Large Non-Premium Downloads Not Completing

[MadCat256]

I'm having an issue where downloads bigger than 40MB or so are failing. They start out fine, but after 10-20 seconds they stop responding for a lengthy time before resuming, then eventually fail.

 

Country: US

 

ISP: Midco - 100mb Cable

 

Download Tests:

Non Nexus download speed 11.3 MB/s File Downloaded Successfully

 

Amsterdam 11.3 MB/s File downloaded successfully

Prague 11.3 MB/s File downloaded successfully

Los Angeles 11.3 MB/s File downloaded successfully

Chicago 11.3 MB/s File Downloaded Successfully

Miami 11.3 MB/s File Downloaded Successfully

 

Premium 9.3 MB/s File Downloaded Successfully

 

Under 20MB test file, downloaded and opened successfully. Near instant download, too fast to get a speed reading.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1137?tab=files&file_id=197363

 

500MB test file 1.9 MB/s (Non Premium download) Download stopped responding for a long while at 24.2 MB downloaded, again at 32.4MB downloaded, again at 36.5MB downloaded, again at 37.6MB downloaded, and finally failed completely at 44.1MB downloaded. Total time between start and failure, more than 5 minutes.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/607?tab=files&file_id=1000178176

 

Trace:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.1500]
© 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\James>tracert files.nexus-cdn.com

Tracing route to files.nexus-cdn.com [185.246.209.245]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.2.1
2 8 ms 9 ms 8 ms 10.48.0.1
3 10 ms 8 ms 9 ms 24-220-6-216-static.midco.net [24.220.6.216]
4 14 ms 14 ms 16 ms 24-220-255-174-static.midco.net [24.220.255.174]
5 15 ms 15 ms 15 ms 96-2-207-25-static.midco.net [96.2.207.25]
6 23 ms 21 ms 23 ms omha-b1-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.191.194]
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 32 ms 31 ms 30 ms chi-b24-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.138.55]
9 29 ms 29 ms 31 ms datacamp-svc056996-ic337371.ip.twelve99-cust.net [62.115.187.242]
10 30 ms 30 ms 30 ms unassigned.cdn77.com [185.229.188.83]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * 30 ms unn-185-246-209-245.datapacket.com [185.246.209.245]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\James>

Edited May 26, 2021 by MadCat256

[Pickysaurus]

That's very odd, based on your test results your downloads should be fine. The connection is to the same server. Perhaps your firewall is blocking downloads?

[MadCat256]

I agree, it's very odd. I was actually preparing to call my ISP and complain before discovering that all the 1GB test downloads worked perfectly. I don't think it's firewall either, as again the 1GB test downloads worked, I haven't made any changes, and I've been able to download from Nexus in the past.

I first noticed the problem last night while trying to download some Bannerlord mod updates.

 

Edit:

The only thing I can see that's different between the 1GB tests and the 500MB test is the non-premium throttling. Might spring for premium just to see if it fixes the problem...

Edited May 26, 2021 by MadCat256

[Pickysaurus]

Actually, can you please try and download any file that's over 500mb (either of the main files here would work)

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/607?tab=files

 

If the problem only occurs with smaller files then it means you have a bad connection to your local Cloudflare server (which is odd as they serve a lot of different sites). Perhaps you could try a VPN too if you have access to one?

[MadCat256]

Actually it's the opposite problem, the issue only occurs with larger files. The file you linked is the file I tried to download for the 500MB+ test, tried it again with similar results. I got a full 2.0MB/s speed this time but the download again stopped responding at several different points, and failed completely after only downloading 119MB.

 

I'm the IT person at my employer so as a second test I connected to the VPN I set up at the office. This time my download speed is only around 800KB/s due to the higher load on the internet connection in the office, but it seems to be stable and working. Which is very interesting as it's the same ISP. Not really a solution long term though being as it's using a work VPN for personal reasons, which is something I'd have to talk to anyone else's manager about if I caught them.

 

Edit: It also has me wondering now if bonking into the throttle limit is causing some sort of issue.

Edited May 26, 2021 by MadCat256

[MadCat256]

Update to this:

 

Removing the download speed cap by going to Premium did indeed resolve the issue. I'm still not sure what the issue is/was but it seems clear that my connection and the download speed cap were not on friendly terms.