Windows 7 Download speed is half of upload speed

RodBarnes

Extraordinary Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
71
I'm looking for some direction on this because it clearly isn't related to the networking hardware itself (see below). Nor is it an provider issue as I am doing all my testing between local computers on my LAN. Are there some Windows network settings that might account for this behavior?

Regardless of how I improve the speed, whatever I obtain, the download is half of the upload. For example (as measured using BitMeterOS):
  • Ethernet: ~40MBs upload, ~20MBs download
  • WiFi 5GHz: ~20MBs upload, ~10MBs download
  • WiFi 2.4GHz: ~10MBs upload, ~5MBs download
I replaced my router: From DIR-655 802.11n to TP-Link Archer C7 802.11ac. (It was due anyway, I didn't expect this to make a difference.) I replaced the WiFI card: DWA-556 802.11n to TP-Link Archer T8E.


The specs on the system (built October 2010):

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H, 2.6GHz
BIOS: Award FE, 09/30/2010
Chipset: AMD 890GX
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 600e, 2.2GHz, AM3
RAM:
• Patriot DDR3, 2GB, PC3-8500F, 533MHz (x2)
• Crucial DDR3, 2GB, PC3-10700H, 667MHz (x2)
Video: AMD Radeon HD 6850, 1GB GDDR5, 1GHz
Drives:
• 2TB Western Digital HDD SATA 2 (WD20EARS-00S8B1)
• RAID 0, 1TB Seagate SATA 2 (SG31000538AS)
TV Tuner:
• Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 dual-tuner ATSC
WiFi:
• TP-Link Archer T8E 802.11ac
 
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Solution
I would web into your modem and look at the Upstream and downstream bonded channels and how many you have of each. If your modem is bonding less downstream channels then upstream, then that is your problem and you may want to talk to your ISP about it or replace the modem.

Your modem should host it's own DHCP server so you can either plug directly into it to figure out it's address or google the modem model.
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Typically download speeds are much faster than upload speeds. How was it with your old router?

Note that this should have nothing to do with the computer itself.

And what are you paying for?
 
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Thanks for replying. But I think you missed the point of my post: It doesn't matter what speeds I see (as listed in the post), the download speed is always half of the upload speed.

What I didn't make clear (and have updated the original post) is that all this testing is done on my local LAN, it does not involve my provider.
 
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Well, the only reason I missed your point was due to you omitting the point that this was local traffic only. Thanks for making that clear now.

So, if you run Speedtest.net, it shows your "Internet" speeds as faster for downloads?

And since you now say this is local only, we can assume you are transferring data from one computer to another. With that in mind, if you go to the other computer, are its speeds similarly reversed? Because this is between two computers on the same network, I am not sure this is really a problem. When you transfer data to another computer, those speeds are bottlenecked by the disk on the distant end as it takes a lot longer to write data than it does to read it.
 
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Why do you have to do it between a network instead of a data transfer using an old printer cable or possibly even usb?
 
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I can see using USB between 2 computers (if the computers are close to each other) but a printer cable?
 
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In my experience both the router and wifi adapter you are using from TP-link are inferior. They have caused multiple crashes on many of my Client home networks. I ALWAYS replace those with name brand components from either Cisco/Linksys or Netgear. Also, their drivers are of poor quality and this is documented on many website reviews including ebay, amazon, newegg, and others. I would suggest replacing that TP-link router and wifi nic and retest. Also, check your provider speed with speedtest.net as mentioned by digerati, and post that back here. You are probably aware that upload speeds on the provider connection between your modem and the provider are typically 1/10 of the download speed.

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
 
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BIGBEARJEDI said:
In my experience both the router and wifi adapter you are using from TP-link are inferior.
Click to expand...
Even if true, the point is moot as the OP experienced this problem with two different routers and wifi cards from different makers.

And if paying for 50 and getting 50, you cannot complain about the router or NIC.
 
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Well, I agree to disagree digerati. Even if he's not experiencing problems with his router and wifi card now, that doesn't mean that will continue. Part of the point I'm making is that if you use sub-standard hardware you're going to have problems sooner or later, so why not pay a little more $$ now and avoid the hassle of having to rip out the router and wifi card in a matter of months instead of 5 years?

<<<BBJ>>>
 
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Digerati said:
Even if true, the point is moot as the OP experienced this problem with two different routers and wifi cards from different makers.

And if paying for 50 and getting 50, you cannot complain about the router or NIC.
Click to expand...
Hi @Digerati I'm the one getting 50 down and 5 up, not the OP. I just posted to prove BBJ's 1/10 ratio
I'm running a high dollar rig. NETGEAR AC1750 WIFI Cable Modem Router Model C6300.
@BIGBEARJEDI
 
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BIGBEARJEDI said:
In my experience both the router and wifi adapter you are using from TP-link are inferior.
Click to expand...

