Why is my download speed slow?

Josi B. · ‎04-02-2016

Hi, I don't understand why I'm having such a big problem downloading a movie from my Dropbox file onto my MacbookPro laptop. The file is only 1.2GB, I'm connected to my router with an ethernet cable, with a fibre-optic connection of 50/50Mbps uncapped and unthrottled. I've tried many times already, but the download is either ridiculously slow or stops altogether. I'm on Dropbox Pro, I have plenty space on my laptop hard drive, and I'm not doing anything else on the laptop at the same time. Am i doing this incorrectly or what? Help help please!

Tom H. · ‎01-27-2018

Don't forget your data is transmitted encrypted and must be decrypted. That happens on the drive, along with checks to make sure the enitre file reaches you. It will take some time.

Dropbox will never use the complete full download bandwidth. It also is affected by you using other things, like mail, web etc during those times Dropbox may slow the process to allow you to continue working. It could be affected by things like you allowing the computer to sleep.

Have you checked your bandwidth settings ? https://help.dropbox.com/syncing-uploads/faster-sync

Many, many, factors can contribute to each users individual experience.

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Jay · ‎01-30-2018

As Tom said, whenever files are uploaded or downloaded, the computer needs to encrypt or decrypt the files, which depends on the processor. Naturally desktop devices fare better than laptops and netbooks.

Other things that can affect syncing are ISP issues, router problems, or strict security or bandwidth settings in either of these, or any software that scans network data.

[This thread is now closed. If you have a similar or new question, you can ask here.]

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

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Rich · ‎01-30-2018

And just for completeness, remember that the speed you see reported by Dropbox is not simply the transfer speed of your data. Tom and Jay have already mentioned the encryption, but also, each file that you upload is hashed, compressed, then transferred, encrypted, and stored on the Dropbox servers. That entire process is included in the aggregate speed that's displayed in the Dropbox sync status. In other words, the speed reported by Dropbox is not just a transfer speed, but the speed at which the entire process is being completed. It can never be compared to the advertised speeds from your ISP.

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Daniel C.79 · ‎05-18-2016

I have been having exactly the same problem! I too am on a MBP with over 250GB free (started with over 400GB) last night. I am on a cable network with d/l consistently over 115mbps and with the dropbox icon showing 9627KB/sec, 27 mins left (it said only 1 hour left 6 hours ago), and yet this has been downloading for more than 12 hours now! I realize my download is much larger, but even so, there is no reason that anyone's downloads should take 12 hours with speeds such as these! Dropbox is throttling us even though we subscribe to DBPro! Uploading to DB doesn't even take a quarter of the time it does to download!

I purchased a DB subscription because it was much better than any other options. Has DB been bought out by a competitor? Has DB changed their standards? At this rate, there's not much reason to keep spending money with DB. I may as well move everything over to their competitor's site which I've had for longer than I've had DB anyway, and pay them the difference.

Dropbox please give Josi and I some answers/resolution to the issues that we're having!!!

Mij E. · ‎05-27-2016

I'm having the same issue. I uploaded a short video clip to share with friends, and then tried to download it to see if it was OK. The file is 202MB, and so far, "This file is uploading" for more than 10 minutes!

Hamish h. · ‎06-12-2016

Dropbox pro account and encountering the same issue here. Strange that when I change ISPs the download speed improves (downloading from my ADSL office internet connection gets me 2mb/s download) but my home (fibre) ISP download from dropbox is abysmal. My ISP has assured me they don't throttle and I have no trouble with updloads or downloads to other services. I'm on fibre with 25/10 at home but I'm only getting 100-200kbps download from dropbox - what gives? Seriously reconsidering the value of a "pro" account.

Albert B. · ‎06-29-2016

I too wonder about this. I have a pro account and can consistently download from other services at several megabits per second, but from my Dropbox account, I can only manage about 400K.

rick w.8 · ‎09-16-2016

Dload speeds from DB have been HORRIBLE these past couple days. What gives, DB??

I have 50/7 and it's taking forever to dload a 1GB file and even then it doesn't completely download as it hangs up and stalls until I cancel the dload. I've tried different time of day & night but still the same SLOW dloads.

I don't have this issue with other services and I dload MUCH bigger files than 1GB with the others with no issues.

I think my 'experiment' with using DB is going to come to an end. I certainly wouldn't pay to upgrade with this kind of issue.

Stefan R.19 · ‎09-23-2016

Same here! This sucks! I also use OneDrive and Google Drive on my PC and these offer a highspeed download. I think, it´s time to quit DropBox 😕

Teja B. · ‎09-26-2016

Hi, past two weeks I am experiencing extremely low download speeds from dropbox. I work together with a photographer who has a DB pro subscription for years and suddenly the files from his dropbox take hours to download or even days when its videoclips bigger than 500MB.

Location: South Germany close to Switzerland

What is going on there? Downloads from other services just work fine as always... It definately is a dropbox related problem...

Markus R.5 · ‎09-26-2016

The Last 2-3 weeks made me feel like using a 56k Modem again, like i did 15 years ago!!!
Desaster!

Lance E. · ‎09-26-2016

I'm having these same issues. I believe the issue started when moving to OS X 10? I've tried reinstalling dropbox. I've taken the bandwidth limit off. I thought maybe my provider was throttling me. Now I'm convinced its something with dropbox. Any thoughts DROPBOX TEAM?

Why is my download speed slow?

Why is my download speed slow?

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