I've been having some serious lag while playing online games lately, so I checked my internet speeds. My download speed shows 285 Mbps, but my upload speed is only 4 Mbps. We have a household of six using the internet at the same time, and while it's usually okay, this is a new issue for us. I also have a Wi-Fi router that's about a year old. Is there anything I can do about this upload speed?
5 Answers
If your family is streaming and gaming all at once, that could definitely be eating up your upload bandwidth. It might also be time to check if your router needs an upgrade or reset to help manage traffic better.
Just a heads-up, many internet providers use asymmetric speeds for their plans, which means they give you higher download speeds than upload. If you want more balanced speeds, you might want to consider fiber internet if it's available in your area.
Have you checked what your internet service provider promises you? Sometimes they advertise really high download speeds but leave the upload speeds in tiny print. You might be on a plan that’s designed for lower uploads, especially if it's DSL or cable. Just saying, 4 Mbps for upload is pretty common with those.
Also, make sure there are no background uploads happening on any device. Sometimes software can update or backup without you realizing it, which takes up upload speed.
It might be worth looking into whether the issue is specific to your device or affecting all devices in your home. Try checking the speeds on different devices to troubleshoot further.
Yeah, I totally get that! I had a similar experience where my ISP claimed fast downloads but I barely scraped up to 5 Mbps upload. It can be frustrating!