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Re: Slow Upload Speeds. Why?

Dropbox not uploading/ uploading v slow

jeanzbeanz
Helpful | Level 5
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I have dropbox installed on multiple devices and they all work fine, except it has suddenly stopped uploading on my windows laptop.

I moved a load of photos off my phone onto dropbox on my laptop last week and only a handful have uploaded.  The icon in my tray says it is syncing 405 files and has 36 minutes left.

It's definitely not a problem with my bandwidth and I have checked the settings to make sure that dropbox isn't set to a low upload speed.  

I have tried pausing sync and restarting, I have tried closing dropbox and re-opening.  I have also tried restarting my laptop and it uploaded 5 files then stopped again.

I am a pro user and have only used 50% of my available space.

Can anyone help?

214 Replies 214

Ed
Dropbox Staff
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Bennett, Jocelyn

Are you able to test upload speeds from a completely different network in a different physical region or with a different ISP? 

I spoke to some team members and since these are quite complex issues as it involves a lot of variables, they suggested it to be dealt via support ticket, as previously advised. 

If you have a ticket open, please send me the number and I'll ask them to help following up.




Ed G
Community Manager @ Dropbox
https://dropbox.com/support


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Bennett H.
New member | Level 1
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Ed, my question was simply: Has any suggestion from Dropbox ever fixed this problem before, under the circumstances described? (i.e. already disabled throttling and verified fast ISP upload speeds).  That's not complex. And all the evidence suggests that the answer is also simple (i.e., No, because the problem is caused by slow servers on Dropbox's end).

There is no advantage to moving this question to a private support ticket, since if there actually is a possible solution (which looks extremely unlikely at this point), it's better for it to be posted here so that other users can find it.  The only advantage is to Dropbox -- because if the thread eventually ends with, "Well, I guess the problem is that our servers are just too slow, like you were saying all along," it will be hidden in a private support ticket instead of visible to the world.

For the third time, is there any suggestion from Dropbox support that has ever fixed this problem for any user?  The answer is either Yes (in which case, what is it) or No.

Nicole V.9
New member | Level 1
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Well, it looks like my issue was on my end after all.  The last few days I noticed issues with my internet being super slow from all devices (the worst is when Netflix takes literally 3 minutes to load a show and randomly buffers for 2 minute intervals).  I reset the routers again and still had issues, so our cable company came out and it turns out we had an outdated amplifier.  They replaced it and now everything is working.  I noticed when I got home from running errands that there was an X instead of the blue sync arrows and it's because my Dropbox is full.  So that's settled, for me at least.  I hope the rest of you find resolutions.

Bennett H.
New member | Level 1
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Nicole, glad it worked out for you.  Although unfortunately for the majority of people on this thread, we've already verified that our ISP upload speeds are fast when uploading to other sites, and that the issue only happens when uploading to Dropbox.

Nicole V.9
New member | Level 1
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I hadn't noticed upload speed issues until I tried to add a new folder to Dropbox.  The very slow loading of Netflix started in the past few days, so over a week after I had issues uploading to Dropbox.  Not sure why it'd take a week for it to start being noticeably problematic in other applications, but it did.

Bennett H.
New member | Level 1
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Nicole, it's possible that your Dropbox upload speed issue might not have been resolved, even if your network connection issue is resolved and Dropbox appears "full".  It's possible that it was syncing slowly over the last week or two and only just now finished.  But if you want to test if the upload speed has improved, what happens if you move some stuff out of your local Dropbox folder, then copy some other random files into your Dropbox folder and look at the sync speed?

Nicole V.9
New member | Level 1
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I doubt it was syncing slowly since it didn't actually sync anything at all for the last 2 weeks.  It sat with 404 files waiting to be synced that whole time and just uploaded everything rather quickly after the amplifier got swapped out.  It was still trying to sync 404 files when I left and once I came home to a new amplifier, it uploaded everything it could.  It also wasn't "appearing" full.  It was actually full.  I only have a basic account and I truly filled it by adding that folder.  I wasn't paying attention to the speed, but as I deleted files, it uploaded pretty fast once there was space available.

My issue had to have been the outdated amplifier.  I just don't know why it was only affecting uploading to Dropbox for two weeks before it started being problematic in other applications.

Jocelyn R.1
New member | Level 1
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Ed, I am sorry but it is too little too late as I successfully migrated everything to Google already. My Dropbox pro account is expiring on February 3rd and I will not be renewing it.  I looked for the ticket I opened but they don't show up in my profile.

BTW, up here in Quebec company selling subscription services have to provide the service for the duration of the initial agreement even if the subscriber decides to cancel before the end of the subscription.  Dropbox doesn't respect that and it is illegal... just saying.

Happy new year!

Bennett H.
New member | Level 1
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Jocelyn,

I'm not a fan of Dropbox (any more), but what do you jmean when you say that "Dropbox doesn't respect" the agreement to provide the service for the duration of the period that you've prepaid for?

I signed up on December 23rd, discovered that the service didn't work properly because of the server-side problems, and cancelled within the next few days.  Dropbox said my account would remain at the "paid" level for the month that I'd paid for, and then my account would be downgraded to the free service.

Are you seeing something different?  Is Dropbox downgrading your account before the end of the period that you've paid for?

Jocelyn R.1
New member | Level 1
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Well, I wanted to be sure I wouldn't forget to cancel so I tried to cancel today and I got a message that my account would be "downgraded" to a regular account right away (even if I paid until February 3rd).

Maybe it's because I have a yearly subscription.  Still, they are not supposed to to this.

Cheers

 

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