Google Fiber Slow Download Fast Upload

As I understand it, most internet service plans require you to pay for specific upload and download speeds. How can I ensure my internet provider is delivering on the speeds I'm paying for?

Sincerely,
Double Downloading

Dear DD,

Great (and timely) question, and one I'm sure we're all thinking a little bit about now that Google Fiber's insanely fast internet has us all a little jealous. Just last week the FCC revealed that most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) usually meet their advertised speed rates. Of course, just because most ISPs are delivering what they're advertising doesn't mean yours is. The basic process to test your download speeds is something anyone can do. The first step: we need to verify how much you're actually paying for.

Fixed broadband speeds are getting faster — what’s fastest in your city? Like Google Fiber in Charlotte and Atlanta, have the fastest average download and upload speeds.

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Find Out the Speed You're Paying For

The first thing to do is check in with your ISP and see what speed you're paying for (if you don't already know it). In some cases, all you need to do is look at your most recent bill and the download speed and upload speed will be listed on it.

However, some ISPs like to hide this information away a little. If your bill lists something like, 'Blast Speed,' or 'Roadrunner,' then that's the tier you pay for. The only way to figure out the speed you're paying for is to head over to your ISPs web site and search through their package options (here are some helpful links for Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon, and Century Link).

If your download is slower than you upload then I would be trying a replacement router and calling my ISP to run some line tests to detect the cause of the slow.
Although Google Fiber provides incredibly fast network speeds over wired devices, there are a number of situations to cause your network speeds to slow down. Applications running on your device all affect upload and download speeds.

If you need a quick primer on what to look for, your connection speed will usually be something like, 'Download speeds up to 20 Mbps and uploads up to 4 Mbps.' Mbps means Megabit per second and refers to transfer speed. (Don't confuse Mbps with MBps, aka Megabytes per second. A MB is equal to 8 Megabits combined). Head over to Buddy Backup blog for a nice and simple breakdown of broadband speed terminology.

You should now have an idea of the internet speed you're paying for, so let's do a speed test. Photo by BuddyBackupBlog.

Do a Simple Speed Test

The easiest way to do a speed test is with Speedtest.net (or at least it's our favorite tool for the job). All you need to do is click on the nearest testing area (usually the big green arrow), and click Begin Test. (For the most accurate test, make sure you're not downloading or uploading anything—for example, you may want to pause services like Dropbox.)

Let Speedtest run for a few seconds and you'll see your results. You'll see three different sets of numbers: Ping, Download Speed, and Upload Speed. The Ping is how long it takes for your data to make a round trip to the server, and we already know what the upload and download speeds mean.

Your download and upload speeds should be within about 1 or 2 Mbps as your advertised rate. If your speed test is a lot slower than what you're paying for—or, more importantly, you feel like certain types of downloads aren't fast—then it's time to check if your ISP is throttling you.

Check if Your ISP Is Throttling Your Connection

Sometimes ISPs throttle you because you're torrenting, other times, it's because you're exceeding a data cap. Regardless of which reason it's happening, throttling stinks, and it's good to figure out why your ISP is slowing your internet down. Even if your speed test shows you're getting the right speed, that doesn't mean your ISP isn't slowing down certain types of downloads.

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Are you sure you’re using the right measurement?

Remember that megabyte and megabit are used to describe two different measurements of data. The data transfer speed on your network is usually measured in megabits per second. That’s one-eighth of a megabyte per second.

That means that if you’re running on a 100 Mbit connection, your download speed should be roughly 12.5 (100/8) megabytes per second at maximum.

Testing Your Speed

Before reading onward, you should test your internet speed. You can do this through various speed testing utilities online, such as Speedtest.net.

1: You’re using a router.

Most consumer-level routers are absolutely lousy at transferring data at rates higher than roughly 10 to 14 megabits per second. That’s because their internal hardware is very slow and can’t process all of the signals coming in at one time. The problem is further exacerbated when more devices are connected to the router, or when you’re downloading from many sources at the same time (like you would with a torrent).

To test whether the router is causing you problems, try connecting your Ethernet cable directly to a relatively fast computer, if possible. Just be aware that hardware limitations on the computer, including the quality of the network card, could also cause problems! If your computer’s hard drive isn’t fast enough to record all the information coming to it, your network card will make no further queries to it. You end up with an overloaded drive and a bottlenecked connection.

2: You may have internet speeds restricted at an international level.

Various countries restrict the speed of web data crossing their borders (in or out) to avoid bottlenecking the country’s infrastructure. For example, Romania Data Systems (RDS) – one of the biggest Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country – advertised 100 Mbit connections for its customers but restricted international speeds to roughly one-tenth of this in the past. It’s possible that many Internet service providers do this, but I’m not sure exactly how many.

To find out whether you’re affected by this, call your Internet service provider and ask them if you’re being restricted on an international level. They should reply with a clear “yes” or “no”. Don’t forget to be a little assertive.

3: International peering may be at fault.

Are you in Germany downloading something from Malaysia? Is a torrent of yours full of foreign seeders? Answering “yes” to either of these questions may provide the key to finding out whether you’re experiencing peering issues. For one ISP to transfer data to another ISP, the data must first pass an Internet exchange point (IX or IXP). Similar rules apply to transfers being made across oceans or large terrestrial distances. When an IX is clogged, it may result in a slow-down for everyone trying to transfer data outside their ISPs’ networks.

If your speed is very high at some hours, but very low at others, you might be experiencing the Internet’s version of rush hour.

4: Your ISP’s hardware can’t handle those speeds.

While fiber optic cable can transfer at some immense rates, ISPs don’t always upgrade their hardware accordingly. They might be using newer routers, or they may have opted to go the cheap route and just retrofit whatever hardware they can while trying to keep a balance on their budgets. This rarely happens, though. But keep in mind that for the first time in a very long while, even the most state-of-the-art ISP hardware can’t keep up with the optimal speed of fiber optic cables!

Conclusion

Google Fiber Slow Download Fast Upload Video

As you may have gathered from here, it’s very difficult to properly pinpoint exactly what is causing a slow-down in your system. You’ll have to perform lots of trial-and-error verification, but eventually you may find the culprit. If you have any questions about this subject, be sure to leave a comment below so that others can assist you!