Why are download speeds higher than upload speeds?
Asked by
rebbel (
35549
)
March 13th, 2013
Whenever I see ads from mobile phone carriers, or from Internet providers, I notice that download speeds are usually much higher than the upload speeds.
Why is that?
I mean, it all goes through the same cable/ether, right?
Someone around here that explain this to me?
In a way that you would explain it to your grandma, please.
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6 Answers
My best guess is that upload speed and download speed both cost about the same amount of money to provide. In an effort to save money, the service providers probably cut back your upload speed so that they are able to provide more download speed to other people. The majority of people download a lot more information than they upload, so it is more profitable to sell download speed than upload speed.
@PhiNotPi is exactly right. The line (whether it is cable or fiber optic) will only carry so much flow and it really doesn’t matter which way an individual bit is flowing. Only a fixed number of bits can occupy a slice of the pipeline at any given time. Since most users care much more about download speeds than upload speeds, the companies choke back on upload speed to market what most consumers want, fast downloads.
The other thing to remember is that the device sending you the DATA is much larger and has more power to send signals than what is located at your side.
@JacobSDN Unfortunately, chains are no stronger than their weakest link.
Thanks for your answers!
I think it makes sense to me.
Caching, i.e. multiple identical downloading vs. single unique uploading.
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