Dropbox not uploading/ uploading v slow

[jeanzbeanz]

I have dropbox installed on multiple devices and they all work fine, except it has suddenly stopped uploading on my windows laptop.

I moved a load of photos off my phone onto dropbox on my laptop last week and only a handful have uploaded.  The icon in my tray says it is syncing 405 files and has 36 minutes left.

It's definitely not a problem with my bandwidth and I have checked the settings to make sure that dropbox isn't set to a low upload speed.  

I have tried pausing sync and restarting, I have tried closing dropbox and re-opening.  I have also tried restarting my laptop and it uploaded 5 files then stopped again.

I am a pro user and have only used 50% of my available space.

Can anyone help?

[Jocelyn R.1]

Well this is it.  Today I migrated away from 1password (that requires Dropbox for syncing) and moved to Lastpass.

This allowed me to moved all my files to Google Drive and let me tell you this, it is MUCH FASTER not comparable to the shitty  speed I was getting from Dropbox.  I also downloaded my whole Google photo library at 800Mbps!!!

The sad thing is, I really liked 1password but because they don't want to support anything other than Dropbox on iOS and because I really wanted to get rid of Dropbox, I had no other option.

[Dan A.21]

Well said Bennett.

[Bennett H.]

I just migrated today to Google Drive as well. Synced 70 GB in less than an hour, instead of the 7 days it would have taken at 150 KB/sec on Dropbox.  Google Drive also comes with 15 GB for free (compared to 2 GB with the free Dropbox option), and I upgraded to 100 GB for $2/month (compared to Dropbox's minimum paid plan which is $10/month for 1 TB).

Unless someone needs an obscure feature that's only available with Dropbox, I can't think of any reason to recommend Dropbox instead of Google Drive to someone looking for new cloud storage.

Even for existing users, where there's the hassle factor of switching, I'd still recommend switching to Google Drive unless (a) Dropbox implements some emergency plant to fix the sync speed issue, or (b) you only use Dropbox for storing lots of small files adding up to less than 2 GB total.  (That's how I had been using Dropbox for the past three years, and it was adequate for that.  The sync speed issue only became a problem when I tried using Dropbox as a total backup solution.)  If you're on Dropbox Pro, obviously cancel your Dropbox Pro subscription and switch to Google Drive right away, and start saving money too (if you're storing between 2 and 100 GB).

[Andy T.12]

I've just bought a year subscription for Dropbox Pro, I use to be on OneDrive with excellent upload/download speeds of which I should've stayed.. I am now suffering the slow upload speeds which everyone is experiencing..

I feel scammed..confused to why there is no help/support on this issue, why no official announcement updates or developments on this issue published of which looks to have originated from the beginning of this year.

The usual checks Preferences > Bandwidth > Don't limit is clearly not enough from the amount of users experiencing the same issue. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised to have eaten several crates of snickers.. Merry Christmas.

[Bennett H.]

Andy, have you tried contacting Dropbox billing to see if they will refund your year's subscription?  At least one other person on this thread tried that, and they said that Dropbox refused to refund their money.  I haven't bothered trying yet, since I'm on vacation (happy holidays by the way!) and don't want to get tied up with something that's just going to aggravate me, but I want to at least try when I get home.

[Andy T.12]

Hi Bennett,

I've just emailed Dropbox support, I should get a refund as I live within the European Union and they're legally required to issue me one within 14 days!

https://help.dropbox.com/billing/refund

"if you live in the European Union, you can cancel your Pro subscription within 14 days of upgrading or opening a paid account, and you’ll get a refund for the amount you paid Dropbox."

Real shame about Dropbox, no wonder why Carousel and Mail apps are shutting down. Now I need to research OneDrive or Google Drive..

[Nicole V.9]

I kind of wish I had paid attention to when I started uploading this one file via the basic file uploader on the site, but I hadn't. All I can say is that I've been at home for 2 hours and reading through this thread and still can't get the new folder to upload. I just tried the basic uploader again at 10:15pm CST. It's a 4.48MB PDF. I'll let you know when/if it uploads.

What I find amusing is the reason I switched from Google Drive to Dropbox was that when I was accessing my school files, it would take forever for Google Drive to download them to the school computer and would do it in such a random order that I couldn't get any work done. Dropbox downloaded the files really fast. I guess because I wasn't making huge changes, I never noticed the slow(er) upload speed. It only came to my attention when I tried to add my 986MB folder of knitting pattern PDFs last night. And what makes me so determined to get this folder working on Dropbox is that I have very little school stuff living on my Dropbox and that would need to be accessed at school. My favorite knitting app works with Dropbox to keep your place in your pattern and I wanted to try it. So much for that idea... I should have just stuck with my original method of emailing the files to myself and opening them on the app on my iPad. Clearly, it's much faster.

[Ed]

Hi Nicole

Can you try uploading your files through the desktop client instead of the website?

[Jocelyn R.1]

It's been mentioned and proven many times already in this thread.  Desktop client or website are both equally slow.

Don't waste your time Nicole

[Nicole V.9]

Jocelyn - I first came across the issue when using the desktop client.  That's how I ended up finding this thread.  It's my preferred method of uploading new files because it only requires me to save in the right folder.  The uploading is (usually) automatic.

It tried to upload 404 files(986MB) for about 24 hours with varying estimates of time remaining (anywhere from an hour to 10 days) with nothing being uploaded.  I just started the desktop client again and am having the same results. This is all after doing all the recommended troubleshooting steps.