Speedtest.net result vs actual download speed

[remanz]

This is something I always wonder about. When I ran speedtest.net, I got 25mb down 3mb up. That's good and all. Then I went to download a game on steam, my speed caps at 2.5 mb. No big deal right? I still have plenty bandwidth left. Nope, this 2.5 mb down completely exhausted all my bandwidth. I can't watch video. I can't play wow. Can't open twitch.

So the question is what is this 25 mb down. Is it just a theoretical value that I can never see? 3mb down is really what I can get for a line that was advertised as 50 mb down

[Apps]

Upload and Download tests from speed sites are showing capabilities. Not actualities.

In actuality, you arent going to ping a 100kb file to a site hub that has super computers and dedicated lines. Reality is, you are more likely to attempt to download something form a peer to peer network, behind firewalls, and throttled servers.

Steam is the worst, most over used, and misunderstood gag of the century. I hate Steam with a fiery, bloody passion. I have banned it from my home. My kids were upset over the decision for about a week. Then after every computer was purged from its nonsense, the overall speed of the house picked back up, eliminating the worst peer to peer network ever since napster.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I use steam and it's freakin awesome. I get 5MB/s downloads 95% of the time. I never have connection problems or any other issues with steam games. Granted, that might be the games and not steam itself but as far as downloading new games and such, I have zero complaints so far.

[EaTCarbS]

I use steam and it's freakin awesome. I get 5MB/s downloads 95% of the time. I never have connection problems or any other issues with steam games. Granted, that might be the games and not steam itself but as far as downloading new games and such, I have zero complaints so far.

This. I don't think its steam that gives your computer problems. If it does, its likely an isolated incident that could be fixed.

[Ualaa]

I have: Shaw Broadband 250 (250Mbps Download, 15Mb/s Upload).
It is rated at 250Mbps.

Speedtest didn't reliably show speeds over 100 Mbps, but the only speed test thing that did was the one for my ISP.
That showed fluctuation between 125 and 150.
So I called them up, and was on the phone with tech support for quite a while tweaking and such.
The guy tried to tell me, the packages are: 10, 25, 50, 100, and 250, so with the 250 package it is actually 101+... so I said to downgrade me to 100 then... so rather than lose my money, he played around with settings.

In actuality, from a site like Microsoft or the Blizzard patcher, my fastest download so far has been at 17 MB/s.
I was able to download the entire Everquest I game, in under an hour.
Or a saturated torrent, such as Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.. on a Monday or Tuesday, for the episode that aired on Sunday, I get around 5-7 MB/s.
Downloading a torrent, as soon as it is uploaded, I'm lucky to peak at 1.5 MB/s.
Then again, downloading 8-10 torrents at once, and they all get that speed... so I'm not really complaining.

[Baltyre]

Speedtest is not reliable with my dual balancing optic fiber