Can’t download to my computer at expected speeds…?
Question by siztastical: Can’t download to my computer at expected speeds…?
I can’t download files to my computer above approximately 800kb/s. Broadbandspeedtest shows a top speed of around 7.7mb/s as does my isp (BE) but if I download on bittorrent or usenet or even just transfer files on my local network (no internet) the speed won’t go much above 800kb/s 
I’m using wireless G in my devices and they all have full signal. The problem is OS indepedent so i’m thinking its something to do with the router not forwarding SSL traffic correctly?
Best answer:
Answer by DrDave
You need to understand the speeds you are seeing. Your internet speed is measured in megaBITS per second. Your download speed is measured in kiloBYTES per second. There are 8 bits in a byte. Do the math.
Add your own answer in the comments!
There is a lot more to file transfer than theoretical network speeds
The power of your processor, your data bus rate, the access time of your hard drive, the encryption you use, all affect your transfer rate
There is also the fact that network hardware is designed for multiple users. No properly designed network is going to allow a single user to hog all the bandwidth.
So you will never see a file transfer at full network speed
It cannot happen with typical home hardware