Why Is My Download Speed Slower Than It Should Be

Solved: I have a Dori (sic), i.e. Internet and Telephone service. I connect wirelessly. Why are my upload speeds faster than my download speeds? What sort of speeds do you consider slow? I received download speeds upwards of 30Mbps, and the upload speed was above 10Mbps; but again, the download speed was always faster than. Why is my download speed so slow? Hey, im not very good with computers/internet but I know enough to know that 25kb/s is not a fast download speed at all. In the past ive gotten up to 2mb/s but right now its so slow. Why Is My Internet Suddenly So Slow? 2/18/14 1:00pm. Try the same, slow download or run a speed test from a computer that's hard-wired (via gigabit ethernet, preferably). Solved Internet download speed is way slower on my built pc than other devices solved Ram speed slower with ryzen 5 than it should be solved My desktops internet speed is significantly slower than. Fetch Help > Using Fetch > Why is uploading slower than downloading? For many users, uploading files is quite a bit slower than downloading files. This is usually normal, because most high-speed Internet connections, including cable modems and DSL, are asymmetric — they are designed to provide much better speed for downloading than uploading.

If you’ve ever done a speed test on your Internet, you’ve probably noticed that compared to your download speeds, your upload speeds are, well, a little pathetic. You’re not alone, though: this is pretty much the norm worldwide.

Speedtest’s world average for July 2018 was 46.41 Mbps down, 22.48 up. Why the asymmetry? In general, ISPs are considering two things: there is a lot more demand for downstream bandwidth than for upstream, and there is a technical limit to how much traffic their lines can carry.

Asymmetry is actually important

DSL, cable, and fiber connections need to be divided into different streams for download and upload, and since they all have limits on how much information you can pack into them, privileging download over upload is usually better.

If everyone in an apartment building has fifty Mbps up and fifty Mbps down, all of their data is probably going to one coax cable connected to the building. During peak times they might max out the coaxial cable’s download bandwidth while leaving the upload channel fairly open. It makes sense then to have at least a two-to-one download-upload ratio.

Related: How to Properly Check Your Internet Speed

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line (or DSL) is fairly slow, but it does a decent job of relaying Internet over the last mile or two. It uses the same copper lines that your telephone does, so it’s not exactly built for speed. The download and upload streams operate on two different frequencies above the voice frequency, which being fairly high, decay pretty quickly over any distance. Most DSL is ADSL, where the “A” stands for “Asymmetric,” so the disparity is pretty much baked into the standard. There’s not much room for more bandwidth in copper wires, so keeping the lines biased toward download is probably for the best.

Cable

Due to higher downstream demand, there are more download than upload channels on the coax cable (carried on the same wire as TV). Add to this that upload channels are usually narrower than download channels (roughly six Mhz for down and three Mhz for up), and you’re looking at even lower relative speeds, which is why a four-to-one channel ratio doesn’t usually get you a four-to-one speed ratio. A twenty Mbps download speed will likely have less than 5 Mbps for upload.

However, a new standard for transmitting data over cables, DOCSIS 3.1, could make cable a lot faster. Essentially, 3.1 improves on 3.0 by taking the current channel widths of six or three Mhz, making them smaller, and combining them all into a much bigger spectrum.

Some ISPs are already starting to upgrade their equipment to the new standard, and paired with modems that support it, the same cables that currently top out at a few hundred Mbps could be carrying ten Gbps down and one Gbps up.

Fiber

While DSL and coaxial cable connections are typically constrained by a low upper bandwidth limit, fiber optic cables can carry so much data so fast that allocating some space to downstream at the expense of upstream is practically unnecessary. Thus, fiber for both individuals and businesses tends to be symmetric.

EPB Fiber in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for example, offers a frankly insane ten Gbps down / ten Gbps up. For cost and logistical reasons, some connections remain asymmetric, though these speeds are still typically more than enough, so fiber is still the most solid option for those in need of upload speed.

