Download managers/accelerator

Shane

Shane

Super Moderator
Staff member
Alright all,

What download managers/accelerator do you use? (If any at all?)

I’m looking for a download accelerator that’s free and compatible with firefox but would like to hear your recommendations.

Thanks
 
i used DAP8 , but now i use IDM (internet download manager). IDM is non-free but it integrates with FF, IE, OPERA and Maxthon
 
My internet is fine without an accelerator. and download speed is depended on the site's download server. Some are slow and some let me use my max cable speed 3MBPS
 
tlarkin said:
I use bittorrent clients....

As for accelerators, you have to increase your service
Click to expand...

not exactly true. i get on 30kbps (http) from my ISP. so when i use my IDM i get around 45-50kbps. they are restricting us from speeds butin my case an accelerator works fine.
 
Most ISPs use QoS and filter it by the MAC address on your DSL/Cable modem. An accelerator does nothing, and will not allows you to break the QoS.

You can only download as fast as the host can upload, and as fast as the QoS settings on your ISP allow you to. When you call your ISP and upgrade your connection speed, they do not physically change anything. All they do is change the settings in QoS to allow you more bandwidth.

So, there really is no way an accelerator can make your connection faster. Unless by accelerator you mean hacking your modem and your ISP.
 
ok, so since you have a strong point. i wont argue, but let me ask you this...
why the hell in the first place did they call it accelerator ?
 
let me ask another question to tlarkin.
since i get 30kbps max, why i am getting 50 in an accelerator ?
can you elaborate please ?
 
patrickv said:
let me ask another question to tlarkin.
since i get 30kbps max, why i am getting 50 in an accelerator ?
can you elaborate please ?
Click to expand...

well what application are you using and what OS? I assume this is a windows box? Windows, like every other multi tasking OS, will limit everything you do to keep control of resources. I am by no means a programmer, but I have a basic understanding of how it works. Since windows is a poorly written OS it gives things like drivers and applications root level access to the windows kernel. Now, if an application like an accelerator was written for windows and had root access to the kernel it could divert more resources to the download transaction and perhaps increase its bandwidth. In most cases this doesn't really make much of a difference. Also, you have to consider the host, it could be coincidence that at the point in time you are downloading they happen to be uploading faster. Security also matters as well, perhaps the accelerator opens up a port and gives it carte blanche on whatever it wants to do.

There are tons of factors as to why that would happen, but in most cases accelerators really don't do much, or at least that is my experience.
 
im using winxpsp2 with IDM (internet download manager)
and yes for me it makes a difference in speeds.
in my country we don't get 500 to 700kbps like some of us round here!!
 
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some servers still don't filter against leeching (which is what a download accelerator does) but the majority of them do.

And an increasing number of sites will automatically kill your connection if you attempt multiple connections to the same file, and you just get an error instead of your file.
 
what application are you using to download? I use uTorrent and I can pull down up to my max cable connection with it, total of 5mb down and about 100k up.
 
over how many connections, tho?

i'm guessing a lot more than 1-5

When i was wasting my time with torrents, i'd have to download 5-10 files with 40-50 seeds each to keep 603kB/s going

Routers really don't appreciate that much traffic. Let alone the fragmentation that creates.
 
heyman421 said:
over how many connections, tho?

i'm guessing a lot more than 1-5

When i was wasting my time with torrents, i'd have to download 5-10 files with 40-50 seeds each to keep 603kB/s going

Routers really don't appreciate that much traffic. Let alone the fragmentation that creates.
Click to expand...

Depends on the tracker and the torrent site. Some torrent sites obvioulsy limit things for quality assurance. Off one private torrent site I am a member of I easily get over 800k per a second on a single download, and sometimes get around 1mbit. Of course like you mentioned seeders do count and the torrent client software has its own quality of services which the user can limit their upload/download speeds. I usually just leave mine maxed when I am not home or when I am not using my computer, and bump it down to 5kbps connections when I am gaming online or what not.

My router has its own QoS and I gave the uTorrent client carte blanche. I am running a WRT54GL with DD-WRT firmware on it. So far, so good and I can't complain. In fact I was toying with the idea of upgrading my internet service to 10Mbit for an extra 10 dollars a month. In reality though, I really don't need anything faster than I have now. I mean that extra bandwidth wouldn't help anything but downloads, and I download things fast enough for my preference.
 
at max using torrents ( i use utorrent) i get 35kbps (if the torrent has good peers and seeds). its really frustrating trying to download stuff which is 3 to 4 ggb and you get only 30. i have to leave my pc on for like 4 consecutive days on
 
heyman421 said:
if you're obtaining 800KB/s on a 5Mb/s connection, that must be some crazy torrent
Click to expand...

yeah i am not complaining....

When I downloaded the last version of OpenSuse using their tracker (from opensuse.org) it had like 1000 seeders and I was downloading at 1.5 megabits/sec on a pretty steady basis
 
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