Ridiculously slow upload speeds both when using the desktop app, and website.

I think I found a solution for myself. I noticed that on my laptop, on the same network as my PC, even if connected via wifi, i was getting faster speeds. Did some googling and I found a network setting that when i adjusted it, improved my network speeds overall.

If you open a command prompt with admin priviledges, run the command

netsh interface tcp dump

is autotuninglevel=disabled? if so try this

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

then try uploading or downloading and see if you get better results.

All comments

Fiona

Hi @merk.

Thanks for your feedback about this.

What is your internet speed? This link will test your ISP connection speed:
http://www.speedtest.net

What version of the desktop app you are using?

You may the following for your browser uploads:

Clear your browser's cache.
Try Incognito Mode or Private Browsing mode.
Restore your browser to its default settings and disable any browser plugins. The issue you're experiencing may be the result of a security setting or a plugin that you have installed on your browser.
Use a different browser like Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or Chrome.

Hope this helps with the website and I will be waiting for your response to see what we could do for your desktop app uploads.

Thank you!

C L B.

Same problem here. Just started recently. Has the OP found a solution? I see same problem on three PCs, connected to different high-speed networks. Network speed is not the problem, and I'm talking about regular syncing, not browser-based uploads. The problem is dropbox. Dropbox reports speeds like 1kB/s.

Nope no solution. nothing dropbox support suggested helped. I actually have my ISP coming out tomorrow to do some work. figured I'd wait for that to finish before pursuing this any further. Although nothing they are going to do is going to help since my current dropbox upload speeds are already way slower then what I currently get from my ISP.

I like dropbox in that it's pretty easy to use and a lot of people are familiar with it. But honestly if they can't fix their upload issue, I'm going to cancel and look for something else.

I did some additional testing. The speeds I get with speedtest.net vary depending on what browser i use. But the max speeds are 600-700mbps up and down.

The speeds I get with dropbox, regardless of what browser i use or if i use the desktop app, always top out at around 30mbps. So, basically 5% of my maximum speed. And i get the same speeds when downloading as well.

I'd really like to get this resolved since aside from these speed issues I'm happy with dropbox. But if this can't be resolved, I'm going to look for another service to replace dropbox. There's no point in paying for 2 TB of storage space if it's too slow to actually make use of the space.

For comparison, I uploaded a 1gb video file to my google drive - that went over 10x faster, it was uploading at 300-400mbps. Dropbox has better pricing, but I'd switch to google if the upload speeds with dropbox can't be resolved.

Hey peeps, thanks for your updates here!

I'd be more than happy to look into this with you both @merk and @C L B.!

If you haven't already @C L B., can you check the bandwidth settings within the desktop app preferences to see if you have those limited at all?

If that doesn't seem to do the trick, can you both let me know if I can reach out the emails linked with your profiles here to look into this more?

Keep me posted!

Yes you can reach me via the email associated with my account here.

Thanks

I was able to locate your open ticket in our Support channel and I've followed up with you there @merk.

Please check your inbox when you have the chance for my message.

Thanks!

Got your message and replied there. I'll continue this through email. And if we resolve it I'll try to remember to post a note here as well in case it helps anyone else.

auzhost

I too have been experiencing very slow upload / Sync speeds for about the last two weeks or more.
I only use the Desktop App and prior to this issue developing I had the Bandwidth setting set at the default, I have since changed to Unlimited upload and back again to default and back again to unlimited. None of which change/help the issue.
The main file I'm having issues with is Quickbooks DB file.
The file used to sync, after closing Quickbooks at the most within 30 seconds. Now it starts out saying, for example, 2+ days, then 6 hours then after up to 5 minutes it's synced.

Also to When I try to open the file now, I have to Pause the Dropbox syncing before the file will open. On rare occasions, I have had this previously, but it's every time now.

File size is 142MB
Internet Connection is 100Mb Connection. Speedtest reports (today for example, but it's relatively typical) 26 Ping, 88 Down, 35 Up.

Dropbox has changed something, obviously a so-called update/improvement, which clearly has gove very wrong. I also am a paid subscriber but I really don't like this new BS that is going on, including the ridiculous price hike for features I'll never ever need.

If you open a command prompt with admin priviledges, run the command

netsh interface tcp dump

is autotuninglevel=disabled? if so try this

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

then try uploading or downloading and see if you get better results.

Thanks for your update @merk!

I'm sure this info will be helpful to others with the same issue so I appreciate you taking the time to keep us in the loop here too.

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with this too @auzhost.

I wanted to mention that we don't recommend syncing database files with Dropbox as this can cause syncing issues. You can check out more info on using databases here.

As a first step, can you try just restarting your internet router to see of that helps? This might get you a different route to the servers which could help with the speeds.

