Network Problems

Downloads depend on your network connection, and sometimes that connection isn't cooperating. Whether your downloads are failing outright, running slowly, or dropping repeatedly, this guide will help you identify and fix network-related issues.

Quick Diagnostics

Before diving into specific problems, run through these quick checks:

Can you browse the web normally? Open Safari and try loading a few different websites. If nothing loads, the problem is your internet connection, not Fetchii.

Does the specific site work in your browser? Try visiting the video's URL in your browser. If the site is down or blocked, Fetchii can't download from it either.

Is this happening to all downloads or just one? A single failing download usually points to a problem with that source. Multiple failures suggest a local network issue.

Connection Failures

No Internet Connection

If downloads fail immediately with connection errors, and you've confirmed your internet isn't working at all, focus on fixing the connection first. Check your Wi-Fi is connected (or Ethernet cable is plugged in), try restarting your router, and verify other devices can get online. Once your internet is working, Fetchii should work too.

Intermittent Connection

Downloads that start fine but fail partway through often indicate an unstable connection. Wi-Fi signal issues are a common culprit — if you're far from your router or have interference, the connection might drop momentarily, enough to kill a download in progress.

Try moving closer to your router, or better yet, use a wired Ethernet connection for reliability. Fetchii already retries automatically when the connection drops during a download: Download retries in Settings → Advanced → Download Engine sets how many times (10 by default), and Segment retries does the same for each piece of a segmented stream. This handles temporary dropouts gracefully. If a download still fails, click Retry on its row.

Slow Downloads

Understanding Download Speeds

First, figure out if downloads are actually slow or just slower than you expected. Your download speed depends on your internet plan, but here's a rough guide:

If your actual speed is far below these estimates, something's bottlenecking your connection.

Common Causes of Slow Downloads

Other applications might be using your bandwidth. Video calls, cloud backups, streaming on other devices — these all compete for the same internet connection. Check Activity Monitor's Network tab to see what's consuming bandwidth.

Too many concurrent downloads can actually slow things down. Each download needs its own connection, and managing many connections has overhead. The default is 3; try lowering Max concurrent downloads in Settings → Downloads → Location & Queue to 2. You might find total throughput improves.

The source server might be throttling downloads. Many video sites intentionally limit download speeds, especially for non-paying users or detected automated tools. There's not much you can do about server-side limits except try downloading during off-peak hours.

ISP throttling is real — some internet providers slow down certain types of traffic. If your browsing is fast but video downloads are slow, your ISP might be the culprit. A VPN can sometimes help by hiding what type of traffic you're generating.

Timeout Errors

A timeout means Fetchii waited for a response but never got one. This happens when servers are overloaded, networks are congested, or routing issues make round-trips take too long.

The first remedy is simply trying again — timeouts are often temporary. If they persist, increase Connection timeout in Settings → Advanced → Download Engine. It controls how long Fetchii waits for the server to respond, defaults to 30 seconds and goes up to 120; try 60.

For chronically slow connections, higher timeouts prevent premature failures. The tradeoff is that actually-broken downloads take longer to be recognized as failed.

DNS Problems

DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names like "youtube.com" into IP addresses. If DNS resolution fails, your computer literally doesn't know where to send requests.

Quick fix: Try using different DNS servers. In System Settings > Network > DNS, add 8.8.8.8 (Google's DNS) or 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare's DNS). These public DNS servers are fast and reliable.

Nuclear option: Flush your DNS cache. Open Terminal and run:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

This clears any cached DNS entries that might be stale or incorrect.

Firewall Interference

macOS Firewall

macOS's built-in firewall (System Settings > Network > Firewall) only controls incoming connections, so it doesn't block downloads. If downloads fail and you suspect a firewall, look at third-party firewall or security software instead.

Third-Party Firewalls

Apps like Little Snitch, Lulu, or corporate security software give you granular control over network access — but that means you need to explicitly allow Fetchii.

Check your firewall app's connection log for blocked attempts from Fetchii. You'll want to allow Fetchii to connect to video sites (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and any CDN domains they use for actual video delivery.

Corporate Networks

Office networks often have aggressive firewalls that block video streaming entirely, or require special proxy configuration. If you're on a work network and downloads consistently fail, check with IT. You might need to use a specific proxy, VPN, or simply download from a different network.

Proxy and VPN Issues

If you're using a proxy or VPN, that adds another layer where things can go wrong.

Proxy not connecting: Verify the proxy server address, port, and credentials in Settings → Network → Proxy, then click Test next to the address. Downloads that can't reach the proxy fail with "Proxy unreachable".

VPN blocking downloads: Some sites detect and block VPN traffic. Try a different VPN server, or temporarily disconnect the VPN to see if that's the issue.

Slow through proxy/VPN: Adding intermediaries always adds some latency. For best performance, choose proxy/VPN servers geographically close to you or to the content server. If speed is critical, consider whether you actually need the proxy for that particular download.

Rate Limiting

Many sites limit how aggressively you can download to prevent abuse. Signs of rate limiting include:

• Downloads that worked earlier now fail
• Downloads failing with "Rate limited"
• CAPTCHA challenges appearing
• Speed suddenly dropping to a crawl

The fix is to slow down. Wait 5-10 minutes before retrying. Reduce your concurrent download count. If you're downloading a large playlist, space it out over time rather than grabbing everything at once.

Switching IP addresses (via proxy or VPN) can sometimes bypass per-IP rate limits, but sites are getting smarter about detecting this.

Optimizing for Unreliable Networks

If you're on a connection that's inherently unstable — mobile hotspot, satellite internet, congested public Wi-Fi — these settings help:

This configuration prioritizes completion over speed. Downloads take longer but are more likely to eventually succeed even with network hiccups.

Advanced Diagnostics

For stubborn network problems, you can dig deeper:

Check the error log. Select the failed download and click View Error Log in the inspector (⌘I), or open Settings → Privacy → Diagnostics → Open Diagnostics… to browse all recent log entries. Network errors often include specific information about what went wrong.

Test from the command line. Open Terminal and try curl -I https://youtube.com — if this works, basic connectivity to the site is fine. If it fails, the problem is below Fetchii's level.

Check Activity Monitor's Network tab during downloads. Watch Fetchii's network usage to see if data is flowing or if connections are getting stuck.

When all else fails and you need help, use Help → Report a Problem… and include these details: what you were trying to download (URL if possible), the exact error message (Copy Error copies it), your connection type (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VPN), and what you've already tried. This gives troubleshooters the context they need to actually help.