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Forum Discussion
Upload through browser extremely slow since today
In the past month I have uploaded over 900 GB through browser with roughly 20-30 mbits per second. Today the speed crashed down below 200 kb/s which is completely unusable.
I have a 100mb/s line and the upload to other sites is working fine at full speed so it's clearly a Dropbox issue.
Ok I discovered the cause: Dropbox changed the upload procedure.
The files are now getting hashed prior to uploading which takes a lot of time for big files making it appear that the upload is super slow, showing a remaining-time of several hundred days (It actually does not upload anything during the hashing-process).
Before, it started directly with uploading the files without hashing them, which was over-all faster.
(I can download with full 100mb/s from Dropbox, routing is not a problem)
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Or perhaps the browser's? Have you tried this on other ones other than the one you usually use to see if this persists? You can also try clearing your browser's cache or even an incognito window or private browsing mode.
One thing to note here is that all of our servers are located in the US. Your connection speed to Dropbox depends on the routing you get between your ISP and our servers, and may be slower than your ISP's rated speeds.
Sometimes resetting or retrying your connection gets you a different route and better speeds, but that is outside of our control. Some ISPs also throttle sustained connections so if you see an initial high connection speed followed by lower speeds, that could be the reason.
I don't know if you're using the desktop application so far - have you given it a shot maybe? (note that you can find our latest stable version here)
Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there. Thank you!
Ok I discovered the cause: Dropbox changed the upload procedure.
The files are now getting hashed prior to uploading which takes a lot of time for big files making it appear that the upload is super slow, showing a remaining-time of several hundred days (It actually does not upload anything during the hashing-process).
Before, it started directly with uploading the files without hashing them, which was over-all faster.
(I can download with full 100mb/s from Dropbox, routing is not a problem)
- Walter
Thanks for keeping me posted Aelea - I appreciate it.
Glad to hear you figured this out!
Having said that now and for additional context note that there are a number of factors that can affect the speed you upload files to and download files from the Dropbox servers, I'll try to list the most common causes here. They include your connection to the Internet, how the data is routed to Dropbox, and the hardware specifications on the specific device you use.
When it comes to your Internet connection, Dropbox can only upload as fast as your Internet service provider (ISP) allows. Consumer ISP's normally provide 1/10th the upload speed compared to download speed. In addition to this, your speeds may be slower than what your ISP rates it.
The specifications of your hardware can also play a part. If you own an older device, your device may not be powerful enough to upload files at a faster speed. You may also try powering off and powering on your device in case any apps that are running in the background are using too many resources.
I hope I'm making sense here Aelea - please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to add.
