We all know that internet speed is important; it’s probably the number one factor that determines the quality of our online experience. Connection speed can have a lot of specific effects on what you’re trying to do online, including working from home. Your internet connection speed is measured in two parts: download speed and upload speed, and understanding what those mean and how they're measured can help you optimize your connection for the best performance possible.

Your connection speed is represented by combining two different measurements.

Download

Download speed is how quickly you can get data from the internet onto your device. This influences how quickly you can download large files or load webpages. It also determines how quickly you can stream video or audio and at what quality.

Upload

Upload speed is how quickly you can get data from the device back to the internet. This influences uploading files, which can include email attachments or files syncing from your computer to OneDrive. Upload speed also has a huge impact on the quality of the video and audio other people get when you’re on a call when using services like Teams, RingCentral, or Zoom.

How to Read Your Speed

These speeds are generally measured in Megabits per second, or Mbps. Sometimes you might also see speeds shown as Gigabits per second, or Gbps; a gigabit is 1000 megabits, so 1Gbps would be 1000 Mbps. As you might expect, the higher these numbers are, the faster your speeds are.

Connection speeds are often written out in full with download first and upload second. You may see connection speeds written out plainly, i.e. ‘1.2 Gbps down, 30 Mbps up,’ but you might also see shorthand like ‘1200/30.’ These would both indicate the same connection speed.

Now that you know what your speed means, try running a speed test, like the one at https://www.speedtest.net/. Do the download and upload speeds seem sufficient? Are they what your ISP is advertising? Does your connection stack up to our recommendations? If you're having doubts about your internet service, checking your speed is a great place to start, and will give you an idea of any next steps you may want to take.