Is there a fix if my Dropbox file download keeps failing?

[cohenben]

Every time I try to download a file I get a failed status in Chrome or Safari. When I download in Firefox it fails, however Firefox allows me to "restart" the download and it begins again where it left off... so I can complete the download by repeating this as many times as necessary per file. Very annoying.

For a larger file (say 4 GB) I had to do this "restart" in Firefox 4-5 times before the file reached the end of the download and completed successfully.

I see this is an on-going issue for Dropbox for several years - is there an indication as to waht is causing this? Going to have to ditch the service altogether if there is no real fix.

Ben

[Sanchez]

Hey @cohenben, welcome to our community! 

To be honest, this sounds like some kind of connection issue on your end. This could be an actual issue with your internet service, or some kind of application that's interfering with the download, and causing it to time out. 

• What message or error do you get when the download fails? 
• What device and operating system are you experiencing this on? 
• What types of files are you seeing this with? 
• Where are the files being downloaded from? 
• your Dropbox? 
• someone else’s Dropbox? 
• if so, how are the files shared with you? Shared link? Shared folder with full edit rights? 
  
  

Let me know about this, and we’ll go from there.

Cheers

[cohenben]

This is almost certainly NOT from a connection issue on my end - I attempted the same download process from both home and office. At home I have Optimum and at the office we have Spectrum Business. So - let's rule that out.

Thanks for the response - to answer your questions:

• What message or error do you get when the download fails?
  • In chrome - the error is "Transfer failed - network issue" ... in Safari and Firefox the transfers just fail. They are generic failure notification in each browser.
• What device and operating system are you experiencing this on?
  • I'm on a Mac. Running Sierra. Latest versions of Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
• What types of files are you seeing this with? 
  • Video files (.mp4) - file size range from 900 mb to 4.7 GB have been tested and have same result.
• Where are the files being downloaded from? 
  • From my dropbox.

[Sanchez]

@cohenben, thanks for getting back to me with that. Let’s go ahead and put you in touch with our support team. By submitting a ticket here, a member of our team will be able to have a look at your account through our support platform, and provide additional troubleshooting steps. 

Have a great weekend!

[Sanchez]

@cohenben, were you able to get in touch with our support team? Have you resolved the issue? 

Let me know.

Thanks! 

[chrismonico]

I'm having the same exact issue when downloading files through the web larger than 1GB. Doesn't matter the browser or the OS...I've also tried from my home and here at work. I have a dropbox business acoount and only got it because of the abilty to download large files, and store a ton. This is extremely diasppointing becuase I cannnot rely on the one function I need the most. I already have a ticken open with tech support since last week and havent been able to resolve the issue. 

[cohenben]

Sanchez, when I click that link I don't actually see anywhere to open a ticket - are you suggesting I email or chat with support?

[cohenben]

update - yes - I have submitted a ticket.

[dochood]

I can verify that my team member and I are having this same problem trying to download a 22 GB file.  We are attempting it from two different locations, from Windows 10 and Linux, from Firefox and Chrome, and over wired and wireless networks, all to no avail.  I have submitted a ticket for it.

We routinely upload and download large files like this, so we have not had this issue before, where every single download attempt fails.

[cohenben]

As you may have seen in my previous post - I was able to successfully work around this by using Firefox and then choosing "restart" in the download window whenever the file failed. Firefox would then pickup where the transfer dropped and go another distance before having to repeat this step. Eventually (depending on how large the file) I was able to complete the transfer.

SUPER ANNOYING and not a solution - but at least it may get you what you need until Dropbox addresses this.