Slow downloads

[pka leaf]

Hi, I have problems with my internet. Lately the speeds for all my downloads are about 1.2 Mb/s at best. I've tried WiFi and Ethernet, but its still very slow. I have a WiFi 4 router, and its supposedly able to do 400 Mb/s. All my games play fine, which doesn't make sense if my download speed is that slow. Any help is welcome.

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, pka leaf said:

Hi, I have problems with my internet. Lately the speeds for all my downloads are about 1.2 Mb/s at best. I've tried WiFi and Ethernet, but its still very slow. I have a WiFi 4 router, and its supposedly able to do 400 Mb/s. All my games play fine, which doesn't make sense if my download speed is that slow. Any help is welcome.

What speed is your ISP charging you for?  Did you go over a limit and getting throttled?

 

 

[Jarsky]

1.2Mb/s or MB/s? 1.2MB/s is 10Mb/s (10Mbit)

Speeds depend on where youre downloading from as it will only go as fast as the slowest link in the chain. 

Some ISP's do packet inspection and slow down certain types of traffic. Also depending on your ISP you may be subject to slow downs during peak times. 

Best to let your ISP know youre having speed issues. 

[seanondemand]

gaming isn’t actually very sensitive to network speed, it’s more about the latency a.k.a.  ping
 

when you plug in via Ethernet and do a speed test on something like fast.com, what results are you seeing?
 

You should also look into a new wifi solution. Wifi 4 (formerly 802.11n) is pretty slow compared to 5 or 6. The speeds you’ll actually be capable of will depend on the router and the device in question and the number of antennas they have, but 150-250mbps is the fastest most devices would see, and that’s in perfect conditions. Now, you are still getting a lot less than that, so I would be wondering what device we’re talking about, what the conditions are around your device, how far away you are from the router, if there are a lot of other wireless networks around or other interference?

[Needfuldoer]

Is your PC on WiFi, or Ethernet? To elaborate on @Jarsky's question, if you have a bad/sketchy Ethernet cable your PC might only be linking to your router at 10 megabits, which is 1.2MB/sec.

 

Do you get your full advertised speed on speedtest.net?

[pka leaf]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:16 AM, Dedayog said:

What speed is your ISP charging you for?  Did you go over a limit and getting throttled?

 

 

I have an unlimited plan, so that isnt a problem

[pka leaf]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:19 AM, Jarsky said:

1.2Mb/s or MB/s? 1.2MB/s is 10Mb/s (10Mbit)

On 11/28/2022 at 10:19 AM, Jarsky said:

1.2Mb/s or MB/s? 1.2MB/s is 10Mb/s (10Mbit)

Speeds depend on where youre downloading from as it will only go as fast as the slowest link in the chain. 

Some ISP's do packet inspection and slow down certain types of traffic. Also depending on your ISP you may be subject to slow downs during peak times. 

Best to let your ISP know youre having speed issues. 

 

 

1.2 megabytes. And that is the fastest download speed i've ever had.

[pka leaf]

2 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Is your PC on WiFi, or Ethernet? To elaborate on @Jarsky's question, if you have a bad/sketchy Ethernet cable your PC might only be linking to your router at 10 megabits, which is 1.2MB/sec.

 

Do you get your full advertised speed on speedtest.net?

I have tried both and I used a CAT 6 cable. speedtest.net says full speed is supposed to be 4.1 Mb/s, which isnt that great anyway..

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

I have tried both and I used a CAT 6 cable. speedtest.net says full speed is supposed to be 4.1 Mb/s, which isnt that great anyway..

 

14 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

I have an unlimited plan, so that isnt a problem

 

9 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

 

1.2 megabytes. And that is the fastest download speed i've ever had.

So what is the speed you're paying for?  What ISP?

 

Did you call your ISP and have them do a diagnostic on your modem/connection?

[pka leaf]

Centurylink is my isp, not sure about the speed.

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

Centurylink is my isp, not sure about the speed.

When you know this information, update us.

[pka leaf]

okay, modem config says 1.3755 megabytes per second.

[Dedayog]

7 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

okay, modem config says 1.3755 megabytes per second.

What is this telling us?

 

I am getting the feeling you are not understanding how Internet/ISP works fully.

 

[pka leaf]

No, not really.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, pka leaf said:

Centurylink is my isp, not sure about the speed.

Does your internet come from a phone cord? Because Centurylink is big in DSL and has some Fiber. My guess is you're on old ass DSL, and speeds are not going to be great. In my area AT&T DSL is up to like 18 Mbps, which is very slow by todays standards. 

[Dedayog]

2 hours ago, pka leaf said:

No, not really.

Okay.  Your isp lists a certain download and upload speed package that you pay for.

 

Now these speeds are guaranteed AT the ISP, not your house.  Most will get that speed but there may be some loss with some ISPs.

 

Download speeds don't affect gaming like you mentioned.  You can game fine on 1mb or 1000mb.

 

We need to know what download speed your isp has you paying for, then we compare that to what you truly experience.

 

Your isp can see your modem so they can diagnose if the modem needs an update, firmware, or is end of life.

 

Also, unlimited download is a feature of a high end internet plan with very fast speeds usually.   How do you know you have unlimited but do not know the plan speed?

 

[pka leaf]

On 11/29/2022 at 3:54 PM, Donut417 said:

Does your internet come from a phone cord? Because Centurylink is big in DSL and has some Fiber. My guess is you're on old ass DSL, and speeds are not going to be great. In my area AT&T DSL is up to like 18 Mbps, which is very slow by todays standards. 

Yes, I use a phone wire.

[pka leaf]

On 11/29/2022 at 5:42 PM, Dedayog said:

Okay.  Your isp lists a certain download and upload speed package that you pay for.

 

Now these speeds are guaranteed AT the ISP, not your house.  Most will get that speed but there may be some loss with some ISPs.

 

Download speeds don't affect gaming like you mentioned.  You can game fine on 1mb or 1000mb.

 

We need to know what download speed your isp has you paying for, then we compare that to what you truly experience.

 

Your isp can see your modem so they can diagnose if the modem needs an update, firmware, or is end of life.

 

Also, unlimited download is a feature of a high end internet plan with very fast speeds usually.   How do you know you have unlimited but do not know the plan speed?

 

My parents pay for it, so I don't know a lot about it.

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, pka leaf said:

My parents pay for it, so I don't know a lot about it.

What do they say about all this?

[Jarsky]

1 hour ago, pka leaf said:

Yes, I use a phone wire.

 

If it uses a phone wire then its DSL, there is absolutely no way you should expect 400Mbit. 

If its VDSL2 that can go up to 100-120Mbit on the fastest equipment in the most ideal situation. 

1.2-1.4Mb/s is about 10-11Mbit. That would be the expected DSL speed if you were about 1 mile away from the DSLAM (DSL cabinet), if the phone line and connections are in good condition. 

If you are on DSL, you also need to make sure you have a DSL splitter installed, or an in-line filter on each non-DSL device. 

 

As we've said multiple times, and because you wont give information about what your plan is with your ISP, you need to talk to your ISP. 

If its under your parents name, they may need to speak to your parent for authorization. 

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, pka leaf said:

Yes, I use a phone wire.

Well DSL depending on the standard is slow. VDSL generally you can do 50Mbps in a lot of places, but ADSL can be dog slow. AT&T has ADSL in my area and it’s like 18 Mbps max. DSL speeds heavily depend on how close you are to the phone company’s central office or to their remote box if that’s what you’re connected to.