Is the internet download speed same as browsing speed?

[Vinson]

They increased my download speed, but the browsing from one site to the other seems the same. Some sites like FB seem to take their time to open up. Should they open faster because of increased download speed?

 

[pavel bure]

Also, depends what version of Windows is installed on your Computer. Do an Ookla Speed Test to ensure that you are getting the download and upload speed that you paid for.
Make sure you connect your laptop directly to the Modem or Pod and close all other Apps.
I had a similar issue and the speed was far less than what I subscribed to. Contacted my Provider and got them to solve it remotely. But with upgrading to Windows 11 it is much faster now.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Internet connection speed and download speed are different. They are both measured using different units.

Connection speed (or Internet Bandwidth) refers to the raw data transfer rate of the connection provided by your ISP. Unit used for Connection Speed: Kbps (Kilobit per Second), Mbps (Megabit per Second), Gbps (Gigabit per Second) and so on… On the other hand, when we download files from the internet, the same data transfer rate is interpreted as Download Speed. Unit used for Download Speed: KBps (Kilobyte per Second), MBps (Megabyte per Second) and so on.

The noteworthy point here is the difference between bit and byte as used in the two units. Connection speed is represented with a (small) ‘b’ for bit while download speed takes a (capital) ‘B’ for Byte.

1 Megabyte (MB) = 8 Megabit (Mb)
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobyte (KB)
8 Megabit (Mb) = 1024 Kilobyte (KB)
Therefore, 1 Megabit (Mb) = [1024/8 =] 128 Kilobyte (KB)

So, in a 1 Mbps connection, your maximum download speed would be 128 KBps (=1Mbps).

Your speed will also vary based on number of devices connected, wireless vs wired and other factors such as device capabilities.

 

[Vinson]

Also, depends what version of Windows is installed on your Computer. Do an Ookla Speed Test to ensure that you are getting the download and upload speed that you paid for.
Make sure you connect your laptop directly to the Modem or Pod and close all other Apps.
I had a similar issue and the speed was far less than what I subscribed to. Contacted my Provider and got them to solve it remotely. But with upgrading to Windows 11 it is much faster now.

Thank you I checked, I'm getting 100, downloads are fast but seems slow going from one site to the other.

 

[HungSowel]

A wireless connection has higher latency than a wired ethernet connection, it may manifest itself as slower browsing speed even though you still get the rated 100 Mbps through the wireless connection.

The speed of the computer/laptop/tablet/phone also matters, but mostly if your hardware is old or low-end.

 

[DesRicardo]

Thank you I checked, I'm getting 100, downloads are fast but seems slow going from one site to the other.

1.What browser are you using?
2. How many active devices on your home network?
3. How long have you have your modem?

 

[bver_hunter]

Thank you I checked, I'm getting 100, downloads are fast but seems slow going from one site to the other.

Depends on the age of your computer and the Windows version. Do you have Windows 11 version? How old is your computer? Yes, if you have multiple devices running at the same time, then they could slow down your device. These are especially Gaming devices that are downloading as well as Uploading and using up a lot of data.
The new computers that are preloaded with Windows 11 are super fast irrespective of any sites that you visit.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Example: You have purchased a 5Mbps down/1Mbps up service from your ISP. They would say your download speed is 5Mbps, your upload speed is 1Mbps and your connection speed is 5Mbps/1Mbps. Or, you run a speed test and get 500KBps down and 100KBps up, you would say your download speed is 500KBps, your upload speed is 100KBps, and your connection speed is 500KBps/100KBps. Despite the discrepancy if you convert the numbers, both you and your ISP are using the terms "technically correctly".

I'm most usage, however, people will use the term "connection speed" to mean what they paid for, and use download and upload speed to refer to what they're actually getting.

I tried to see if chatgpt4 could be more concise, but it initially said connection speed was the theoretical maximum, only to later say bandwidth was the theoretical maximum but connection speed was the actual transfer, showing that there's great confusion about the topic in general.

That is what people get confused about. The differences in units - bytes vs bits. 1 byte = 8 bits. So understanding the conversion is important.
If your internet speed is 500Mbps (mega bit), then the data transfer rate is 64MBps (mega byte) because 1 byte = 8 bits (500/8). So if you were to download a file of 1GB = 1025MB, then it will take 16 seconds. (1024/16).
This is still theoretical as limitations of Wifi, the data transfer rate of your network ports, the read and write speed of your hard drives, number of devices consuming bandwidth, the server speed and load from where you're downloading files will all factor into actual download speed you see at your end.
If you want advertised speed then it takes expensive set ups and router settings changes, which I dont understand very well. This YouTuber did it with his Bell 3Gb connection to get the advertised speed.

 

[Vinson]

Depends on the age of your computer and the Windows version. Do you have Windows 11 version? How old is your computer? Yes, if you have multiple devices running at the same time, then they could slow down your device. These are especially Gaming devices that are downloading as well as Uploading and using up a lot of data.
The new computers that are preloaded with Windows 11 are super fast irrespective of any sites that you visit.

Ok Thanks..Yes, its windows 11. Intel I7 with 32 ram, high end graphic card. I have no other devices. I have ublock origins blocker, otherwise I'm swamped with spam on FB. Seems to happen a lot on FB or Nofrills/loblaws sites.

 

[bver_hunter]

Ok Thanks..Yes, its windows 11. Intel I7 with 32 ram, high end graphic card. I have no other devices. I have ublock origins blocker, otherwise I'm swamped with spam on FB. Seems to happen a lot on FB or Nofrills/loblaws sites.

The other factor could be a VPN if you are using one. Some VPNs slow the speed down marginally, whilst others really puts the brakes on downloads, file transfers etc.
I don't have that issue with FB, although the speed is 150 Mbps. Are you connected by the ethernet to the Pod / Router? If not try it and see if it makes a difference. But yes, FB has a lot of ads including fake ones of crypto currencies that flood the site. I try to reach just my connections on FB and I get flooded with all those annoying ads.

 

[JohnHenry]

The other thing you have to consider is the number of hops (routers) that you go through to get to the site, and how busy each of those is. For instance to get to terb.cc for me:

traceroute to terb.cc (172.67.26.100), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 _gateway (192.168.1.3) 1.592 ms 1.885 ms 2.153 ms
2 10.161.0.5 (10.161.0.5) 7.139 ms 7.335 ms 7.527 ms
3 10.161.1.1 (10.161.1.1) 29.450 ms 29.727 ms 29.921 ms
4 10.160.1.33 (10.160.1.33) 64.466 ms 64.737 ms 64.931 ms
5 10.126.1.1 (10.126.1.1) 65.553 ms 65.319 ms 65.089 ms
6 172.20.99.5 (172.20.99.5) 65.758 ms 49.189 ms 49.267 ms
7 172.20.98.1 (172.20.98.1) 50.413 ms 51.091 ms 49.712 ms
8 ***
9 207.107.137.73 (207.107.137.73) 50.089 ms 50.538 ms 49.385 ms
10 24.153.31.54 (24.153.31.54) 54.827 ms 54.296 ms 54.575 ms
11 69.63.248.189 (69.63.248.189) 55.203 ms 54.962 ms 55.350 ms
12 209.148.235.218 (209.148.235.218) 54.615 ms 54.662 ms 63.952 ms
13 * * *
14 108.162.239.20 (108.162.239.20) 80.385 ms 108.162.239.4 (108.162.239.4) 80.566 ms 108.162.239.24 (108.162.239.24) 84.601 ms
15 172.67.26.100 (172.67.26.100) 81.647 ms 81.847 ms 81.396 ms

And then finally how busy the site you are going to is.