Anyone know why my FTP speeds have plummeted?

CBI Web

Well-known member
I bought a Windows 7 laptop a few weeks ago, and this week has been the first time since getting it that I've done a lot of FTP'ing, working with 3 clients. The problem is I'm seeing mega slow transfers; we're talking as low as 0.08kBps that never gets better. I have done some tweaking with my firewall, which seems to have improved things to the point of it being usable, but it still takes 3-4 hours to upload files for a forum! And there are numerous timeouts where I have to just shut everything down and walk away before I do something rash.

This happens on WS_FTP, FileZilla and SmartFTP, so it can't be the software. I talked to my ISP, and there's nothing stopping me on that end. And right now I've been uploading some files for the past 90 minutes, and they go in sporadic groups. That is, 20 or so files will go like lightning, then stops for a minute or two, then another group transfers super fast. Over and over.

What in the name of the binary gods is going on??
 
It's the ftp server, not the client.
check the settings and make sure there is no limit on transfer rate / bandwidth / size
 
FTP server? All I have here are the three software programs that I mentioned. I upload to the host servers of my website clients. But transfer rates, bandwidth, etc. has always been wide open.
 
FTP server? All I have here are the three software programs that I mentioned. I upload to the host servers of my website clients. But transfer rates, bandwidth, etc. has always been wide open.

your client servers need to be checked
 
Where are the servers located? I have had issues with sites that was routed through Dallas. Sometimes they were slow, sometimes no response. Sites that I accessed that were not routed through Dallas I have had no issues.
 
Actually, one of them is indeed right in Dallas itself; and it's the site I've been trying to upload to all night.
The other one is in Washington D.C.
Third one is in Lansing, Michigan.

But the Dallas one has been the absolute worst.
 
have you tried another machine? if the problem doesn't go away, most likely the problem is with the ftp server
 
My 2nd machine went to heaven last week. The only other one I have is my Mac, which isn't set up for any sort of web design work other than testing in browsers. ...and not networked, lol (lots of changes going on here lately). I'll have to install an FTP client, then put some files on CD and load them into the Mac to try I guess. But that's okay, I don't have anything to do other than the 10,000 items on my list. :D
 
"ping -t" for a few/several minutes, or tracert several times.

I had a local router in the isp that was erratic to the point of changing isp providers.

That would be my first thought anyway.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Dean. I'll see what happens.

I can't help thinking there's something about Win7 that's different with FTP. With XP I never had a single problem with any server in any FTP client for all the years I've been designing; even with 98se and 95 I never such horrible transfer rates. Suddenly, with Win7, it goes deep south.
 
CHECK WITH YOUR ISP. IF 3 SERVERS ALL 3 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, ALL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. ITS MOST LIKELY YOUR ISP OR PERSONAL COMPUTER.

UNLESS YOU DID A FUNNY INSTALL OF WIN7, OR TWEAKED AN ODD SETTING IT'S NOT A WIN7 PROBLEM. I'VE USED WIN 7 ON NUMEROUS COMPUTERS AND NEVER HAD UPLOAD ISSUES OUTSIDE THE REALM OF CRAPPY DSL SERVICE :MAD:
 
You're on a crappy internet connection that is supposed to be good and that you pay a ton for? Oh wait, that's just me. :P I hate doing any file transfers when I'm working on my current internet connection. :(
 
Alrighty then.... here's a new twist.... since I posted this topic, for the first time in days my transfers have vastly improved. Actually, I believe the real change came after trying Dean's "ping -t" suggestion. Files are flying out of here like like crazy now - except for .png and .jpg images. It takes two or three minutes for them to go; they start out okay for the first few bytes, and then nothing for a few minutes, after which they suddenly take off. Once I get past a batch of .png and/or .jpg images, every other file type flies like lightning (including .gif).
 
Top Bottom