Upload speed

Except when using FTP, uploads are made from your computer directly to our storage cloud providers without transiting through PhotoDeck servers.

We do not limit/throttle upload speeds, so upload speed depends on your Internet connection, the upload cloud provider used for your files, as well as on the interconnection between your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and that cloud provider. In the right network conditions, speeds of several MB/s (several dozens of Mbit/s) are therefore achievable.

Upload speed figures: KB/s vs Mbit/s

We display two upload speed figures in the upload window:

• The first one, in KB/s is the speed at which the file content is uploaded. It makes it possible for to you estimate how much time it will take to upload based on the size of the files.
• The second one, in Mbit/s is an estimate of the actual bandwidth used on your internet connection, in the same unit used by your ISP, and based on the following technicalities:
  • The transfer protocols that make the Internet function divide each file into small data packets, and add information to the actual content that allows these packets to be secured, routed to the correct destination, reassembled in the correct sequence and verified for integrity. This so-called overhead reduces the apparent speed by approximately 5-20%, depending on the network technology.
  • In addition, when uploading to a cloud over a long distance, 5-50% of the packets are typically lost and need to be retransmitted, slowing down as much the apparent connection speed. This can vary significantly depending on the quality of the connections and network congestion.
  • 1 Byte (the B in “KB”) is 8 bits.
  • The estimate assumes an efficient and good-quality connection like a high-end optic fiber link. Mobile, shared, sub-optimal connections or older technologies have greater overheads and will result in the estimate being underestimated, potentially vastly so.

If you use a high-quality, stable high-speed internet connection, use an Ethernet cable instead of WiFi to connect to your modem in order to make the most of your connection. If the upload speed you experience does not meet your expectations, please contact us.