internet going slower than its cable of?

Question

So i've been downloading a bunch of music lately, and according to the downloader, most of the stuff being downloaded was going at a pace of betweem 50-100 kbs on average.

However, i have bellsouth DSL Ultra, and according to this website - http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ my internet has a download speed of 3130 kbs

If my internet is cable of 3130 kbs, than why is it downloading at only 50-100 kbs?

Any advice is appreciated.

Answer 1

unfortunately, downloading involves you requesting a file from a server who in turn has to get it from its hard drive or even huge storage unit called a SAN or Mass storage device. then, the server sends it to you. Now you may be alble to download at a hypothetical speed, but at the same time remember that the site your getting the music from has to upload the music to you. Uploading is sometimes slower because either the bandwidth on their end is too little or maybe the server is busy doing other uploads to other people. Regardless, these bandwidth speed test sites give you a download capability based on optimal conditions. Poplular internet sites get so busy with requests that it takes longer for the servers to process and upload your music to you. So in turn you will see a lower download speed on your side. Lastly media files are chunky so to speak so they take a bit longer to get to you as well and will reflect in the download speed.

Answer 2

Connection speed depends on so many factors, there's no reliable way to predict transfer rates to/from any given site. There's not much you can do about it.

Also remember, just as a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, a connection is only as fast as the slowest hop. A bottleneck anywhere along the line will drastically reduce throughput.

Try this and see what I mean (assuming you have Windows XP):

1. Select Start | Run

2, In the dialog box type: cmd

This opens a DOS command window (DOS shell)

2. Type: ping www.speakeasy.net

This will tell you how long it takes overall all to get to the speakeasy site.

If you see "Request timed out." there is a problem.

3. Type: tracert www.speakeasy.net

This will tell you how many hops are in the path to the site.

If you see "* * * Request timed out" in the result, there is a problem with that hop. You'll need to try again later.

For example, my IE browser right now is experiencing long delays connecting to www.microsoft.com.

A ping to www.microsoft.com results in "Request timed out." .

A tracert shows a problem at hop 22.

Hope this helps you understand a little more.

BTW, I'm not a network engineer, I've just been around the block a few times and picked this stuff up along the way.

Answer 3

Download speed is always slower than Internet surfing speed. When you open websites they come quickly but download speed is slower. It happens with every computer. I have the same thing. I have speed of 1500 kbs but when I download things from internet the speed is 30 kbs. It's normal.

Answer 4

The speed you achieve has three parts to it. The easy-to- measure one is what you saw on that speed test. There is also how much traffic is passing through the switching sites you are requesting through. The third is how slow the site you are attempting to download-from is itself. Your results are the sum of the delays in these three factors.