Is my network speed limited by something on my pc?

[Rohan991]

Hi there basically when I am downloading games from steam and/or files from the internet my speed gradually builds up until 4.5MBp/s where it then stops or very occasionally goes up to 4.6MBp/s, this is completely fine I understand but when I run a speed test on a website or tool I always get 48-50mbps, obviously I want the fastest speed I can get, what is limiting the speed when I download?? Is it my browser or do the speed tests not produce accurate results?
Also I am currently using a Cat5e cable to my desktop and I just wondered if it was worth upgrading the router to BTHomeHub5 so I can take advantage of the gigabit port on my pc with a Cat6 cable?
Many Thanks

ISP - BT
Package - BT infinity 2
Router - BTHomeHub4
Ethernet controller - Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Ethernet cable - Generic cat5e

[Rainmaker]

What is your line syncing at? I may have missed your point, but you seem to have mixed up MB/sec (megaBYTES/second) and Mb/s (megaBITS/second). Your 4.6 MB/sec on Steam downloads is the same as 36.8 Mb/s, it's just being said a different way. As such depending on your actual line speed and any other network traffic, getting 37Mbps from Steam and ~48Mbps on a speed test doesn't seem altogether unreasonable.

ETA: If it is the 'missing' 10 megs you're worried about, it could be a number of things. Steam servers may be loaded, you could have other network traffic, ISP congestion, antivirus software interfering in the download, etc etc.

[Rohan991]

I know this would make the post difficult when I wrote it aha. But yeah thanks I get it now I thought that 4.6MB/sec meant 46Mbps oops! Although this doesn't answer the question how would I be able to improve the speed would a gigabit router and cable to my desktop help in anyway?
Thanks

[Rainmaker]

I know this would make the post difficult when I wrote it aha. But yeah thanks I get it now I thought that 4.6MB/sec meant 46Mbps oops! Although this doesn't answer the question how would I be able to improve the speed would a gigabit router and cable to my desktop help in anyway?
Thanks

Without knowing your line stats, sync rate and so on it's impossible to answer. You could be already teetering at the edge of what your line can provide, or you could be losing speed over something trivial. Adding a gigabit router and a new cable to a 40-50Mbps line wouldn't in theory do much. If your connection was 100Mbps+ then yes definitely, but in your case I don't think so. About the only benefit you'd see would be faster LAN transfers (i.e. sharing across your own network between devices, and only then if all devices were gigabit enabled).

[Rohan991]

Ah yeah I thought that would be the case thanks for clarifying! Also how would I go about acquiring the line stats, sync rate and so on? Think I'll not change to gigabit then as I wouldn't use the benefit I would get from it!

[Rainmaker]

Go to the URL for your HomeHub and select Troubleshooting and then the option to view the router logs. That should give you the connection rate, SNR and so on if you look through the log. The HH4 isn't very helpful in providing full stats, from what I can see after a quick Google (I've been on cable for years so I'm out of the loop on ADSL2+ / VSDL etc).

[Fr3ddy]

Quick question, but have you gone into 'steam / settings / downloads' and set the 'limit bandwidth' to what your download speed can achieve?