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Good download accelerator?
- Thread starter Scorch07
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Remember you can't download faster than your net speed. If you aren't getting maximum download speeds then (if it is cable internet, not ADSL) peak times will result in slower speeds. Or there is another application hogging the internet (i.e. Bit Torrent).
With Safari and Firefox, I always get maximum download speeds (assuming the server at the other end has available bandwidth).
Download accelerators are a load of rubbish.
With Safari and Firefox, I always get maximum download speeds (assuming the server at the other end has available bandwidth).
Download accelerators are a load of rubbish.
DownThemAll! (DTA) is a great Firefox extension that has features like flashgot (it can find all links in one page and download them.)
It's great for pausing/resuming downloads.
As Kilamite said, you can't speed up downloads past your max limit, but if you do have fast internet, they usually help (by opening multiple connections to the server) and the pause/resume feature is always handy if your internet disconnects.
It's great for pausing/resuming downloads.
As Kilamite said, you can't speed up downloads past your max limit, but if you do have fast internet, they usually help (by opening multiple connections to the server) and the pause/resume feature is always handy if your internet disconnects.
Ditto Kilamite, it is also true on PCs. What did WellGet do? Most of those download accelerators only work if there is a torrent-like component of dividing up files from different locations. But they are worthless when you are trying to get one file from one site.
Download accelerators a certainly not a load or rubbish, though the accelerate part is probably overstated. Better to think of them as download managers supporting advanced features. Though they are only useful if you ever download large files.
Think of the internet like the British train system, a leaf gets on the track and everything grinds to a halt.. A download util will open multiple connections to the same server which means if one of the connections slows then the others can take the slack and that one of the connections is always going to be limited by you internet connection rather that the internet.
Of course this can vary differently depending of what you are downloading and from where. If the server at the other end is the bottle neck a manger will do nothing.
DownThemAll (There is nothing called DownloadThemAll ;-) )is a nice Firefox extension but It's just not a good as a proper download manger, it often restarts downloads when it should not and claims certain sites cannot resume when I can resume fine with other software.
I have yet to find a decent manager on the Mac, but then I rarely download a lot so I put up with DownThemAll. If you ever use windows try ReGet, above all others it really does speed downloads considerably when possible, but don't expect to be able to browse in the background! It really grabs all the available bandwidth and uses it (if configured correctly and yes you can configure it to leave a bit for browsing etc)).
Any good Mac Download manager recommendations would be welcomed, more comments saying they are pointless would not ;-)
Of course these are my views with my experience and connection, your as always may vary!
Think of the internet like the British train system, a leaf gets on the track and everything grinds to a halt.. A download util will open multiple connections to the same server which means if one of the connections slows then the others can take the slack and that one of the connections is always going to be limited by you internet connection rather that the internet.
Of course this can vary differently depending of what you are downloading and from where. If the server at the other end is the bottle neck a manger will do nothing.
DownThemAll (There is nothing called DownloadThemAll ;-) )is a nice Firefox extension but It's just not a good as a proper download manger, it often restarts downloads when it should not and claims certain sites cannot resume when I can resume fine with other software.
I have yet to find a decent manager on the Mac, but then I rarely download a lot so I put up with DownThemAll. If you ever use windows try ReGet, above all others it really does speed downloads considerably when possible, but don't expect to be able to browse in the background! It really grabs all the available bandwidth and uses it (if configured correctly and yes you can configure it to leave a bit for browsing etc)).
Any good Mac Download manager recommendations would be welcomed, more comments saying they are pointless would not ;-)
Of course these are my views with my experience and connection, your as always may vary!
The Scoop on download accelerators
Lets say you have a broadband connection that gives you top download speed of 700kbs per second... top speed.
No matter what download tool you use, you will not be able to surpass that cap.
However, if the server your downloading from only serves the the file at 100kbs per second, per connection, that is to say that the sever will cap the speed per connection to reserve bandwidth for other users, you could use a download accelerator to open, say 5 connections to that file, thus giving you download speeds of 500kbps per second.
Or
Some download accelerators/managers will let you specify more that one server with the file resides, and will download parts of the file from many different servers. This method is the easiest way to reach the top speed of your connection.
Personally I find download accelerators a wast of time these days.
