IRS_Agent

A few weeks ago I decided to fix *my connection to the internet* (it had been slow for an unknown reason for a while). I called my ISP (Time Warner Business) and I plugged a computer directly into the modem. Needless to say, *my connection to the internet* finally ran at full speed when directly connected (~6000 Kbps down and 900 Kbps up). Since I had now determined the problem was the router, I reset the router according to the procedure I got from a Linksys tech support person. Now I get full speed on SPEED TESTS while going through the router, BUT I still get very low download speeds from various sites.

EXAMPLE: 100k Down from nvidia.com while my friend down the street also on RR gets 800k at least.

Can anyone tell me why speedtests show *my connection to the internet* to be normal even when my download speed is abnormally slow?

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The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving.



I
#83 of 213 things you cannot do in the army.
83. Must not start any SITREP (Situation Report) with "I recently had an experience I just had to write you about...."

MagnaCentipede

For the same download? You could have a terabyte connection but it won't let you pull down a file faster if it's coming out of a slow server.

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Spulat

speakeasy.net/speedtest is your best bet for more reliable bandwidth testing.

Give that a try, and post your results.

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IRS_Agent

My friend and I both have Road Runner and we were comparing DL speed for the new nVidia beta driver. (He has regular RR and I have business class, but the download speed is the same).

SPEAKEASY RESULTS
----------------------

From Chicago server...

6688 Kbps down

973 Kbps up

__________________
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving.



I
#83 of 213 things you cannot do in the army.
83. Must not start any SITREP (Situation Report) with "I recently had an experience I just had to write you about...."

ScratchMonkey

One of my pet peeves is referring to one's own connection to the Internet as "the internet". The Internet is the whole world-wide network. "Fixing the internet" sounds like you flew to Virginia, went into some giant data center, and started moving patch cords around between servers and routers.

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IRS_Agent

Post edited to reflect correct terminology and not get on Scratchmonkey's nerves.

__________________
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving.



I
#83 of 213 things you cannot do in the army.
83. Must not start any SITREP (Situation Report) with "I recently had an experience I just had to write you about...."

ScratchMonkey

Good job, agent!

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Spulat

I had a problem like this on my router when I moved into this apartment.... and I fixed it somehow. Though I don't remember exactly how I did it, aside from probably doing a factory-reset.

I know. A pretty useless post, but, perhaps my memory will jog and I can offer the solution up.

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ScratchMonkey

Chicken entrails were probably involved.

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Spulat

Oh the Divination is just too much!

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IRS_Agent

Ok so to rule out slow downloads due to demand on the sites I've tried so far (nVidia drivers etc). I just opened a download on Direct2Drive for ArmA. Direct2Drive usually gives me a high download (sometimes above 1000k); however, I can not pull over 150k down now.

__________________
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving.



I
#83 of 213 things you cannot do in the army.
83. Must not start any SITREP (Situation Report) with "I recently had an experience I just had to write you about...."

Acreo Aeneas

If you're on wireless, you'll want to adjust the output setting of wireless on your router. There should an option on your router to allow you to select which "speed" it outputs (you'll get a list with something like: 512 kbps, 1 mbps, 2 mbps, 12 mpbs, 54 mpbs, 108 mpbs, etc.). Once you set that, your download speeds should be more consistent and higher.

If you're on wired, like Monkey says, can't do much if the server is slow. nVidia's download server is known for it's slowness. I've tested it by downloading several large files at random times during throughout the day. Sometimes I get close to 300 KB/s and other times it trickles in at 20 KB/s (or less).

In addition, your path routing might be to blame. Sometimes the path the data has to travel through will add latency and you may also lose packets along the way.

Also places like FileShack, FilePlanet, and FileFront will often cap your download speed.

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