Please explain this to me.

[CALBIX]

Can someone please explain why If I upload something my download speed stops and I cant do anything on the internet?

 

My internet speed is 4Mb/s

4096 Down

507 Up

 

Download speed is usually between 385-420 Kb/s yes 420 Blaze it

Upload speed Is 52 Kb/s 

[yannickverc]

The speeds ookla shows are megabits/s. They are not the same as megabytes. For example. I have 100 megabits/s download, yet I only download at 11-12 megabytes/s on steam. The server you're downloading from is also an important part. If that server doesn't have a big bandwith available you can have all the megapotatos, you wont get a high DL speed.

[MDPS]

Bandwidth/DNS issues?

[SolarNova]

42

[ashypanda]

that's about right, internet speeds are in megaBITs, while downloads are usually in megaBYTEs, to work it out just divide bits by 8 to get bytes.

[Vitalius]

I'm thinking his connection is strictly half-duplex, meaning he can only upload or download. Not both simultaneously (which is full-duplex). 

@CALBIX You might have to ask your ISP or whoever supplies your internet connection. They may have it set up to be in half-duplex mode for whatever reason (probably to save on bandwidth).

[CALBIX]

The speeds ookla shows are megabits/s. They are not the same as megabytes. For example. I have 100 megabits/s download, yet I only download at 11-12 megabytes/s on steam. The server you're downloading from is also an important part. If that server doesn't have a big bandwith available you can have all the megapotatos, you wont get a high DL speed.

 

Bandwidth/DNS issues?

 

42

 

that's about right, internet speeds are in megaBITs, while downloads are usually in megaBYTEs, to work it out just divide bits by 8 to get bytes.

 

I understand that but why when I upload something I usually cant watch youtube while Twitch streamers can use their upload and download at the same time

[Samppa221]

nvm

[CALBIX]

Irrelevant answers. Please read and understand the OP's post before trying to answer. 

His question is the first line in his post: "Can someone please explain why If I upload something my download speed stops and I cant do anything on the internet?"

I may not know the answer to why that happens, but it definitely has nothing to do with the difference between megabits and megabytes.

I'm thinking his connection is strictly half-duplex, meaning he can only upload or download. Not both simultaneously (which is full-duplex). 

@CALBIX You might have to ask your ISP or whoever supplies your internet connection. They may have it set up to be in half-duplex mode for whatever reason (probably to save on bandwidth).

 

That helps a little bit more 

[yannickverc]

I understand that but why when I upload something I usually cant watch youtube while Twitch streamers can use their upload and download at the same time

That's because your speeds are so low.

[CALBIX]

That's because your speeds are so low.

 

Ok so the higher the speed the more I can do is that how it works?

[yannickverc]

Ok so the higher the speed the more I can do is that how it works?

That would be my best guess. (Why do I think this? On my torrentclient it up/downloads at the same time, but when the download is high the upload isn't. The high upload only pushes through when the download is finished.)

 

And since your speeds aren't top of the line I'd guess you're limited to only 1 way.

[schizznick]

The issue has to do with UDP and TCP. TCP is a connection based protocol, that means that for every packet sent another packet must be returned, this is called an ACK. So if you cannot send an ACK for the previous packet the server cannot send the next packet. It's also possible that the requests you are sending to the internet are being dropped or delayed also causing your internet to appear to not be working. 

 

The Flip side of this is UDP, with udp the packets are just fired off with no guarantee they will arrive. This is useful for things like VOIP or video where a few dropped or out of sequence packets don't cause a major issue or can be re-requested using buffering. These are often called real-time protocols. 

 

In this case you have a very low upload speed and with today's internet it's really sub par. 

 

I hope this helps you understand why.

[leadeater]

-snip-

 

Bet me to it Sounds like when you are uploading the connection is swamped so when you try and download/browse there is no bandwidth left to adequately send the ACK packets, basically your denial of servicing yourself. 

 

Also I agree, that upload is rather bad but so is the download. Give your ISP a call and ask for them to check your line. If they are halfway decent they will be able to do some basic checks remotely over the phone like line attenuation, connection drop rates and packet loss. If not it will have to be a call out which unfortunately will cost you if no fault is found.

[skywake]

As always on these forums it takes a few responses before you get the right answer!

 

To put it simply with most network traffic there's a very long, formal handshake around the sending of the actual data just to make sure that it was sent correctly. If you hammer your UL then the parts of that handshake you're sending to the server will be delayed slowing down the entire process. The solution to the problem is either to get a better connection (not always an option) or limit your uploads.

 

My brother used to complain about his connection speed on about the same speed you are. Turns out he had torrents running 24/7 hammering the UL. I couldn't get him a better internet connection but by simply limiting his UL in his torrent client to 25KB/s he could actually use his internet again. Which is something. If you have a low speed connection then you really have to keep all of these things in check.