Slow iTunes server ?

Question

Level 1

18 points

Slow iTunes server ?

Yesterday I rented a movie (Inglorious ********) that took 6.5 hours to download to my Apple TV! Also, on my Mac (late 2006 MacPro Quad), I tried to download a 1.5 gig application that said it would take 4 hours according to the estimated time that was displayed. I had to cancel it.

This morning, my girlfriend is currently trying to download an episode of some show on her 27 inch 2009 iMac and it's telling her it will be ready in 13 hours... (now 15 since my last edit to this post)
It also took 5 hours for iTunes to download the new iPhone firmware update to her iPhone last night.

There does not appear to be any problem with my network as everything else network related feels fast as usual. Anyone else experiencing extremely slow download times involving the iTunes store?

My network uses a Time Capsule which has been trouble free for over a year now.

Thanks!

dk-

Message was edited by: dkrz

Message was edited by: dkrz

Mac Pro 2.66 Quad, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 6GB RAM / Dual displays

Posted on Feb 6, 2010 5:51 AM

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Answer 1

dkrz Author

Level 1

18 points

Feb 6, 2010 6:26 AM in response to dkrz

http://www.dpkmusic.com/temp_images/netdltest1.png

I just did this test. I took a screenshot of two files downloading. One from Apples site and the other from a a different site. The Apple file was already in progress for about 6 minutes prior to snapping the shot and the other file was clicked about 10 seconds prior to taking the shot.

The file sizes of course are different but look at those times. Something is definitely wrong with Apples servers I would think... It took only 4 minutes to DL that second file. But 7.5 hours estimated time for the 759MB combo update? Wow...

dk-

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Answer 2

Feb 6, 2010 10:30 AM in response to dkrz

I'm having the same problem.

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Answer 3

birrddog

Level 1

0 points

Feb 6, 2010 11:04 AM in response to David Tannenbaum1

I have been experiencing the same over the past 3 weeks.

I have a 101mb Optimum Ultra connection, with Speedtest.Net results upto 70mb/sec

Other sites like hulu or large downloads work fine, just anything from Apple either via iTunes on my MacBook Pro or via my apple TV takes hours.

I used to be able to stream pretty immediately, and HD's used to take under 20minutes to download up until 3 weeks ago, now they are taking hours.

I downgraded my cable package as I was getting more content via my AppleTV, now I am wondering if that was the right decision.

I put in a support request with Apple but have not heard back from them.

Optimum say they do not throttle their Ultra connections, and my performance at other sites makes me believe them.

I wish Apple would pay some attention to this problem

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Answer 4

dkrz Author

Level 1

18 points

Feb 6, 2010 11:44 AM in response to birrddog

Look at this.
http://www.dpkmusic.com/temp_images/DL1.png

Ridiculous!! Nothing else even remotely downloads this slow for me. I just downloaded a 1GB test file in under 17 minutes.

What is going on here? The last thing I need is to get a "tech" on the phone who's reading a script and has me restarting my Mac and unplugging everything from my USB ports...

There is no way this can be related to my ISP unless they are only discriminating against iTunes download traffic. VERY frustrating.

dk-

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Answer 5

Feb 7, 2010 7:41 PM in response to dkrz

Yea im having the SAME problem... this is ridiculous!

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Answer 6

birrddog

Level 1

0 points

Feb 10, 2010 5:11 PM in response to Steve McGeachy

No surprises, I heard back from iTunes Web Support, got the run around and was given links that weren't even relevant to the support item, despite going back and forth 3 times.

It continues to get worse.

YouTube from my AppleTV for HQ/HD content comes at a good rate, so clearly not my AppleTV, or my network. Same for my Laptop.

Apple really need to pull their head out and solve this, otherwise their dreams for dominating the media world are going to continue to a grinding halt, no matter how pretty their computers are.

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Answer 7

Feb 10, 2010 6:51 PM in response to dkrz

Same problem for last couple weeks. Virtually unusable. Getting hard to believe there is no official acknowledgement.

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Answer 8

Feb 16, 2010 8:53 PM in response to dkrz

The itunes store has been lagged really had for a couple of days since I started using it. Hours work for what should be 20 minutes. No one seems to know what's going on but everybody is experiencing it.

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Answer 9

Feb 19, 2010 12:17 PM in response to dkrz

Fri 19 February 2010: 12 13 PM

Had my ISP tech rep out this morning due to iTunes files bogging down. He claims the ISP network is healthy. Oddly, I tried downloading the same file on iTunes on WindowsXP. On the Windows machine, not logged in to the iTunes store, the file downloads normally.

With my MacPro 2.4, however, the connection drops off over thirty seconds or so to 0.0.

Previously, other downloads were doing the same, but now just the iTunes store on the Mac.

Can't figure this one, but may be related to the complaint being posted about here.

James R.

Northern California

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Answer 10

Feb 23, 2010 12:40 PM in response to dkrz

The same here.
This is frustrating - wanted to rent a movie from iTunes (actually payed already) and watch it with my wife ... and now ... 6 hours to wait ...
I checked my ISP - the bandwidth is there ... plenty ... it should be all there in 20 minutes, but not in 6 hours! Some seconds it looks like now it's fast again and then it almost halts ...
I hope Apple is reading these discussions here. It can't be that such a problem persists for weeks.
I'd appreciate an official statement from Apple and an explanation/outlook ... at least.

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Answer 11

Feb 23, 2010 12:52 PM in response to James Reid1

Tue 23 February 2010: 12 51 PM

Further experimentation reveaLs that I can download at more reasonable speeds using a WindowsXP machine. Odd.

James R.

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Answer 12

Feb 24, 2010 1:46 PM in response to James Reid1

I have the same problem with my 27" imac.

getting 4-6Mbps (500-600 KB/s) with other servers and only 400kbps (40KB/s) with the itunes server. what is odd is that if I download multiple items from itunes at once they each can obtain 40KB/s so it seems to be limiting the speed of each file, not the total server speed.

rob

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Answer 13

Mar 21, 2010 1:19 PM in response to dkrz

It would appear that I'm having the same issue today. Based on a speed test I just ran, I should be able to begin playing within 20 minutes. Not so today. Says I'm going to have to wait 2 hours. This is nuts!

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Answer 14

Maximara

Level 1

13 points

Mar 21, 2010 9:04 PM in response to BonanzaMan75D

There does seem to be something flaky with the iTunes store as I was finally able to get in for a short time before getting connection errors.

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Answer 15

B117sat

Level 1

25 points

Mar 24, 2010 4:50 PM in response to dkrz

Its been slow for since the Fall, I hope it picks back up in the summer. I've called apple and they seem shocked, so I guess i'll just cross my fingers.

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