questions about my download speeds

[publicenemy1207]

I ran a speed test and here are the results, I know they aren't the best, but WiFi is pretty bad in my area: https://gyazo.com/508bf9280da171a7d5f9fc7c0355e4af

This is usually the results each time I run a test, sometimes the ping goes up randomly. Anyway, as you see, I have about a 2mbps download speed, but when I download things, I get nowhere near that, it is a fraction of what I should be getting, here is an example downloading a game on Steam: https://gyazo.com/1cfe212a5cd5dc1dd305d74d9be50ff2 I am only getting around 200kbps which is way less than I should be getting.

I contacted Verizon about this multiple times, but they always say some bs like it might just be your PC, I even tried on a wired connection, still the same results. Anyone know what is going on and how I can fix this?

 

[Random_tech]

well the steam servers are further away from you than the speedtest.net ones.
the steam servers would have some internet congestion, therefore it slows down your connection.

 

[publicenemy1207]

well the steam servers are further away from you than the speedtest.net ones.
the steam servers would have some internet congestion, therefore it slows down your connection.

The Steam download test was just an example, I get around that same speed every time I download something, no matter the site or app

 

[USAFRet]

1. Verizon - is this FiOS or DSL?
2. What speed do you pay Verizon for?
3. Is this wired or wireless?
4. What do you get when you test at speedtest.net?

 

[Random_tech]

well the steam servers are further away from you than the speedtest.net ones.
the steam servers would have some internet congestion, therefore it slows down your connection.

The Steam download test was just an example, I get around that same speed every time I download something, no matter the site or app

same with most websites, they are futher away from you, and they are likly to be more congested than speedtest.net

 

[publicenemy1207]

1. Verizon - is this FiOS or DSL?
2. What speed do you pay Verizon for?
3. Is this wired or wireless?
4. What do you get when you test at speedtest.net?

First of all, I just want to say thank you for helping me on both my recent topics.

1. DSL
2. I checked their site, we are paying for 1.1-3 mbps download, 384-768 kbps upload
3. I brought my laptop in the other room and ran both tests wired
4. Link to picture of speedtest results above, here is link anyway: https://gyazo.com/508bf9280da171a7d5f9fc7c0355e4af

 

[USAFRet]

1. Verizon - is this FiOS or DSL?
2. What speed do you pay Verizon for?
3. Is this wired or wireless?
4. What do you get when you test at speedtest.net?

First of all, I just want to say thank you for helping me on both my recent topics.

1. DSL
2. I checked their site, we are paying for 1.1-3 mbps download, 384-768 kbps upload
3. I brought my laptop in the other room and ran both tests wired
4. Link to picture of speedtest results above, here is link anyway: https://gyazo.com/508bf9280da171a7d5f9fc7c0355e4af

With this: (from your link)

Compared to this "1.1-3 mbps download, 384-768 kbps upload"

You are getting pretty much exactly what you are paying for.

 

[publicenemy1207]

1. Verizon - is this FiOS or DSL?
2. What speed do you pay Verizon for?
3. Is this wired or wireless?
4. What do you get when you test at speedtest.net?

First of all, I just want to say thank you for helping me on both my recent topics.

1. DSL
2. I checked their site, we are paying for 1.1-3 mbps download, 384-768 kbps upload
3. I brought my laptop in the other room and ran both tests wired
4. Link to picture of speedtest results above, here is link anyway: https://gyazo.com/508bf9280da171a7d5f9fc7c0355e4af

With this: (from your link)

Compared to this "1.1-3 mbps download, 384-768 kbps upload"

You are getting pretty much exactly what you are paying for.

That is what the results of the test say, yes, but when I actually try downloading something, it doesn't download at 1.8 mbps, it usually goes between 150-250 kbps.

 

[unksol]

Pay attention to your units. You are getting 200KBps from steam not 200kbps. There are 8 bits in a byte. 200KB/s * 8bits/byte is 1.6Mbps. There is absolutely nothing wrong. You are harassing Verizon for nothing.

 

[USAFRet]

That is what the results of the test say, yes, but when I actually try downloading something, it doesn't download at 1.8 mbps, it usually goes between 150-250 kbps.

Ahh...you're confusing megabits vs megabytes.
Your ISP and speedtest.net talk megabits.
Whatever you're downloading from talks megabytes.

Approx 8:1 ratio
200kilobytes/sec (what the download site says) = approx 1.6 megabits/sec (what your ISP and speedtest.net says)

So....you are not missing anything. it is doing what it is supposed to be doing.

 

[publicenemy1207]

Pay attention to your units. You are getting 200KBps from steam not 200kbps. There are 8 bits in a byte. 200KB/s * 8bits/byte is 1.6Mbps. There is absolutely nothing wrong. You are harassing Verizon for nothing.

I had no clue there was a difference between bits and bytes, I don't know a whole lot on this kind of stuff. And I wasn't "harassing" Verizon, I was just wondering why my speeds are the way they are, but now I see why, the whole bits and bytes thing makes sense, thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[publicenemy1207]

That is what the results of the test say, yes, but when I actually try downloading something, it doesn't download at 1.8 mbps, it usually goes between 150-250 kbps.

Ahh...you're confusing megabits vs megabytes.
Your ISP and speedtest.net talk megabits.
Whatever you're downloading from talks megabytes.

Approx 8:1 ratio
200kilobytes/sec (what the download site says) = approx 1.6 megabits/sec (what your ISP and speedtest.net says)

So....you are not missing anything. it is doing what it is supposed to be doing.

Yea I just found out there was a difference between bits and bytes, that makes more sense now, damn I really gotta see if we can get better internet 😛 I am guessing when my parents chose that plan, they thought it was bytes not bits.

 

[USAFRet]

Just realize, that with DSL, you may not be able to get anything 'faster'. It is greatly dependent on your particular residence.