Downloading issues

[caliente]

I'm having lots of issues downloading files. I don't hardly know where to start...

I have a wireless ISP, since I live way out in the boonies. But it works reasonably well and the company is reliable and helpful. They have come out and checked several times and also checked from their end and said there are no problems, except for the distance from the antenna, which may or may not be the problem.

I used to be able to download with no problems, it would take a while, usually at least an hour for a film, sometimes 2 or more hours. But it was manageable. My download speed is usually 250-300 kps, not great but better than dial-up.

A few months ago, it began pausing in the middle of downloads. Everything would be great, then suddenly the download would be paused. Using Chrome, I never new anything but try to start over, always with the same result. However, a month or so ago I discovered if I used Firefox I could hit the pause button, then resume and everything would work fine. It was a pain, but workable.

I kept getting messages that I needed to upgrade my Firefox, and this morning I finally did so, to Firefox 30.0 (by the way, I use a Mac). It's a nice upgrade. I think the one I had been using was very old. But now I have discovered there is no pause button on the downloads. The first download I tried with it, it paused and there was nothing to do but cancel and restart. I want to scream. I've searched how to restart broken downloads in Firefox 30.0 but have found nothing.

The problem does not seem to be quantity of downloads or that it is porn. The same thing happens if I am downloading apps and programs (it even did it while downloading Firefox). And my ISP insists there is no reason why there should be pauses. I actually suspect the problem is with my Mac's wifi. I went out and bought an Airport Extreme to see if that would resolve the problem but no luck.

Mostly what I want now is just to find out how to resume a download in Firefox 30.0, or in Safari or Chrome. I can live with the pauses if I can resume afterwards.

One more note, the resume did not work with most free movie downloads, only premium member ones I had joined, like Filesmonster. But that was better than nothing I thought. Now I have nothing....

Thanks my friends if you can help. I fell like I need to move!

 

[caliente]

Aha!!! I found how to pause downloads in Firefox 30.0 for Mac. There is no button visible at first, but if you open up the download progress and right click, you will see the pause option! Success! Now I can go back to sporadically downloading....

 

[caliente]

Can I bring this up again and add to it? I'm getting frustrated with downloading films which used to be a breeze for me. Let me try to describe my problems....

First of all, my internet speed isn't great, it varies widely, usually between 2 and 3 Mbps, though sometimes less. It's a wireless internet service provider because I live way out in the country. I've talked with them (they are a small company and easy to reach) and they say there are no problems at their end, they don't block or limit their service. When they test my signal they say it's fine, though I'm sort of a long way from the towers and there are a lot of trees. However, I think sometimes maybe I lose service for brief seconds occasionally, though I'm not sure why, maybe the trees block the signal.

Ok, here is what happens at my end. I will be downloading a film, only with Filesmonster because it's the only one that works for me. It works, with speeds usually in the 100-300KB/sec though sometimes a bit higher. But at times it stops. By stopping, I mean it looks like it's frozen, the minutes and download speed don't change. Using Filesmonster premium I can pause then resume the download, which is why I use it and can't use a free service. However, it usually takes hours to download anything over 1G. Anything over 1.5G usually quits completely and acts like it's done, but it hasn't really downloaded the entire film. It will play, but not to the end. There doesn't seem to be any way to finish a download that it thinks is finished.

Ok, questions.... does anybody know what is up with all this? I never used to have a problem but in the past half year or so it cropped up suddenly. I have tried new routers and am using an Apple one now with my iMac. I wondered if the problem was with the iMac but it seems to happen also with my old laptop (which I don't use much). Also it happens when I wire the iMac directly to the internet. So it seems to be the internet, but I don't know how to solve it, if there is a way. At the very least, is there any way to finish a download that the computer believes is finished but isn't? I could handle the slow speed if I knew that the download would be complete at the end of the wait.

Thanks.

 

[caliente]

I forgot to mention also another symptom of the problem. If I sit at the computer and babysit the download I can catch it when it freezes, pause it then restart it. If I step away for a while, say maybe an hour, I'll come back and it will say "failed." But I can restart it at that point. But either way, if it gets close to 1GB it might look like the download is finished when it's not. This happens if I'm watching it or away and sometimes when it hasn't downloaded much at all but usually when its over .9GB, sometimes closer to 2. I haven't been able to download a 3GB film since this started in the spring. And it's not just porn and also happens with iTunes movies and such.

 

[frontlemon]

If you are using firefox try using downthemall.
If you have a spare computer, format it install the os anew and try to download a large file from a website that supports download resuming (try to download files other than videos).
If the problem persists, then its most likely that the server/ap/router of your ISP or as you have mentioned "I think sometimes maybe I lose service for brief seconds occasionally, though I'm not sure why, maybe the trees block the signal" causes a timeout. If that's the case, then a possible solution is to go for a high gain wireless receiver, or a new ISP.

 

[caliente]

thanks frontlemon, I've been gone for a week, but when I get back to normal I'm going to try that. I appreciate your input.