Site and download very slow

[Neilski]

@Neilski - are you able to generate a link that tests against the i3D server?

Sadly, I have tried but failed to figure out a way to do that. Not convinced it's possible but would be thrilled if someone can solve it

Edit: thanks for the speed update - this is exactly what I hope should happen for Premium users even at busy times. Your broadband is much faster than mine though, so there are limits to how much of it I can test

 

[RasmusP]

Premium:

Non-Premium:

i3D Rotterdam:
222.32 Mbps (~20 Megabyte per second)

Premium-prioritization seems to work. However I'd sacrifice 2 MB/s to give the Non-Premium download at least 1 MB/s

Started a few more of them (sorry whoever wants to download something for real right now...):

Premium:

Non-Premium:

 

[Neilski]

Premium-prioritization seems to work. However I'd sacrifice 2 MB/s to give the Non-Premium download at least 1 MB/s

Many thanks for the tests Rasmus. And I'm afraid you'd need to sacrifice a LOT more than you think, because there are a LOOOOOOT more non-Premium downloads than Premium downloads...

Started a few more of them (sorry whoever wants to download something for real right now...):

Interesting. This set of results probably means that I do still have some more head-scratching to do. I can't explain why your second download pic (i.e. the one with (3) in the name) was getting less than 2 MB/s (assuming it came soon after the first one?), given that the i3D Speedtest server was getting good speeds. This tallies with some weirdness that I've been seeing myself, but have been unable to reproduce reliably. (It's just conceivable that a bunch of other Premium users started downloads while you were testing of course, in which case the per-download speed would suffer somewhat.)

Consistent-looking non-Premium speeds though, which is somewhat reassuring (if a meagre 1 Mbit/s each, but that's Sunday afternoons for you).

 

[RasmusP]

Many thanks for the tests Rasmus. And I'm afraid you'd need to sacrifice a LOT more than you think, because there are a LOOOOOOT more non-Premium downloads than Premium downloads...

Yeah I guessed so too

I can't explain why your second download pic (i.e. the one with (3) in the name) was getting less than 2 MB/s (assuming it came soon after the first one?), given that the i3D Speedtest server was getting good speeds.

You do see the 6,2 MB/s below in the same screenshot?
It's misleading, I agree... I cut off the blue bar, sorry...
But it's actually 7.9 MB/s for my premium download! I just didn't get another 6+ MB/s for a parallel download

Interesting though that non-premium got me 100-200 KB/s no matter if I ran a single download or 3 in parallel. Meaning the restriction is per download, not per IP?

 

[Neilski]

Yeah I guessed so too

You do see the 6,2 MB/s below in the same screenshot?
It's misleading, I agree... I cut off the blue bar, sorry...
But it's actually 7.9 MB/s for my premium download! I just didn't get another 6+ MB/s for a parallel download

Interesting though that non-premium got me 100-200 KB/s no matter if I ran a single download or 3 in parallel. Meaning the restriction is per download, not per IP?

Ahh OK thanks I wasn't sure which (if any) were in parallel.
The control is per download at present, yes; doing it per IP has attractions and may happen at some point but it's rather more grief because you don't want to make it hard to read the forums while performing downloads (nor indeed make it slower to read the forums for non-Premium users). This should of course have meant that all of the parallel Premium downloads would get the same speed... so yeah, some wrinkles to find and iron out.

Edit: after a couple of quick tests I've just remembered that the browser doing the downloads can do some speed prioritisation too. For added fun (!!) Firefox and Chrome seem to handle this differently, but in essence the browser may decide that the downloads can all be maxed out in parallel (e.g. fast pipe and fast server) in which case they will probably get equal speed, OR that the aggregate rate of the parallel downloads is being restricted in some way (slow pipe and/or slow server) in which case it can prioritise one of them (e.g. the first) which will let that one finish first, and then it'll move on to the next one. IIRC Chrome more or less stalled the non-prioritised download(s) in my previous set of testing, while Firefox seems less aggressive (my tests just now were in Firefox). But it's just another wonderful set of variables to throw into the soup of working out whether the system "works"

 

[RasmusP]

Trying union island right now in Edge/Chrome/Firefox with non-premium and/or multiple downloads in parallel:
150 KB/s each download, no matter what.

Trying premium in Edge:
2.2 MB/s

Starting a second instance:
2.2 MB/s + 95 KB/s

Looks like Edge is even more aggressive than Chrome!

Firefox:
1 instance = 1.5 MB/s
2 instances = 1.5 MB/s + 35 KB/s

whelp...

