Most Australians focus solely on download speeds when looking at internet plans. Upload speeds, however, are becoming more and more important.
The sheer amount of data we consume continues to grow. Consequently, storage and back up data is moving away from personal devices and into the cloud. If you’re upload speeds aren’t up to it, it may take a long time to update and back up your data.
Whether it be your iPhone automatically backing up your photos and videos to iCloud while logged into your home Wi-Fi or sending large files to colleagues and friends, having poor upload speeds heavily impacts your connection’s overall performance. It can be a real problem particularly for business internet users. The tools we use to run our businesses continue to re-trench into the cloud.
NBN plans are asymmetrical
Here’s an example of what’s on offer in terms of NBN plans. These are all theoretical speeds and your results may vary wildly (but rarely on the upside!) when compared to the parameters below;
- NBN 12: 12 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload.
- NBN 25 – 25/5: 25 Mbps download, 5 Mbps upload
- NBN 50 – 50/20: 50 Mbps download, 20 Mbps upload
- NBN 100– 100/40: 100 Mbps download, 40 Mbps upload
The NBN is a residential product
Many of the NBN plans available to residential users are fit for purpose. That is basically because the network is designed to satisfy the needs of the average Australian home with 2-3 people in residence. These people are typically more interested in the download speeds for their streaming than the upload speed for their business applications in the cloud.
Clearly, that is not true for businesses. Upload is probably more important to the efficient running of a business now that download. Asymmetrical plans are not what businesses need. A product designed for a residential application by definition can’t perform the function required for a business application.
That is why companies like OCB exist and offer symmetrical plans that are independent of the NBN, or asymmetrical plans that guarantee sufficient upload to enable a business to run efficiently. Contact us to find out what high speed plans are available at your place.
