Individual upload connections are limited to 1Mbps, but speed test is 8Mbps

[CorporalClegg]

I noticed my Dropbox uploads were slow, so I did some digging. I have a couple of tools that show me the upload speed for each connected service. Although my line tests at ~8Mbps (via an online tool, or direct from the router's built-in test), no service is able to achieve an Internet connection above 1Mbps via my EE broadband. It's not a WLAN or LAN issue: it's as if the WAN is throttled to 1Mbps per connection – although I don't know how the speed test connection gets round that? Specifically, I've also tested upload via the hotspot on my phone; here Dropbox (etc) are getting over 2Mbps, so any throttling is external to my computer.

I've also tried connecting to Dropbox via a VPN. Again, the VPN connection itself is only achieving a throughput of 1Mbps (although it still tests close to the 8Mbps via an online speed checker). Perhaps the VPN service is also on a list of speed-limited services for EE?

Is there a fundamental disconnect between test results and actual upload speeds that I've not understood? Is it a feature of EE broadband that it's actually only 1Mbps up for practical use, even if it tests faster? Is there a clever test I can run to demonstrate that various services / connections are indeed being speed limited?

Thanks.

[CorporalClegg]

Turned out to be something really, really stupid…

I took out the router and switched the modem back to router mode so I could get more information, replicated the issue on another computer, reverted back to the original EE modem / router and downloaded two more bandwidth monitor tools…

Finally, I noticed that one tool was reporting 8Mbps upload while the others were all reporting 1MBps… Upper case B… Bandwidth monitoring tool that made me think I was being throttled is working in bytes, while speed tests are in bits.

What a stupid thing to miss! Sorry, and thanks for all the help.

[EssexBoyEE]

As you have found out there are 8 Bits to a Byte, so 1 MB is the same as 8Mb.

Years ago Speed was measured in MB or more to the point KB, but as Cable Broadband progressed over Dail Up it became fashionable to use Kb and Mb instead purely as it had a higher Number and looked more impressive to the Consumer. 

[XRaySpeX]

@EssexBoyEE : That's not quite the story. Network transmission rates have always been in bits/sec, going back to like 1200 baud (bps), but data applications will measure their data rates in Bytes/sec. Remember that not all transmission over networks is actual data; it also carries network overheads, like TCP/IP headers.

@CorporalClegg : The ratio of 8:1 did strike me immediately as a bit/Byte confusion but I did not pursue it as I saw no evidence of Bytes except that ridiculous 135 Bytes/Sec coming from your router.