Hi all,
I recently shifted to a new place and was excited to find out that they provided Internet free of charge (ok not really it was included in the monthly rent). I set up my linux router and connected my small home network which I use for testing purposes.
I wanted to find out how fast my new connection was and ran an online speed test, with very disappointing results.

Download Speed: 65 kbps (8.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 19 kbps (2.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

What's the difference btwn the download/upload speed and the transfer rate, and why isnt the transfer rate same as download/upload speed. Are all the pple who live in the same building with me sharing the 65/19 kbps?

Pls explain

Different units are being used. kbps = kilo[/b]bits[/b] per second, while KB/sec = kilobytes per second. 1 byte = 8 bits, so if you multiply the transfer rate values by 8, you'll get the speeds given (well, those speeds have been rounded to the nearest integer).

Those speeds are similar to dial-up!! You can ask them about the configuration but--since it is free--there may not be much you can do about it.

It is not uncommon for ISPs to limit the upload speed.

There could be all sorts of reasons for this... the network might have some sort of QOS or other limiting applied, someone(s) might have been using bandwidth heavily at the time. It's hard to say.
It's unlikely that you can do much about it though.

ISP can limit upload speed.