Related: How to Improve Internet Speed for Streaming

How do I get faster upload speeds?

If you have laggy video or keep getting killed in multiplayer games, you’re probably looking for a way to improve your upload speeds. Unfortunately, if you’ve only been allocated two Mbps, and that’s about what you’re getting, your only way up is to pay for a higher tier.

However, if your upload speeds are significantly lower than what you paid for, and they seem to be that way consistently, here are a few things you can try before making that dreaded tech support call:

  • Update your modem and router firmware. If you don’t have the latest, you may not be keeping up with the ISP’s upgrades.
  • Go wired. It seems like the stone age, sure, but it can help squeeze out a few extra megabits when you need them.
  • Make sure you don’t have background programs hogging too much bandwidth. Syncing photos, backing things up to the cloud, file sharing, and other applications can make your upstream connection pretty crowded.
  • Check your speeds with different devices. If one is significantly faster, you might have a hardware or software issue with your device rather than an Internet problem.

Faster upload speeds are the future

The last option for getting better upload speeds is just to wait. As upstream connections become more important to average users who depend on things like cloud storage and streaming, they’ll be more highly prioritized. The lion’s share of most connections will still be dedicated to downloads, but with the increasing prevalence of fiber and the introduction of the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, things are getting steadily better.

The following steps will help identify whether there's a problem with your network when downloading a game or app on your Xbox One console and show you how to improve network speed.

Solution 1: Check the download speed

Follow these steps:

  1. Scroll to Installing… <the game title you're downloading>.
  2. In the 'Queue' section of My games & apps, note the download speed shown on the game or app that is being installed. This indicates the current download speed. If you're seeing slow speeds (for example, less than 1 megabit per second), it may take a long time for the download to complete.

The table below represents estimated download times based on current download speed.

Internet Download Slower Than Upload

Note This information is intended as a guide only, not an actual representation of download time. Bandwidth will be constrained and download time will increase during activities such as streaming content, playing games, or game streaming from your Xbox One to a Windows 10 PC.

Current download speed

30-GB file

40-GB file

50-GB file

60-GB file

70-GB file

2 Mb/s

33.3 hours

44.4 hours

55.6 hours

66.7 hours

77.8 hours

5 Mb/s

13.3 hours

17.8 hours

22.2 hours

26.7 hours

31.1 hours

10 Mb/s

6.7 hours

8.9 hours

11.1 hours

13.3hours

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15.6 hours

20 Mb/s

3.3 hours

4.4 hours

5.6 hours

6.7 hours

7.8 hours

50 Mb/s

1.3 hours

1.8 hours

2.2 hours Ping serial number lookup online.

2.7 hours

3.1 hours

100 Mb/s

0.7 hours

0.9 hours

1.1 hours

1.3 hours

1.6 hours

200 Mb/s

0.3 hours

0.4 hours

0.6 hours

0.7 hours

0.8 hours

Example:

If you're installing a 40-GB file and it's 25 percent downloaded (30 GB remaining) and your connection speed is 10 Mb/s, it should take about 4.4 hours for the download to complete. (This assumes that the download speed stays the same.)

While connect to Xbox Live, your connection speed should be at least 1.5 Mb/s for the best experience. For more information about bandwidth usage or to troubleshoot your network connection, see the Xbox One Network Connection Error Solution.

Solution 2: Close any running games

To provide the best gaming experience, background downloads are constrained while a game is running. To remove download constraints from games or apps being installed, you can either wait for the Xbox One to suspend the running game, or you can force games to close by doing the following:

  1. On the Home screen, navigate to your most recently run game.
  2. With the game highlighted, press the Menu button and select Quit.

Why Is My Download Speed Slower Than It Should Be A Woman

Once you've closed the most recently run game:

  • Check the speed at which your game or app is downloading.
  • To avoid slowing your download, don't launch any games or apps until your download has completed.

