Can't download record images (sometimes "bandwidth exceeded")
BOTTOM LINE: this is a known and expected problem. It should become less of an issue in the next few weeks.
This is a pretty bewildering problem that has come up in multiple Community threads. It is frustrating in that it appears to be a moving target, with the circumstances that keep changing. I have posted these observations to three threads, including the FSC Support Group.
The reason for the latter is that currently our problem is restricted to our Family Search Center.
For the past several weeks patrons have reported getting the "Bandwidth Exceeded" error when an attempting to download an image. During the past week, there have been times when the download button did not work at all: you clicked and nothing happened. This was with either the New Image Viewer or the Old Image Viewer (not entirely sure of past circumstances, as it wasn't until today that I did a methodical test).
This is what happens at the center today:
- Any image can be downloaded using the New Viewer.
- Using the Old Viewer, many images cannot be downloaded, but sometimes it can be downloaded, particularly if the image is indexed.
- Unindexed images cannot be viewed with the New Viewer (at least I don't know how), they automatically come up with the Old Viewer, and thus fall into the 2nd category above.
However, of the images I have tested, any image that is not downloadable at the Center can be downloaded from home (that is, only when the downloading computer is not connected to the Family Search network. Any computer at an FSC, including those on wi-fi, are considered part of the Family Search network). Unfortunately, that means that someone who wants to download an image from an un-indexed, restricted record (which can only be viewed in an FSC), is out of luck.
After talking with Family Search Center Support, the reason behind this has become somewhat more clear. Family Search is contractually obligated to prevent download abusers. There are some "bad actors" that attempt to perform bulk downloads of records (hundreds and thousands of records, which is against the terms of usage.) The limits on download are a part of many (most) contracts that Family Search makes with the Record Custodians (the entities that own the original records). Most custodians do not want researchers to do full-scale bulk downloads of images and they have specified this in their (complex) contracts. Apparently, the limits are even more specific for activity on FS computers than they are for home computers. It is a very difficult limit to police in either case, and the errors of "bandwidth exceeded" thus seem arbitrary to users. Supposedly, the problem becomes worse every year from November through January, because that is when many contracts are either being re-negotiated or their new terms come into effect. Every year, the problem (from the users standpoint) trails off, beginning in February.
Indexed records seem to be "more immune" from the problem.
If you have an indexed record that is appearing by default in the Old Viewer, it may help to bring it up on the New Viewer (the opposite of @Áine Ní Donnghaile's work-around). Bring up the Index Record for one of the page's index entries be clicking on the entry's Record icon in the Index bar at the far-left bottom of the Old Viewer.
On the Index Record page that comes up, click on the Record Image or the "View Original Document" at the left. This usually brings up the image in the New Viewer. (but no guarantees....)
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May I assume you have coax cable to your Center? If so, how old is it? If the coax coming into the facility is around 20 years old, it needs to be replaced. That is the shelf life of coax. The foam that separates the webbing from the core deteriorates. Eventually bandwidth becomes extremely sub-optimal as the core makes contact with the outer copper webbing inside the cable. I'm talking about the cable that goes to the cable modem, not just the outside plant cable from the street. 80% of all networking issues tend to be cabling issues. (I learned about this particularly painful issue when I was installing satellite dishes.) We have whole blocks here with the coax-based bandwidth feeling like it is like watermelon being sucked through a straw. The only solution is replacing the infrastructure with new copper cabling from where the optical fiber ends and the copper begins. Mine was replaced a few years ago - and for that reason.
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The error message is not related to bandwidth or internet speed. It is an error message triggered by the Record holder when they determine that the number of records being downloaded is greater than what they determine as normal for a human do download and view. When the number of records per time period exceeds what the record holder deems normal they send the error message and that blocks the entire building from downloading any records from their site for a period of time. This is something in each record holders contract allowing us to make the records viewable for free in our centers and varies by record holder. IF the block lasts for more than 24 hours or you feel that no one has violated the fair use agreement attached to their FamilySearch Account the FamilySearch Leader may contact FamilySearch Center Support and request a Technician to unblock the center access to records. This will usually take about 24 hours to unblock.
