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I have a 100 Mb internet connection. Connected to a dual boot Windows 10 Pro/Ubuntu 18.04 machine.

In Windows 10 I get 112 Mb of download speed.

However, in Ubuntu 18.04 that is doubled or around 225 Mb. Can anyone explain why?

Here is the speedtest.net result image on Windows:

slow test results

Here is the speedtest.net result image on Ubuntu:

fast test results

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6
  • Your internet speed is determined by your ISP NOT by your operating system. There seems to be something unclear here. Would you please explain more about how you measure your internet speed in both cases and what type of internet connection you have.
    – Raffa
    Aug 7, 2019 at 7:11
  • How are you measuring that? I doubt you're seeing higher-than-product speeds because ISPs —frankly— aren't that nice. Are you just seeing a higher WiFi connect speed between computer and router?
    – Oli ♦
    Aug 7, 2019 at 9:42
  • I use speedtest.net with a Chrome browser both instances. Also, download files seem to take less time in Ubuntu compared to Windows. Of course, that's totally subjective. I'm receptive to more objective procedures if you have any suggestions. The whole point of the question is to try and determine the discrepancy obtain from the same measuring method.
    – RodmanB
    Aug 7, 2019 at 21:48
  • Here are links to speedtest images for 2 test, one in Windows 10 with a Chrome browser. And, the other in Ubuntu 18.04 and Chrome browser. Windows Test; speedtest.net/result/8485717027.png. And Ubuntu Test; speedtest.net/result/8485723962.png, 3 minutes later.
    – RodmanB
    Aug 8, 2019 at 20:48
  • check on other services how they behave like Google for example type in search internet speed test and click run to check if you see the same results.
    – JoKeR
    Aug 8, 2019 at 22:12

2 Answers 2

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Since you posted the speedtest.net images and the host server is the same, I will rule out factors at the speedtest.net side.

This leaves me with a few ideas as to why this is happening.

Firstly, on the ISP side:

  • It is not unusual to see extra few megabits over your assigned Internet plan, especially if your contract is a business contract or your ISP is a high quality and reputable one. That is being said, only a few megabits of extra speed are common here.
  • Some ISPs on the other hand apply a short speed burst for a few seconds at the beginning of each connection. This can report false speeds since speedtest.net tests only last for a few seconds.
  • Some other ISPs have variable speeds limits for different hosts or websites for example the ISP's hosts and website may download at higher speeds.

Short answer here: This applies exactly the same to connected machines at your side, regardless of their operating systems.

Secondly, on your side:

  • Windows operating system has power management by default set to optimized performance which tries to balance power consumption with performance and this may affect different aspects of your hardware and software which results sometimes in reduced connection speeds. To test if this is the cause of the difference in speed you see, you could try setting Windows power management to high performance and test again.
  • Windows operating system has built in firewall and antivirus enabled by default. They curry on checks in the back-ground which ,depending on the settings, may significantly interfere with and slow down file transfers of any kind. To test if this is affecting your download speed, ( although not recommended ) you could try disabling the firewall and antivirus and test again.

Suggestions for more accurate measuring mechanisms:

  • Try the speedtest-cli command line tool on Ubuntu to rule out browser-side factors:

    1. Install it by running sudo apt install speedtest-cli in the terminal.

    2. Use it by running speedtest-cli in the terminal.

      For windows you can try the app from speedtest.net.

  • Download a large file from a fast server and time the download. To calculate your speed in Mbit/sec divide the file size in MB by the time in seconds then multiply by eight (size in MB ÷ time in seconds) × 8.

Bottom line:

Your internet speed is determined by your ISP NOT by your operating system. It is not possible to get higher speeds than the one assigned to you by your ISP by any means known until now.

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  • Same results as in comment to JoKer with performance set to Ultra and Defender, Malwarebytes, and Firewall off. While the conceptually discussion is interesting and provoking it still leaves the descripsiency. In short, Internet speed Doubles with Ubuntu
    – RodmanB
    Aug 10, 2019 at 13:45
  • @RodmanB I updated the answer. Please take a look.
    – Raffa
    Aug 10, 2019 at 20:27
  • Raffa, let me begin by thanking you and the others for help in resolving this issue. Also, I agree "It is not possible to get higher speeds than the one assigned to you by your ISP by any means known until now". However, I do get a higher speed than assign by my provider. But only in Ubuntu! This has been confirmed by all the methods suggested here:
    – RodmanB
    Aug 11, 2019 at 15:54
  • google speedtest - Chrome Browser: Windows: 22.3 Mbits/sec, Ubuntu: 190.9 Mbits/sec; fast.com - Chrome Browser: Windows: 140 Mbits/sec, Ubuntu: 240 Mbits/sec; SpeedTest App & Ubuntu CLI: Windows - SpeedTest: 77.53 Mbits/sec, Ubuntu cli: 219.58 Mbits/sec;
    – RodmanB
    Aug 11, 2019 at 15:57
  • Test Flie Download from speed.hetzner.de - Chrome Browser: formula: filesize / TimeInSec * 8, 3 download Average: Windows: 4.15 Mbits/sec,* Ubuntu: 83.3 Mbits/sec;* *used a 100Mb in Windows because 1Gb took too long. But, used 1Gb with Ubuntu because, 100Mb was almost instantaneous. Conclusion: Internet speed is faster with Ubuntu. As illogical as it is.
    – RodmanB
    Aug 11, 2019 at 15:57
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I had the same issue and found the cause. I had a program called cfosspeed installed in windows ( https://www.file.net/process/cfosspeed.exe.html ). I uninstalled it and now I have similar speeds in windows as I do in Ubuntu.

Even if it's not cfosspeed you might have another software interfering with your internet speed in windows, I'd suggest bringing up task manager and looking at services sorted by network usage.

For anyone reading this, I hope it helps!

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