nordlead on 04 June 2009
If you are using wireless and have multiple devices hooked up, then that could explain why you see bad performance rates. Every devices splits your bandwidth, so if you had Wii, PS3, and 3 computers on a wireless network it would be split 5 ways. If other people are leaching off of you, it could be worse.
Anyways, if you have a PC hooked up via Ethernet cable, then check the speed with that. If you are still no where close to what they advertise, call and complain. I had verizon FIOS and i was supposed to get 20Mbps, and all of a sudden it dropped to like 5Mbps. Turns out animals ate the cables in the roof of my apartment 
