In theory I should be able to upload at up to 380kbps when uploading
my videos, but can only get 47.8kbps.  This means that a typical video
upload of mine takes about 45 minutes.

This does not appear to be a YouTube issue directly, as they take the
same time to another site.  However, this is annoying.

Anyone any idea how, when in theory I could upload my videos faster, I
cannot do so?  Is the British Telecom limiting the line speed?  Is
there some other issue?

Anyone....?

Justin

There was a study out some time ago -- last year I think -- which
revealed that subscribers seldom get the advertised bandwidth.

380kbps will be the absolutely maximum you can possibly expect. But
whether or not you actually get that speed depends on things like:

how far you are from the nearest exchange
how much traffic there is on the internet, especially in your local
area
how busy all the various servers, switches and routers are

and so on. In the same way that a chain is only as strong as its
weakest link, so your internet connection is only as fast as its
slowest router.

You may get slightly faster speeds during off-peak periods: late
afternoon and evening are bad times to try, as your neighbours come
home from work and start watching YouTube videos.

Some providers really do limit bandwidth speeds, usually at peak
periods. The thinking behind this is that it's better to give everyone
a slightly slower service, than have some people unable to log on at
all because of the heavy traffic.

Finally, YouTube is a rapidly growing site -- back in November, they
estimated that 13 hours of video material was being uploaded every 60
seconds, now it's 20 hours in 60 seconds -- and their upload servers
are constantly working at full capacity, no matter how fast they
upgrade. That can also slow things down for you.

45 minutes for one video is actually not bad, considering that a quick
look at your channel profile shows that your videos are mostly around
the 10-minute mark. In theory I have upload speeds of up to 600kbps,
but there have been times when a single upload took most of the night.

Thanks, yes I know about things like line competition affecting this,
but it seems that some other types of file go up faster.  I hear that
internet service providers limit the speed on your connection in order
to better control their spread of the bandwidth to all their
customers, for instance.

However, it does seem pretty silly that, when a speed test (ping)
shows that I should be able to get 380kbps I can only get 47.8kbps
max.  I understand that there will be some diminution at some times,
but surely one could expect, say, 250kbps?!!  Mostly I upload at off
peak times anyway, during the day, it can be slower in the evening
with everyone online going e-mail and playing around.

Justin