DropSend

Typically uploading a file will always be slower than downloading; this is just a limitation of the Internet infrastructure. But there are a number of other factors that affect the speed of uploading a file, such as:

1.) Your connection to the Internet, whether you are wired or wireless
2.) The ISP providers link between you and the Internet.
3.) The Internet itself; certain times of the day are busier than others.
4.) Traffic going into our datacenter at peak and off-peak hours.
5.) Encryption and compression of files.
6.) Etc

Data transfer speeds are sometimes displayed in Kbps (KiloBytes per second) which is different from Kbps (Kilobits per second), as well as from MBps (MegaBytes per second) and Mbps (Megabits per second). The following chart will help you convert and calculate from one measurement to another:

Telecommunications bit rates

Bps = 1 bit/s
Kbps = 1000 bits/s
Mbps = 1000 Kbits/s or 1000000 bits/s
Gbps = 1000 Mbit/s or 1000000000 bits/s
Tbps = 1000 Gbit/s or 1000000000000 bits/s

You can determine your data rate by going to one of the many sites on the Internet that can calculate the speed. A popular site for this is: http://www.speedtest.net. When reviewing your speed score be sure to pay attention to the measurement unit being used. This is often confusing to people who are not IT experts, as communication rates are typically shown in bits per second.

It is a common misconception to use 1024 in conversion between kbps and bps, in calculating telecommunication data rates 1 Mbps = 1000 Kbps. However, if you are calculating storage capacity of data on a hard disk 1 MB = 1024 KB.

Consider that a 1 MB file is equal to 1024K bytes or 8,192 bits, but a 1 Mb transfer speed is equal to 1024K bits or 128k bytes. When converting from K Bytes to K Bits use a factor of eight.

Example:

1 Kbps = 1 kbps = 1 kilobyte per second = 8,000 bits per second

A 100 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second] upload speed therefore is equal to:

=0.8 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]

=800 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]

=0.1 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]

A simple way to perform the conversion is to use an online tool like this one:
http://www.mediaroad.com/products/speedcheck/free_tools/unit_convert/

If you are interested in learning more on this subject refer to:
http://innovationzen.com/blog/2006/07/28/the-broadband-speed-guide/

January 27th, 2010