broadband speed

[hutch173]

Hi just upgraded to 50mb broadband,only
getting 26mg in speedtest,vigin guy tried
test on laptop,went up to 48mb,must be
problem with pc just installed windows7
running quad core processor anyone help.

cheers Hutch.

[roughbeast]

The main culprit with speedtest results is usually that the test hogs processor speed, ie because they employ Java, but this may not be the case in your instance because of your quad core. Still you could check processor usage during a speed test. Do this via the performance tab of task manager. If you find that processor usage goes above a sustained 90% during the test you might consider reducing your overheads. This could be programmes that run in the background automatically when Windows starts up. An obvious candidate is your internet security software.

I gave up on Virgin's package, which uses Kasperski, and changed to Windows Security Essentials. This uses next to no CPU. My test results and computer functions have been much more consistent and smooth since then.