Internet speed ; fault of Win 7 ?

[Nelly]

Hello All,
I've been suffering slow speeds, 3.5 Mbps when 17 - 19 Mbps is average.
BT are doing their bit and out of interest I've done some work to see if it could be this end.
I booted into Ubuntu from a memory stick and ran a speed test and the result was 18.5 Mbps. I booted back into Win 7 and got the "usual" 3.5 Mbps.
This result suggests that it is something to do with the OS but how could that be ?
I also booted into safe mode with networking and got a 3.5.
I'm stumped, never heard of this before and any help would be appreciated.
Nelly.
Mods : apologies if this is the wrong place. Please move if needed.

 

[AddRAM]

What browser are you using ? Try the test with google chrome.

 

[Nelly]

I've used Firefox so far, with 7 and Ubuntu. I've been asked by BT to perform tests tomorrow so I'll try Chrome then.
Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Nelly]

Hi Addram, Tried chrome and the results were 19 Mbps which is about right, Tried Firefox on the same site and the result was 2.06 Mbps.,
Odd thing is if I D/L a file from thinkbroadband :: Download Test Files then it takes about 9 mins using either browser. A glitch in Firefox I think.
Thanks for your help.