How to improve the download speed in a broadband connection?

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I have a broadband connection and the company that provides the connection claims a download speed of 1 Mbps.. But I am able to download only at a maximum of 256 kbps... I have tried using many download accelerator softwares like Download Accelerator Plus(DAP) and Download manager.... But I am not able to improve the speed by much... Does anyone know of any methods to improve the download speed of a broadband connection ? Please share your knowledge with me, It will be of immense use to me.......