If you've plant that your download speed is great, but your upload speed is abysmal, I've got a possible solution for you. I struggled with this issue for a while and decided to write downwards my findings in a web log mail service in case I, or anyone else, runs into this in the time to come.

In fact, this is the 2nd such web log post I'one thousand writing: a couple years ago, I hit the the inverse issue and documented the solution in a blog post called Got boring download but fast upload speeds over wireless? Here's a set up. That post has had several hundred grand views and helped many people (check out the comments—I even got a marriage proposal), and so I'thou hoping this post will be useful too!

Here'south your tldr: upgrade your router's firmware.

Symptoms

I noticed that on all my devices - a Macbook Pro, iPhone, Windows desktop - webpages were sometimes taking a long fourth dimension to load; it was a bit intermittent, merely everything from google maps to gmail suddenly got very sluggish. I take 1 of their higher tier Internet plans from Comcast, so this was pretty disappointing.

I ran a bandwidth test on http://world wide web.speedtest.net/ and the results were roughly the same across all of my devices:

Slow upload speed

At 57 Mb/s, the download speed was swell; however, the upload speed was a mere 0.17 Mb/s, which is pretty much unusable. In fact, I had to re-run the examination several times, every bit occasionally, the upload portion of the exam would get stuck and never complete.

The solution

I tried rebooting the router, the cable modem, tweaking a agglomeration of settings, but nix helped. I besides checked with Comcast to ensure there were no bug our outages in my expanse, and of course, everything was fine.

Finally, I stumbled upon the solution: a firmware upgrade. My router, a Cisco/Linksys E1200, was using firmware version ii.0.02. I went over to Linksys' back up page, institute my router, and saw that a newer version, 2.0.06, was available. Here's a snippet from the release notes:

            Product:          Linksys E1200, Wireless-North Router Classification:   Firmware Release History ____________________________________________________________________   Firmware 2.0.06 (build half dozen) - Minor corrective browser-based GUI update. - Various pocket-size bug fixes.   Firmware 2.0.05 (build 2) - Enhanced WAN-to-LAN functioning when Internet connection blazon is set to PPPoE.   Firmware 2.0.04 (build one) - Resolved issue with decrease in download speed when WMM is enabled. - Resolved issue with decrease in upload speed when QoS is enabled. - Increase throughput performance when parental control is not enabled. - Resolved result with incorrectly handle RTSP under certain circumstances. - Resolved PPPoE connection issue with a few ISPs.   Firmware 2.0.03 (build x) - Added dual-stack lite (DS-lite) support. - Allow native IPv6 and 6rd support to exist enabled simultaneously. - Implemented Wi-Fi Protected Setup lock-downwardly mechanism to prevent brute strength attack. - Resolved issue with not existence able to access the browser-based GUI via HTTPS when newer versions of Net Explorer or Firefox is used. - Added Danish support in the browser-based GUI.

The notes for version 2.0.04 are especially interesting, every bit they set up bugs with WMM (which was the cause of issues in my previous blog mail), QoS, and more.

I figured information technology was worth a shot, downloaded the 2.0.06 firmware, and installed information technology through my router's admin UI. The instructions for upgrading the firmware volition non exist the aforementioned for all routers, but hither's roughly what y'all demand to do:

  1. Go to [http://192.168.one.one](http://192.168.1.i/) and login to your router. If yous've never washed this, look for instructions that came with your router or do a google search to observe the default username and countersign.
  2. Click on "administration".
  3. Click on "firmware upgrade".
  4. You should encounter a folio like this:
    Upgrade firmware page
  5. Click "Cull File" and select the firmware file you downloaded.
  6. Click "Beginning Upgrade". Exercise NOT unplug your router or click annihilation else in the meantime; permit the upgrade consummate!
  7. Expect a minute or so for your router to reboot.

The results

After the router restarted, I re-ran my speed test, and the results were much nicer:

Fast upload speed

The download speed is still a zippy 57 Mb/south, but now the upload speed is fast as well, at 11 Mb/s, or almost 70x faster than what information technology was before. Woohoo!

I hope you found the post helpful. If your router has a dissimilar firmware upgrade process, exit a comment with the steps you followed and then others tin find it. Happy spider web browsing!