Level 1

0 points

Different upload and download internet speed

I am using the iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) on OS X Yosemite (Ver 10.10.1). Recently I did a internet speed test (speedtest.net), connection via 802.11ac (5GHz) wifi to my Apple Airport Extreme, which is 2m away. But I got a strange readout. The Upload speed is a lot slower than the download speed as shown below.

I repeated the test via wired to my Airport Extreme, I could get the same download and upload speed.

Is this normal for 802.11ac wifi connection? Or my iMac is faulty?

Appreciated your advise. Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jan 3, 2015 12:28 AM

24 replies

Allan Jones

Level 9

79,136 points

Jan 14, 2015 8:08 AM in response to dhl1010

babowa wrote:

Upload speeds are always significantly lower than download speeds.

Apparently not for his AEBS if you look at the second screenie in the original post. I'm struggling to figure this out. I get the same numbers wired as I get from my AEBS, so it is somewhat of a puzzler.

babowa

Level 9

78,580 points

Jan 14, 2015 9:15 AM in response to Allan Jones

Ahh, I actually missed that part .......

Jan 14, 2015 11:01 AM in response to dhl1010

OMG that is lot of Internet.. I don't have an answer for you except maybe interferance. I had to move my ae station further away to get optimal results. Was too close to my balcony door (metal) which for me caused interference. Maybe not for others.. WIRED is different. its direct. With those speeds I am not sure it even really matters... That is SO MUCH INTERNET... You could download entire world in time it takes most of us to download movie off iTunes :-) lol

Jan 14, 2015 2:48 PM in response to dhl1010

Wireless is half-duplex by design.

Ethernet is duplex by design.

Wireless system is designed for particular usage.. and it is up to the manufacturer how they balance upload and download.

Since internet tends to be asynchronous it is not surprising to pick upload far lower than download. They are still spectacular numbers.

Apple must have fine tuned the results since I last saw testing results.. and part of that fine tune is to emphasise down over up.

Tesserax

Level 10

158,592 points

Jan 14, 2015 5:57 PM in response to dhl1010

Unless you have specifically requested a business-grade Internet service, most , if not all, consumer-grade service typically has much better download vs. upload bandwidth. What you are seeing would not be unusual for this type of service.

dhl1010 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 17, 2015 5:53 PM in response to dhl1010

Not to complicate things but I do get similar download an upload speed after I 'played' with the Airport Extreme setting.

Tesserax

Level 10

158,592 points

Jan 18, 2015 9:56 AM in response to dhl1010

I suggest that you contact your ISP and verify with them what level of service they are providing you and what upload/download bandwidth you should expect at your modem. You can then use that as a guide to know what the baseline Internet performance you should be getting when running tests.

j1e100

Level 1

0 points

Feb 16, 2015 1:46 PM in response to dhl1010

dhl1010 - What "playing" did you do to achieve similar upload and download speeds? Although they are now similar, why did the download speed drop so much? Have your results been consistent? I have noticed my upload speed varies quite a bit on the 802.11ac connection versus the wired. Thanks!

dhl1010 Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 17, 2015 11:26 AM in response to j1e100

I changed the 'IPv6' and it seem like I could balance both upload and download speed but it does not last long and not consistent.

The 802.11ac (5GHz) wifi is definitely lower than wired connection even its close-by.

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Different upload and download internet speed