There is an actual technical reason for coax networks not being able to provide symmetrical speeds. It has to do with what frequencies (channels) are dedicated to data uplink, data downlink, and cable TV. Cable TV is still the cash cow for coax providers, and installing appropriate channel splitters network-wide to reallocate higher-bandwidth channels to data uplink would result in days or weeks of downtime for cable subscribers, not to mention the crippling amount of money in new hardware. It is a consequence of how the networks were physically built when providers thought that cable and download speeds were all anyone needed; it’s not just a software switch they can flip if they wanted to.
Spectrum still sucks, but asymmetrical Internet speeds are not one of the things they suck at on purpose.
It makes sense when you think about it, upstream is typically in the like 5-40mhz range, where downstream/tv is in the 40mhz-1ghz range. The splitting and routing is done at the analog level, similar to how a low-pass filter routes low frequencies to a subwoofer in a high-end audio setup.
You can’t just have a hardware low pass filter start filtering upstream traffic above what the equipment is designed for, and with frequencies that low there just isn’t the bandwidth for the throughput people want.
It is a consequence of how the networks were physically built when providers thought that cable and download speeds were all anyone needed; it’s not just a software switch they can flip if they wanted to.
This is true of so much of our infrastructure in the US.
Not bandwidth speeds specifically but just aging infrastructure that was built out long ago and not properly maintained and/or updated over time
There is an actual technical reason for coax networks not being able to provide symmetrical speeds. It has to do with what frequencies (channels) are dedicated to data uplink, data downlink, and cable TV. Cable TV is still the cash cow for coax providers, and installing appropriate channel splitters network-wide to reallocate higher-bandwidth channels to data uplink would result in days or weeks of downtime for cable subscribers, not to mention the crippling amount of money in new hardware. It is a consequence of how the networks were physically built when providers thought that cable and download speeds were all anyone needed; it’s not just a software switch they can flip if they wanted to.
Spectrum still sucks, but asymmetrical Internet speeds are not one of the things they suck at on purpose.
That’s interesting. I knew coax wasn’t symmetrical but never know why.
It makes sense when you think about it, upstream is typically in the like 5-40mhz range, where downstream/tv is in the 40mhz-1ghz range. The splitting and routing is done at the analog level, similar to how a low-pass filter routes low frequencies to a subwoofer in a high-end audio setup.
You can’t just have a hardware low pass filter start filtering upstream traffic above what the equipment is designed for, and with frequencies that low there just isn’t the bandwidth for the throughput people want.
This is true of so much of our infrastructure in the US.
Not bandwidth speeds specifically but just aging infrastructure that was built out long ago and not properly maintained and/or updated over time