swallowmeinsf
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- Sep 6, 2009
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So many members report problems with the various file hosting sites (Hotfile, Fileserve, Filesonic, etc.). Nonfunctioning captchas, hanging in limbo, slow downloads, etc.
I've been watching reports from members about these issues for some time, so I decided to do a test.
First, I logged on through my home system, went to Gayheaven, and picked posts with links to the various file hosting sites. I have a 3 mbps connection through AT&T. I measured difficulty of access, response time, and tried to test as many of the problems members are reporting. I tried to include all the filesharing services commonly used by members.
Results varied slightly, but I got access to all the filesharing sites, all captchas were accepted, and download speeds ranged from 25 kps to 350 kps (AT&T is generous with giving me some extra speed if it's available and the host server is dishing it out), depending on the filesharing service.
I DID discover that you can get that endless loop of invalid captchas if you are a free user trying to download something before your "interval" is up (the time you must wait between downloads). In that situation, only some of the sites bring up a message like "You have to wait 35 minutes until your next download". Some offer no clue as to why the captchas are not working. The most outrageous intervals seem to be on Oron, up to four hours.
As most everybody has figured out by now, all your downloads move a lot faster in the off-peak hours (nighttime through early morning).
Second, I moved to another computer at a different location; one which had a 1.5 mbps connection, which was provided by an obscure ISP (Internet Service Provider).
I conducted the exact same tests. The results were dramatically different. Captchas were often rejected no matter what was typed in,
countdowns were longer, and sometimes when they reached zero returned to the previous screen in order to start the whole process over. Download speeds were much slower, way below the 1.5 mbps that the connection could handle, sometimes as slow as dial-up speed.
I'm making a guess here, but it's beginning to look like the filesharing sites are favoring the big service providers, at the expense of the little ones. Another explanation could be that many little obscure ISP's have internal software and communications problems unknown to users, and are being operated on the cheap. The filesharing sites may know that, and deliberately reduce access in order to prevent unexpected errors.
Truly, you do get what you pay for.
It would be interesting to discover whether subscribers to AT&T, Comcast and Warner Cable are getting better service from the filesharing sites than users who don't use a major ISP.
If I'm on the right track, and those sites are favoring the big guys, it might just be because they know there aren't going to be any problems.
If I'm on the wrong track, then I'm obviously walking down the garden path.
I've been watching reports from members about these issues for some time, so I decided to do a test.
First, I logged on through my home system, went to Gayheaven, and picked posts with links to the various file hosting sites. I have a 3 mbps connection through AT&T. I measured difficulty of access, response time, and tried to test as many of the problems members are reporting. I tried to include all the filesharing services commonly used by members.
Results varied slightly, but I got access to all the filesharing sites, all captchas were accepted, and download speeds ranged from 25 kps to 350 kps (AT&T is generous with giving me some extra speed if it's available and the host server is dishing it out), depending on the filesharing service.
I DID discover that you can get that endless loop of invalid captchas if you are a free user trying to download something before your "interval" is up (the time you must wait between downloads). In that situation, only some of the sites bring up a message like "You have to wait 35 minutes until your next download". Some offer no clue as to why the captchas are not working. The most outrageous intervals seem to be on Oron, up to four hours.
As most everybody has figured out by now, all your downloads move a lot faster in the off-peak hours (nighttime through early morning).
Second, I moved to another computer at a different location; one which had a 1.5 mbps connection, which was provided by an obscure ISP (Internet Service Provider).
I conducted the exact same tests. The results were dramatically different. Captchas were often rejected no matter what was typed in,
countdowns were longer, and sometimes when they reached zero returned to the previous screen in order to start the whole process over. Download speeds were much slower, way below the 1.5 mbps that the connection could handle, sometimes as slow as dial-up speed.
I'm making a guess here, but it's beginning to look like the filesharing sites are favoring the big service providers, at the expense of the little ones. Another explanation could be that many little obscure ISP's have internal software and communications problems unknown to users, and are being operated on the cheap. The filesharing sites may know that, and deliberately reduce access in order to prevent unexpected errors.
Truly, you do get what you pay for.
It would be interesting to discover whether subscribers to AT&T, Comcast and Warner Cable are getting better service from the filesharing sites than users who don't use a major ISP.
If I'm on the right track, and those sites are favoring the big guys, it might just be because they know there aren't going to be any problems.
If I'm on the wrong track, then I'm obviously walking down the garden path.
