Internet facility has become such a necessity which is also used for earning & living and not just for entertainment. We also need lots of downloading on our laptops and often perform the speed testing to check whether it fulfills the provider’s promise or suffering from bad performance. You may come to know that upload speed is faster than download speed once the test is completed.
It reflects an issue somewhere needs to fix which affecting the downloading speed. You need to little bit learn about internet speeds and will be able to fix this issue on your own.
Explanation of Internet Speeds and Definition of Good Internet Speed
There are many factors involved can affect the internet speed such as quality of routers/internet devices, anti-virus software installed, host server, poorly configured web browser, internet cable and number of users connected with internet.
It means any problem in internet is not just because of provider, might be an issue on your own laptop. Now, the question is what defines a good internet speed and answer is it depends upon your use. Video streaming will definitely require faster than 8Mbps internet speed and to just visit the ordinary website 2Mbps will be enough.
According to the experts, they believe the minimum requirement for streaming videos at 1080P requires 5-8 Mbps and using Social media consumes only 1Mbps, remember these are the minimum requirements.
In USA, the average internet speed is 42.86 Mbps and it is more than enough for streaming the 4K videos non-stop.
Download Speed vs Upload Speed
We majority users are dealing more with downloading speed comparing to uploading speed. When we stream the videos at higher resolution, it first downloads the data and then uploads the video on player.
Faster downloading speed enables the user to stream YouTube videos at higher resolution without any interruption. Faster downloading speed also quickly loads the website visited by the user.
As far as uploading speed is concerned, this speed is about how fast it can transfer data in opposite direction. It is not just about uploading the videos on YouTube or any content, sending files online. It even has an impact upon all those activities which rely on downloading speed.
For Instance, streaming video or video chat will also be affected by low uploading speed because both downloading and uploading also work in combination. Downloading speed relies on uploading one to some extent; both are used to be interacting with each other while providing you best browsing experience.
Why Uploading Speed Mostly Faster Than Downloading Speed ?
Actually internet service providers ensure that they design such a system in which they keep equal bandwidth for both types of downloading speeds. Because mostly people spend more time on downloading the data in the form of ( visit websites, stream videos ) and less time on uploading the data, this leads to put more pressure on downloading scale and its speed starts reducing comparing to uploading speed.
It would be better that big internet providers maintains the larger share of internet bandwidth for downloading speed because mostly users consumes it instead of uploading speed.
If you apply the test and get results in which uploading speed is way faster than downloading speed, it means they allotted equal bandwidth to both but naturally users consuming downloading side more.
How To Troubleshoot This Issue ?
User can perform basic level of troubleshooting in order to fix this issue and increase the downloading speed.
Try other Laptop / Smartphone / PC
There is possibility that something wrong with your own device and not an internet issue. Your device may get infected with virus which not receiving the full bandwidth and showing weaker downloading speed. Try to be connected with the other device and then apply the test.
Reset the Router / Modem
It may be an issue with router or modem unable to send full signals to your laptop. User needs to reset one of these devices and then get connected through them; there should be some better speed adjustments if there was a problem with router.
Call Internet Service Provider
This is always the last choice to call your internet service provider and ask for the help. They are most likely to confirm you this issue actually exists with all other users and they are working on it. Nevertheless, you should make at least a call to get all answers.
Other Issues and How To Fix Them ?
You can also perform other types of troubleshooting as discussed in the following.
Something Wrong With PC
Most probably your personal computer is having some issues which needs to fix to get the higher downloading speed back.
First of all, choose to disable and then enable the network adapter. In the second step, Go to the Control Panel where select the network and the internet connection using, then change adapter settings.
In a new window, it will be showing all available internet connections and user needs to select the one with having issues ( Wi-Fi or Ethernet ), user has to disable it by performing right click and then click on “Disable” option.
Once you have made your internet connection disable, restart the PC and then enable the same disabled connection, see if the same problem exists any more. You will be more likely to get faster downloading speed back.
You can also deal with this same issue by uninstalling the driver of network adapter and install its latest version from official website or some other source. Before you uninstall the old version driver, need to download its latest version to ensure having a backup.
How to Un-Install :
- Left-Click on Window sign and select the option “Device Manager”.
- In device manager section, search for “Network Adapters” option and expand it.
- Search own network adapter and go for its un-installation by performing right click. It will appear an option “Uninstall Device”, click it.
- Restart the PC, once it is un-installed.
Now, you can install its latest version which downloaded earlier as backup.
Fixing Router Issues
Router is going to impact you at its worst, once it starts having hardware / software issues. The first simplest thing to do is, press the reset button on router and check if it fixes the issue. If the issue has not been resolved after resetting, need to check router settings and make some required modifications to fix issue.
Every router can be accessed by its IP address, mostly it’s the same IP for all routers which is 192.168.1.1. You can also try this one 192.168.0.1.
When you enter one of those IP addresses on the bar and nothing happens, it means need to access router address manually.
You need to type “Command Prompt” on search bar and press enter.
When the new window opens, type “ipconfig” and again press enter.
On the new Window, you need to find out the option “Default Gateway”. The next option you will find is “IP Address”, type that addresses on the tab of the browser and press enter. You will have router login page.
You need to enter the username and password for successfully login. You can find both on the front and back of router. Once you enter the router settings and now can change some settings to get the maximum downloading speed back.
Let’s take an example how your downloading speed can be affected. In the settings, you allow internet provider to restrict downloading speed for specific time period may be in evening or night, user need to disable that option in IP settings.
Again in settings, you may have disable your WMM settings which limits the downloading speed for streaming videos, go and disable that option.
Broken Cable
There is possibility that it is just an issue with the Ethernet cable and nothing else. If you are using Ethernet connection and facing issues in downloading speed, then try to buy the new cable and get it connected through. A broken cable disturbs the data transmitting process and makes it slow down.
Change Service Provider
It might be an issue with your internet service provider and they have not invested in the infrastructure much to deliver faster downloading speed. They may have weak signal problem specifically in your area and doing better in other areas of city.
You may also ask your friends having same internet provider and whether or not they are having the same issues in which upload speed is faster than download speed. If your friends are not complaining about the same, then your ISP delivers weak performance in your area due to any reason.
Final Words
We have shared with you all possible factors which lead to this issue upload speed is faster than download speed.
