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[glynor]

My Internets has been particularly crappy of late, since we had a big thunderstorm two or three weeks ago which shook the trees that hold up the phone line that goes to our cabin (seriously).  

I realize this isn't your fault. However, I managed to update to 20.0.90 yesterday after I'd had some trouble with the previous build I'd been running over the weekend. It only took 45 minutes to download the build (which was a victory in its own right). After this, I had an immense amount of trouble getting it to download the required ROHQ files to allow the new build to play video. I'm pretty sure it kept timing out before the download completed. My internet was "working" (such as it is) and I could load webpages and whatnot, including JRiver's, but the download within MC failed 11 times before it finally took (on one of my three machines). My laptop I can update while I'm at work, so no big deal there, but my server still isn't able to play video.

A couple things:

• Maybe you should increase that timeout a bit, or something? It looked like it was just giving up after a set period of time, and that period of time was set by someone who has Internet access that works okay.
• Can I download them manually from a particular URL and install them myself so that I don't have to go through MC (and can resume the downloads when they screw up and copy them to my other machines)? What is the URL?

Thanks.

PS. Sorry I've been MIA. Been crazy busy at work so no time for Interact there, and busy trying to buy land/build a new house when away from work, plus my Internets doesn't like to Internet (see above).

[Hendrik]

• Maybe you should increase that timeout a bit, or something? It looked like it was just giving up after a set period of time, and that period of time was set by someone who has Internet access that works okay.

Timeouts only catch on if there is no activity whatsoever (ie. its stalled), not when its just slow to download. Not sure increasing those is such a good idea, as it can hurt in other ways (and they already are at 20 seconds, which is pretty long for a stalled connection)

• Can I download them manually from a particular URL and install them myself so that I don't have to go through MC (and can resume the downloads when they screw up and copy them to my other machines)? What is the URL?

No, MC will always try to download it if its internal records say it still needs it, no matter which files are there.

Personally I don't think assuming a basic internet connection is too much to ask these days. You should go yell at someone about that.

[JimH]

How about investigating a mobile phone Internet connection?  Or satellite?

[glynor]

How about investigating a mobile phone Internet connection?  Or satellite?

Unfortunately, our cellular service is pretty cruddy here too, at least inside the house. That is how I get some things to download here and there in a pinch, but I can't get my whole network online that way. I have to do each machine one at a time, and usually I have to physically move the PC in question to get more than 1 "bar" of service on my phone. Where the HTPC sits I have no service at all.

I'm not installing satellite (which is awful too) in a rental we only have till October 1.

Timeouts only catch on if there is no activity whatsoever (ie. its stalled), not when its just slow to download. Not sure increasing those is such a good idea, as it can hurt in other ways (and they already are at 20 seconds, which is pretty long for a stalled connection)

That pretty much explains it then. I regularly see stalls that long when downloading any sizable file. I think the issue is that my modem loses sync periodically and has to re-sync. This takes 45-60 seconds. Once that finishes, it usually picks up and I get between 600kbps and 1mbps down for a bit.

Some days the DSL works decently. Some days it doesn't.

I'm sure most of the problems are on our (private) lane, which would be the landlord's responsibility, not the phone company's, so they only go so far. I can't really very well complain to the landlord as we're getting this place for a month for roughly the price they could charge for 3-4 days (this season, anyway). And they're next to us on the same lane with the same DSL (which is "fine" for their needs).

I might call and demand a new modem, just to see if that'll make it better. It does get better when I reboot it (for a bit), so perhaps that's a big hunk of the issue.

In any case, thanks for the responses. I'll just try-try-try again for now, I suppose.

[mojave]

The latest release at the top of the beta board includes LAV filters. Download that and madVR from any wifi connection and you will be good to go. Paste madVR into the Plugins folder. Can you download at work or park outside a McDonald's for a minute with a laptop or smart phone?

[jgreen]

Glynster, using  Firefox + DownThemAll, add to your queue and let DTA worry about dealing with your slow connection.  Might take overnight, but your blood pressure will thank you for it!!

 

[syndromeofadown]

For the last decade I have had either terrible slow expensive internet, or none at all.
There is now cell service where I live so now I have fast internet. It's just really expensive.

I think your best option is to use a cell phone as a hotspot. You can get a cell phone booster from RadioShack for 150 that should work for a portion of your home.

Other options would be:
- Don't update MC
- Use a portable install
- Take your HTPC to work once in a while for updates

I used a program called IDM Internet Download Manager for all downloads because it typically resumes when downloads fail.
It can also download utube videos since it would take me an hour with all the buffering to watch a 3 minute video.