Waiting ... waiting

I am trying to download a sizeable file (nearly 350MB) over the internet - and at times like this, I wonder how fast broadband actually is. I have not yet decided on a broadband provider - although I keep thinking about it, and am to the point of budgetting for it. I just don't know how much to budget. Do I want to have broadband at home only, or do I want it when I am out and about - so I can blog and check email on the road (so to speak)? The level of access required, the amount of traffic and whether you want to be "mobile" or "portable" all directly impact on the price of the plans available.
The file continues to come in - up to 3% done so far - and I do wonder if just typing here is going to slow down the process - and certainly when I post this to the blog, it is going to have some impact.
I am due at work at 8.30am but at this rate (and it's now 7.55am) it's going to take another 3.5 hours for the download to finish. I would put the exact figure - but as I watch it, the number goes up, the number goes down. Maybe watching the indicator bar slows it too.
4%. (Maybe I can work from here today - McDonalds, George Street, Sydney.) Oh no, I've just had a horrible thought - what if my prepaid access to the network expires before the file downloads? Aarrgh.
(OK at 8.15am with only 10% loaded I called it quits. I'm off to find out more about broadband!!!!)