# Which way is up?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/821033>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 9, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/821033 "2018-09-09T01:32:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/821033/81 "2018-09-17T14:35:35Z")

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> [@Slash1972](#):
>
> Sure. Incorrect ways.
> 
> As stated above already, this analogy doesn’t really work. How about if I’m giving you a $20 bill? I’m “giving to” you. And you are “receiving from” me. You are not “giving from” me.
> 
> “Giving to” = uploading. “Receiving from” = downloading.
> 
> Many people use common words the wrong way. This appears to be another time.

And to expand, it doesn’t matter who initiates the transaction. I can offer, or you can ask, but I still give and you still receive. Or even if someone else tells me to give you the dollar, I’m still the giver and you’re still the receiver.

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**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-is-up/821033/82 "2018-09-17T14:58:59Z")

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> [@Riemann](#):
>
> This seems wrong to me. I’d have said the same as psychonaut. Certainly when you consider ISP service, download speed is differentiated from upload speed based on which direction the data is flowing, to or from your local machine.

While it does match up with directions (in and out), it also usually matches up with size of the service … Like central company computer , office file server, users own device… so the larger one is up.

This definition fails for for peer to peer protocols … one persons upload is another persons download in peer to peer, and where the size isn’t matching the bandwidths.  
(so a server on an ADSL link … can be uploaded to at high speed, but downloaded from at low speed…)

Now these days even a phone can appear to be a file server… so if you get a file from it, are you uploading to a larger system, or downloading from a server ? in the context of the protocols, the phone is the server. but it could contradict the ISP context labels, where the modem says that way is upload and this way is download…

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