Every single download in the marketplace starts off at a snails pace of 2mbps and only ramps up after around 3-5 minutes. It really discourages me from using it because it ties everything up for ages especially with multiple purchases as each download reverts back to 2mbps.
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Either deliberate or deliberately neglected
Iāve seen 2mb/s, 6mb/s, and 150mb/s.
Itās always quite variable.
The SU13 update started around 50mb/s, dropped to 8, then rose to 150, where it stayed for a while, then back down to around 20.
I remember trying to convince Bright House (now Spectrum) that there was a problem on their end when trying to stream the old Sony PlayTV app to my TV. I had a bandwidth meter on my router than would display on the TV. During primetime hours, when I streamed other apps, like Netflix, Iād see 20mb/s. As soon as I switched to PlayTV, it dropped to 1-2mb/s. At 2:00am it was 15mb/s.
They tried to convince me it was a problem with my router.
I found out they throttle certain programming based on demand in certain areas, at certain times.
Iām so glad I have Frontier fiber now.
So my answer is: I donāt know. The ISPās may throttle, and Microsoft may throttle. Or load-balancing internet routers may throttle.
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I can assure you itās not either of these in my case
There are widely reported problems with download speeds for MSFS updates, Marketplace downloads, and scenery that go through Microsoft servers.
These reports come from different places all over the world with little commonality, but most of them sound like an overloaded content distribution network (CDN) on Microsoftās side, which leads to too many people trying to download through the same small minimal connection to a Microsoft CDN server even though the connections from the local ISP to the user are fast.
The easiest way to fix this appears to be to change internet service providersā¦ which isnāt very easy 
ā¦ but you can approximate it by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network); connecting through a VPN server in a different location has often been reported to resolve slow download issues with MSFS because it routes around the overloaded local CDN server and might reach another one thatās more available.
This really is something that Microsoft needs to fix, and people have been complaining, bitterly, for 3 years about it.
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skypilotYTS - But did your download start at 2.5mbps for the first few minutes of every single file in the download sequence like the OP has described and is my and loads of other users experience? I too can get up to 250mbps but since June this is limited in the first few minutes and this causing the average speed of the download to be unnecessarily slow 
See here:
Note I first started seeing this during SU13 beta hence my posting to the beta forum. This issue has continued to this day.
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I agree that slow download speeds have been complained about for 3 years but this ālimited to 2.5mbpsā is a new issue which started in June. My healthy 500mbps fibre can show downloading 150-200mbps while in the world map for example, is limited to 2.5mbps for the first few minutes* when downloading market content. This does not match an ISP throttle strategy.
*of every file - sometimes there are 100s of them remember
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The only way I could make a statement like that is if I knew the IP address(es) of the Microsoft server(s) Iām connecting to. Then I could use tracert to look at every hop, which would tell me where the slowdowns are occurring. Even then I couldnāt tell you whether thereās active throttling going on, or a simple matter of load balancing.
What you are describing is the normal, to be expected, random fluctuations of download speed during an especially popular period of a sim update. Thatās not unusual for MSFS or any other gaming title.
What the OP and myself are describing is a systematic, repeatable and slow download speed which occurs when downloading market content and can happen no matter what time of the day/month/year. In fact I took some time to show (Iāll try and find my post) that the limit is consistently observed even when downloading, then deleting, then downloading the exact same addon - every time no matter what time! Moreover, the length of time that the limit applies depends upon the addon which is being downloaded, i.e. one download will spend longer at 2.5mbps than another. Note that in both cases eventually the speed returns to normal (with fluctuation) - in my case 100+mbps.
That is not ISP throttling unless the ISP knows what addon Iām downloading and favours one over the other!
Definitely not. I usually get 60-150. Thatās still stupidly slow though, but if itās 2, thereās a problem somewhere.
And a post of mine to one of the Azure PlayFab support forums was closed down, and not even visible I think, labelling it as ānot suitableā or āinapproprirateā, words to that effect. It was just a question, neutrally worded, and without hyperbole. A disappointing response.
An interesting post I just found:
There is no throttling on the Azure side, refer to below article. If the network and client machine can handle the traffic then we will send it.
