Unexplained slow downloads

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Hello.

I am using a MacBook Air running Lion, brand new (yesterday), with a wireless internet connection that speedtest returned at 19mbps. I am in the middle of a 6.4 GB download that is currently moving at 345 kbps. I am looking for some help in understanding why this is moving so slowly, and why it's taking me 3 hours to download a 6.4 gig file???

Thanks.
 

Raz0rEdge

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2022 Mac Studio M1 Max, 2023 M2 MBA
You are not gauranteed to get the 20 Mbps or whatever your service is rated for ALL the time..you can get UP to that much, but over sustained period of time the rate will drop. Additionally, it matters where you are downloading files from, how many others are also downloading from that server affecting it's upload bandwidth, general congestion on the Internet, and more specifically in your area..

Downloading 6.4GB in 3 hours is totally reasonable on MOST Internet services..
 
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Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
For xample I have ADSL2+ which can run up to 24Mbps. Because of distance from telephone exchange and old copper wires, get around 9Mbps. When downloading, a good speed is 1MB per second. 1GB = 1000MB = 1000 seconds = about 16-17 minutes per GB. 6GB would take me about 100 minutes, getting close to the two hours.

And as RazOrEdge points out, slower if the download from the server is heavy.
 

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