Why is my 'surf' speed slower than my file transfer speed

[norfolkandwa]

I am on cable broadband and when I use a speed test test it does not reflect the speed that I am paying for but when I do file transfers I get the expected speeds.

What and why is the difference between surf speed and transfer speed.

[bigveg]

by transfer do you mean uploading with an ftp client, ie to your homepage?

your server will be much busier with people requesting information, especially during peak hours, so you will never really get downloads of say 1 megabyte per second if you have a 1 meg service. while uploading however, there will be fewer people taking up all the bandwidth, so you will find transfers quicker.

if you are considering large downloads, try looking into bit torrents (www.bittorrent.com). if you are a nocturne, late night/early morning is best for the web!