Let me know and we'll take it from there!

auzhost

Daphne

Thanks for your reply, however, none of it is valid and I take particular issue with the comment about whether I have rebooted my router.
Firstly in that, Do you really think in the last three or four weeks I would not have rebooted the router, or thought to at least try that?
Secondly, Why is it that the go-to answer of most support people is to blame the client and or their equipment. REALLY!!! So sick of this. And there is no acceptance ever, that it could be something on your own system. I accept that there is a lot of issues caused by clients setups etc. However not everyone is an idiot, how about suggesting, have you tried .... and throw some ideas out there and then base the rest of your answer on fact as in CHECKED with techs
As for my router, it is Auto rebooted twice a day every day.

As for the DB comment.
I have been syncing my DB with Dropbox in exactly the same way for in excess of the last FIVE years and the article you referred to does not actually say that it's not recommended to sync DB's. What it goes on to explain is how it does work and how to correctly do it. Which is exactly how I have been doing it for the last 5 plus years.

Thank you.

Would you now please check for changes made on your end?

I'm sorry if you are offended by any of this, but so was I.

Thanks for getting back to me here @auzhost!

I understand that you're frustrated, but I need to make sure we've checked all relevant steps, since I have no access to any other info that what you provided me here.

I'd be more than happy to investigate further with you, but we'll need to do this through our Support channel where we can look into this in more detail that I can't see from here.

Please create a ticket here and let me know the ticket number (eg. #1234567), and I'll follow up with you there.

Thanks!

I am also having the same problem over the last 2 weeks. I currently have a 100mb download and 40mb upload speed. I can get high seeds downloading and uploading with everything else but not dropbox. Lately all I am getting on upload is around 1.115KB/s whereas I should be getting 4,000+KB/s This started about 2 weeks ago and it's extremely frustrating. I am getting the speeds I should be from everywhere else. I have rebooted everything muliple times in the hope that it will fix the problem, all to no avail.

My question is also the same as above, what has Dropbox done that has slowed the upload speed down?

Hey @Tissie, I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with this!

There are a few things we can check to see if that will resolve the issue for you as some have found different steps helped them.

Can you first just check the bandwidth settings of your desktop app and make sure that they aren't limited?

If they aren't then please try the steps listed here to see if that does the trick.

Let me know how it goes and we can take it from there!

Yes my bandwidths both download and upload are set to unlimited, always have been

oh and I tried the other steps but neither 'fix hardlinks' nor 'fix permissions' are options under the account tab while holding the spacebar down or not

not happy now, I clicked in the main part of the account tab while holding down the space bar, and now it has unlinked my main pc. When I try to link again it tells me I now only have the option of 3 linked devices, where I had 4. So NOW I have to upgrade and pay!!. Is this how they get people to pay ? As I said NOT HAPPY

I have also checked limit upload speeds automatically. I have checked the speed while it is set at this and then unchecked and set back to no limit, and it seems that the speed is exactly the same on both settings. So is the automatic upload limit being automatically enforced regardless of what is set in the preferences?

I'd be happy to look further into this with you @Tissie.

I've reached out to the email linked with your profile here, so please check your inbox when you have the chance if you'd like to continue through our Support channel.

Since we can't see any info related to your account or devices here, we'll be able to work with more tool and info there.

Thanks!

skimo

You are my hero. Thank you so much!

damircudic

I have the same problem. I use web browser (Safari) for uploading. My upload speed is about 20% of the upload speed I have. It's very anoying to upload. If this problem continues, Dropbox for me will be useless and I will need to replace it for something else.

Hey there @damircudic, thanks for joining us here!

Most of the issues dealt with in this thread are related to the desktop app rather than through the website.

Since it's through your browser specifically, to rule out any browser specific issues please try the following and let me know if you see any difference:

Use another web browser
Use an incognito/private browsing window
Clear your browser cache and try again

Let me know how it goes!

JDD1

Same issue here - Super slow upload speeds regardless of app or directly through web browser. Been through all the standard steps, including talking to my ISP etc. I'm sure it's on Dropbox's end as I also have a OneDrive account and do not experience this issue. This is unfortunate as I'm planning to move my entire business over to Dropbox as I prefer some of the options better, but this issue could force me to change my mind. It's crazy slow and when collaborating with someone in real time I can't be waiting minutes for a simple change in a small file to sync back up.

take a look at my post at the top of page 2 - it solved the issue for me. Or i guess i should say it improved the issue it's still not nearly as fast as uploading to some other services. But I'm getting anywhere between 100 mbps and 200 mbps which is a lot better then what I was getting before.

JDD1

@merk - thanks, but I'm on a Mac so I'm not sure that is the same?