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Download speeds Rate Topic: -----

#11 User is offline   Mike B 

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Posted 04 August 2017 - 05:30 PM

View PostJames Ross, on 04 August 2017 - 11:50 AM, said:

If the updater fails during the download stage, nothing should be done to the already-installed files, so this is strange.

Whatever it was seems to have vanished. Updates for the last few months have been quick and reliable.

Quote

Thanks for identifying Downthemall - download accelerators have been a cause of issues for people throughout the decades IME, and I would recommend not using them unless you have a very specific problem (like highly unreliable connection) that you know they help with. The alternative link should work fine with anything, though, as it is a direct download link - so problems with that are something else (i.e. things totally outside our control).

DownThemAll (a Firefox extension) usually works well. Where it doesn't, one of two situations usually seems to be present: 1) there's some kind of redirect going on when the download starts that DTA can't follow, causing an immediate fail; and 2) there's a limit on the number of connections that requires reconfiguration of DTA for fewer connections than normal.

That said, the most common failure when downloading OR, using DTA or "straight," is a download that proceeds normally to 80-90% then stalls, and eventually times out - which doesn't happen on any other web site I've downloaded things from. And once it dies I can't restart from that point - it always restarts from scratch.

It doesn't always fail. That's the crazy thing. I can try 10 times and it'll work 2-3 times with DTA, 6-8 times when done "straight," without me doing anything different.

Yes, in principle, accelerators aren't needed any more. In practice, though, I've found that (maybe it's just my 2nd- if not 3rd-world ISP and connection aka AT&T) a single stream doesn't saturate my connection. While it may peak at 7 or 8 mbit, it varies all over the place with an average closer to 3. Using 2-4 simultaneous connections saturates the line and gets the download over with more quickly, and usually more reliably.

#12 User is offline   James Ross 

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Posted 05 August 2017 - 01:52 PM

View PostMike B, on 04 August 2017 - 05:30 PM, said:

That said, the most common failure when downloading OR, using DTA or "straight," is a download that proceeds normally to 80-90% then stalls, and eventually times out - which doesn't happen on any other web site I've downloaded things from. And once it dies I can't restart from that point - it always restarts from scratch.

If both using DTA and "straight" here refer to the normal download (not the alternative link), then please see below.

I have just changed the default download mechanism to be a redirect instead of streaming from PHP, which means that the default download behaviour should perform the same as the alternative link (which has been renamed to "direct link" now). I will be monitoring the logs, but please can anyone with speed or reliability issues report back any changes in their experiences. Thanks!

#13 User is offline   thegrindre 

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Posted 05 August 2017 - 06:59 PM

I have the worst/slowest ISP in the area. (Internet) Most of the time it's just too slow to DL anything. Usually Monday thru Wednesday and sometimes Fridays. Tonight, Saturday night, is pretty good and I've been able to DL the Testing version of ORTS at speeds from 15MB/sec to 105MB/sec and it didn't drop me as it usually does at about 85% to 95% complete. FIRST time!!! Looks like I can use the main link instead of the Alternative link, now.

http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/oldstry.gif

#14 User is offline   Mike B 

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Posted 05 August 2017 - 07:08 PM

Just downloaded the stable version (like to keep that around for reinstall purposes if Windows does something stupid) using DTA. Worked perfectly, maintaining around 7 mbit throughout with 4 segments active. Looks like the problem may be fixed. Thanks! :sign_thanks: :cheers3:

#15 User is offline   James Ross 

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Posted 09 August 2017 - 12:57 PM

View Postthegrindre, on 05 August 2017 - 06:59 PM, said:

I have the worst/slowest ISP in the area. (Internet) Most of the time it's just too slow to DL anything. Usually Monday thru Wednesday and sometimes Fridays. Tonight, Saturday night, is pretty good and I've been able to DL the Testing version of ORTS at speeds from 15MB/sec to 105MB/sec and it didn't drop me as it usually does at about 85% to 95% complete. FIRST time!!! Looks like I can use the main link instead of the Alternative link, now.

Great!

View PostMike B, on 05 August 2017 - 07:08 PM, said:

Just downloaded the stable version (like to keep that around for reinstall purposes if Windows does something stupid) using DTA. Worked perfectly, maintaining around 7 mbit throughout with 4 segments active. Looks like the problem may be fixed. Thanks! :sign_thanks: :cheers3:

Excellent!

But of course, as the OP, Dave, have you tried the new download approach yet? Would be great to know if it's resolved your speed issues or not.

#16 User is offline   jkcooney 

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Posted 16 August 2017 - 06:18 AM

View PostGenma Saotome, on 24 July 2017 - 10:27 AM, said:

Once again the (unstable) update failed and trashed my installation. I have to go to the download page and get the whole package again and that experience leads to this post: It took 18 hours to get the install package. I have a download speed alleged to be 46mbs, usually mid 30's, so the problem is not on my end.

18 hours is the norm in my experience (having had the update trash my install several times).

Something really isn't right, esp. when contrasted w/ free, reasonably fast services from Dropbox and/or Google Drive.

I agree with Dave. This speed issue is critical to the enjoyment of the sim. Wonder what the "fix" might be? More broadband width allocated?

#17 User is offline   jkcooney 

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Posted 16 August 2017 - 06:22 AM

View Postthegrindre, on 24 July 2017 - 03:04 PM, said:

I have the slowest internet available and my download speed is in access of 200kb/s or so. Takes about 5 minutes to DL and I have to use the alternative link.

http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/oldstry.gif

I must have something interfering with the download process. Will check my settings carefully.
Also having trouble updating the releases with the latest update... used to do this automatically and it
now freezes the downloading process. jc

#18 User is offline   jkcooney 

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Posted 16 August 2017 - 06:23 AM

View PostMike B, on 04 August 2017 - 05:30 PM, said:

Whatever it was seems to have vanished. Updates for the last few months have been quick and reliable.


DownThemAll (a Firefox extension) usually works well. Where it doesn't, one of two situations usually seems to be present: 1) there's some kind of redirect going on when the download starts that DTA can't follow, causing an immediate fail; and 2) there's a limit on the number of connections that requires reconfiguration of DTA for fewer connections than normal.

That said, the most common failure when downloading OR, using DTA or "straight," is a download that proceeds normally to 80-90% then stalls, and eventually times out - which doesn't happen on any other web site I've downloaded things from. And once it dies I can't restart from that point - it always restarts from scratch.

It doesn't always fail. That's the crazy thing. I can try 10 times and it'll work 2-3 times with DTA, 6-8 times when done "straight," without me doing anything different.

Yes, in principle, accelerators aren't needed any more. In practice, though, I've found that (maybe it's just my 2nd- if not 3rd-world ISP and connection aka AT&T) a single stream doesn't saturate my connection. While it may peak at 7 or 8 mbit, it varies all over the place with an average closer to 3. Using 2-4 simultaneous connections saturates the line and gets the download over with more quickly, and usually more reliably.

Interesting and frustrating inconsistencies. We must labor on and hope for the best. jc

#19 User is offline   Mike B 

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Posted 17 August 2017 - 08:38 AM

View Postjkcooney, on 16 August 2017 - 06:23 AM, said:

Interesting and frustrating inconsistencies. We must labor on and hope for the best. jc

Jim Ross did make a couple of changes that resulted (for me - see post #15) in the problem subsiding. If you haven't tried an update or download since then, you might want to try again.

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