Cloudfare, the web infrastructure and the web security company on Tuesday announced its speed testing tool designed to provide “meaningful insights” into the user’s network performance. The company said that the insights include what Cloudflare measures when a user tests his speed and how the company calculates the scores for the network connection. The speed test tool from Cloudflare contains three components namely download, upload and latency test. While several speed testing tools in the market provide a greater importance to download speeds, Cloudflare has equal weightage assigned to uploads.
Upload Speeds Determine Quality of Video Conferencing
Cloudflare said that the upload speed metric has gained more importance during the COVID-19 lockdown as more people have started working from home.
“It directly affects live video conferencing,” Cloudflare said in a blog post. “A faster upload speed means your microphone and video feed can be of higher quality, meaning people can see and hear you more clearly on videoconferences.”
Several broadband players in India have often stressed on the importance of upload speeds even during pre COVID-19 era.
You Broadband, a subsidiary of Vodafone Idea said in a blog post that users can increase upload speeds on a home broadband connection. The company said that higher upload speeds offer users an “enhanced streaming or uploading experience.”
Crucially, You Broadband said that users can tweak the upload speeds by considering certain measures including checking on the router support to see if updated WiFi standards are supported.
In its blog post, Asianet Broadband also highlighted that users have to ensure their computer and router supports latest WiFi requirements.
You Broadband highlighted that physical barriers including walls and “sources that produce radio noise” contribute to slow upload speeds. Both Asianet and You Broadband highlighted that WiF delivers slower internet as compared to wired connection with Asianet urging users to switch to wired broadband when possible.
Further, the providers highlighted that users have to protect the computers with a security software. You Broadband in particular highlighted that presence of malware and other potentially harmful applications can result in users experiencing slow upload speeds.
The service providers also highlighted that certain applications in the background can choke the internet by installing updates without user’s knowledge.
“Look for such applications from the task manager, and deactivate the automatic update feature in the background,” You Broadband said in its blog post. “You can choose to install the updates manually. That way, you would know when the internet connection is in use to install software updates.”
Asynchronous service vs Synchronous service
Asianet and You Broadband highlighted that users need to check if they are connected to an asynchronous service provider or to an synchronous service provider. The asynchronous service offers higher download speeds than upload speeds while synchronous service offers equal upload and download service.
“Internet service providers in India tend to overlook the importance of upload speed for those who subscribe to a broadband connection for personal use,” You Broadband said in its blog post. “They believe such users do not generally use the internet to upload files. So, consider migrating to a synchronous broadband connection if you wish to get a better upload speed.”
