I think the real problem here is a combination of factors. But we can't get to the heart of the problem until we start comparing in a common language.
One of the causes of confusion is that every FTP program tends to measure downloads differently.
Some measure in Kilobits per second
Some measure in KiloBytes per second
Some mearure in Megabits per second
Some measure in MegaBytes per second
I have personally tried 3 different FTP programs. And it seems to me that I've gotten the same actual results from each, but each one reported different ones.
The only real way to measure this and compare is to transfer a file, take it's number of bytes and divde it by the number of seconds it took to transfer it.
I'm going to transfer the same 257MB (Actual bytes 269,895,942) file in WS_FTP LE, FlashFXP, and BPFTP.
WS_FTP LE
I downloaded a 257MB or so file. (Actual bytes 269,895,942)
It took 362.9 seconds.
Actual Trans Rate: 743,719.9 bytes per second
Reported Trans Rate: 7.12Mbps (Megabits per second)
FlashFXP
I downloaded a 257MB or so file. (Actual bytes 269,895,942)
It took 389 seconds.
Actual Trans Rate: 693,819.9 bytes per second
Reported Trans Rate: 677.25 KBps (KiloBytes per second)
BPFTP
I downloaded a 257MB or so file. (Actual bytes 269,895,942)
It took 363 seconds.
Actual Trans Rate: 743,515 bytes per second
Reported Trans Rate: 743,514 bytes/sec
There is some variation, but not much. Whenever someone posts that by changing software they drasitcally changed download rate, most likely they are mistaking MegaBytes for MegaBits, or something of that nature. I ask anyone doing comparisons to break it down to bytes per second.
Brian