How to get faster FTP downloads?

The most common complaint raised by user is about slower FTP download speeds which depends on many factors. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you can’t expect  FTP download speeds beyond your local machine’s download speed  (ie. If your download speed is 1Mbps ,you cannot exceed this speed).

Steps that you can take  to increase local machine’s download speeds:

•   Upgrading your internet connection speed through your ISP.
•   A wired connection with the local machine provides better speed than wireless connections like Wi-Fi.
•   Also, Wi-Fi speeds might also get limited due to earlier wireless protocols used in routers.You can upgrade your routers.

Through this guide we’ll also look at two different techniques which will help you to get maximum download speeds using FTP.

1. Concurrent downloads:

Concurrent downloads is a technical concept were it gives ability to download multiple files simultaneously at the same time using FTP. FTP applications that support this feature creates multiple connections to the server for downloading. It is very beneficial when someone is trying to download a folder of files. Let’s assume that there is a session bandwidth limitations than creating multiple connections will eventually exceed the provided per session speed which will result in overall improvement in download speed.

Free to use FTP clients which provide concurrent downloads are – FileZilla

2. Fragmented downloads:

A fragmented download is actually a file transfer concept where a large file at the sender end is broken into fragments or pieces and these pieces are sent to the receiver through multiple FTP connections and at the receiver’s end these pieces are recombined to produce the original file.

In this FTP transfer technique fragments of a single file are downloaded simultaneously through multiple FTP connections and after downloading these fragments these are recombined to create the original file.

Free to use FTP apps which provide this capability are: BitKinex, CuteFTP Pro, Progressive Downloader (MAC)