Low ping and poor broadband test result

[cdfreelancer]

I live in the UK and have 8MB broadband (ISP= Demon internet) but for some reason I have a very high ping (latency) in online games of about 100+ when it should only be around 10. Not long before making this post I went to http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/speedtest and ran a speed test. Before the test I made sure that all applications apart from firefox were shut-down. I only scored 688KBPS which is only a fraction of the result I should be getting.

When I check my broadband status, at the bottom right of the screen, next to the time, it says I'm connected at 7.6Mbps. I don't understand why my connection is apparently so slow if I should have a total window of 7.6Mbps.

FYI, I have a speedtouch 330 modem with the latest drivers.

I'm wondering if my system might have been hacked and someone is hijacking my bandwidth? What could be causing this problem?

Thanks for any help!

[johnwill]

Since you have a single wired connection, it's doubtful anyone has hacked your connection.

Personally, I think the test site is suspect. Here's my result there, and to a local site. You will note that their test seems to be a little on the slow side, like about 1/10 of my real throughput! My real speed is 15,000 kbits/sec, not 800 kbits/sec!

[cdfreelancer]

I think you're right. I checked on another site and my result was about 2500 kbits/sec. I was scientific about it and tested several times on each site.

I think I found the root of the problem. I phoned my ISP and I was informed that my local exchange is congested and is due for an upgrade before the end of the month. If the problem persists I'll post back.