High Speed Internet But Its Still Slow?

I got a question here a while back from a person who upgraded to high speed cable broadband (20+ Mb) and was wondering why the internet did not seem any faster?  Probably one of the most commonly claimed reason for this is a slow computer, or it is undoubtedly caused by using a slow browser (Internet Explorer); registry errors; and viruses and spyware.

Now there may be some truth to some of these claims but there may be other reasons behind the slow connections as well.

• First make sure that your system is virus free!  Viruses can definitely cause a slow connection or appear to be slow.
• If you have any older computer, your computer simply may not be able to handle the faster speeds.
• Test your internet connection and see how fast your internet connection actually is; you can test your connection at: http://www.speedtest.net/.
• I have mentioned this in a previous post, as far as upgrading to a faster browser is concerned, this is pure nonsense.  Use whatever browser you feel comfortable using.
• As for the registry errors, like the browser upgrade, this is a waste of time.  Cleaning the registry will not provide any noticeable benefits.  I actually saw an article in PCWorld where they tested this and there was either no change or the systems where actually slower!
• One reason that may cause your connection to seem slow is the fact that the other side may be slow.  For example if you are trying to view a webpage from webserver that is either overloaded or simply has slow connection your content will load slowly.  In other words, your connection is only as fast as the connection on the other end!  In my experience this usually the most common reason for a connection appearing to be slow.
• A second similar reason to the one above is the fact that all users share the same bandwidth (amount of Mb’s) and most ISP’s do not have enough bandwidth to service all their customers at the same time, so during busy times your connection speed may be slow, which should be reflected if you preform a speed test.
• If you are on a Laptop (or a desktop) using a Wi-Fi connection that is poor, your Wi-Fi connection will be slow which can cause your internet connection to appear slow.

Below are a few screen shots of Speed Test.  Like a lot of speed test places, they have ads for registry scanning and upgrading to a faster web browser.