I have a question about downloading video files from the internet. This is probably going to sound like a really stupid question, but I have only had a home computer for a week or so now so I really have no experience/base of comparison for how long file downloads should take.
So anyway, here’s my question: Is downloading a zipped movie trailer (specifically, the Two Towers trailer – full screen version) supposed to take this freakin’ long?
I have a cable modem but when I watched the file download status screen, it said I was downloading at only around 40-50 KB/sec (estimated download time: 20 minutes. I said forget it). I though maybe the site I was using was the bottleneck, but I’m not so sure. I was at my brother’s house a while back when he downloaded the Fellowship trailer from the same site and the whole thing downloaded in a jiffy. He has Cox (he’s in NE) and I have Charter Pipeline.
Does this sound like a normal download speed for a cable modem, or are there some settings I should be tweaking to get it to run faster? I subsequently tried a few other sites to try and download video files and they all seemed just as slow.
Are my expectations too high? Is something wrong with my cable service? Or am I just an idiot and there is nothing at all amiss here?
I’m not an expert, just a normal internet user, but it sounds like your cable service is fine. Even my shitty 56k often goes much slower than it should, simply because of congestion on the internet. Using a cable modem can be like having a Ferrari in a traffic jam. You might try that site later, and it will be fine. Don’t sweat it.
I remember the days when it would take me roughly 4 or 5 days to download a 100 mb file. Now I can get it in an hour or two.
20 minutes is NOT long at all for downloading a typical trailer. Just set it to download and surf around at some other site while it’s loading in. Or make a sandwich. Go grocery shopping. Take a walk around the neighborhood. For cable modem and dsl, 40-50 is pretty good.
I think cable has a very large gap between ‘slow’ and ‘fast’
It should take longer than 20 minutes to get the LOTR movie!
Trust me, you have it goo compared to those who have a 56 modem.
It’s easiest just to start the download and leave the room. A watched file never downloads. I’m happy when I’m getting 20-30 K with my DSL modem. 50 would be great!
It really depends on where your d/l from. Public ones are usually
JAMMED and take much slower then 50k to d/l. I’m a big
Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles fan and I download lots
of their movies that at most times dip down to .2 Kps at usuall-
i leave it on for several days, and itll start to climb to about
7Kps at odd times like 1 AM and the sort. Right now, I’m d/l
my 32nd episode (Trackers) and its taken … id say 4-5 days
and im about a fifth of the way through. Now THATS slow.
If you want a faster d/l you have to go to more… private FTPs or
DCC/Fserves is pretty good for getting rapid- downloaded movies.
A friend was willing to give me the entire LOTR movie directly.
THAT took 30- 40 minutes.
You really have to find a good place to d/l em from. Unfortunatly
for me, I dont know too many place that have Roughnecks
episodes so im stuck with my week long d/ls
Songs usually take 20 - 30 secs on cable though, even croweded
sites. Either way- Cable is SOOOOooOOoo much bettter then
my old 56k , so dont feel gipped
Well, shucks. I guess I didn’t realize I had it so good. I’ll have to grin and bear it. I guess I could actually do some work while the files download (that’s my main excuse for getting this computer – to get work done at home. Strangely, though, I haven’t found myself doing much actual work on it yet.:))
