Dropbox is not uploading or uploading very slowly

I got this:

Remember that after downgrading to Dropbox Basic, your account will drop from 1.05 TB to 54 GB of space. Your Dropbox has 79.26 GB of files, so you won’t be able to add new files or sync changes until you make space.

But I didn't continue as I didn't want to loose my pro account just yet (just in case).  Instead I set a reminder for me to cancel on the 2nd.

Cheers

Hi Ed,

I just spent over a week trying to upload about 130GB on two computers, probably about 12 hours per day each. I'm sitting here looking at a sync that says it has 1.2 HOURS remaining. This is a Pro account. Pro means professional in that I and others are using this for business. I'll be switching to something else soon.

Here are a couple of things that you posted here:

• I spoke to some team members and since these are quite complex issues as it involves a lot of variables,
• Can you try uploading your files through the desktop client instead of the website?

Please, we are professionals here. Don't insult us.

fwiw... Bob

Hi Bob,

Using the desktop client for large uploads is definitely recommended. Make sure you have the latest stable version (can be downloaded here:https://www.dropbox.com/downloading)

As well as that, please make sure you check if there's any bandwidth limit here: https://help.dropbox.com/syncing-uploads/faster-sync

You should also run tests on different computers, connections (physical locations too) and ISP to ensure the issue is not on your end. Nicole has pointed that although only Dropbox was being affected, it happened to be on her end: "it looks like my issue was on my end after all." 

Additional steps that have been shared on this thread before:

"A very simple potential fix is to restart your internet connection, typically by rebooting your modem. Depending on your ISP, this might switch the route between you and Dropbox' servers and result in faster syncing. It may seem too simple to be true, but it has worked in the past :)

Just because my issue was on my end doesn't mean there aren't legit issues that many other people are having.  Once again, you're repeating the same troubleshooting tips available on the help pages and that have been told to us in this thread many times.  Clearly those things aren't working for others.  They need new suggestions.

I can myself sometimes upload at 1600 kb/s but this is CRAZY slow when you have a Gigabit internet connection from one of the best service provider in the world, hardwired to a powerful brand new iMac 2015 with SSD.

Last time I checked it was 2016... not 1998 ;-)

Cheers

Dropbox does not seem to be scalable.

I received a number of responses to posts I made to this thread. But I'm really stuck with the conclusion above. Allow me to review.

Use the Dropbox Desktop client.

1. I'm using two Dropbox accounts and I'm told that I cannot use the desktop client for both; it works very well for the free account which has fewer files.
2. The Pro account is for the entire D: drive which is MyDocuments. MyDocs has thousands of files and is 200+GB in size; how is that going to work?
3. The Desktop Client is a duplicate of whatever gets dropped there, correct?
4. Someone mentioned Hashing and Compression on the client side; how will that affect upload speed, especially for a .zip file that is already compressed?
5. I'm using six threads on GoodSync to upload. Does the Desktop Client multi-thread?

IP Upload Speed. This is a stale argument at best.

1. I can verify with Speedtest.net that I have 25MB+ download and 10MB+ upload.
2. I routinely transfer very large files up and down to Salesforce.com.

Simple math.

1. The very best upload speed I've seen here in this thread is 1600kbs or 200KBs (.2MBs), this is abysmal compared to 10MBs.
2. I have seen better than that but only for short times.
3. MyDocs is 142GB, almost none of which is pictures or graphics.
4. At .2MBs it will take at least 8.2 days to upload all of it.
5. I synchronize at least 250MB per day. It will take 21 mins to do that. I do this all at once, and no, I don't want it to happen all day long. It currently takes 6 mins to do it remotely.

So, offering 1TB for $10 per month is great but only if you can actually use it.

Dropbox does not seem to scale.

 ymmv... Bob

Pretty disappointed my self in the speeds. I had a 10GB file that I wanted to upload to Dropbox. I fired up an EC2 instance and upload speeds are near 500mbps. (I was moving some files on S3 to Dropbox, just to keep a copy) I downloaded my S3 bucket, zipped the file and uploaded and the speeds were a complete joke. I attached a screenshot at the fluctuation in speeds and it's bad. I tried the same thing with Google Drive and it very consistently kept a speed of about 300mbps up. 

Same problem. It is killing me.

After changing the upload bandwidth preference to no limit, I am limited at 54.5 KB/sec!!!

It is depressing seeing the time left as "3 days" for study material I was hoping to get to before that.... Totally defies the point. I might as well mail my HDD around everywhere.

It really sucks!

Hmm, seems like there is no solution other than tick 'don't limit bandwidth' which we have all obviously done - pity, such a great product but the upload speed is extremely slow and unworkable - I have about 600GB to backup and probably take a year to upload.

Relunctantly looking at alternatives - but in all reviews I've read, no one comments on upload speed during the product comparisons which is an important requirement for all of us. Open to suggestions....