SLOW map downloads - what IS the solution?

Aug 12 2021 - Update on testing summary:

1) I deleted the following apps from my Windows 10 computer using "Settings/Apps & features"
  Garmin City_Navigator_North_America_NT_2021_10 (2.0.0.0)
  Garmin City_Navigator_North_America_NT_2021_20 (2.0.0.0)
  Garmin City_Navigator_North_America_NT_2022_20 (2.0.0.0)
  Garmin Express (7.7.1.0)
  I noted that all files in "C:\ProgramData\Garmin" had been deleted
2) I did not uninstall "Garmin BaseCamp" or "Garmin USB Drivers"
3) I started Windows Resource Manager to monitor Ethernet traffic
4) I ran a speed test using a dependable test site
  I had 1.114Gb/s download and 824Mb/s upload to/from my modem with 1ms latency
  I had 505Mb/s download and 654Mb/s upload to/from my computer with 2ms latency
  I have 2.8GB of "standby" RAM and 1.2GB of "free" RAM
  I have 788GB free disk space
5) I went to the Garmin website and followed the installation procedures defined there
   My first attempt to download Garmin Express failed
   The second attempt worked.  A 127MB (1,016Mb) file was quickly downloaded (about 1 second)
6) I ran the downloaded "GarminExpress.exe" file and GE (v7.8.0.0) installed without issue
7) After the installation process, I ran Garmin Express
8) At this point, I connected my DA51 to the USB port and "added the device"
9) GE reported "You're up to date!"  software version 6.20
10) I clicked on "Map Details" and then "Map Options"
    This presented the option to "Install to Computer"
11) I selected "Install to Computer"
12) The download started and speed was good (indicated 27.8MB/s) but after 26 seconds (10% complete) it stopped transferring data
    The indicated data rate dropped to 3MB/s although actual data transfer was very low to none.
13) There was a small spurt of data about 3 minutes later that took the progress to 12.3%
14) There was further spurt of data an additional 3 minutes later that took the progress to 13.3% and this is where it stayed with no further progress.
15) I manually exited GE 40 minutes after starting the process.
16) I attempted the same "Install to Computer" 4 additional times.  Each time progress was less the the initial attempt.
17) I disabled my firewall & virus checker
18) I ran GE in Administrator mode

  Nothing worked.  Each download ended in failure.

At this point I am at a loss.

I have reached out to Garmin support

Aug 13, 2021 - thought I would try again (what's the definition of insanity?)

1) I started Windows Resource Manager to monitor Ethernet traffic
2) I ran Garmin Express
3) GE reported "You're up to date!"  software version 6.20
4) I clicked on "Map Details" and then "Map Options"
    This presented the option to "Install to Computer"
5) I selected "Install to Computer"
6) The download started but was very bursty.  It went to 1.1% and stalled.  Then a burst starting 3 minutes later that took it to 11.7% but died 1 minute later.  Then another small burst 30 seconds later that got it to 12.6% where it stalled.  Then 30 seconds after, another burst that got it to 16.4% where it died and no further progress.  Total time was 5 minutes
7) I manually exited GE 9 minutes after starting the process as any further progress had ended

Interesting the GE always reports a data transfer rate event though there is none.  It gives the user the appearance that there is a continuous transfer occurring

Aug 13, 2021 - I decided to start fresh as the previous attempts were going nowhere

1) I deleted the following apps from my Windows 10 computer using "Settings/Apps & features"
  Garmin BaseCamp (v4.7.4.0)
  Garmin Express (v7.8.0.0)
  Garmin USB Drivers (v2.3.1.0)
2) ran cCleaner to clean up any leftover files
3) I noted the folder "C:\ProgramData\Garmin" still remained with 4 folders and 2 small files within it.  The folders contained no content
4) I noted the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Garmin" still remained. It contained a single "MapInstall" that had two small files in it
5) I manually deleted the folder "C:\ProgramData\Garmin" and the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Garmin"
6) I started Windows Resource Manager to monitor Ethernet traffic
7) I have 2.1GB of "standby" RAM and 3.2GB of "free" RAM.   I have 794GB free disk space
8) I went to the Garmin website and followed the installation procedures defined there
   Once again, my first attempt to download Garmin Express failed
   The second attempt worked.  A 127MB (1,016Mb) file was quickly downloaded (about 1 second)
9) I ran the downloaded "GarminExpress.exe" file and GE (v7.8.0.0) installed without issue
10) After the installation process, I ran Garmin Express
11) I noted the folders "C:\ProgramData\Garmin" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Garmin" had been created
12) At this point, I connected my DA51 to the USB port and "added the device"
13) I did not register, and did not permit data to go to Garmin
14) GE reported "You're up to date!"  software version 6.20 (as expected)
15) I clicked on "Map Details" and then "Map Options"
    This presented the option to "Install to Computer"
16) I selected "Install to Computer"
17) The download speed was was never great.  The process only got to 10.4% before stalling.
18) I exited GE after 1 hour of no progress

I have started a dialog with Garmin support

Aug 16, 2021

I have tried to download maps a few more times.  Each has failed.  This seems to be pointless at this stage.

