I'm not exactly familiar with electrical but I hope someone can help me with some directions/suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Situation:
I have been experiencing issues with my internet for the past 1.5 years where my upload speed is very slow at ~1.5 Mbps (best). The package that I took promises 20 Mbps for both upload & download.
What I have done:
I have made numerous reports to the service provider and they keep claiming that the embedded copper cables in my building (I live in a high-rise) is of low quality and thus affecting the upload speed.
I found out that the service provider is using VDSL2 technology to provide connection to my unit but I am not knowledgeable enough to figure out anything useful from that wiki page.
Question:
- Can the quality of the cable affects only upload speed? (The download speed is perfectly fine at ~18 Mbps but the upload speed is only about 1.5 Mbps.)
Best Answer
Yes, that is perfectly possible. The upstream signals use a different frequency range then the downstream signals. If the cables (copper loop) are bad and they are picking up interference, it is possible only certain frequencies are affected.
Furthermore, VDSL2 is capable of much higher downstream rates than upstream rates. As such, it is possible that your downstream is affected also, but since a greater part of the spectrum is available for downstream anyway you might not notice this as it is already throttled to 20mbps.
Note that often, the quality of in-building cables is particularly affected by worn connections/connectors. It might be worthwhile checking the quality of the various connections between where the cable enters the building and where your modem is. Also, if there is a long distance betwene the cable entry point and the modem, it is worthwhile to move the splitter as close as possible to where the cable enters the house and then run a new cable from the splitter to the modem - using the old cable for phone only.
Where are you btw.? Depending on the bandplan used by the operator, they might still recover some bandwidth. See here for exmaple: http://www.joepeesoft.com/Public/DSL_Corner/DSL_Spectra_VDSL2.html - it might depend on the willingness of the operator to deviate from their standard profiles to provide the best possible customer experience.