I don't get the speeds I am supposed to get. Sometimes ridiculous speeds. If I notice it, I'll do a speed test and if it's WAY less than it should, like less than half I contact customer service and it's magically fixed...for a while, until I guess they think I'm not paying attention then it goes back down. Bullshit.
regardless of the speed test how is the download performance? For example how long does it take to download a 750MB ISO
750MB is not big so less than 10 minutes I think. If it is supposed to be 50mbps then 25mbps doesn't cut it, I could just pay for the 30mbps instead. They have a 100mbps package too, maybe those people get 50mbps. They don't need to advertise speeds that they can't actually deliver. I also think that they really can deliver the speeds but not to EVERYONE at once in the neighborhood, and if they see you torrenting or using a lot of bandwidth they throttle ur speed down. I would test it now but I have some stuff running that's using bandwidth and I don't want to stop it to do a test. But last time I had like 14mbps and I went to support and they said okay do a speed test now and tell me what numbers u get and I actually got a little more than 50mbps. It makes me feel like they're just sitting there and when u complain about it they flip a switch or something that gives u the speeds so it looks like nothing's wrong. Bullshit.
Oh......I was trying to connect TV speed to what you said, and not computer. LOL! My computer is lazy, too. and sometimes downright miserable.
Then you may be getting the correct speeds. I got a 100MB connection and can download a standard cd iso in under 2 min and a 3-4 GB iso in under 10. However when I do speed test it shows I'm only getting 15-30Mbps. When I'm on a 10MB T1 those same downloads can take 30min-2hours. In the past speed test have shown I was getting 80-90Mbps but my downloads took around the same time. So I'm more concerned with actual download time then speed test results. Sometimes speed test can be inaccurate especially if the ISP is using compression. Oh and you're right about ISP's overselling their network, they do it all the time. I used to work for an ISP so I know what goes on behind the scenes.
Do they throttle down your bandwidth if you use a lot, like if they see that you're running a torrent client?
Absolutely, and even if they claim to offer unlimited bandwidth, read the fine print. Because there's a definition of "unlimited" and if you exceed those limits you will be throttled or even disconnected.
How are you connected? Wifi is half duplex meaning it can only send/receive at one time, so you'll be getting half speeds right there. Wifi will also be strongly affected by other radio interference. (bluetooth, microwaves, cellphones) If you're on wifi you can get an ethernet connection. There are also wifi cards available with two transceivers. Carriers do also do load balancing, so at peak times it'll be less than your optimum speed, but if it's much less (over ethernet) you should complain.
I did notice Ethernet gives faster speed. Maybe i should try switching wifi channels, scan for networks and pick a channel that not many are using. I don't know if my card has two transceivers but it has two antennas. I don't have an Ethernet cable long enough to make it to my computer.
There's just too many wifi signals around I guess, with an Ethernet cable I'm getting 115Mbps download
