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What's wrong w/ my download speed?

Discussion in 'General Internet' started by jeff, 2002/03/25.

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  1. 2002/03/25
    jeff

    jeff Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have a new 2.0Ghz Dell w/ 256mb ram and Win XP. When I click to download a vid clip from a website, a box opens showing me the status of the dl and the transfer rate. The transfer rate starts out at approx 14kb/sec for the first few kb's, and then rapidly slows down to 2kb/sec (or less) for the rest of the download. (BTW, my connection is dialup w/ 56k modem, and I normally connect at 45.2kbps).
    Downloading a 2mb mpeg usually takes me 20 minutes. Any advice on speeding things up??
    I've heard about download accelerators. Do they work? Are there any down sides to them?
    Any help would be appreciated!!
     
    jeff,
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  2. 2002/03/25
    aleekat

    aleekat Inactive

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    Your at the mercy of your phone lines and the site your downloading from, time of day, etc. I havent seen any download accels that work as advertised. But I would recommend a "download resume" program. Nothing more frustrating than half way through, and being disconnected..
     
    aleekat,
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  4. 2002/03/25
    jeff

    jeff Inactive Thread Starter

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    Aleekat...thanks for replying!
    Luckily I don't get cut off too often in the middle of downloading, but I was just hoping for a way of speeding things up without having to get rid of my dialup (not that that would be a bad idea!).
    Thanks for your input on download accelerators. I don't want something that's just going to be a waste of space or money.
     
    jeff,
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  5. 2002/03/27
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    The reason you see the initial rate of download at 14KB/sec:

    When you click a link to download, as soon as a connection to the server where the file is stored is made, the download begins. Afterwhich, the file download window pops up and the save as window pops up, meanwhile, the download has started. Therefore you see an abnormally high rate to begin with. This is called burst speed.

    The rate eventually levels off at your normal rate.
    Some d/l accelerators work, some don't. Many have spyware or are ad sponsered programs.

    AFAIK, there's a great program here at Rose City Software, an affiliate of this website.
    http://www.rosecitysoftware.com
     
    TonyT,
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  6. 2002/03/28
    jeff

    jeff Inactive Thread Starter

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    TonyT...thanks for the info!
    I clicked on the link you attached. Rosecity has a lot of shareware and freeware, but I didn't see anything that I recognized as a download accelerator. (I'm sure it was right in front of my face, but I'm not familiar with the titles).
    Thanks!!
     
    jeff,
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  7. 2002/03/28
    jeff

    jeff Inactive Thread Starter

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    TonyT...I think I found it.

    We're you talking about Tweakmaster? I just was reading its description on Rosecity. It sounds good...if it really works.
    Unfortunately, its shareware, not freeware.
     
    jeff,
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  8. 2002/03/29
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    Well, some of them are shareware, which means you can d/l it & try it out and if it works it will be worth paying for. If it does work, you will WANT to pay for it to keep your downloading optimized.

    The other option is to research editing the registry and which specific settings, and then dive in headfirst!
     
    TonyT,
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  9. 2002/03/31
    jeff

    jeff Inactive Thread Starter

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    Good idea! I think I'll try it.
    Thanks for your help TonyT!!
     
    jeff,
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