topic Re: Slow international file transfer in Broadband

Slow international file transfer

gmleuty — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 10:38:07 GMT

I'm currently on holiday on Réunion Island (not far from Mauritius) and trying to transfer files of photographs that I have taken back to my Synology NAS in the UK (internet connection supplied by Sky). Speeds are extremely slow, around 100kB/s or slower. But when I try transferring the files to my brother's NAS, also in the UK (internet connection supplied by Virgin), the speeds are fast, around 5MB/s or higher.

I can transfer files between the two NAS's at 5MB/s or higher. So the problem seems to be with the bandwidth of Sky's connection between Reunion Island and the UK.

Mike

Re: Slow international file transfer

JimM1 — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 11:26:38 GMT

@gmleuty You have not supplied any information that helps in the slightest, apples to oranges as far as your posting goes!

Re: Slow international file transfer

Chrisee — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 11:27:22 GMT

@gmleuty Sky normally have good international pairing arrangements but as you have found that is not truefor every place in the world. Nothing you can do and it is unlikely Sky customer services can do anything either as international routing is far outside their control.

Re: Slow international file transfer

gmleuty — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:27:14 GMT

Thank you Chrisee for your very helpful reply. I'm glad that Sky's international connection is usually good (and indeed I've had no problems in France) but of course that doesn't help in this case. I could do with a good connection because I have friends here and visit quite often.

I suppose that Sky don't have many customers who would like a fast connection to Reunion Island, so it won't be a priority for them. It's just one more thing to consider when it comes to renewing my contract, but other providers don't mention international connectivity in their publicity and it's hard to find information by searching.

Thanks again.

Mike

Re: Slow international file transfer

Chrisee — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 14:45:12 GMT

@gmleuty i think the only way to find out is to try it but remember conditions can vary depending on traffic levels so one carrier may be great today but lousy tomorrow. A quick online check shows the island positioned itself as a data hub for the Indian Ocean a few years back. It appears to have undersea cable links to Mauritius. Madagascar and more hopefully S. Africa.

Re: Slow international file transfer

gmleuty — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 13:02:17 GMT

In fact the speeds using Sky have remained low and using Virgin have remained high over the past few days. I'm sure the French government have invested a lot in the internet connections to La Réunion (which is a French département as you may know) but unfortunately Sky doesn't seem to have access to much of it.

Thanks again for your helpful comments.

Mike

Re: Slow international file transfer

gmleuty — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:24:21 GMT

I have just solved the problem by using a VPN. My Sky router thinks I am in Paris and I can now upload at 7MB/s.

Mike