Upload speeds still lag on most Americans’ broadband

One of the more important numbers governing your online experience might as well be 404-ed on many internet providers’ sites. You might not like learning that upload speeds at the cable providers responsible for most Americans’ connectivity far lag download speeds.

That should not be an issue for users who typically consume more online than they create – a scenario that many providers say dominates their usage. For people working from home since the onset of the pandemic, a slower uplink can degrade their digital time, especially if a home sees multiple video-chat sessions in such apps as Zoom (which recommends uplinks of 2 megabits per second).

At the websites of the five largest cable operators, upload speeds almost never get the same billing as download speeds; at worst, you may need to look up a technical support document.

Comcast, the nation’s largest internet provider with 27.8 million residential broadband customers, doesn’t list upload speeds if you check for its Xfinity service at an address or order service at its site. Comcast closed the Amazon storefront that provided those details four years ago.