Difference between Downloading and Syncing

[Alina9]

We typically send large files through Dropbox, but have recently been banned (and resolved) due to bandwidth limits. One of the solutions offered by a Dropbox team member was to share the folder with the client, rather than share a link for them to download.

Could someone explain the difference between downloading from a share link and syncing a shared folder with respect to the bandwidth ban? If the client is shared on the folder, does the bandwidth limit still apply if they still need to download it through the browser rather than syncing?

[Hannah]

Hey @Alina9, welcome to our Community!

The sharing bandwidth limitations have more to do with shared links or file requests.

When you share a folder with someone, the folder gets added (synced) to their account and does not use any of your daily bandwidth.

You can read more about banned links here.

Let me know if you have any questions!

[Alina9]

Hi Hannah! Thanks for the reply. Just so I'm clear, is there any sort of bandwidth limitation when downloading a shared folder from the browser? Reason I ask is because a lot of times our files/folders are 500GB or more, not something that people can typically house on their computer, so they download from the browser directly to a hard drive, rather than syncing to their desktop.

Thank you for your help!

[Jay]

Hi @Alina9, t​​​​​​There are no bandwidth limits to having shared folders. Bear in mind that shared folders are added to a user's Dropbox account, and do take up quota. So, if the folder is 500 GB, then the other members of the shared folder would need paid accounts to be able to store the folder on their account.

The shared folders would also sync to their machines with the Dropbox desktop application. However, on paid plans, Smart Sync can be used to prevent the hard drive space from being taken up.

[Alina9]

Hi Jay! Thank you for your response. That does make sense that shared folders take up space on their dropbox account, so they would need to have at least enough space to house the folder.

What I am not understanding, is if a user that is on a shared folder (with plenty of space on their account) is taking up any bandwidth at all downloading that shared folder from a browser rather than syncing directly to their dropbox app. I just need to know from a Dropbox representative what counts toward the bandwidth ban and what does not.

Thank you!!

[Jay · Accepted solution]

The only things that contribute to the daily bandwidth limit is downloading or viewing files from a shared link on the Dropbox site, and uploading files via a file request.