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Very slow download

A topic by shenji created Nov 30, 2020 Views: 11,608 Replies: 5

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Hello,

When trying to download a game, I get very slow speeds 28 KiB/s for example. I tried from the website and then decided to install the itch app (on mac) but I'm facing the same issue. A 300mo game take me a full day to download. The problem occurs on my pc at home, but also at work or while sharing my phone connection.

This only occurs with itch.io any other website or app (steam for example) is full speed.

I saw users complaining about the same issue back in 2017, but there was no answer. Any way to enjoy my games ?

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Wechenbetelly3 years ago(+1)

I’m very happy knowing you used the search. That means you already know that nobody ever complaining follows up on the issue. And you know what that means…: They’re now all either dead or trapped in an alternate dimension. Or… You know: Lazy.

On a more serious note though: It’s always isolated cases with this issue. I’m guessing that in these cases have some sort of local cause. Like their setup having a bad day, or the provider acting up, or the FBI working overtime on their wire…

All I can tell you is: Compare the speed to other sites hosted in the same country as itch.io and restart your router to get a new IP. If that doesn’t work, ask your provider for help. After all: You’re paying them a pretty penny so stuff like that doesn’t happen - and other users can download from itch just fine.

The “at work” issue I can’t help with. Might be the same provider… Might be your boss(es) putting a limit on download speeds… Might be Janine from IT, who’s still grumpy at you and uses this to get you to walk over to her desk, so you can talk it out outside of her break time. Working environments are too complicated to diagnose by guessing.

But if the assassins didn’t get you by the end of next week let us know about your progress.

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shenji3 years ago(+1)

Hello,

As you said, there are a lot of users with the same issue if you use the search engine, so I guess that's not working for all users. At the moment, I see a lot of thread asking for help and no answer on this question from itch.

The issue does not come from my provider or the 3 other different providers I tried. I am working directly with IT, so when I say I tried it from work, I can assure you that I checked with Janine first (and she is not grumpy, how dare you, she just don't like people ;) .

I asked 2 of my friends living in switzerland with differents providers and they have the same issue : really slow download, other websites are working fine.

Yesterday, I could download a 250mo game. Took me all day. On humble bundle or steam, download is full speed (of course, I don't download anything else while using Itch).

I guess I can forget the +150 games bought on itch and use other platforms now.

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Wechenbetelly3 years ago

(Just to get this out of the way at the start: I tested my download speed from itch.io by downloading an actual game before I made either of my posts here. Both times it downloaded at max capacity for my connection. The reason I tested that is because I take this seriously and wouldn’t just dismiss the topic sight unseen.)

Well… I cannot speak for the itch.io staff but my personal guess would be that there’s no answer from itch, because the issue you and the others have/had is “my download is slow” (more on this later). I do not want to make it seem like your issue isn’t important, but as far as we know everyone else’s download is running fine. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of independent developers who have important questions concerning their taxes, some crazy people who want their money back, and other things that involve money.

Now for the “more on this later” part: It has to have to do with your unique situation - which the itch staff couldn’t diagnose to the degree you could. I would suggest the following approach: You, your IT, and your friends living in Switzerland should compare some specifications (browsers, recent updates to browser AddOns and/or OS, possible automatic updates to the router firmware). There has to be some sort of commonality. If you can’t figure out the culprit, present those commonalities either here or in an email to support (I would suggest here [“For Science!”] - but only if you would consider the information you want to present as not sensitive at all). Because that’s something they might be able to work with.

And now I’m going to say something really annoying: The issue might go away on its own and nobody will be any wiser afterwards. Don’t rebuy those 150+ games you own on another platform just yet. They might download smoothly in a week from now.

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shenji3 years ago(+2)

Hello and thank you for your answer :)

"Everyone else's download is running fine" : unfortunately that's not the case at all. If you search here, on reddit or other forums, you will see that it's a very common issue with itch. Of course, you can say it's the users fault, but from my point of view, I could see that this problem is also present for my friends and on different providers.

One thing I could already see with itch, is that there is not a real helpline with people actually answering. Or to be clear, there is, but after 15 days, they never answered. Thank you again to you for answering, but an official support of itch would be appreciated : they can not just take our money and then not helping in case of issues. And I'm not talking only about this issue I'm facing now. You can see in the forums that itch are, as you sayed yourself, involved in real important money discussion with creators and some "crazy users" and don't have time for other issues. From my point of view, they should hire more people to have a real customer service, cause that's what we are : customers that payed for a game. And if I buy a game, I should be able to download it.

I can understand that you think that my internet is crappy and maybe it's an issue related to my computer, but once again, that's not the case and it seems that a lot of users in Europe are facing the same issue. Others are not and it's working well for them, but there is an issue with itch servers in certains conditions : it would be great that they at least try to see what's happening here.

So maybe that tomorrow, my games will be available again, but for how long ? It's been 15 days I can't download anything. What I see here, is that Itch has no answer for me and my games are (maybe temporarly) lost. So no, I'm not going to buy my 150+ games on another platform, but I'm clearly not going to buy any more games on Itch. Not a personnal Vendetta here, but you can understand that I must find a way to actually play my games ;) There are other providers (humble bundle, Gog, Steam and others) that are decent alternatives (and still allow me to download full speed) and that answers their customers in case of issues.

Thanks again for your time, have a nice day

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Wechenbetelly3 years ago

Don’t get me wrong: At no point did I suggest you should be content with your situation. I think after over two weeks without a response of any kind you have made the right call by opening this thread. But I think there’s a good chance that employees or volunteers of itch will be unable to help you with the information I am aware of.

I do not think you are crazy or that your internet is “crappy”. Just FYI: With a download of about 700-something KB to 1 MB per second (on good days) my internet is crappy in most people’s eyes. And I just hate to reveal those things, but sooner or later it would have come to this anyway: At the moment I live in Europe as well. So I don’t think that’s necessarily the cause of the issue.

Also: With my limited perspective, this seems like the 6th case this year,to me, so I would not have expected it to be a common problem. Then again: If it’s not too much to ask, poke those people on reddit and other forums to join us here (and maybe contribute to this thread). They already have accounts, so they might as well make their voices heard where there’s a better chance they will actually be noticed by the people they think are responsible.

Unfortunately “they should hire more people” is only a possibility when there is a profit. As far as I know itch.io does not have that kind of income. And hosting alone cost them in the ballpark of $30,k per month - and that’s independent from the number of sales made (since there are a lot of games in the pay-what-you-want category that itch host for free). Like you said: There are a lot of other sales platforms available. Itch is not really “big” - it’s just “popular (with some people)”. I don’t think itch see themselves as competition for those stores. (Although my experience with them so far has been better than the one I had with GOG after an equal amount of time.)

And, of course, as a last resort you could always look into what recently bought games you can still get your money back. “I cannot download the digital goods I paid for at in under half a day” does strike me as a really good reason for asking for a refund.

I hope the download issue you and others have gets sorted out one way or another and that you also have a nice day. :)

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