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On speedtest.net, if I test my download speed to my ISP server, I would get my full download speed which is normal. When I test my internet speed to servers that are 1000-2000km away, I would get only 60-70% of my speed.

My question is was my internet speed actually slow in a way that it was throttled due to distance, or it was normally as fast as the full speed i got from my ISP server but only was registered a little late due to latency/ping?

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  • Look at your local setup. I am over 2000 Km from the other side of the continent and distance does not slow me down as much as the other (2000 Km away) server.
    – John
    Jan 16, 2021 at 19:43
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    Latency (caused by distance) can affect maximum available throughput. A good discussion on this subject can be found here.
    – StarCat
    Jan 16, 2021 at 19:58
  • Your download speed is not impacted by distance by the server. In the case of Satellite internet while the distance to the satellite itself is a concern it’s actually the latency that’s the biggest problem. The actual speed is relatively fast, throughput is the next concern.
    – Ramhound
    Jan 16, 2021 at 20:04
  • @Ramhound Yeah my concern was the throughput. Now I understand that neither Bandwidth, nor latency affect each other. To support my theory, I can assume that, for example it will only take like 1 second to reach my full speed (say 200mb) to local server, but would take like 5 seconds to reach my full speed to far away server. The end result is the same, it just the real time effective throughput in 1 second interval that will trick me into thinking the actual speed received from far away server is slow, right?
    – user1262901
    Jan 16, 2021 at 20:15
  • @Mathew: No, that's not quite correct -- it's more than just a visual issue. See StarCat's link, as well as search for "bandwidth delay product".
    – u1686_grawity
    Jan 17, 2021 at 9:13

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Download speed depends on your ISP, since whatever you download goes through the network of the ISP.

If the ISP doesn't have a fast internet line to the network that contains your download target, the download will be slow.

Sometimes you can get faster downloads by going through a VPN, if its connection with your ISP is fast enough, and you can experiment by choosing VPN servers in different countries (if the VPN software allows that).

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