Slow upload speeds – what's going on?

I've kind of noticed since yesterday that my video uploads to YouTube have been acting incredibly slow.
My internet speed seems totally fine, though, so I'm honestly just confused about what's going on.
Everything was working perfectly until the day before yesterday.
I even tried uninstalling the last couple of Windows updates, thinking maybe that might be the issue, but no luck there.
Do you think it could actually be an issue on YouTube's end? Is anyone else running into this, even if their upload speeds are normal?
I even tried uploading an old video I'd posted back when everything was working right, but even that is crawling along now. It's such a pain.

So, have you actually tried checking your upload speeds on something like Speedtest? Or maybe try another site entirely—it’s possible the issue is just localized to YouTube.

So, I was saying that my upload speed isn't really the issue, because it feels totally fine and was plenty fast enough until just the day before yesterday.
But for the last couple of days, nothing will actually upload.
I mean, I tried uninstalling those last two updates, but I guess that didn't really help anything.
I even tried uploading a video I'd posted recently just to compare, and that one used to go up so fast, but now it’s just crawling along super slowly too.
I even tried doing it from my phone, and honestly, the upload is just as slow there as well.

I'm kind of stuck on what else to try, so I was wondering if there's somewhere I can check to see if the YouTube servers are acting up, since maybe it's an issue on their end... I feel like I've pretty much exhausted all my ideas.

If you're uploading massive amounts of data, is it possible you hit some kind of hidden cap buried in the fine print? Like, maybe they throttled your speed down to a crawl, like 100kbps or something?

Look, there isn't much to it—everyone's home right now, so I'm noticing way more uploads than usual and it feels like the YouTube servers are getting slammed. If you're in such a rush to get that video up, why not just leave it to upload overnight?

I've been uploading these 4K gaming clips lately, and man, those files are definitely not small, I guess.
I haven't really heard about anyone else running into issues with their upload speeds being throttled before, maybe.

But honestly, I just tried an upload using my Verizon 4G connection and things actually seem way better now.
I'm not totally sure what's going on, so I sent an email over to T-Mobile to see what they say, hopefully.
It seems pretty obvious that it isn't anything with YouTube, but more likely something with T-Mobile.
I even stumbled upon a similar thread on Reddit where someone was dealing with the exact same thing—just issues between YouTube and their service provider.
Maybe it’s just a glitch with the local cell tower... I don't really know much about how all that works, though.

Richard White15 said:I’m uploading 4K gameplay footage, so we’re talking massive files here.
Honestly, I haven't even heard of anyone dealing with throttled upload speeds before.

But get this—I just tried running an upload over a Verizon 4G connection and things actually look way better.
I have no clue what's going on, so I shot an email over to T-Mobile to see what they say.
It’s pretty obvious it isn't a YouTube issue; it’s definitely T-Mobile.
I even stumbled upon a similar thread on Reddit where someone was having the exact same headache with YouTube and their ISP.
Maybe it’s a local cell tower issue... man, I don't know anything about how this stuff works.

Wait, you're uploading via 4G?

Jack Cook7 said:So, you're uploading using Verizon 4G?

Yeah, I guess so

Richard White15 said:Yeah, for sure

Hey, did you check your data limits on your Verizon 4G plan?

Once you hit 100 GB—or whatever your cap is—they usually just throttle your speeds.

And what kind of plan are you running with AT&T? My Xfinity setup hits a data cap at 300/400 GB before the speeds start throttling...

I think I'm just gonna stick with this unlimited data plan for the week

Richard White15 said:I’m using a flat-rate data plan this week

Alright, but what about the base rate?

Just because your download speeds are hitting that flat cap doesn't mean your upload is stuck on the same limit. Honestly, 95% of people don't even care about upload speed anyway.

You’d have to check with Verizon 4G to get the real scoop on that.

There’s also a real chance the local cell tower is just totally slammed by everyone else on those unlimited plans, leaving you with zero headroom to hit higher speeds. You can actually check this if you dive into your router's 4G modem properties—it'll show you how crowded the channel is. Try comparing those numbers against AT&T and see what's up.

The thing is, I don't even have a router set up, so I'm just using my phone as a mobile hotspot right now.
But I honestly don't get why things feel so sluggish when my upload speeds seem totally fine.
It’s been a bit better over the last couple of days, I guess—it hasn't been slow all the time—but even today, the upload is working and then it just starts lagging again for no reason.

Richard White15 said:The thing is, I don't even have a router—I'm just using my phone as a hotspot.
But I honestly don't get why it’s crawling like this if my upload speeds seem totally fine.
It’s been hit or miss the last few days; it wasn't always this bad, but right now the upload is acting up and lagging again today.

If you dig into your phone settings, you can check the 4G modem properties. You should be able to see exactly how many channels you've got and what kind of speeds you're actually pulling.