broadband speed

Hi
Ive just upgraded my broadband so that i should now be able to get around 5mb speed! I have done a few speed checks on the web and they are all saying my download speed should be roughly 5000kbps but yet when i download anything i only get a maximum of 600kbps surely this cannot be right! Can anyone tell me if something is wrong and whether i need to contact my isp and get it sorted!
Thanks

Post your router stats!

Download speed in the estimators and speed tests is shown in kilo bits per second, is it possible that the 600kbps is actually Kilo Bytes per second.

Windows reports download progressin Kilo Bytes per second, and 8 bits in a Byte, so 600 * 8 is very close to the 5000Kbps figure.

In short the case of the letter B or b is very important.

thanks for replying these i my router stats or at least that what i think you mean!
System Uptime 261:58:11
Modem DSL(Sync) uptime 84:03:49
ADSL Mode ADSL2
Interleaving On
Up Down
DSL Line Speed 801 kbps 5727 kbps
Line Attenuation 29.5 dB 52.0 dB
SN Margin 5.5 dB 6.8 dB
Total Errors Seconds 0


oh i see what your saying the download is going in KB/s am i right in thinking that 5000kbps is 5mbps?

5000Kbps is 5Mbps

1000K in 1M

Your router stats are good and you are getting 5.7 Mbps Sync Speed as you expected/were told. You might get bit more if you change ADSL Mode to ADSL2+ (plus).

Re: the slow (?) throughput speeds, you sure you are not mixing up bits (b) and Bytes (B) as previously suggested?

Post deleted by RobertoS

thats the thing i thought that i might be getting confused but having been on someone elses computer recently and downloaded a file where it said 1.3mbps so im guessing that if i was getting 5mbps it would say that. Also working out how long it would take to download certain files if i was getting that speed and what im currently getting is definitely a lot slower. for instance a 440mb file is taking 13 mins to download im sure it should be quicker

I'm not trying to be awkward, but this post of yours shows you are still confused.

440mb = 440 milli-bits - 440 thousandths of a bit. There isn't such a thing as a thousandth of a bit. (Until you are married).
440Mb = 440 Mega-bits.
440MB = 440 Mega-Bytes = 3720 Mega-bits.
1 Byte = 8 bits.

Unless you start using the right capitals we will have to keep asking if you meant this or that. We will get nowhere.

Oh right sorry i hadn't realised that the file im trying to download is 440MB the speed it is downloading at is 530KB/sec (through ie explorer) and at that speed it is taking 14mins.

ahh i think im understanding now. Am i right in thinking that broadband is in Megabits rather than Megabytes? i think this is where i am getting confused so really 550KB/sec download is about right on a 5Mb speed or am i still not getting it?

You are being a tad too harsh!

m instead of M is excusable as there is no such thing as milli in computers.

But, yes, b instead of B, and v.v., is inexcusable by being confusing.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

for instance a 440mb file is taking 13 mins to download im sure it should be quicker

I think you mean a 440MB file in 13 mins. That's about 4600 Kbps which is about what you would expect on a 5700 Kbps connection.

To save by getting confused by units and the responsiveness of the download server, it would be more accurate to post the results of an actual speedtest, like TBB's.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

ahh i think im understanding now. Am i right in thinking that broadband is in Megabits rather than Megabytes? i think this is where i am getting confused so really 550KB/sec download is about right on a 5Mb speed or am i still not getting it?

Spot on .

As XRaySpeX reprimanded me re the m/M, yes he is right that "m" is excusable as there can't really be any confusion. I just included it as part of the whole small/capital issue, because with b/B it is very important. As you can now see .

The reason speed testers use Mb is because broadband is in Megabits connection speeds, yes.

But downloaders use KB (KiloBytes) because file sizes are measured in Bytes, can be KiloBytes, MegaBytes or GigaBytes. So that makes sense as well - when downloading 440MB you want to know how many KB per second you are getting, to help you guess whether you only have time to make a coffee, or can go out to the takeaway.

Does that help?

I hope all goes well for you now.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 07-Jun-11 23:03:15)