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Forum Discussion
Ridiculously slow upload speeds
I've tried uploading through the website and using the windows app. In both cases I'm lucky if i get 1/100 of what my actual upload limit is. I'm trying to upload about 4gb worth of files and it's saying its going to take 2+ days because it's uploading at 20kbps. Even comcast is faster then this.
I've already set the app to use unlimited bandwith and it hasn't helped. Dropbox is pretty easy to use, but if this is the fastest I can upload, dropbox is going to get dropped.
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.
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 have 27 files totalling 12.5GB of data and my upload speed is PEGGED at 9kb/sec.
If Dropbox doesn't acknowledge there is a problem soon, I'm going to cancel. I'll just keep my files offline until I find a better solution.
Is unbelievable how slow this can be!!!
I have a OneDrive free account, mostly for personal use, and a 3TB Dropbox account hired for my work. Last three months i've been working at home, and I usually send 4GB video files on OneDrive, that upload very fast. We needed storage for backing up this videos, so we decided to get a paid Dropbox, and upgrade my ISP to a 300Mb download/20Mb upload service. Runing Win 10 Build 1903 up to date.
This is the average OneDrive upload speed i get: 1,4 to 1,5 MB/s. This was captured just a minute ago, since i´m currently uploading a video, pausing Dropbox sync in the meantime.
This is my average Dropbox upload speed: 16/18 KB/s, no bandwidth limit, autotuninglevel normal, and 20,2Mb/s on my latest speedtest 2 minutes ago.
Is there anything i must know on how to make this work? Maybe best answer would be to pay OneDrive for the storage instead of Dropbox?
- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Hi Tuxy79 and j2peol, sorry to hear that you're still having trouble with this.
If you've already tried customizing the desktop app's bandwidth-usage settings to improve syncing, could you have a look at this link to check your options to contacting our Support team?
If you already have a ticket, could you let us know the ID (eg. #1234567) that's associated with it, so as to pass your comments along?
Keep us posted!
I am getting very slow speed to I run a Business and this is crazy. It's taking hours to upload images. I need some help or I too will be dropping dropbox.
- 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.netWhat 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!
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.
- Daphne
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!
I am also facing the same problem form over a week now, getting an upload speed of around 300 kbps. regardless of browser or desktop app. It's very frustrating, I am transferring from other sources for quick transfers
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.
- Daphne
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!
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.
The upload speed of dropbox is very very slow, I've gone thru several posts here that mention about the same but dropbox support always return generic responses implying they're throttled by ISP, firewall settings etc. but thats totally wrong. Below is my internet speed, S3, google drive, one drive, all work very fast when it comes to uploads, I suspect something is wrong from dropbox side and they're not fixing it. I also set the upload limit to do not limit it dropbox preferences, nothing just helps.
- Daphne
Hey anaganisk, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with this!
If you haven't already, please check out this thread as there are some additional suggestions that might just do the trick for you.
Let me know how it goes!
No I dont think it helps, I tried and nothign changed. Like I said only dropbox has this issue, Gdrive or onedrive dont have any such issues.
Temporary fix!!!
I've also got a 1Gbps fiber connection and get 600mbps on wifi, dropbox upload is incredibly slow for uploading mass data with thousands of small files we're talking about 50mb in 1 hour, it's going to take days if not weeks to sync 2Tb and my Mac's fan is going crazy.
No restriction on bandwidth and have also tried hard-wired ethernet directly into the router.
I've been trawling through the forums and this seems to be a common problem and there are screenshots of direct speed tests with Google Drive and other cloud storage, on the same set-up and DropBox clearly has a problem.
However, I've also found a fix, use File Zilla for incredible direct upload/download into DB, you can have 10 threads uploading in parallel and now I can see GBs uploading in realtime.
Please please get this sorted DB as there's a bottleneck somewhere.
MacOS Catalina
16 inch Macbook Pro2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9
64 GB, 4TB SSD
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB
Hey guys, having the same issues here. OP's soluton didn't help. The speeds (both ways) are consistently at 1.8 megabytes/s.
I observed a peculiar behaviour though, when entering any value in the bandwidth limits preference, the speed briefly increases to about 8 megabytes/s. After about a minute or less it drops to the usual 1.8.
I am experiencing this for a year already. Went through hurdles with my ISP doing hardware replacements and route adjustments to no avail.
Seeing so many people complaining about the same mysterious issue makes me really consider switching. It's been too long already.
Cheers!
Hi there, my upload speed is also ridiculously slow. I'm on a Mac running Big Sur (11.2.1), hard-wired via ethernet, and using the desktop app. I have Gigabit internet with Xfinity. Ran a speed test and my upload speed is 37 Mbps, yet when I upload files to Dropbox I only get 5-6 Mbps upload speed max. I work with large video files and this is an absolute pain to deal with. I've already restarted the machine and modem many times to no avail. Network bandwidth upload and download rate are set to "Don't limit". Not sure what's causing the issue, but it's quite frustrating.
@merk Unfortunately that's what Xfinity offers in my area for Gigabit. Download speed (from my last speed test) is 940 Mbps, and upload speed is 35 Mbps. That's what they advertise and what I get when I do the speed test. From their page "Gigabit service can also be transmitted over traditional cable wiring, which does not require a fiber-optic line running to your house. Xfinity Gigabit Internet Service, which uses the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, can download data up to 1 Gbps, and upload data at 35 Mbps."
https://www.xfinity.com/hub/internet/what-is-gigabit-internet
It's not the internet connection. Wish it were. Something else is amiss.
It is currently almost impossible to upload a file to my Dropbox account. It gives me a 17 hours timeframe to upload a 76mb file and the upload still sits at 0mb/76mb after 5 minutes. I only use a few GB of my 2 TB (Dropbox Plus) storage so it can't be an issue with my account.
I do not use the app, I upload on desktop computer natively through a browser. So far I have tried Chrome, Mozilla, and Edge, and have also restarted my computer several times. Nothing helps. This started first yesterday and hasn't gotten better today.
I have also tested if this is an issue with my connection and it clearly isn't. I was able to upload the very same file to Google Drive within minutes.
In addition to this everything on my Dropbox account is super slow atm. Opening it up, clicking on various subfolders, even opening my settings.
I had the same inssue and after a lot of attemps, contact with support, and a lot of seach, I found a soluction by a user here.
Try this:
1. Open CMD as ADM
2. Type: netsh interface tcp dump3. Then: netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
4. Restart the computer
Let me know if it helps!
That's already set to normal on my computer, that's the standard setting for Windows 10 I believe.
It's nice that you all are trying to help, but I have a feeling that you are not reading what I initially wrote: My upload speed is fine, uploads of the same file onto other systems work within minutes. It is only Dropbox where the upload does not seem to work.
I also am not uploading through an app but natively through a browser.
@Hannah It takes literal minutes to even log in on my account in an incognito browser. And no it doesn't speed up the upload at all, the file I'm trying to upload in the incognito browser is sitting at 0mb/124mb and is giving me an estimated 22 hours for the upload.
The original file I am still trying to upload is sitting at 3mb/76mb with an estimated 15 hours upload time by now.
