5 Sure-Shot Ways to Increase Your Upload Speeds

If I were to name the most important thing for a remote worker, it’d be a high-speed internet connection. When I landed my first remote job, I subscribed to an expensive internet plan because I knew that a top-notch connection would be crucial to having the best remote work experience.

However, I did not focus on internet upload speeds. This was an honest mistake on my part because I had no idea how significant upload speeds were for remote workers. Upload speeds determine how quickly you can send large work files, upload important documents, or join online meetings.

That being said, increasing my upload speeds wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. With a few tips that I will share in this article, I easily got the required upload speeds for the best remote work experience.

So, let’s start.

Switch to Fiber Internet

Getting a fiber internet connection is one of the easiest ways to get higher upload speeds. Among all the connection types, only fiber internet provides true symmetrical internet speeds. In simple words, fiber internet exclusively delivers similar download and upload speeds.

Having said that, another option to increase your upload speeds is to go for a high-speed but expensive internet plan offered by other connections. As for me, I’ve subscribed to an affordable fiber internet provider, Optimum Internet, and enjoy blazing fast speeds, among other benefits like no data caps and contracts.

Use an Ethernet Cable

If you use a wireless connection, connect an Ethernet cable to your device and notice if the upload speeds increase. And, in most cases, using a wired connection will amp up your upload speeds. Now, let me tell you why.

In wireless connections, internet signals can face a lot of interference from thick walls, heavy furniture, or even radio waves emitted by other electronic devices. 

Internet signals can collide with these objects and change their path or lose strength. As a result, weaker signals reach our devices and we experience slower upload speeds. But when we use an Ethernet cable, the external interferences are eliminated, and our devices receive stronger internet signals.

Place Your Router Ideally

Not just the upload speeds, but router placement can significantly affect your overall internet speeds. In wireless connections, routers are responsible for delivering the internet signals to the connected devices. 

To ensure that the internet signals don’t face any hindrance on their way to the connected devices, it’s important to place the router in an ideal position.

To ideally place your router, ensure it is not surrounded by thick walls, furniture, or devices like baby monitors or security cameras that emit radio waves. Also, you should place the router in a central position in your house to get the maximum coverage. 

Disconnect Idle Devices

No matter how fast your internet connection is, it has limited bandwidth. When you connect several devices to the internet, your connection’s bandwidth is shared among them. However, there comes a time when the bandwidth becomes too thin and ultimately affects the upload speeds.

One way to ensure that active devices receive the best upload speeds is to disconnect the idle devices. You might not know, but idle devices connected to the internet still consume bandwidth. For instance, you may receive social media notifications, even when you’re not using your smartphone. 

The same goes for background applications as they also consume bandwidth. So, disconnect the idle devices and close the background apps to increase your connection’s bandwidth for active devices.

Fix Your Internet Equipment

Faulty internet equipment such as modems or routers can significantly impact your upload speeds. Like our smartphones, routers and modems also receive frequent software and firmware updates. These updates can contain advanced features or security patches for their efficient working.

However, if your internet equipment doesn’t receive any updates, then it might have become obsolete. In this case, I would suggest you upgrade to modern equipment to get the best upload speeds.

The internet upload speeds are crucial, especially for remote workers like us who have to stay in constant communication with the team via video calls. The tips I’ve mentioned are tried and tested, and if you’re facing any issues with your upload speeds, then they can help you resolve them efficiently.