Back in the dialup days these tools were a god send.. now.. really who needs em.
I mean most servers are now using fiber, and most user have some type of broadband connection.
A couple of tips for you that some of you old dogs will think is crazy.
Years ago, we were told to pick mirrors closest to your physical location to get optimal speeds. This was because years ago most people used dialup and connections degraded after traveling through miles and miles of copper lines.
However today the opposite is true.
If you the option of picking a download server in the UK or Australia, or overseas in general, USE IT!! Most of them are are fiber links, and you will have no problem getting your top speed from them.
Lets say you have a broadband connection that gives you top download speed of 700kbs per second... top speed.
No matter what download tool you use, you will not be able to surpass that cap.
However, if the server your downloading from only serves the the file at 100kbs per second, per connection, that is to say that the sever will cap the speed per connection to reserve bandwidth for other users, you could use a download accelerator to open, say 5 connections to that file, thus giving you download speeds of 500kbps per second.
Or
Some download accelerators/managers will let you specify more that one server with the file resides, and will download parts of the file from many different servers. This method is the easiest way to reach the top speed of your connection.
Personally I find download accelerators a wast of time these days.
Back in the dialup days these tools were a god send.. now.. really who needs em.
I mean most servers are now using fiber, and most user have some type of broadband connection.
A couple of tips for you that some of you old dogs will think is crazy.
Years ago, we were told to pick mirrors closest to your physical location to get optimal speeds. This was because years ago most people used dialup and connections degraded after traveling through miles and miles of copper lines.
However today the opposite is true.
If you the option of picking a download server in the UK or Australia, or overseas in general, USE IT!! Most of them are are fiber links, and you will have no problem getting your top speed from them.
Faster download speed?
Get faster internet - nothing can really help increase speed, only manage what you are downloading.
Get faster internet - nothing can really help increase speed, only manage what you are downloading.
Leech
http://manytricks.com/leech/
Not free, but it is only $12.91. It is a great download manager (with accelerator abilities). I use it myself... I have not found anything better, so...
http://manytricks.com/leech/
Not free, but it is only $12.91. It is a great download manager (with accelerator abilities). I use it myself... I have not found anything better, so...
Ignorance is bliss, eh.
My ISP (Cablecom Switzerland) limits the bandwith for avi & similar media files, even if I'd have a 20Mbit connection.
The only way to overcome this issue is using multiple download connections.
Best possibility to do this is:
- Get Aget (http://www.enderunix.org/aget) or Axel (http://axel.alioth.debian.org)
- Combine with FlashGot (http://flashgot.net)
Price: 0$
Cheers
My ISP (Cablecom Switzerland) limits the bandwith for avi & similar media files, even if I'd have a 20Mbit connection.
The only way to overcome this issue is using multiple download connections.
Best possibility to do this is:
- Get Aget (http://www.enderunix.org/aget) or Axel (http://axel.alioth.debian.org)
- Combine with FlashGot (http://flashgot.net)
Price: 0$
Cheers
Well I'm happily using Speed Download 5 from Yazsoft (http://yazsoft.com/products/speed-download/information/ ). Not sure about tying in with Firefox though .. I stick to Safari myself
I like to de-couple my downloading from Firefox, since it's still kinda crashy for me. Easy & free: Flashgot extension for Firefox + cURL. cURL is, I think, installed by default on OS X. If it's not, you can get it through MacPorts.
This doesn't provide anything in the way of managing my downloads once they're started, but downloading 10+ items at once is far less resource-intensive with 10+ cURL sessions running in the background than having Firefox handle them.
This doesn't provide anything in the way of managing my downloads once they're started, but downloading 10+ items at once is far less resource-intensive with 10+ cURL sessions running in the background than having Firefox handle them.
Well I'm happily using Speed Download 5 from Yazsoft (http://yazsoft.com/products/speed-download/information/ ). Not sure about tying in with Firefox though .. I stick to Safari myself
SD5 is working pretty well for me. I had started downloading Dragon Age around 2pm monday through Chrome, and it stalled out around 7pm, only halfway through. I was annoyed. Safari wasn't much better, but SD5 has been utilizing everything much more efficiently than the browsers were.
Too bad its only a trial version! I hope I don't have any particularly large downloads in the future.