Except that, as noted in the original post, this issue pre-existed upgrading to the TP-link equipment. The TP-link equipment has worked flawlessly, better than previous equipment. They only thing the upgrade didn't fix was this difference in upload/download speeds.
 
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I would web into your modem and look at the Upstream and downstream bonded channels and how many you have of each. If your modem is bonding less downstream channels then upstream, then that is your problem and you may want to talk to your ISP about it or replace the modem.

Your modem should host it's own DHCP server so you can either plug directly into it to figure out it's address or google the modem model.
 
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Solution
This is only an issue on this one computer. No other computer in the house is having an issue. Given that, I don't see how it could be related to the router. I upgraded the router and wifi card (as noted) hoping the card upgrade might make a difference. It did not.
 
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So this test is only between two devices on the LAN is that the understanding? What speed metrics do you get when you test out to speedtest.net? What type of cabling are you using in for ethernet on both computers are they both Cat6? Do you have firewalls enabled on these computers and does disabling the firewalls improve the speed. Do you use any time of throttling applications like netlimiter?
 
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Neemobeer said:
So this test is only between two devices on the LAN is that the understanding?
Click to expand...

Yes, as stated in the original post "between local computers on my LAN". The disparity is when shipping data to/from this computer from/to other computers on the network.

Speednet reports the same on this computer as any other on the LAN.

The computer in question (as indicated in the original post) is using a WiFi card. The target computer for testing is CAT5 to the router.

No firewalls enabled within the LAN. No throttling software. This is a home LAN, it is nothing special, no special handling.
 
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When you run your file transfers between computers on your LAN (connected through your router), did you remember to UNPLUG your cable going from your router to your DSL modem or CABLE modem? Many folks forget to do this and get spurious results, since the router is still processing data in/out of the router and your broadband modem; different routers handle this differently. Some of the cheaper routers (i.e.: TP-Link) still allow traffic to pass from your broadband modem through the router and to/from the other connected computers in your LAN--EVEN WHILE YOUR FILE TRANSFER BETWEEN PCs IS OCCURRING!! They should shut-off ALL that traffic, but the firmware in their chips doesn't know that they should do this. Yet another reason to buy a name-brand router! So, if one or more of your LAN connected computers happens to be surfing the web or doing E-mails or social media while you are benchmarking your PC-to-PC file transfer speed tests, you could get bad results. Is anyone else in your home on your LAN performing any kind of Internet-related activity during your file transfer? How many total devices do you have on your LAN? That includes PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Did you try disconnecting all other devices from your router when making this test except the 2 PCs involved in the Data Transfer?

I've seen Clients who are doing the same type of data transfer you are, that tell me that they only have 2 computers in the room they are transferring between, and when I log into the router and query the Devices tab; I'll see like 16 devices; a few wired-connected and like 12 wirelessly connected that they failed to tell me about. No one has yet asked you this question; but it's one we used when benchmarking PC-to-PC file transfers in the corporate world. This is because any Internet activity being passed around your LAN can impact transfer speeds between computers since those processes are sucking resources from the CPU(s) on each of the 2 PCs involved in the transfer having to handle with network activity as well as the actual data transfer activity simultaneously.

Over the years, we discovered that name brand routers I mentioned previously, DO have firmware in them to shutoff the Internet traffic passing between router and LAN during a purely local operation. Some do it automatically, as in the high-dollar rig holdum mentioned, and others have the capability to do so, but you have to connect a laptop or computer directly into the modem and access the Admin utility and disable this option if enabled. Then retest your transfer speeds.

Due to the inexact nature of this kind of troubleshooting, as you know, it takes multiple sets of eyes to figure this sort of thing out. A 10 minute phone conversation with the proper questions would have most likely resolved this for you by now.

Let us know the answer to these questions, and we'll see if we've missed anything or if you get different results. We'll continue the analysis then.

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>
 
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BIGBEARJEDI said:
...did you remember to UNPLUG your cable going from your router to your DSL modem or CABLE modem?
Click to expand...

You raise an interesting point -- I did not disconnect from my provider. I am on FIOS (so I don't have a DSL/Cable modem) but your point still is worth consideration. The only thing that makes me question whether this is pertinent is that, again, this is the only computer in the house that exhibits this behavior. I have my make workstation cabled to the modem, all others in the house are via WiFi. This is the only computer that exhibits this odd download/upload discrepancy. All the others are at parity when comparing download/upload speeds when transferring data on the local LAN.
 
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