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Insane Slow Download Speeds

I have been dealing with insane slow download speeds for folders and files for the past few days. I have run internet speed tests which came back great. Dropbox app is up to date. The bandwidth is set to unlimited for download and upload. It is slow no matter if I am sent a Dropbox link from my employer, or I access my employer's dropbox and download the folder and file needed. I have closed out all programs/apps and web windows when downloading as to not to interfere with download. I have started the computer, internet, and modem boxes, and refreshed pages—all to no luck. I have spoken with support, and they can not seem to figure out the issue. This is only happening with Dropbox no other program.

Is there any advice someone could send my way as to troubleshooting this major issue?

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Comments

Megan

Hi @kc1332, I hope you're doing well!

You mentioned that you've contacted our support team.

Could you send me the ticket number reference from your communication with them?

Thanks!

kc1332

@Lori Ticket #14984135

Megan

Thank you for the ticket number, @kc1332!

I've passed my comments to the agent supporting you, and they should be with you on this!

If you need anything else, we're one post away!

CalebSpring

I am not a customer of Dropbox but I have been having the same issues. Download speeds are in the kb not mb range.

Even downloading the desktop client is slow.

Other sites/services don't seem to have any issues and a speed test comes back fine.

cfw0047

I'm having the exact same issue. 40KB/sec. Not MB, but KB per second. That's just ridiculous. I've already instructed the client to use another service for getting me files. The fact that this requires contacting support is unacceptable.

stephenchavez

EXACT SAME ISSUE. Our company runs on dropbox and I can't download any of my files. It is taking saying hours and days to download 1gb folders which generally takes less than a minute and mosst fail before they finish.

Can't find any help. I think it's time we have to go elsewhere.

edumbrava

So I am not the crazy one? Will Dropbox finally acknowledge the issue publicly and not bury their head in the ground? Been like this for me for past 3 days, Dropbox support seems clueless doesn't care

alanb1501

I'm also dealing with very very slow download speeds.

I have been attempting to download a 190MB file for the past two days, and it keeps timing out due to speeds ranging from 40-100KB/s.

I am on Xfinity Gigabit internet connection and have independently verified my connection speed through SpeedTest, and Fast.com. I also rebooted my wifi router, just to be on the safeside. I tried downloading on both Firefox and Edge latest browsers.

This is pretty clearly an issue with Dropbox service.

I just upgraded to Dropbox Plus and the speeds are still very very slow.

tgauerke

I'm not surprised to find all these messages about insanely slow download speeds from dropbox. I at times exprience 5-10 KB/second downloads. For a frame of reference, that's 1/10th the speed of dial-up internet.

This occurs despite having my dropbox app bandwith settings unrestricted, despite having very high-speed internet for my work, and despite stopping all other internet programs that run concurrently. The problem is on dropbox's side, not mine.

Megan

Hey @tgauerke, thanks for posting today!

Can you let me know your app's syncing status, along with the version that you're using?

Do you also happen to have an idea, as to how many files your Dropbox account has? Is it possible that it's more than 300K, since that could decline the app's performance?

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

tgauerke

Hi Megan,

I attached screenshots showing the app version and an example from this morning of the frequent slow speed.

I don't know the number of files our account has. However, since a Dropbox for Business account can hold up to 5 terabytes, shouldn't it easily be capable of accommodating over 300K files? 5 terabytes consisting of <300K in files would mean every file is ~20MB in size, which is not a likely business scenario.

I don't understand why Dropbox for Business would market 5 terabytes of space if Dropbox isn't capable of handling the number of files that would fill that space.

Screen Shot 2022-04-27 at 9.21.27 AM.jpg

Megan

Thanks for all the added info, @tgauerke!

What's the size of the files you're syncing and that we're talking about? Are they smaller files, or larger ones?

One more thing: is your connection wireless, or do you use a cable?

tgauerke

Hi Megan,

Here's a fresh example from this morning -- I was getting download speeds of <30 kbps while downloading one (49mb) file.

My wifi connection does not seem to be the problem. When I noticed dropbox being slow, I paused it to run a speedtest at that time. My connection is providing over 6mbps downloads while dropbox was at <30kbps (see below).

