Arch Linux @lemmy.ml tiz @lemmy.ml 2w ago

Reflector enabled and healthy but slow pacman downloads below 500KB/sec

When I pacman-Syu, it fluctuates between 200kb to 500kb

I checked my internet speed at fast.com and it says 490Mbps

Something isn’t right.

Reflector is doing its job. I checked /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist and saw the last updated time is very recent (today).

15 comments

If I'm not mistaken, Reflector is the kind of the tool that picks mirrors based on different aspects, not just by which is fastest or close by. And if my memory serves me right, it actually picks mirrors based on their sync date with the upstream rather than speed by default.

You might want to check your configuration and set it to prioritize the mirrors based on the aspects you want.
- I see. Much more complicated algorithms involved. Now I actually stop & disabled reflector and manually picked some local servers. Now I’m seeing 50mb/s and I feel totally dumb lol
  
  You can also tell reflector to ignore certain mirrors in the configuration.
reflector will choose mirrors depending on your specific orders.

You have not specified your orders here, so I'm guessing you haven't launched it properly.

Check the Wiki and launch it with your specific needs. Is it speed? Is it updatedness? Global mirrors? Local?
Glad you posted this. I thought reflector was a set it and forget it tool, but sounds like it isn't as smart as advertised. I think Garuda (Arch) uses a different tool to rate and update mirrors (dunno what), so if you want something automatic, maybe look into what they do.
- Thanks. This is something that I will have a look.
Pick a different mirror.
- That’s a valid answer. But isn’t it the whole purpose of using reflector in the first place?
  
  I don't use reflector, I just pick a couple of local .edu mirrors that proved themselves fast in past and that's all I use. I only change if the mirror is performing poorly.
  
  Yes, but reflector can't do magic. Just manually go through the mirrors and try if they're fast enough. You should prefer geographically closer mirrors.
I like to use reflector with -f and -l arguments... It always gives me the best combination of servers

The command I use is

reflector -f 10 -l 5 --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
- I’ll try these options next time! Thanks

15 comments