Non Technical head noob with a question

[Degwarn]

Hi all,

I live in borehamwood and recently subscribed to Virgin Broadband. They just upgraded my 4Mb subscription to 10Mb. But a question please.

On the 4Mb line I was able to get speeds of 1290Kbps when downloading but when I ran a speed test I was seeing 2400Kbps, I wasnt concerned as previously I was getting 32kbps on a phone line!

Now I am on a 10Mb line, my download speeds are the same but when I test the line im getting up to 8.2Mb.

Considerations:-

Im using Internet Download Manager (IDM) when I download files.
I have not used portforwarding as I dont download from p2p or torrents etc.
I am using http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/ to get my speed results. (I will use the one on this web site when i get home).
I have checked the downloads through IDM when I have no antivirus/firewall etc turned on and the speeds I get back through IDM and broadband checker are the same.
I have not not tried downloading with the ethernet cable attached yet.
I download from Mega Upload alot.

So the question is. If I get reported speeds of 8000Kbps why, when I download using IDM am I only getting 1200kbps? Any ideas.

I guess that maybe when I download from Megaupload there maybe restrictions to the download speeds I receive set by mega upload but not sure if thats the case or not.

I also understand that I may have overlooked something very obvious so I apologise if I have wasted peoples time.

Any views or assistance is greatly appreciated.

Overall I am happy with them, bar the first bill issue (which i was not surprised to see)

Many thanks,

Peter

[haydnwalker]

The site your downloading from may be very busy so they might limit connections to a specific speed?

[ceedee]

So the question is. If I get reported speeds of 8000Kbps why, when I download using IDM am I only getting 1200kbps? Any ideas.
How many connections does IDM use when downloading files?

A good way to get an accurate idea of your potential download speed is to start 2 simultaneous downloads from the VM demo games server (http://gamefiles.virginmedia.com/blueyondergames/demos/) plus 2 simultaneous downloads of Zen test files (http://fuller.zen.co.uk/test). That's four file downloads happening at once!
Now add up each of the four download speeds to get your accurate download rate.


I've just re-read your post and realised that the speeds you're reporting are while you are connecting wireless-ly. Wifi is a fairly precarious communications method at the best of times (which means your laptop sat right in front of the router with no other radio-emitting device for miles!) that struggles to get close to ethernet speeds.
You may see some improvement by redirecting your router's aerials and it's definitely worth testing other wifi channels but I'd recommend you bite the bullet and run ethernet cable to wherever your usually use your computer.

Good luck!

[Degwarn]

thanks for the replies.

I opened up IDM to allow 16 connections but the speed stayed the same.

also when i attached the ethernet cable the speeds i was getting when checking using the speed test on here dropped to under 2Mb. now i have gone back to wireless it sems to run back in teh highs but still the download speeds run the same on IDM. Il run the check as you suggest and see what occurs.

thanks for your help!

[ceedee]

If the multiple simultaneous file download test shows you're only getting 2Mb/s when connecting by ethernet then there's a problem somewhere.

Try powering down everything then, in sequence, power up your cable modem, then wait 30 seconds for it to settle down, then power up your router and again wait 30 secs. Finally power up your computer again and try the same file download test.

Which cable modem do you have?
Which UBR are you connected to? (You can find out by clicking on "Connection" near the top of this page -- just copy the text such as "cable.ubr02.bath.blueyonder.co.uk" but don't include your IP number.)