There is an Azure download speed test site, and you can choose where in the world to download from:
It lets you download a 100MB test file from many different world regions. On my work connection, which is on a 20GB/s JANET pipe, itās done before I even get to see the download rate. Iāll have to test this at home as well. But could be used as a possible comparison to how MSFS performs, and indicate no local internet issues.
For example, Iām in the UK, and was getting this for West India:
Western Europe
UK South
There is potentially some useful information to be gained from that site. It keeps a list of all Azure IP ranges.
https://www.azurespeed.com/Information/AzureIpRanges
When I download something from the Marketplace, I can use Wireshark to identify the IP I am downloading from. What I could then do is confirm that IP exists on that list, and then determine which Azure region I am downloading from. If itās not from the one of the UK or Europe ones, it would be nice to know why.
The thing is, they do know. Thatās what I spoke of when I related my story about Bright House. They specifically throttled Netflix at certain times in order to maintain overall average network bandwidth at certain times. I couldnāt believe it when I learned about it, but the proof was evident.
Again, Iām not saying thatās what Microsoft is doing, or that itās not the cause of the slow initial download speed. Iāve experienced it myself and I can only say with certainty that I donāt why itās happening. Anything else would be pure speculation.
Not at the level Iām describing. Yes they can inspect TCP packets to assess the general type of content plus the source server but you think my ISP is looking at individual packets and then depending on which addon it is Iām trying to download will slow it down only for a few minutes before allowing it to return to full speed? And all the other posters having this problem with different ISPs found theirs do the same starting in June? Really?
ETA. Remember with a https connection these packets are encrypted and so would make no sense to the ISP. Which is why I say they can only detect the general form of the data
ETA2: itās very easy to throttle just Netflix at a particular time and not other streaming services as you can see the source server address in the packet header.
Known issue, thereās a thread with a āBug loggedā tag.
Unfortunately people tend to be unprecise when reporting:
Yeah, I too get the full speed on my cable connection, but only after each larger file starts veeeeery slow with the 2Mbps the OP mentioned.
I have described it here, including video:
It may not effect everyone, but it seems to effect many.
And with it marked as identified and reproduced on the devs end (being the essence of the ābug loggedā tag) I would have expected a fix or at least some sort of reaction, but thereās nothing but silence.
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I have some sympathy with Asobo in this matter of information updates as there must be many 100s (1000s?) of open bugs and getting an update on each one would be a big task. Especially when the bug isnāt universal. However the bug you and I are seeing is stopping me from buying any market content while it remains unsolved although I donāt think Microsoft will notice my āprotestā on their bank balance 
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You insist on implying that Iām claiming I know why itās happening. Iām only offering possible explanations. Unless you have some insider knowledge that most donāt, you have exactly the same level of understanding regarding the granularity of an ISPās, or Microsoftās server side packet inspection as I do.
I attended a seminar yesterday that featured one of Intelās chief engineers. What she told us reinforced my notion that in this brave new world of AI, hardware and software are far more imposing (some would say intrusive) than we think.
You can have the last word. Iām out.
Yes, but I consider this a major bug, as it could prevent you from using the software. There are reports from users with the need to reinstall large portions of the sim after the flawed update process with SU13, and it took them DAYS to finish this reinstall due to the atrocious download process.
Although it has not been confirmed that these two incidents are intertwined, I have a strong suspicion that they share a common cause.
Considering the awkward update process and the many interdependencies (Marketplace, Content Manager, Gaming Services, X-Box Appā¦) Iād rather have the issue fixed before the next WU - just in case.
And Iām only explaining (with supporting facts) why your āpossible explanationsā are incorrect. Not sure why you appear to have taken offence at this - it was not my intention.
I posted the same suspicion on the official update thread a couple of hours into the maelstrom that was the update process only to be informed by a tech support that the two were not linked. I remain sceptical. I too hope itās fixed in SU14 but I wonāt hold my breath.
(For clarity - as I seem to be upsetting folk today! - Iām agreeing with you and I really think that periodic bug updates from Asobo is important and would love to see that happening.
I feel that posting a bug in this forum is like shouting into the void. Sometimes your voice is heard, sometimes it isnāt. At any time you donāt know whether it was or not! Sadly the same applies even in the beta forum where communication and feedback with testers should be even more important).
This is all off topic so perhaps we should respect the OP but happy to chat further elsewhere if you need to
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