Why is my speed only limited to 12% of my max bandwidth?
I subscribed in a 1Mbps broadband internet (data only). The provider said that customers would only get 60% of it which is approximately 600kbps of the 1Mbps, which is enough for me. But I've been observing my download speed and it is limited to only 12%, i can't get past 120kbps. Every time my DL speed exceeds 120kbps it suddenly drops down again. I think mine is filtered. Is there a way around this? My modem router is Prolink ADSL2+.
Solution 1:
1Mbps = 1 Mega bit per second and 1 byte = 8 bits so 1 Mbps = 0.125 Mega byte per second.
Bit is typically represented by a lowercase b. While byte is typically represented by an uppercase B
So 8 Mbps = 1 MBps.
This is a classic marketing ploy since all the speeds look like they're 8x faster.
On the plus side, you're actually getting the full bandwidth you're paying for. I pay for a line that's up to 10 Mbps and only ever get about 8 Mbps.
Edit: If you understand the bit vs byte issue, then make sure the speed readings you're getting are correct. Running a speed test while no other internet activity is happening is the best way to get an accurate reading of your connection speed, applications often have an inaccurate speed reading.
Solution 2:
Are you sure that you're not hitting 120 kilobytes per second (kB/sec) (which is close enough to 1 megabit per second [mbps])? 1 kB/sec is the same as 8 kilobits per second (kbps)
See Wikipedia for more explanation on data rate units.
To bring an end to all the speculation going on here... what does http://www.speedtest.net/ tell you?
Solution 3:
Actually, there are three things going on. One is the bits versus bytes issue that others have mentioned. Another is that line speeds are reported in decimal units, not binary units. And a third is that the line has to carry not just data but also address and control information.
A 1Mbps line carries 1,000,000 bits per second, or 125,000 bytes per second. Address and control information takes about 4% of the bandwidth, leaving about 120,000 bytes per second for data. A kilobyte of data is 1,024 bytes, so that means you would expect 117KB/s.
So you're dead on.