Is it normal for the upstream speed to be a fraction of the download speed in a broadband speed test? For example is it normal for a 2mbps downstream connection to only achieve an upstream reading of say, 0.2mbps?
Just curious.
Jason.
as far as I know, it's quite normal.
Its normal.
I have 8mb downstream, 448k upstream.
You just found the A in ADSL.
I think it's because when sending data (uploading) it's sent at a lower frequency to downloading. There is a technology called FastPath that allows uploads to be faster by sending them at a slightly higher frequency allowing for uploads close to 2Mbit. Bethere.co.uk (who I'm with) have a max upload of 1.4MBit.
Soon, when VDSL kicks off (it's faster than ADSL2+), you'll see higher upload and download bandwidths. There are a couple of companies offering Bonded DSL which means you get 2 ADSl Broadband lines running at the same speed bonded together offering huge increases in both upload and download bandwidth. Bulldog Broadband will soon be offering bonded ADSL.
Cable companies don't suffer the line attenuation that ADSL does. What it means is that your download and upload capacity isn't affected by the distance you are from the exchange.
Companies like NTL Telewest don't offer big uploads but not because they cant' but because they don't want people running servers 24 hours a day. That's what I was told by a telwest Tech guy. Don't know if it's true or not.