Starting one instance in Firefox, Chrome and Edge each at the same time:
Edge = 3.7 MB/s
Firefox = 2.7 MB/s
Chrome = 2.2 MB/s

No idea what that means, but it is what it is

 

[Neilski]

No idea what that means, but it is what it is

Thanks - useful info!
Will ponder it a bit more to see if I can explain it all, and in fact we should probably take this to a PM

 

[Pablastick]

The work that is currently under way is intended to accomplish two things in particular:

1. prevent high demand for downloads from causing the main website (forums etc.) to become unresponsive
2. for downloads, provide preferential treatment for Premium members

This will improve the overall site experience for all users at peak times. However, it will obviously make downloads for non-Premium users slower when the site's bandwidth is at full capacity.
For non-Premium users, the simple answer for getting good download speeds will still be to download at off-peak times (e.g. morning for western Europe).

Are there any news? Because the website feels very responsive but the download speed caps at 130kb/s even though there shouldnt be a cap?
Thanks in advance

 

[Neilski]

Are there any news? Because the website feels very responsive but the download speed caps at 130kb/s even though there shouldnt be a cap?
Thanks in advance

Not sure why you mean by "shouldn't be a cap" - the site bandwidth is limited and it's shared between many users.
This post has some useful background info, and yes there have been some updates since my last post in this thread - essentially both #1 and #2 in my post above are now in place.

If you mean 130 kB/s (B for Byte, b for bit) then yes this is the kind of download speed that you will probably experience at peak times as a non-Premium member (it's roughly 1 Mb/s). If you really do mean 130 kb/s then something else is going on (again, see the background info post I have linked above).

 

[stroopwafelz]

hi, im using RaceDepartment for a few weeks now but the download speeds are so incredibly low....
normally i have 35 MB/s and on steam it is 40MB/s

here it is arounds 150KB/s....
does someone know why this is? is it a problem on my end or the websites?

thanks in advance,

 

[4ph3x]

This is hilarious.... back to 1995. Most of the time I get these speeds, only at RD.

 

[Austin Jackson]

So I've been linked to forums and forums and forums about this issue going back 8 years from now and still the same issue reoccurs regularly? Why am I getting linked to other forums for solutions that dont contain solutions and only excuses? I'm literally only posting this because this is the 3rd link ive clicked to a 20 page thread that tells me nothing, and all im doing is waiting for this 200mb zip file to install.

Every other site steams, download fast like normal. race deparment does not. literally caps at 152kbps

 

[PolyGone]

Ridiculously slow download speed here also on a 350 Mbps connection.

 

[Neilski]

So I've been linked to forums and forums and forums about this issue going back 8 years from now and still the same issue reoccurs regularly?

I think this thread has outlived its usefulness, because it covers a whole bunch of different issues, but I get that people don't want to read hundreds of posts. A simple explanation in post #1 would probably work, and we need to get that sorted.

Why am I getting linked to other forums for solutions that dont contain solutions and only excuses?

Not at all sure what you mean about being linked to other forums, but see below.

literally caps at 152kbps

Ridiculously slow download speed here also on a 350 Mbps connection.

If you are getting around 150 kB/s (a little over 1 Mb/s) then either it's peak time on our server (and you aren't a Premium member) or there's something wrong with the network connection between you and us. Most of the people having problems recently have indeed been non-Premium users downloading at peak times (our server has limited bandwidth). However, sometimes there are network issues involved and thus a small number of users wouldn't be able to take advantage of the faster downloads available to Premium members anyway.

Bottom line is that at present you have two solutions available to you: either download at off-peak times or try upgrading to Premium (you can get a month for the princely sum of €2.99 to try it out).

 

[hydrolovesl2]

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[kudabalap]

Hi, im new in this games and mod stuff about the AC, so i just want to download Pacific Coast Highway, but my speed is terribly bad, instead im trying to download on steam and theres no problem there, can somebody give me a solution?

I got all the extras from the creator website / phoenix ..., but i just realize i have to login / reg to be able to download the mods, but sadly im downloading it over hour and always be failed.

 

[Shamaa]

I'm getting really slow download speed on racedepartment (like 20kbp/s) however if I download a mod elsewhere like a megafile then it's goes back to normal downloading speeds.

Anyone know how I can fix this?

 

[RasmusP]

Hi, im new in this games and mod stuff about the AC, so i just want to download Pacific Coast Highway, but my speed is terribly bad, instead im trying to download on steam and theres no problem there, can somebody give me a solution?

I got all the extras from the creator website / phoenix ..., but i just realize i have to login / reg to be able to download the mods, but sadly im downloading it over hour and always be failed.

You were trying to download at one of the busiest time frames for the RD servers:
Saturday night for Europeans.

Try to download again at times when not "every European is at home and having free time".

 

[RasmusP]

I'm getting really slow download speed on racedepartment (like 20kbp/s) however if I download a mod elsewhere like a megafile then it's goes back to normal downloading speeds.

Anyone know how I can fix this?

1) buy premium, should help since a few months now

2) download at not so busy times for Europeans

Have a read here, you're not alone:

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/site-and-download-very-slow.161486/

 

[sovietgus]

Sunday evening in Europe, website download at 30kb/s