What Do DSL Upstream & Downstream Speeds Mean?
When you purchase an Internet plan via your Internet service provider of choice, you can choose between a variety of downstream and upstream speeds. The higher the speed, the more costly your plan. Knowing what sort of traffic uses which direction helps ensure that you're getting the right plan for your needs.
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Downstream
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The downstream speed represents how quickly data travels from a server to your computer. The higher the downstream speed, the faster your overall connection. For instance, Apple estimates that if you have a connection with a one megabit per second downstream speed, then it would take about half a minute to download a 4MB file. The same file on a 5Mbps connection would only take about five seconds, while it would take up to 10 minutes on a dial-up connection.
Upstream
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The upstream speed represents how quickly data is transferred from your computer to a server. When you purchase an Internet plan, you'll notice that the upstream speed is usually lower than the downstream speed. However, this doesn't mean that upstream speed isn't important. Upstream speed limits tasks like video chats, uploading files and even gaming.
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Max DSL Speeds
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DSL is the slowest of the broadband connections, but that doesn't mean that it's slow -- in fact, in best-case situations, DSL speeds can hit up to 300Mbps downstream. However, this isn't realistic for home use. In your home, you can find DSL plans that go up to 24Mbps. While the DSL service isn't as fast as most cable connections, the tradeoff is usually that DSL service isn't as expensive.
Actual Use
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While your DSL service provider promises a certain maximum speed, there are more real-world factors that can slow down both upstream and downstream speeds. The more computers and devices active on the same network -- both wired and wireless -- the less bandwidth there is to go around, resulting in slower up and down speeds on each computer. Accessing via Wi-Fi is slower than connecting via Ethernet. You may even see slower speeds during peak times of the day when more DSL users in your area are connected to the Internet.
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References
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