Mxsmanic wrote:
ATC never gives me speed instructions in simulation; how common are
they in real life? I presume they know enough about aircraft types to
know how fast or slow they can go?

Sometimes you never hear a speed restriction, some days when
the terminal areas are congested, you hear them continually.
We were coming back from San Jose on United (ATC on 9) and
everybody going into Dulles was getting speed restrictions to
meter things into there.