You basically have a copy on your local machine, so all it has to send is basic information about what you're doing on your client. Even when you play online games that use a lot of computer resources, what they're sending over the wire can be much much smaller because what is happening on your screen at home is coming from client software. When it comes up upload speed versus download speed, what is considered fast versus slow?įew people have a need for fast upload speeds. I put this in here because it's a constant source of confusion for people who don't work in IT jobs. So your computer will show a progress indicator that will say something like 10 MB/Sec, and that means you're getting 80 Mbps on that connection. File sizes are expressed in bytes (upper case B), and there are 8 bits to a byte. Network throughput (aka speeds) are always in bits per second (lower case b). It's at this point I will point out the difference between bits and bytes, just in case. And if you can prove you aren't getting them, get on the horn to their billing department for some refunds. You will need to read the fine print to see what your guaranteed speeds are. Are the speeds actually that fast or do they hover lower than that?