I have provided some info to Garmin support (as requested by them).  I am awaiting feedback.

Of note, I have tested upload & download files to/from Dropbox on the same computer.  I can easily obtain a sustained rate of 50Mb/s (6.25MB/s) each time I test.

Thanks for sharing all your updates. It's definitely worth troubleshooting it further, but it requires knowledge related to networks and internet connectivity. There's all sort of software (freeware) tools available that may assist but this is probably something that's beyond these forums.

Please keep us posted how this progresses - I'm really curious what is the issue in your (and similar) case(s).

Thanks for the encouragement Krzemien.  This has become an academic exercise as I too am curious to see what the issue is.  We have kind'a run out of race track as forum users.  Hopefully, with some assistance from Garmin Support I can provide further insight.

Stay tuned....

Aug 18, 2021 update

I still have not had any feedback from Garmin Support.

I had seen an old post where someone mentioned they were able to get their downloads working by using a VPN.

https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mac-windows-software/f/garmin-express/118075/extremely-wonky-mostly-slow-download-rates-while-updating

Of course, this is exactly what Garmin tells you not to do.

With nothing to lose, I launched my VPN app and connected to a US server (I am located in Canada) and re-launched GE. I also started Windows Resource Monitor.

As before, I clicked on "Map Details" then "Map Options" then "Install to Computer".

Magically, the download began and continued at "real" rate of about 25-30MB/s (GE indicated 14MB/s).  Four minutes later (at the 40% mark) and the process moved to installing software. After another 3 minutes the process completed.

Amazingly, 9 minutes after starting the process, Basecamp, MapInstall and WebUpdater are all installed and working!

So, the question remains where is the problem?

So you do have VPN software installed then...? Even if not in use (in previous tests)?

My careful stance on this is as follows: there's something not right within your network/IP configuration - potentially changed as a result of installing aforementioned VPN software but that's another long stretch, obviously - which prevents normal (from Garmin's point if view) operation and connectivity, resulting in speed drops etc.

Once you launch VPN and assuming that the server used there are not creating similar havoc, different (correct) IP configuration is applied when virtual IP adaptor takes over, and it just works.

So what I would do your end is to investigate this area: remove VPN and try again, check network settings (basic and advanced), or even reset them to defaults (so: no funny DNS servers, packet size values, etc.).

And now for my continuing saga....

Krzemien, thanks for sticking with this thread and making solid suggestions.

Your thought to delete my VPN was a reasonable idea.  I deleted the VPN app and reset my network settings.  To my knowledge there shouldn't be anything strange about the settings but it is good to be sure.  The only change I did note was the deletion of my static IP and reset to DHCP, which is OK.

Long story, short, this has been another stretch of frustration.

I re-launched GE, and it did not "Install to Computer" as before.  After 1 minute of thinking, it simply said "You're up to date!"

So I deleted (again) GE and the City_Navigator maps (from my previous notes, everything was installed and working).  Then I did the normal process of reinstalling GE.  As in the past, the first attempt to download GE failed but the second attempt worked (this is weird).

As per usual, I "added" my DA51 and then selected "Install to Computer" however after a short period (5 seconds) an error message appeared "There was an error installing the update", and no further information.  I retried "Install to Computer" two additional times (without my DA51) with the same result.

I rebooted and tried again, with the same result.  I checked the log files that should be in "C:\ProgramData\Garmin\ however this folder was not present.  This was odd.

OK, let's uninstall and reinstall GE once again.....

After installation I noted the folder "C:\ProgramData\Garmin\ was present  (good, it should work now...)

Again I selected "Install to Computer" and again the message "There was an error installing the update" appeared.

This is where I stopped as my head hurt.

BTW folks, I did hear from Garmin Support.  Unfortunately they just repeated the usual statements:
Your Garmin Express is not up to date   (it is)
Is it a work computer and/or work internet connection is being used   (yup, still my home computer)
Is public Wi-Fi connection is being used   (nope, still using my wired fiber 1GigE connection)
Disable security software   (ya, tried that too - living on the edge)
etc

I had provided these answers previously so we are going around in circles (kinda like my messages posted here).

Anyway, I've had my two COVID shots so things are looking up.