Internet speed test - can someone help me pls ?

natalie1974

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Hi , I just thought I would test the speed of my internet and got these results
4466 kb/s download and 726 kb/s upload . I am meant to have 20mb broadband but don't seem to be getting this speed . Am I right in thinking my internet is well below par ? Thanks in advance , Natalie

skint999

Thats ok, but what makes you think your speeds are slow?.. slow downloads, browsing?

DatabaseError

virgin cable?

natalie1974

A bit of both really , like when I clicked on "reply" to reply to this message it took the page a good 7-8 seconds to load before i could start typing this message . I upgraded my AVG free yesterday and a 45.6MB download took over 10 mins . I hasten to add i don't understand anything about speeds etc so if this is normal then I apologise

mdbarber

there are many many factors that will determine "speed" , generally speaking speed is irrelevant as what counts is bandwidth.
think of your connection as a 6 lane motorway, empty u can drive down it at 80 mph, but if its full of other cars??, also consider the road may be blocked further down
that does seem a long time to wait for that size of download but are u sure
a, there is no software/spyware/adware on your machine taking up bandwidth
b, there wasn't 10,000 other users sharing the speed test sites 2mb bandwidth
some things u can sort but a timescale is required to determine if this is a persistent issue

natalie1974

tonyhague wrote: »

virgin cable?

Yep ! How did you guess

skint999

dont think the bandwith is the problem as she had slow problems replying to posts on this site, and that would probably affect us all.

p.s. good explanation on bandwith :T

PasturesNew

Virgin is poo. I must ditch them.

I just tested mine again, 0.2Mbps (should be 2MB/second at least! Can't remember what, but even so, 0.2 is taking the pee)

I like the Thinkbroadband speedtest because at the end it gives me the results in an understandable format + a nice chart showing where my speeds sit + a url so I can share my speedtest like this ... here it is:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/121037154776511511219.html

Mine is virgin, but not cable.

LadyMorticia

Are you connected directly to the modem or by a wireless router? I normally get between 5-7mb when I'm on wireless and 18-20mb when I'm on ethernet.

Also, it depends on what time you ran the test. I find that mid afternoon to early evening is when I get the slowest speeds because of "traffic".
Also, do you download a lot? Virgin have the new "capping" browsing speeds if a certain amount has been downloaded. I think it may be 3gb in 24 hours but I am not entirely sure, so if someone knows for definite, then please correct me.

xx

banger9365

you have to remember that most sites can on ly do 2mbs and if every one is using thm it will be slow ,try this for cable http://www.tenmeg.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ uses the cable servers
i get a full 4mbs speed on 4mbs any time of day and if you download more that 3GB between 16:00 and 00:00 it will go to 5mbs for four hours that if your not on the new throttling areas has it's different
10am - 3pm Download
Size M: 900Mb
Size L: 2400Mb
Size XL: 6000Mb

4pm - 9pm Download
Size M: 450Mb
Size L:1200Mb
Size XL: 3000Mb

3pm - 8pm Upload
Size M: 200Mb
Size L: 700Mb
Size XL: 1400Mb
still better than every one else has you can still download the net,you just lose your full speed for a time and i cannot rememder what speed it go's too if you go over on the new one may be 1mbs ?