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ISPs Lie About Broadband "Up To" Speeds
Haffner writes "Ars Technica has an article detailing the difference between ISP advertised 'up to x Mbps' speeds and the actual speeds, in addition to some possible solutions. They find that on average, the advertised speeds were 'up to 6.7 Mbps' while the real median was 3 Mbps and the mean was 4 Mbps. This implies that ISPs were falsely advertising by at least 50%."
Seriously the amount of whining geeks do about Internet speeds is amazing. The up to thing is perfectly fine, they are not ripping you off no matter how much you try and cast it as that. What they are doing is telling you what the rate cap of your line is. The actual throughput will vary based on load of the segment and so on.
Don't like it? Buy a better plan. You find with business plans bandwidth is shared a lot less so you get more. Often they'll have commitments to certain minimums. Still not good enough? Get a high end connection with a CIR. This is a committed, "never to go below" minimum that you will get no matter what.
Yes it costs more money. Deal with it. Higher quality of service costs more money, and I don't want to hear bitching about that. If you can't understand that you are being petulant.
For that matter, your financial example works against you. The more of a commitment you want on a rate, the lower the rate. In the stock market you can get gains "Up to, maybe exceeding, 10,000%" You pick the right small cap stocks you can make a killing. However there are no guarantees. You can lose your principal easy. You want more stability maybe you look at corporate bonds. Lot harder to lose your money there, but you discover interest is much lower.
Likewise you can put money in a high interest savings account, and they'll offer you an interest rate, mine is 1% right now. However that can change. They don't guarantee that. I get whatever they can offer right now. If I want I can buy a CD, lock in a rate. However that comes with more costs, in that I can't get the money whenever I want and the rate won't rise.
What it comes down to is the more commitment you want the more you pay. With net connections guaranteed bandwidth is expensive. If you demand it, great, but pay the price.
Me I go half way. I want better than consumer connections so I get a business class line. However, no CIR. Sometimes my speeds drop and I live with it. If they are too low or for too long I can call the ISP.