For some real world (but clearly non-repeatable) examples, I often get d/l speeds of 180+ KBps via Safari on SaskTel DSL (supposedly 1.5Mbps download, 128Kbps upload).
IE never did better than about 130KBps and often was below 100.
180 or so is as good as it ever got for me on Explorer/CableModem, at non-peak times. I did get a few freak 250 or so downloads, but I could count them on one hand in about 2 years of use. Often Cable would slow to a crawl (less than 10 KBps), and you could see it going up and down during a d/l. DSL is pretty much steady.
Keep in mind that internet speed is measured in BITS per second (bps), not BYTES (Bps). Unlike the 'net, darn near everything else computer-wise is measured in Bytes. 1 KB is equal to 8 Kb. To further confuse matters, most browsers report download stats in KB/s.
The McAffee Test gave me some bizzare number like 119 MBps. Sounds fishy, so I tried again, reporting my browser (changing the user agent with Safari Enhancer's Debug menu) as Internet Explorer Mac 5.22. Similar results. So I checked a few more:
Communications: 985.6 Kbs
Storage: 120.3 KBps
1MB file download: 8.5 seconds
at:
BandWidth Place
Download: 1451 Kbps
Upload: 107Kbps
at:
DSL Reports Los Angeles server.
I've always used DSL Reports in the past. The Download result of 1451 Kbps correlates well with my experience with a variety of downloads, it is equal to 181.275 KBps (what Safari or IE would display). If anyone knows my opinion of McAfee, you'll know I found it no suprise that their results were pure Science Fiction.
It would be a fun (if dishonest) game to play with your Windows using friends, though.