Significance of UPLOAD/ASSYMETRICAL etc -PLEASE EXPLAIN

DialUpMeArse

Hello all, Traolach AKA DialUpMeArse here again. Recently I have noticed several forum members air out their opinions over varying speeds regarding uploading. Also there has been mention of "asymmetry" in this area.

Most folk, inexperienced in the field of broadband in particular and the internet in general make the mistake [as it now appears to be] of focusing on DL speeds only.

This is compounded by the advertising strategy of all the major ISPs who explicity refer primarily to their great [or not so] download speeds, with upload speeds being mentioned , but instead in a vague, insignificant fashion.

It appears from what i have read that Upload speeds are the main factor in telephony eg SKYPE. Most Satellite, as it uses a dial up to work, is useless therefore.

However, where dealing with broadband, and where a minimum 512kb UpLoad speed is established, is it still necessary to pursue further the agenda? What is the importance of a change in UL speeds? Does an increase in UL speeds pose problems, in the same way that a decrease in UL speeds might?

What are people referring to when they mention "assymetrical" broadband?


Thanks and Happy New Year.¬

Creamy Goodness

assymetrical broadband is where your upload and download are the same speed, a look at irish broadband's breeze products would be examples of this type of broadband.

DialUpMeArse

Right- but they use satellite systems to deliver their broadband. In their case it's one way, hence the identical speeds [or so I guess]

I'm in line to receive a similar service, albeit via a Group BB Scheme, but I've been offered 2MB DL - 1 512 KB upload.

Does a great disparity between DL And UL speeds negatively impact on the quality of the service, so much so that something which on the face of it looks great isn't so.

Kind of like eating what you like all day, but being limited to one crap a week.

cgarvey

People refer to Asymmetrical or Asynchronous broadband. Both refer to BB that has a UL/DL speed that are NOT equal (I assume Cremo made a typo above).

As most ISPs would pay for backhaul on a per pipe basis (which would be symmetrical, not asynch/asymm), the main reasons for asynch/asymm BB is to allow more download speeds. So instead of sharing the same pipe 50/50 for upload/download, you share it 75/25 or higher. Most people's use of the internet is to download, so that's seen as the more important use of the pipe (anyone dispute that?).

The positives of asynch/asymm: higher download speed with the same contention. If DSL ISPs were to offer synch/symm BB at 2MB, then their costs are arguably potentially higher than 2MB/128K. Me, I think that card is over played, and certainly at the high contention rates DSL users are used to , this split becomes less significant. Most DSL techs also favour asynch/symm delivery, as part of their tech.

The negatives are, as you've outlined, VoIP (128K is ok, but just that, and not when you're using the net for downloading/something else at the same time). "OK" is a subjective opinion, and you'll get varied opinions on that. Skype works on dialuip speeds, but is not OK IMO, but is in others. BitTorrent users suffer because of the low upload speeds, but then there are vast numbers of BT users that are sharing illegally anyway, so ISPs won't be interested in helping them out. VPN/Teleworking/RemoteControl is a biggie as well. SSH tunnels back to your work place or your IPSec VPN will suffer because of the low upload speed. Sending large emails, uploading large files to your website, etc., will also suffer.

So, to asnwer your question does it negatively impact on QoS, then "Yes" is my opinion.

oscarBravo

cgarvey wrote:

People refer to Asymmetrical or Asynchronous broadband.

At the risk of being a bore: "asynchronous" is a misnomer. It's a term that slipped into use when ADSL was first introduced, as "asynchronous" sounds more convincing in telecomms terms than "asymmetric". It's just plain wrong.

Asynchronous means that the two ends of the link don't share a common clock source, and have to exchange timing information (like start/stop bits in serial communications). Asymmetric means that the Tx and Rx speeds are not the same. Big difference.

paulm17781

Cremo wrote:

assymetrical broadband is where your upload and download are the same speed, a look at irish broadband's breeze products would be examples of this type of broadband.

No it's not, that is symmetrical.

Creamy Goodness

yup sorry, i'm making a lot of typo's these days,

sorry i of course meant...

stupid typo boy wrote:

assymetrical broadband is where your upload and download are NOT the same speed, a look at irish broadband's breeze products would be examples of this type of broadband

paulm17781

Cremo wrote:

sorry i of course meant...

No you didn't You meant Breeze is symmetric.