Glacially Slow iPlayer Downloads

[sxmpete]

For the last couple of weeks, trying to download anything from iPlayer using GIA 1.19.3 has seen download speeds of less than 3 Mbps, resulting in download speeds of HOURS! Whilst attempting download, I ran a SpeedTest and got download speeds of 38 Mbps, as shown by attached log, with speedtest results appended. It looks like BBC is throttling programmatic connections ( I have not tried just viewing from a browser). Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions? FYI, I am using an iMac running Mojave.

Thanks,
Peter Donlevy
GIA19.3 slow iPlayer download.docx

[tracer-x1]

I have experienced this for a couple months. I also see the log says BBC may have blocked. It takes over an hour for a 30m show. I'm on a mac as well. Itv is a tad (barely) faster. I've also done speedtests, which are fast. I also have tried multiple VPN's. Same Issue. I also tried using the VPN whilst using BBC's iplayer app,......that goes quickly. Same VPN.

Not sure if the BBC can throttle whatever GiA is using?

[Moisie2000]

I'm getting this too; at first I thought it was my slow internet - but GiA is definitely downloading more slowly than it used to.

I've tried 1.19.2 on macOS 10.12, and 1.19.3 on macOS 10.12 and 11.1 - same result.

I don't know if it's related, but I'm also seeing quite a few of these errors - though it's possible they're due to my slow internet...

WARNING: Unexpected size for file segment [965]
WARNING: Expected: 5333560  Downloaded: 4602799
WARNING: This indicates a problem with your network connection to the media server

[skovatch]

Keep in mind that GiA isn't doing the actual fetching, get_iplayer is. That said, I have seen this happen on occasion, but not in some time.

For comparison, if you have get_iplayer installed separately try using that to download the same program. If they are different, post the differences.

[tracer-x1]

Ah! @skovatch . Thanks for that info....I didn't realize Get_iplayer was separate. I gave it a go, and it acts similarly. VERY slow......(eg:warnings of being authorized by the BBC..but if it works, ignore the message (what is seen in the terminal)).

I think you are right though.....it is get_iplayer. For some reason the BBC is throttling it. If I try BBC's app, it goes much faster.

Thanks very much for all you do

[Moisie2000]

FWIW, it seems to be roughly back to normal for me now - downloading at around 16Mbps, and without the errors I saw previously. Must have been something at the BBC end...

Thanks for an amazing tool!

[sxmpete]

which BBC app are you referring to?

…

On Thu, Dec 31, 2020 at 7:53 PM tracer-x1 ***@***.***> wrote: Ah! @skovatch <https://github.com/skovatch> . Thanks for that info....I didn't realize Get_iplayer was separate. I gave it a go, and it acts similarly. VERY slow......(eg:warnings of being authorized by the BBC..but if it works, ignore the message (what is seen in the terminal)). I think you are right though.....it is get_iplayer. For some reason the BBC is throttling it. If I try BBC's app, it goes much faster. Thanks very much for all you do — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#302 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGZX3OLEBDX5MBKQJFDXA6DSXUMG7ANCNFSM4VK7LQLA> .

-- Regards, Peter

[tracer-x1]

BBC iPlayer site.....if you select a show, you can press ‘download’, which puts it in the bbc’s own app in a proprietary format. It also expires , so not as good as get_iPlayer Automator