Why upload speeds are so important?

If you’ve experienced your connection lagging over an important video call, or your mates are winning the penalty kicks during your gaming sessions, then you know your broadband download speed could be a problem. However, your upload speed is equally important, so what’s the difference and why?

Download speed is the speed at which data is transferred from the internet to your PC, tablet or phone and it’s used for every task from scrolling through social media, downloading files to streaming TV shows across Netflix.

The upload speed is how fast data moves from your device to the internet, and so a fast upload speed will make all your internet activities quicker and smoother. Yet, most broadband providers prioritise offering fast download speeds, with their upload speeds often being less than 1/10th of their download speeds!

Fast upload speeds are particularly important for a smooth connection during video calls, so you can enjoy Teams and Zoom Calls without buffering or lagging, and super useful if you’re making VoIP phone calls, sending lots of emails or you’re sharing large files or photos over cloud-based services such as Dropbox, We Transfer, or Google Drive.

And if you’re a gamer, we probably don’t need to tell you that upload speed is important! But a quick connection reduces lag while playing games online and means guaranteed super-smooth streaming on services like Twitch and fast video uploads of your Fortnite footage to your YouTube channel!

At LightSpeed, we provide the fastest, most technologically advanced full fibre broadband in the East of England on our new state-of-the-art network. Our download and upload speeds are symmetrical, so you get 1000 Mbps whether you are uploading or downloading.

The average download speeds for standard fibre broadband (FTTC or Fibre to the Cabinet) across the region vary between 20-50 Mbps and average upload speeds which range from 1-30 Mbps, depending on your package. With LightSpeed you could be uploading between 30 and 1000 times faster, and 23 times faster for downloading. (Not to mention that our full fibre broadband is also five times more reliable). So, everyone in your household can Facetime their friends, upload videos to YouTube, stream boxsets on Netflix or even host that important video meeting when working from home!

No drama. No buffering. No bickering. This is Life at LightSpeed.