Vista - Annoying download speeds

Hi. I am getting sick of my ISP and their terrible help. My download speed is annoying me so much. My download speed is so low and doesn't keep a consistent rate it is different every time, look at this picture of different speed tests I did.



Right now I am getting 2-3Mb/s but my best was 24.04Mb/s, why is it doing this. I am suppose to be getting 6Mb/s but sometimes it goes over and right now it is slow as ever. help please?

Some more info:
ISP: Road Runner
I am directly connected to my modem now cause customer support wanted me to even tho I get the same crap speed with modem and router.
I have a linksys router, but it is bypassed at the moment.
Running Windows Vista.

slow download speed caused by so, so many - many things. u need to be sure what u did to ur computer. it could be a malware attacking ur computer, trojans, worms, spyware, etc.

it could be the server that u r trying to download is busy or full, could not accept more connections.

it could be u r downloading from a location that is so far, far away thus making ur ping climbs up, up and away so high leading to reduced download speed.

let see what brink will bring to you here, and so for all other ppl below me who wanted to help you, thats all i could say.

There are several things that can affect your thru put. One is if IPv6 is enabled in network and sharing. The there is RDC which also should be off. Can you tell us more about your hardware and network setup

Thanks

Ken

What you are seeing is completely normal. Here are some factors that can effect the download and upload speed:

1. The traffic on the net at various times of the day
2. The distance of the server
3. The speed and load of the server
4. Other users on the same line (in case you share the line via a router or switch)

I have seen my speed vary a factor 1 to 10

I am running Vista Home premium 32 bit
AMD X2 6000 CPU
2GB of RAM
8800GTS

My network set up now is a Modem connected to my linksys router which is connected to my PC. When I test my speeds now they are higher than 6Mb/s(The speed I was told to be getting), Speedtest.net says 8.86Mb/s right not at 3PM in the after noon but last night it was crap.

What is RDC and how do I turn it off, Should IPv6 be enabled or disabled if so how? Thanks.

Ok so one hour later my speeds go back to being crap 1Mb/s.... :/

Let me show you something. The 2 measurements below were taken only 2 minutes apart. The first was to a US server (from Germany) and the second was to a German server. See the difference in download speed - but the funny part is that the upload speed to the US is a lot faster. Go figure!

How does this help me? Or nothing can be done? I am using the same server and the speeds change. I am not using 2 different ones.

Think your self lucky i have an 8Mb line and normally get that speed but my ISP has capped my peak time connection to 512Kbps yes peak time that's 6pm till 12am, i couldn't get close enough into you pic to see the dates and times but make sure its a regular thing and that you have not been capped threw a FUP agreement as this could explain you irregularities

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/fa...broadband.html

I know it does not help you. It was just to illustrate the points I made earlier - there are many parameters that can change the speed from one minute to the next. And you really cannot be helped because there is nothing anybody can do. And if you look into the contract you have with your ISP, I am sure it says "up to" regarding the speed. They never guarantee a certain speed to be available all the time.