Broadband Guides

Broadband upload speeds

Monday 28 May, 2012

By Helen Thomas

Your broadband upload speed could make a big difference to how you use your internet connection. But what is an upload speed and how can you make the most of it?

What is a “fast” broadband upload speed?

Your broadband upload speed is the speed at which you can upload information to the internet. Internet service providers (ISPs) often don’t advertise these speeds very well and prioritise download speeds, because consumers tend to download a lot more than they upload. However, depending on how you use your connection, a decent broadband upload speed might be useful or even essential, for example, if you use real-time video communications such as Skype, or regularly play certain computer games, upload speeds will be a lot more important to you.

Download speeds advertised by providers rocketed with the coming of age of fibre optic broadband. Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com), BT broadband (www.BT.com) and a number of smaller providers now offer up to 100Mb connections in certain areas.

And at last upload speeds are starting to see a boost. While still significantly slower than the download speeds on offer, some ISPs have started to focus more on the upload speeds they are offering, especially with their fastest fibre packages.

BT and Virgin Media both offer packages with advertised upload speeds into double figures, with BT's best upload connection offering up to 19Mb.

However, for standard ADSL broadband connections, if your upload speed is as much as 2.5Mb, you’re doing well. Speeds of less than 1.5Mb are usual, but the same rules apply to upload speeds as to download speeds: the speed will be affected by a number of factors, including distance from your local telephone exchange and the number of people sharing your connection (known as the contention ratio).

Why do I need a fast broadband upload speed?

Online gaming - When you play a high-quality online game, either on your PC or through a console, your connection will need to send information to the computers of your competitors via the internet. If you play online games with a slow upload speed you might find the image freezing or slowing down. Check our guide to the best ISPs for gaming.

File sharing - If you share music or movie files online, a fast broadband upload speed will reduce the time it takes to do this. And, if you work from home using a remote network, your work files will transfer quicker. Check our guide to the best ISPs for downloading.

Social networking - If you use sites like Facebook and Twitpic to share photos, you’ll be familiar with the long wait between finding the right photos and having them appear on your profile, especially if you’re uploading lots of pictures at once. A fast broadband upload speed will improve this dramatically.

ISPs with fast upload speeds

Only a small number of providers offer broadband packages with fast upload speeds.

BT Infinity's up to 76Mb service offers an upload speed of up to 19Mb - the fastest commercially available.

BE (www.bethere.co.uk) has upload speeds of up to 1.1Mb on its Value and Unlimited packages, and speeds of up to 1.9Mb on its Pro plan. BE's Unlimited and Pro broadband packages both have unlimited downloads and flexible contract options of either 3 or 12 months.

TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) claims that upload speeds for it's up to 80Mb fibre service are "up to 17x faster than the UK average broadband."

If fast download speeds are equally important to you, Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) offers an alternative to BT. The upload speeds on its 100Mb package are up to 10Mb.