For years now, I've had a Verizon FiOS connection for 25mbps up and 25mbps down, but no matter what, I can never get a combined download of greater than 3mbps. A speedtest will always capture my true speed: http://www.speedtest.net/result/1221953425.png but I've never actually seen a net upload of greater than 3.
I could be downloading something at 2.5 mbps, add something else to download and it will be guaranteed to have a 500mbps (unless it is prioritized or the source has a download cap). Or, I could be downloading something at 3mbps, and check a few pages in the browser and they'll take a 'nails-on-chalkboard' few minutes to load.
I've taken my hardware into account too. I've gone through a couple machines in the last two years and both were subjected to the same handicap. The first was a Windows laptop running through an ethernet cable, and my current is an iMac also running through an ethernet cable directly to the modem (which, for Verizon also serves as the router).
And further evidence of the fact that it can't be my computer that is serving as the bottleneck, is that if I'm downloading something at 3mbps on my computer and go to use my Xbox or PS3 (both connected via ethernet), I'll get a lot of lag in online play.
I've tried many things through the years in the realm of my router/modem settings, including setting my computer as DMZ host, adding some port forwards to major contributors to my downloading, and so on. Plus, my router/modem has been reset many times in the past, so it can't be a simple thing like that.
Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated as this has been a long going problem that I'd be ecstatic about solving not only because it's bothersome and seemingly unnecessary, but it's such a specific, consistent number that it makes me think that there is really a cap or bottleneck somewhere that I am not thinking of.
