour. This normally leads to “Internet Rage.”

Are you simply backing up to the “Cloud?” A 108 Megabyte (MB) file upload will take 28 minutes at an “Up” speed of .512, but the same file would only take 3.6 minutes at an “Up” speed of 4 Mbps.

When you are searching for Internet companies for your home or business, ask the salespeople about “Up” speed. The best Internet connections we have found are 50% connections (“Up” speed is 50% of “Down” speed, i.e. 50 Mbps “Up” and 100 Mbps “Down”)  or symmetrical connections, where the “Up” and “Down” speed are the same, i.e. 75 Mbps “Up” and 75 Mbps “Down.”

Have more questions about it? Call us at 913-837-4678 or email us. But we apologize in advance for “geek speak.” We just love to talk Internet.