I use Linux (Fedora, to be specific), and I have a huge problem where my ISP dro
ID: 660985 • Letter: I
Question
I use Linux (Fedora, to be specific), and I have a huge problem where my ISP drops my Internet connection for a few seconds if I use bandwidth for too long (like downloading something). This will stop the download, and all of the download clients I have used get really messed up when this happens.
I am trying to find a download client/manager that is capable of resuming a download, or refreshing the connection, if there is no connection.
Requirements:
Must work in Linux
Must be free
Can be program or in command line
Must be able to automatically restart the download starting where the connection dropped (or allow this to be done very easily manually)
It would be nice if it was open source
Explanation / Answer
If all your ISP does is to drop your Internet connection, your downloads will be slightly delayed but not interrupted. This resilience is built into the TCP protocol. However, there's a chance that your ISP is doing more. If it is being naughty and sending RST packets on your behalf, or if it forces you to go through a transparent HTTP proxy, or if the disconnection causes your IP address to change, then your downloads will be aborted and there's nothing you can do about that.
You can resume an HTTP(S) download where it left off, but this requires support from the server. Some do, some don't; the only way to see is to try.
The two basic command line tools for downloading files (often preinstalled, but if not available in your distribution's package repository) support resuming downloads:
With wget, add the -c (--continue) option. This has no effect if there is no local file yet; if there is a local file, wget assumes that it's a partial download and attempts to resume where it left off.
You may want to use the --content-disposition option to use the server-specified name for the file. You may also want to specify a different user agent string to avoid ill-advised