I'm wondering how fast I should expect to be able to download a file on a 2 meg broadband connection?
If I download a file from a website it often starts at around 300-400kb/s and quickly drops for the first couple of seconds and settles around 220-240kb/s
My mate said (yes, I know) he downloads at around 600kb/s, also on a 2 meg connection.
I did tests after one another, though I have read they don't give a true reading -
http://www.intel.com/personal/resour.../speedtest.htm
This one said 1Mbps
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/
This one said 1.8Mbps
It's not something I've ever looked into. I'm using a usb adsl modem if that makes any difference.

<EDITED>
I've just done the test on my providers website and it said -
1.87 Mbps
"Which means you can download at 239.78 KB/sec. from our servers."

So that sounds about right, yes?

That's exactly right. There are 8 bits in a byte and 1024 kilobytes to a megabyte.

EDIT: hehe, serves me right for rounding off in my head. calculator says 239.36, to be exact.

The download speed can vary greatly. This depends on a number of factors, like the load at the server your downloading/testing from and every router between you and them.

It sounds like your getting close to max speed your provider stated download speed.

Try using something like traceroute to see how 'hops' you have to make to get to the server.

Well you can figure out how many bytes you can theoretically download by knowing that there are 8 bits in 1 byte. If we assume your line is 2Mbit (roughly 2,000,000 bits), then your line is capable of theoretically downloading 250,000 bytes per second, so it seems the estimate is accurate. This is all theoretical though, as I'm sure you're aware, it depends on the server of the site you're downloading from as well as your line speed.

EDIT: Beaten to it! Damn...

I think we should all have a gigabit connection to the internet.

interesting slantoflight...

Well, if you've got a spare ~£600 per month, then you can get yourself a T3 line - not quite what you're looking for (max speed 100Mbps), but still not bad.

Otherwise, this might be what you're looking for. It suggests they can achieve downloads at 2Gbps, so now all you need to do is move to Shoreditch in London.

Well I'm glad to know I'm getting value for money. Especially since I'm being upgraded to 8 meg in the next few months free of charge.
Not bad for £14.99 a month

Not bad at all. Your friend is full of feces, by the way His connection is quite a bit higher than 2Mb.

I suspect is connection is 2 meg and his speed is quite a bit lower than he said. Either way he's definately full of what you said.

ADSL 2mb-128kb