What Do Symmetrical Internet Speeds Mean, and Do I Need It?

What Do Symmetrical Internet Speeds Mean, and Do I Need It?

For the longest time, the internet was a mostly one-way street — providing fast downloads but slower upload speeds. It was designed this way intentionally to support our online behaviors at that time. But times have changed — and so have our digital habits and needs. More than ever, we are relying on our internet connection for video conferencing, content creation, gaming, large file transfers and cloud storage services. The need for faster upload speeds has become more pronounced. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with access to symmetrical speeds, we will show you why you might need it. 

Many Americans are unhappy with their internet service. A recent CNET survey showed that more than half of the respondents saw price increases while still experiencing unreliable connectivity. It’s possible that a big chunk of this unreliability comes from internet connections with asymmetrical internet speeds. 

But not all internet connection types are symmetrical. Asymmetrical internet connections have a wide download lane, with bandwidth of multiple gigabits in some cases. The upload lane, on the other hand, is a narrow, single-lane route. For example, a 300Mbps plan usually has download speeds around 300Mbps, but upload speeds may be as low as 30Mbps, or even lower. This can cause upstream traffic choking, leading to a traffic jam or slow internet. 

Locating local internet providers

The price of symmetry: Is it worth it?

If you’ve decided that you need symmetrical speeds, the next step is determining how to upgrade and whether the pricing is worth it. Symmetrical speeds typically come with fiber-optic internet, which isn’t available everywhere and often costs more than traditional cable.

Cable internet was designed so that users could download more than they upload, so the infrastructure was built to allocate more bandwidth to downstream traffic. DSL has similar upload speed limitations due to how phone lines were originally designed. If you need more details on how these internet connection types work, our home internet 101 explainer provides more details.

In contrast, fiber networks can deliver symmetrical speeds because light travels the same speed in both directions through fiber-optic cables, making the infrastructure capable of symmetrical speeds. 

“The bottleneck during busy hours is increasingly the uplink, not the downlink, especially on non-fiber connections lacking symmetrical speeds,” Ookla analyst Luke Kehoe told us.

Ready for internet symmetrical speeds?

How we use the internet has changed drastically in recent years, so your internet connection may need to adapt to your usage. It’s not a mandatory upgrade for everyone, but if you feel squeezed by your current setup, you might be due for an upgrade.

Whether symmetrical speeds are worth it depends on how much upload-heavy your usage is generally. If you’re constantly frustrated by slow uploads, video calls where others can’t see you clearly or long waits to back up files to the cloud, symmetrical speeds could solve those problems. But if your biggest upload is the occasional photo to social media, you’re probably fine with your current connection.

The key takeaway here is to consider not just how much data you consume but also how much you produce. But before you upgrade, it may be wise to try tweaking your Wi-Fi to boost performance or checking your router for possible issues. 

Source: CNET.

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