Some Thoughts on Broadband Speeds in the WFH Age
internet isp wfh · 4 comments · 300 words · Viewed ~215 times.
ISPs suck. They're designed to. The A in ADSL stands for "Asymmetric". That is, your download speed is faster than your upload speed. This makes sense for most domestic purposes. Most people suck down a lot more than they push up.
But we've now entered the (permanent?) work-from-home era. If you're anything like me, you're spending more time broadcasting video than you ever did before. It's painfully obvious when you're stuck on a video call with someone who has restricted upload speeds. Blocky video and garbled sound - getting worse if more people in the household are streaming at once.
Almost all ISPs sell connections this way. And, to be fair, it made sense. But it's increasingly difficult to justify. Gamers want to stream, TikTokers want to meme, and boring old farts like me want HD video calls.
Before this all kicked off, I took the fastest upload package I could find.
Over 300Mbps down is swish! And the 35 up is pretty decent - especially if both my wife and I are on calls. But I'd gladly trade some of my download speed for a faster upload speed.
So which mainstream ISP will be the first to market symmetric - or better - speeds for home workers? BT is apparently trialling it as part of their fibre roll out.
Of course, if you're permanently working from home, perhaps it makes sense for people to go back to having a dedicated, separate line for work?
Either way, broadband speeds will have to change soon. People are beginning to send more data than ever before.
Alex B says: