I admit to suppressing a cringe when suggesting that upload speeds aren’t important. I would love to have more uploading horsepower, but I’m not the average Internet user, and, more importantly, I can live with slow uploads. As someone pointed out to me recently, when a user is uploading stuff to the Web, they’re already committed to the online process, and usually to a creative process. On the other hand, if a user clicks to download a video, or tries to load a page that crawls at turtle pace, there’s not much to keep them engaged when the experience is a bad one.
These uploading facts of life are why the median upload speed in the US according to a new report by speedmatters.org is just 435 kilobits per second. It’s also why cable operators are not focused yet on upstream channel bonding. Consumer expectations are starting to change, but it will still take a few years before operators have to deliver on significantly higher upload speeds to stay competitive in the US.
Downstream speeds… now that’s another matter.
Filed under: Bandwidth, DOCSIS 3.0, Internet, News
nice article.
While it may not be important, it is noticeable. I switched from 1 MB upload DSL to 20 MB upload FIOS. The first time my fiancee uploaded photos to flickr she literally said “wow that was fast.” Also it helps my server a bunch.
I’d love to have 20 MB upload. But I can understand why it’s not a priority for most consumers or operators yet.
I know when I do get faster upstream speeds I’ll upload a lot more videos.
Upload speeds are critical for P2P applications and to things like the Slingbox.