Solution 3: Restart your console

  1. Press and hold the Xbox button in the center of your Xbox One controller to open the Power Center.
  2. Select Restart console.
  3. Select Restart. This will automatically pause any existing downloads, which will resume once the console is restarted.

Note If the console appears to be frozen, press and hold the Xbox button on the console for about 10 seconds, until the console turns off. After the console shuts down, touch the Xbox button on the console again to restart.

When you restart your console, all open apps and games will be closed. Once your console has restarted, verify that your downloads have resumed by doing the following:

  1. On the Home screen, open My games & apps.
  2. Select Queue and highlight the game or app you're trying to download.
  3. The game or app should show as Installing.
  4. If the status shows as Queued or Paused, select the game or app, press the Menu button, and then select Resume installation.

Once you've checked that your downloads have resumed:

  • Check the speed at which your game or app is downloading.
  • To avoid slowing your download, don't launch any games or apps until your download has completed.

Solution 4: Cancel the game or app installation and then reinstall

If the steps above didn't resolve the problem, you should cancel the game installation. Here's how:

  1. On the Home screen, open My games & apps.
  2. Select Queue and highlight the game or app you're trying to download.
  3. Press the Menu button on your controller, and then select Cancel.

You can then reinstall the game by inserting the disc or downloading again from Microsoft Store. To download the game again, search for and select the game in Microsoft Store, and then select Install.

Once you've restarted your download, check the download speed of your game or app again.

Solution 5: Check your console’s network connection

If the previous solutions didn't resolve the problem, check to see what your console’s download speed is in comparison with your subscription plan from your Internet service provider (ISP). First, pause any running or queued downloads:

  1. On the Home screen, open My games & apps.
  2. Select Queue and highlight any games or apps that are downloading or are queued to download.
  3. Press the Menu button on your controller, and then select Pause installation for each game or app that's downloading or queued.

Next, close any games that are running on your system:

  1. On the Home screen, navigate to your most recently run game.
  2. With the game highlighted, press the Menu button and select Quit.

Why Is My Download Speed Slower Than It Should Be A Day

Now, run a network speed test:

  1. Press the Xbox button to open the guide.
  2. Select System > Settings.
  3. Select Network > Network settings > Detailed network statistics.

Your console will run a connection test and display the detected download speed, which you can compare against your Internet service provider’s subscription plan. If you’re seeing a substantially lower download speed than expected on the Detailed network statistics page, there are several possible causes:

Network contention on your home network - Network-enabled devices can compete on your home network for the same download bandwidth as your Xbox One console. Try pausing any download activity from other devices on your home network to see if that improves your console’s download speed. Also, check to see if your home router has support for Quality of Service (QoS) for its Internet connection. Enabling a QoS feature on your home router can help prioritize the network connection for your Xbox One to improve download speeds.

Wireless network contention - If your console is connected to your home network via a wireless connection, the console may be competing with other wireless devices or other wireless networks. If possible, try connecting your Xbox One console to your home router through a wired connection.

What Causes Download Speed To Be Slow

If you can't connect your console with a wired connection, check to see if your home router supports dual-band connections (both 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz Wi-Fi connections). If your home router is dual band, try moving your Xbox One console to the 5-GHz router connection and move other wireless devices to the 2.4-GHz router connection. While 5-GHz Wi-Fi has shorter range than 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi, it can also have less overlap with other wireless networks and therefore perform better.

Internet service provider network contention - Your download speed can also vary depending on the time of day and day of the week. This is often caused by ISP network contention during peak usage windows. If download speeds on your Xbox One are substantially slower during weekday evenings or weekends compared to weekday mornings/afternoons, this may be caused by ISP network contention. To work around this constraint, try starting game or app downloads late in the evening to let them run overnight, during off-peak hours.

Why Is Upload Faster Than Download

If you're still seeing a slow download speed, try the Xbox One Network Connection Error Solution, which can help identify problems between your home network and your Internet service provider.