iTunes Downloads taking Forever

RSLancastr

www.StopSylvia.com
RSLancastr
Joined
Sep 7, 2001
Messages
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Location
Salem, Oregon
ITUNES DOWNLOAD ISSUE

Okay, it has been a while since I have purchased/downloaded an album from the iTunes Store, but last night I

tried to purhase & download a couple of 'em, and am having problems.

First, I searched for Paul Simon's Graceland. I found it and clicked on the "Buy it $9.99" button. After

confirming that I did indeed want to purchase and download it, the Status window at the top of the screen said

"Downloading 14 items" and "Boy in the Bubble / Paul Simon / Graceland" and, after a while, estimated that it

would take 27 minutes(!!) to download that one song!

We had to leave in five minutes, and would be gone fir a couple of hours so rather than waste those few hours,

download-wise, I purchased another album, the deluxe edition of the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art

Thou? The status bar changed to reflect that there were now 45 (or so) items being downloaded. We left.

When we came back three hours later, the Status window now said "Downloading 37 items." Now, 8 hours or so

later, it says "downloading 9 items"

Why is it taking so darned long?
 
Whenever I run into problems like this I google it. I always find that somebody else has gone through the same thing and may have the answer I'm looking for.

Here's a link to the google search itunes downloads slow

The very first hit is a thread on the matter in the Apple support discussions.

I'd start there if I were you.
 
tesscaline said:
What kind of internet connection are you on?
Click to expand...

A wireless modem. Not great, but not THIS bad. Also, I have done web surfing while that download runs, and the surfing seems to go as fast as usual.

I've now been awake for three hours this morning, and all this time, iTunes has been downloading the same song.
 
citizenzen said:
Whenever I run into problems like this I google it. I always find that somebody else has gone through the same thing and may have the answer I'm looking for.

Here's a link to the google search itunes downloads slow

The very first hit is a thread on the matter in the Apple support discussions.

I'd start there if I were you.
Click to expand...
Thanks, czz! based on those discussions, I am apparently not alone in this.
 
RSLancastr said:
A wireless modem. Not great, but not THIS bad. Also, I have done web surfing while that download runs, and the surfing seems to go as fast as usual.

I've now been awake for three hours this morning, and all this time, iTunes has been downloading the same song.
Click to expand...
Okay... A wireless modem connected to what sort of internet connection? Cable? Satellite? DSL? What speed is your internet supposed to be? What bandwidth?
 
tess, I have no idea of the answers to any of those questions. embarrassing but true.

But, since the problem is apparently at Apple's end, my connection is a non-issue.

By the way, at around an hour ago the download of the O Brother, Wherefor Art Thou? soundtrack (Deluxe edition) completed. that was about 19 hours for a two-CD set.
 
RSLancastr said:
tess, I have no idea of the answers to any of those questions. embarrassing but true.

But, since the problem is apparently at Apple's end, my connection is a non-issue.

By the way, at around an hour ago the download of the O Brother, Wherefor Art Thou? soundtrack (Deluxe edition) completed. that was about 19 hours for a two-CD set.
Click to expand...
Just because a small number of other people may be having a problem with similar symptoms to yours, that doesn't mean it's necessarily Apple's problem in your case.

I'm trying to walk you through the basic trouble-shooting to determine whether or not the problem is actually on Apple's end or not. If it is Apple's problem, there's nothing you can do. But if it's not Apple's problem, there might be a fix for you.

If you'd like to continue with the troubleshooting, I'm more than willing to help. First things I need to know are what I asked:

What type of internet service do you have (and who from, if you can find out)?

If you don't, okay, fine, no problem. :)
 
Sure, thanks Tess!

Our Internet connection is through Sprint. Beyond that, I kbow nothing about it. If you could tell me how to find out some of the other data you need, I'll gladly get it.
 
according to speedtest.net, at

9/22/2011 2:30pm Pacific Time

PING: 191 ms
DOWNLOAD SPEED: 0.43 Mbps
UPLOAD SPEED: 0.05 Mbps
 
RSLancastr said:
according to speedtest.net, at

9/22/2011 2:30pm Pacific Time

PING: 191 ms
DOWNLOAD SPEED: 0.43 Mbps
UPLOAD SPEED: 0.05 Mbps
Click to expand...
That speed is lower than standard DSL speeds (the lowest DSL speed I've seen offered recently is 1.6 Mbps., with the average being 3Mbps).

I would recommend running multiple speed tests to verify that speed.

If your speeds really are that low, it's no surprise that your downloads are taking forever. Your average music file runs anywhere between 7 and 10 MB in size. Shorter songs are smaller, longer songs are bigger.

Also, if you're dropping packets -- which might be an issue, I don't know -- that could inflate the download time because you're basically having to download the same information more than once.

Being on a wireless computer can also increase the download times for any number of reasons.

If you are on a DSL connection, bad phone wiring can also cause decreases in download speeds, as it creates noise on the lines which disrupts things a bit (over simplification alert).

I can't tell, just from you saying you have Sprint, what sort of speeds you're supposed to have. You'd have to find that out through your service contract. Who set up your internet service? Can you talk to that person?
 
Last edited:
Tess, thanks for the info.

I rsn speedtest.net again:

9/22/2011 4:10pm

PING: 107 ms
DOWNLOAD SPEED: 0.30 Mbps
UPLOAD SPEED: 0.23 Mbps

I will try to find outwhat our contract w/Sprint promises.
 
FYI, being wireless does not slow my connection down at all.

This was run via wifi.

1497146706.png
 
Last edited:
AGAIN:

9/22/2011 5:10pm

PING: 213 ms
DOWNLOAD SPEED: 0.48 Mbps
UPLOAD SPEED: 0.02 Mbps

GRADE F- (SLOWER THAN 96% OF U.S.)
 
RSLancastr said:
I will try to find outwhat our contract w/Sprint promises.
Click to expand...

You will almost certainly find your contract has no minimum bandwidth provision. Residential contracts almost never do. Business contracts also almost never do, until you get to the very expensive ones. They only promise "Speeds UP TO <insert big number here>", without ever specifying how often, or for how long those speeds are reliably attainable.
 
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