HTTP: Slow download

slonopotam has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Dear Monks, I'm using ActivePerl on WinXP SP2 platform. The following simple code:

  $req = HTTP::Request->new(GET,$url);
  $res = $ua->request($req);
[download]

used to download a file from the remote web server. The file is really text, but the server transmits it as application/zip (so browser users can download it instead of opening in their browsers). Everything goes OK except one thing : the download is very slow, about 1..2Kbits/second. Download of the same file from the same server via IE, Opera, or download manager runs much (~20..100 times) faster. CPU usage is less then 1 per cent. This doesn't depend upon the file's size. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Comment on HTTP: Slow download Download Code

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Re: HTTP: Slow download by aquarium (Curate) on Oct 05, 2004 at 14:02 UTC
is it going via a different route on your network? are you using a proxy either in IE or in your script (indirectly, by having http_proxy or such environment variable set)? Apart from those networking type things I would run Ethereal or other such network sniffer and watch the conversations to see what's happening vs the same download via IE.	[reply]
Re: HTTP: Slow download by lithron (Chaplain) on Oct 05, 2004 at 14:39 UTC
Try using LWP::Simple and the 'get' function. See if that makes any difference. Also, download a copy of the 'wget' program for Win32 and test it out with the same $url you're using. See if it is any quicker. Also, what version of ActivePerl are you using?	[reply]