Upload Speeds

[InsaneNutter]

When we got 512k broadband from NTL in December 2001 we could download at about 65kb-70kb yet upload at about 15kb.
Then we have had several speed upgrades since then to 600k - 750k and 900k (I think not sure about that 1) then finally 2mb last year.
But yet in them 4 and a half years my upload speed has increased a whole 7kb to about 22kb a sec, just wondering why its always been so slow really.

My mate who's had ADSL for about 4 years has always had 30kb upload now its doubled to 50 or 60 and most ntl users haven’t even got 30kb unless there on 10mb.

It don’t usually bother me but when your uploading 100mb+ of digicam photos or some video clips your start to notice how slow it is, im glad we get 400k upload when we get upgraded to 4mb but that’s still really slow compared to your download speed it would be nice if you could upload the same as your download speed or at least at a nice speed like 100kb or something!

So does anyone know why upload speeds so much slower than your download speed?

[Chris W]

It is the nature of the cable network... would you like a technical explanation?

[nffc]

It is the nature of the cable network... would you like a technical explanation?
Yes please.

[m|ke]

I was lead to believe the upload speeds cost the money really not the download speeds.

[Locky]

if the big companys ntl BY and bt wasnt so greedy they cud have offered ntl 10 meg from the start as well as adsl max, and by now we wud have 100mbit to our houses

[Graham M]

Not when the technology wasn't there...

[InsaneNutter]

It is the nature of the cable network... would you like a technical explanation?

Yes if you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t mind, it would be interesting to know. :D

[ecksmen]

Not when the technology wasn't there...

Wasn't it thatcher that stopped the installation of fibre into homes, when BT wanted to a few years back when she was the pm?

---------- Post added at 22:22 ---------- Previous post was at 22:20 ----------

From guardian.co.uk:

"In the mid-1980s the talk was all of wiring up every home with fibre optic cables with virtually unlimited capacity. BT offered to do a deal with the government under which it would build a nationwide fibre optic network in exchange for being allowed to deliver "entertainment" (TV, videos etc) along its lines.

But Margaret Thatcher rejected that on the grounds that it simply extended BT's monopoly and opted instead to generate more competition for BT by establishing a cable TV industry. "

[Scopeuk]

technical problem relatets to the fact that the upstream (upload) portion of bandwidth on the cable network is burst and is shared in a cable segment

iirc that is, its a long time ago i read up on cable modems now

[jrhnewark]

Yes please.So would I. The technology is there, even with poor old DOCSIS 2.0, to have higher than 512kbps upstream speeds.

@Scopeuk... it's the same for the downstream. It's all bursty. :)

[James Henry]

It'd be more accurate to say that usage patterns and the manner in which DOCSIS copes with upstream congestion, with far less grace than downstream congestion to say the least, is a major cause.

Proportionately more upstream is used than downstream. Check an average ADSL provider's traffic graphs. Inspite of most customers upstreams being 8 or more times lower than their downstreams the ratio of upstream to downstream usage is only going to be about 2:1 in favour of downstream due mostly to people running P2P 24x7 with some running FTP/HTTP servers.

Upstream traffic is far less bursty than downstream. With some traffic shaping it may be an option to increase the upstreams. Telewest are a classic example of how strained unlimited services can be on cable, 10Mbit downstream and 384k upstream.

So it's part technical and part usage patterns.

[jrhnewark]

Errr.. what he said! ;) Nah, well, very true. And very nicely put. :)

Personally, I'll be able to live with 400kbps upstream (when I get it; it hasn't quite reached Nottingham, yet). Although I said that probably less than a couple of years back about 300kbps downstream. Greedy sod!

[megalithic]

Hello,
I've got a 10mbps NTL account through a silver Samsung set-top box. I think this limits me to 5mbps unless I pay £50 for some sort of box upgrade?

Anyway my question is - I'm mostly interested in increasing the upload speed (for a busy web server). If I pay for the 10mb hardware upgrade does this improve my upload speed too?

I shut the server down to do a quick speed test and got 330kbps upload speed to the adslguide tester.

Cheers,
Andy
http://www.megalithic.co.uk (http://www.megalithic.co.uk/)
(very busy at the moment in the run-up to the summer solstice!)

[Chris W]

if you are on the 10meg service, your upload speed will be 512k, even if you are only able to achieve 5meg downstream through the STB

[megalithic]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll have to call NTL for a quote for a business line at > 512kbps upload but I have a feeling it will be expensive...

I've got a spare disconnected BT line (as I'm on NTL), perhaps this can be connected as SDSL - again not cheap I think.

Ideas welcome. I like having my server here rather than in a data centre.
Thanks

[dcclanuk]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll have to call NTL for a quote for a business line at > 512kbps upload but I have a feeling it will be expensive...

I've got a spare disconnected BT line (as I'm on NTL), perhaps this can be connected as SDSL - again not cheap I think.

Ideas welcome. I like having my server here rather than in a data centre.
Thanks
if u can, get bethere on the bt line.... ppl dont complain about how bad it is etc... just an option.... 24mb down, 1.3mb upload.. and costs £24.... bethere could have improved now, but i dont know since i aint got it!

www (dot) bethere (dot) co (dot) uk (http://www.bethere.co.uk) ... chk it out!

and ppl i am not advertising... if it seems so then remove the link.. i am only trying to help :D