Download Speeds Limited?

[Potatoguru]

Hey, I've got a strange problem with my network and I was hoping somebody may have experienced something similar and could help me out.

So my internet speed is quoted at 200 Mbps, i'm using WiFi and the router is a room and a bit away so i would expect a potential drop of 50 or so Mbps however multiple speed tests and programs report i have a speed of 30 Mbps which can't be correct since i download from steam at 22 MBps which far exceeds 30Mbps, however in other game launchers i download at around 3.3+ MBps which is about right if i had a 30 Mbps connection.

Googles built in speed test reports 30 Mbps,
Fast.com reports 130 Mbps
Ookla reports 100+ Mbps
Projectstream for google reports 30 Mbps
Broadband.co.uk reports 130 Mbps

I've come to the conclusion that some setting or program somewhere is selectively limiting my bandwidth? However if that is the case i have no idea what it is or where to find it, whilst downloading a game at 3.3 MBps it currently says my network utilisation is at 4%.

Any help or insight would be much appreciated!

 

[ubuysa]

The only way you're going to be able to tell whether this is a WiFi problem (which it might well be) or a problem with the config of your PC is to temporarily move your PC into the same location as the router and Ethernet cable attach it.

Then run all those speed tests again.

If they are all closer to the 200Mbps you expect then disconnect the cable and use the WiFi in the same (close) location.

Then run all those speed tests again.

If the Ethernet attachment is good but the WiFi is significantly less good then it's a WiFi issue somewhere. If they are both equally good then it's just that your normal PC location is in a poor WiFi spot. If the Ethernet attachment is poor however, then it's something more fundamental in your PC config.

 

[Potatoguru]

I've connected by ethernet and have a similar problem of being limited to 30 mbps in certain situations, the same way it's behaving via WiFi, whilst some speed tests report 30 mbps others are reporting 120-130 mbps via wifi and closer to 200 mbps via ethernet which is what i believe my connection actually is and it's just being throttled in certain situations somehow.

The thing that confuses me and i can't get my head around is the fact that my download speed on Steam for example can reach 22 MegaBytes per second whilst other downloads and speed tests are giving me 3-4 Megabytes per second and reporting 30 mbps internet speed.

Thanks for the help!

 

[ubuysa]

I'm assuming that other devices connected to the same router don't experience these issues? You need to confirm that to eliminate the router.

Are you certain your ISP is not applying traffic shaping to your connection?

At least you can now eliminate WiFi as the cause and that's a big help. [emoji3]

Can you post the full spec (from the order page) so that we know what we're dealing with?

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Potatoguru]

Yeah other devices are fine and give me expected results on speed tests, I've checked with my ISP and they apparently don't do any traffic shaping at all. Even if they did it would be odd for an ISP to throttle speed tests right?

Here's my build order:

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275Q QUIET CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X470-PLUS GAMING (DDR4, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1200 867Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language

 

[ubuysa]

Traffic shaping is often done 'on the fly' based on the traffic type and/or density. The way to be sure it's not the ISP is to run a VPN so their traffic shaping algorithm has no idea what you're doing. I accept that's unlikely though.

Have you reinstalled Windows since you got it? If so, where did you get the drivers from?

 

[Potatoguru]

I haven't re-installed windows since i got the PC, it should be in the same state as when it arrived.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I haven't re-installed windows since i got the PC, it should be in the same state as when it arrived.

It won't be though because updates will have applied in that time.

If you've ever in place upgraded that almost certainly will cause issues.

There have been many inherent updates to the networking platform in windows 10 over the past year alone.

The only way to be sure it's not software related is to install a current image and correctly configure drivers to be sure.

 

[ubuysa]

It won't be though because updates will have applied in that time.

If you've ever in place upgraded that almost certainly will cause issues.

There have been many inherent updates to the networking platform in windows 10 over the past year alone.

The only way to be sure it's not software related is to install a current image and correctly configure drivers to be sure.

I'm in complete agreement with this.

 

[Scott]

Is it possible that the speed test sites have limitations?

I always use speedtest.net as it can max out my connection pretty much every time I test it.

 

[ubuysa]

I think that I would cut a disk image so you can get back to where you are now easily and then do a clean install allowing Windows Update to install all drivers, then I'd redo all your speed tests. If things are no different then it's either the ISP, the testing sites, or your PC. One good test then would be to take it round to a friends house and use their WiFi (and ISP) and see whether you get the same results. That will eliminate your ISP. You can probably eliminate speedtest site variability by using speedtest.net as The_Scotster suggests and see what that says. If you're still concerned after that I'd give PCS a call because it would then most likely be a hardware issue.