Someone please explain this to me

[Ares82]

Recently I noticed a big drop in download speed for me. It seems like nothing I download goes faster then 200kb/s when it used to go as fast as 900lb/s.

I went to speedtest.net and ran a speed test there and it showed these numbers:

Download:879 kb/s
Upload:1294 kb/s

Now I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that download is usually faster then upload. I have Optimum Online and they advertise 15Mbps download and 2Mbps upload.

I'm a bit confused by what all these numbers mean, and I'm trying to figure out why my download speed dropped so much, and if it's possible to get it back up to what it used to be.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Trotter]

have you been DL a lot, as in big torrents? You may be the victim of a cap.

[Ares82]

I download a lot of game demos. And I buy games these days over the internet, so I download them as well.

So yeah, I download a lot. Is there any way to get rid of this cap, if that's what it is? Do I need to call my ISP and scream at them?

[Trotter]

Definitely call your ISP. If they did not inform you of such a plan (much like some cable companies) they are screwing you over. Screaming won't do any good, as the person on the other end can't rectify the situation.

[Bruce]

Optimum is shared, so it depends on the time of day and how many people are using it in your area, but your download does seem pretty slow and could indicate a cap.

[peterhuang913]

The ISP caps your speed if you download alot to prevent them from losing too much bandwidth.

[Ares82]

Well I called the Optimum, and specifically asked the tech guy if they were capping me, and he said that they aren't.

He said that it's possible that the cable splitter is malfunctioning. He wanted me to connect the modem straight to the cable coming from the outside, but it doesn't reach that far, so he said I need to go to their store and get a new cable splitter.

So I'll probably do that on Thursday, as the nearest store is pretty far and I don't have the time to go there until then.

[Ares82]

Well just an update. After wasting time getting a new splitter, I ended up having to call Optimum again, and they sent a technician over. It took him several hours of testing and retesting every splitter and cable connection from my computer to the cable that is outside and it turns out all that it was was a faulty modem.

After changing that everything is back to normal. Thanks everyone for your input.