It's official, your ISP is lying to you about your net speed

In a study titled, "Broadband Performance," the FCC, also known as
the Federal Communications Commission — you know, an entity of the U.S. government — is making it official: ISPs are telling consumers that their Internet connection is faster than it really is.













In fact, according to the document, in 2009 "download speeds
experienced by US consumers appear to lag advertised speeds by roughly
50 per cent." As in ISPs were telling people they were getting speeds to
the tune of 7-8 Mbps (or megabit-per-second), when they were really
getting 3-4 Mbps.

I have some personal experience with this. Recently my Internet
connection was running mighty sluggish, so I called my local Time Warner
office here in New York City. I was given a line about how it's me and
not them, and then asked to do a speed test. When it came up around 7
Mbps, I was told that it was much too high and after a minute I
was asked to run another test, coming up with 2 Mbps. The problem,
apparently, is that my Internet connection was too darned fast! Good
thing they throttled it, right? (It actually turned out to be a national issue, not a problem on my end.)

So, what can you do to protect yourself? Well, for one, take multiple speed tests. This
is my "official" test through Time Warner, for instance (pictured
above). Really, though, the person trying to sell you the service is the
last person you should listen to. No, no — don't reach for a tinfoil
hat. Google "broadband speed test" and just go nuts. Heck, CNET even has one.

You signed a contract with your ISP, and part of that contract should
mention a speed. If you find yourself below that after several tests,
take them to task!