Internet Speed

[noahsheldon81]

Hello, sorry if this is a noob question but I am new to networking. So at my house I am supposed to be getting 6MBps . When I do a speed test on any site I get 7MBps. BUT when I try to download anything I get 900KBps to 1 MBps. Same for my business. At work I am getting 30 MBps when I do speedtest but am only getting 2 to 3 MBps when I download stuff. Could somebody please explain this to me/how to fix this?

Thanks.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Your speed from Speedtest.net and your ISP is quoted in Mbps (Megabits per second). Download speeds are quoted in MB/s (Megabytes a second). 7Mbps = 0.875 MB/s

 

EDIT: There are 8 Megabits in a Megabyte. The speeds you see are correct, it's just easy to mix up/not know the differences in units. If it has a lower case "b" like "Mb", it is Megabits, whereas an upper case "B" like "MB" is Megabytes. 

[AresKrieger]

ISP's don't measure bytes they measure bits which as stated above are 1/8 the size

 

@noahsheldon81 follow your post if you want notifications 

[Badazzz]

Your speed from Speedtest.net and your ISP is quoted in Mbps (Megabits per second). Download speeds are quoted in MB/s (Megabytes a second). 7Mbps = 0.875 MB/s

 

EDIT: There are 8 Megabits in a Megabyte. The speeds you see are correct, it's just easy to mix up/not know the differences in units. If it has a lower case "b" like "Mb", it is Megabits, whereas an upper case "B" like "MB" is Megabytes. 

 

Couldn't have said it better.

[goneflyin1]

ISPs are known to detect when you are running a speedtest and give more bandwidth. I'm guessing the M vs m is a mistake. If you have a vpn try connecting to that especially if certain content is slowed. This will not allow the isp to inspect the packet. I get around 50mbps no vpn and over 100 with.

[Oshino Shinobu]

ISPs are known to detect when you are running a speedtest and give more bandwidth. I'm guessing the M vs m is a mistake. If you have a vpn try connecting to that especially if certain content is slowed. This will not allow the isp to inspect the packet. I get around 50mbps no vpn and over 100 with.

That's not the issue. His speeds are correct, it's just a difference in units when measuring speed and downloads. 

[goneflyin1]

That's not the issue. His speeds are correct, it's just a difference in units when measuring speed and downloads.

The unit really doesn't matter, as he uses the same unit of measure(bytes) for all numbers. He's asking why he gets one speed via a test and another in a real life application of speed which is attributed to one a few things

1 your isp detects speed tests and gives full band with but not when using "normal" internet

2 the upstream server is delivering only that speed (could be Your only using 1 source to determine "real" speed)

3 his isp is engaging I'm traffic shaping which the Vpn would solve

4 the measured speed test is simply the Isp burst speed, which you can determine by doing a sustained speed test to determine

[Oshino Shinobu]

The unit really doesn't matter, as he uses the same unit of measure(bytes) for all numbers. He's asking why he gets one speed via a test and another in a real life application of speed which is attributed to one a few things

1 your isp detects speed tests and gives full band with but not when using "normal" internet

2 the upstream server is delivering only that speed (could be Your only using 1 source to determine "real" speed)

3 his isp is engaging I'm traffic shaping which the Vpn would solve

4 the measured speed test is simply the Isp burst speed, which you can determine by doing a sustained speed test to determine

He's not getting different speeds, though. 

 

7Mbps = 900KB/s (roughly), so that download is fine. 

 

30Mbps = 3.75MB/s. When you account for performance overhead, other users and such, 3MB/s is about right. The difference between MiB and MB, depending on the OS, could also be factored in. 

 

He is using the same units, but most likely incorrectly. Unless he has a 240Mbps connection at work and is converting it to MB/s for some reason. 

 

EDIT: He even states that he is new to networking. I wouldn't expect him to notice the difference between Mb/s and MB/s. There are plenty of experienced people who don't recognise it. 

 

@noahsheldon81 could you clarify for us if you're converting from Mbps to MB/s for the speedtest and ISP quoted speed?