Mageia 32-bit DVD direct download speed

[kensor]

Using a 2.8 MHz Pentium 4 on a wired DSL line, I started a direct download of the 32-bit DVD at about 2 AM local time, then I went to bed. Seven hours later I arise to find the download only 40 percent complete. I wonder why. This computer has a new 2TB drive running Windows XP in one of four partitions, so there is plenty of room for a fresh Mageia install to replace the Mageia over Mandriva over Mandrake installation of the previous drive. Parenthetically, I will mention that the fresh XP installation on this drive did not recognize the Ethernet port built into the motherboard. Lacking a way to download a driver for it, I took a Linksys network card from an older Pentium box, installed it as a second Ethernet port, with the result that XP recognized it and allowed Internet connectivity. The Mandrake to Mageia genealogy had no such difficulty recognizing a built-in Ethernet port, or using it at considerably faster download rates. On another hand, I do wonder whether other system events of the last three weeks have resulted in lower average download speeds regardless of receiving equipment characteristics. Glancing at the DVD download percentage, I see it is still less than 50 percent, so I will pour a cup of fresh coffee and attend to my university coursework while bits travel circuits.

[doktor5000]

Maybe just try with another mirror? Which one are you currently using? Also you forgot to tell how fast the download speed of your DSL line is ...

[kensor]

I did not choose a specific mirror; I just chose the direct DVD download from the Mageia download page, so I don't know which mirror is now active. I haven't tested the download speed recently here, but in the past this system has achieved rates close to 3.0 Mbit/sec, whereas this particular download is proceeding between 90 to 130 KB/sec, according to the download application window. I will mention that there are a couple of universities locally with just under 30,000 students between them, and when they are both in session, as they are now, download speeds even over a DSL line, not a cable line, can be reduced. I thought that with a DSL line I would be insulated from shared cable subscriber rate fluctuations, but apparently the regional area can be affected when one compares the vacationing student summertime versus the in-session student wintertime. Though it is somewhat frustrating to notice differences between expected and actual download speeds, it is a little scary to think about how dependent we have become on all of this electronic connectivity operating correctly just to get our various kinds of daily work accomplished.

[doktor5000]

Did you read the text on the download page after you clicked the download link? Here's an example after selecting the KDE live cd, and it uses a german mirror.

Download Mageia 1

Your download of KDE should start within a few seconds (download size is about 700 MB). If the download does not start, click here.

This ftp.uni-erlangen.de download mirror is located in Deutschland (DE). If it does not work well for you, check out these other mirrors.

The bold part is a link which would allow you to restart the download, from another mirror.