[SOLVED] Why is download speed different to what it actually is?

[h0pT0 Gaming]

When downloading a game on steam or even on the Microsoft store, it will say something like 20Mbps but then when I look at the progress bar and see the "[insert amount of Gbs downloaded so far]/File size"
I see that the amount of gigabytes downloaded so far is definitely not going up as fast as Steam/Microsoft store is saying it is, its more like 2Mbps and sometimes even less.

Why is this? Is it impossible to have a formula that calculates Mbps? Or am I the only one having this weird "bug"?

 

[kanewolf]

The biggest error is the megabit vs megabyte. Download speeds are usually listed in megabits and file sizes are in megabytes. Since a byte is 8 bits, the speed is the network speed divided by 8.
Megabits is Mb (little b) and megabytes is MB (big B).

 

[Frag Maniac]

When downloading a game on steam or even on the Microsoft store, it will say something like 20Mbps but then when I look at the progress bar and see the "[insert amount of Gbs downloaded so far]/File size"
I see that the amount of gigabytes downloaded so far is definitely not going up as fast as Steam/Microsoft store is saying it is, its more like 2Mbps and sometimes even less.

Why is this? Is it impossible to have a formula that calculates Mbps? Or am I the only one having this weird "bug"?

You'll typically at best get 10% of your actual DL speed. For instance on my 100Mb connection at best I usually get 10Mbs. If your connection is 20Mb, 2Mb is good and normal.

You can however test your DL speed to assure it's working as fast as it should. Local testing sites always work best. On DSL you typically get 80% to 90% the advertised speed. On cable or FO it's usually 100% or even a bit more.