Upstream mattered a lot for responsiveness. This was really before the idea of ACK Prioritization [1] TCP connections, so the standard small upstream of 56K had

Upstream mattered a lot for responsiveness. This was really before the idea of ACK Prioritization [1] TCP connections, so the standard small upstream of 56K had an impact that didn't quite get felt as much as it did on symmetric ISDN. Most things silently incorporate ACK prioritization now, which makes the typical asymmetric internet connection like a cable modem work better. But before then, it was a problem... And those of us who hand-solved it on DIY firewalls really reaped the rewards. [1] http://www.benzedrine.ch/ackpri.html http://www.benzedrine.ch/ackpri.html