Screen Shot 2022-04-29 at 11.41.10 AM.jpg

My speed issues seem to be only occurring with dropbox so any resolution dropbox could provide would be appreciated--thanks.

Jay

Hi @tgauerke, do you have any proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router settings could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains?

As you mentioned this is a work network, have you checked with your IT team regarding this matter?

tgauerke

Hi Jay,

No, I do not have a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or ISP/router set to restrict dropbox bandwidth. In fact, this slowness has occurred on multiple, different networks at which I've been stationed---not to mention the networks of all the other people who have reported this same issue on this thread.

As I mentioned before, dropbox is the only internet application I'm experiencing significant slowness with. Is Dropbox doing anything to resolve the slowness myself and so many others here have reported---aside from deflecting the feedback?

Jay

As we're not experiencing any form of slowdown with the site currently, there might be something else specific to your setup which could be affecting the connection to the Dropbox servers.

corbeyluvULS

I'm having same issues, started about a week ago. Mostly mac environment where we heavily depend on LAN sync, everything has gone super slow. Most of the files I'm trying to sync are fully downloaded on a LAN computer already, in the past this has just taken seconds, even for large files. I have not tested on PC but the issue is now on par with OneDrive speed! And that is the whole reason our team moved back to DB. Enterprise clients here, based in Cambodia.

Hannah

Hey @corbeyluvULS, thanks for the nudge.

Have you checked the articles here, to make sure everything is set up correctly, so that LAN sync can function in its full capacity?

corbeyluv

Need to provide more specific guidance for an something that has been working great for years at multiple locations and with no network changes. I'm not going to bother with unspecific instructions. This is likely a DB issue.

phasetech

having the same issues with exactly like all the other memebers here in this thread , dropbox was fine , until one day it decided to to have low download speeds, this is unacceptable for me if i trusted you with my files i trusted you to have them back in a timeley fashion with 30kb/sec it will take an absurd time to retrieve all my backup and in return i have lost alot of money.. saying to people that is there problem and bury ur head down with no concrete problem solving leads me to terminate al dropbox services. this issue was not addressed and instead it was pointed out to the clients , as many times the clients told you they dont have any issue with ISP, routers, ports, and everything was working fine until all this..and iam 100% convinced you will try the same with me, my setup is fine with all other services , its just dropbox that is pushing buttons. i will give some more time mayb it will be fixed if not i move over and tell all my friends/collegues that dropbox made me sugggest to move over too..

Hannah

We appreciate your feedback here, @phasetech.

I'd also suggest checking your Dropbox bandwidth settings, to make sure your download speed is not limited.

michael campbell

Same problem. 1.2 gig broadband, 16mb/s download speed from dropbox! Speedtest shows my internet speed is fine.

On the plus side though, I just got a congratulations email from dropbox for making ten posts on this forum....they were all problems, so it's odd to receive congratulatory emails. A fix would be better.

Megan

Hey there, @michael campbell, let's jump right into this!

Which platform do you use when trying to download content?

Do you use our website, desktop or mobile app? Also, feel free to let me know when you first started noticing this.

Let me know more!

lehestro

Fast-forward all the way to Dec 2024, and I'm having the same issue. 600Mbps connection (see screenshot), no other file syncing services happening. I'm trying to download 200GB of sound effects from my own account, and right now it is going to take 56 hours.

Download limits are not activated. I'm on an M1 Max mac running macOS Sequoia 15.1.1

What is going on? I'm editing a film, but am hamstrung until I get these files. Seems like a number of people on this thread are in media, and it is not a patient business.

Talked to a support rep. They said they would escalate the issue for me, but had no answers.

I've been a long time Dropbox customer, and really like its features and OS integration, but at the end of the day, it's about storing and retrieving files securely and promptly, and the latter part of that is broken for some reason.

Wondering if anyone on here has tried Box? I've heard it can be more reliable for large amounts of data.

PS- not allowed to post my screenshots for some reason, but I ain't lying.

lehestro

I should mention, this is happening through the desktop app version. I just tried downloading through the web browser, and I'm getting the full use of my bandwidth. I downloaded 5GB in 2 minutes.

So it's something to do with the desktop app.

Nancy

@lehestro, can you send me the ticket number of your support convo, so that I can take a look?