Why is UPLOAD != DOWNLOAD ?

varkey

varkey

Forerunner
I have always wondered why all the ISPs do not provide equal upload and download bandwidth. Most of the ISPs provide barely 256k for upload.

Why is that? Don't they get equal share of upload/download from their providers?

I had given a complaint to my local ISP as I was getting barely 128k upload speed whereas my download speed is 4mbps. And today they called saying they actually provide 512k but they guarantee only 1/4th of that and since I was getting 128k they can't do anything. That is Im getting only 1/32 of my download speed. When I asked, they said upload bandwidth is costly and they can only provide this much for home connections. If I need more upload speed I need to upgrade to a higher plan for commercial usage which provides more upload speed.

So why exactly do these ISPs limit the upload speed this low?
 
I guess mostly because people do not generally demand a higher upload . Also in case of ADSL lines , upload speeds arent that great either . MTNL does give me 1mbps both ways though .
 
The data throughput of consumer DSL services typically ranges from 384 KB/s to 20 MB/s in the direction to the customer, depending on DSL technology, line conditions, and service-level implementation. Typically, the data throughput in the reverse direction, i.e. in the direction to the service provider is lower, hence the designation of asymmetric service, but the two are equal for the Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) service.
Click to expand...

Source: Digital Subscriber Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scroll down to see the table on ADSL standards. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
^ Yes but even in case of DSL uploads speeds of 1-2 mbps is possible with ADSL2 but most providers do not provide equal upload and download speeds for a 1mbps plan too.

But in my cause its Cable Internet and its very much capable of providing higher upstream bandwidth atleast better than 128k.

Are they talking nonsense when they say upstream bw is more expensive etc?
 
manu1991 said:
I guess mostly because people do not generally demand a higher upload . Also in case of ADSL lines , upload speeds arent that great either . MTNL does give me 1mbps both ways though .
Click to expand...
eh? I have mtnl's 1mbps but get 25 up
 
Reliance gives me 1:1 on my 1mbps day and 2mbps night plan i.e. 1mbps upload during day and 2mbps upload during night. I think it has more to do with the ISP decision to save bandwidth. For most purposes, you don't require high upload speed. This way they can save a lot of bandwidth. I think that is the reason.
 
^ Ya in my case its 4mbps vs 128k. :( Sucks! Takes ages to send a mail with attachments etc.

But if they are getting equal upload and download bandwidth from their providers how are they saving by giving a very low upload speed. Majority of the upload bandwidth goes wasted then.
 
^ Bandwidth = Download + Upload. They are not separate as you might think. They pay for total bandwidth and not separately for both. So, they are saving because users are restricted by the upload speed limit and since the download speed is good, most users will never realize what they are missing. But 128k is really low. I thought that with high speed connections, it is limited at 512kbps. This is the case with TATA Indicom.
 
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