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In our case, the patron has only downloaded one or two images, so it appears the fair use agreement is not being violated. Do you know how the threshold is being calculated? Is it by computer? by center? or more globally?
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Please be assured that FamilySearch is aware of the download restrictions. However, since the records are not the property of FamilySearch. Copyrights are the sole property of the provider of those records who, therefore, have control of their usage. You may wish to teach the patrons to use snip and sketch to capture information they require instead of doing a screen print or download. Snip and sketch appears to have NO restrictions therefore, it's a very viable work-around.
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IF Centers continue to have issues with the bandwidth exceeded error, they should follow the KA 842. For either message, please contact recordrequests@FamilySearch.org for information on proper access to FamilySearch data. If you believe that you have been improperly blocked, please send an explanation of your needs to searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org
The error has nothing to do with Bandwidth! It has nothing to do with your network! FamilySearch Center Support can not help resolve the issue! The only solution is to contact searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org
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What is the link to "KA 842"? Why are Knowledge Articles not searchable by number but only by topic? (Please don't look for "bandwidth exceeded error" in Help and Learning Search) https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/search?q=+bandwidth+exceeded+error
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I also have no idea how you are supposed to look up "KA 842", but I did find the article:
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Thank you, David Peterson.
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Update: it worked temporarily, but has now regressed back to the same behavior.
A week ago, the "exceeded bandwidth" error continued to happen when attempting to download selected records. I filed an "escalation" with support. On Tuesday, there had been no change. But in the meantime, we were given the advice above of sending a message to searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org. I did that on Tuesday morning. There was no response, but by Tuesday evening, certain test records that I knew of that had previously caused the error, no longer caused the error. On Wednesday evening, those same downloads still worked. I had another patron test records that had previously not worked. All of them except two worked. Those two presented with a different "problem": when the mouse is moved over the Download link, it turns to a red "prohibited" icon and does not allow clicking at all. Yet another unexplained variation!
Today (Saturday), everything has regressed. All the downloads that were permitted earlier this week now cause the "bandwidth exceeded" error again. Needless to say, I will be reporting this to searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org.
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The saga continues....
We continue to get the "bandwidth exceeded" message.
There has been no response from the searchfeedback address.
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David,
We are having the same problem in our center for at least two months now. I've called multiple times on the issue and have been given multiple reasons for why the error might be received, all of which are just--may I say--hooey! I tested the problem this morning. I selected two known accessible record collections that have no restrictions and tried downloading an image from each one. On the very first download attempt the error message was received. I then tried downloading the very same images on my laptop connected to the church wifi and I had absolutely no problem. The images downloaded just fine. Which tells me there is something occurring within the connection for the FamilySearch Center. I know we have a unique router for the FamilySearch Center connection that is different than the church wifi. It has to have something to do with that.
To rub a little more salt in the wounds, I was told that our patrons concerns and satisfaction aren't as important as RootsTech so no one is even going to bother looking at it until after RootsTech is over. I'm feeling very frustrated this morning.
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I posted the speedtest link earlier in this thread - and my suggestion was not appreciated at the time. How many computers do you have at your center and what do you get when you run that SpeedTest at each computer in your center?
My center has different speed results depending on which of the 20 computers is being tested. Network cards, age of the computers and cable quality all affect results. (Besides Solar Storm activity.)
Sometimes going back to basics is better than suspecting the application or software is at fault. I was a support tech at a software firm for 5 years and spent a lot of time "proving" the issue the customer was having was not the software's fault. My experience was that 90% of the time it was cabling and "driver" issues ( the person at the keyboard as the' driver). But usually we had to rule out cabling and network access first and foremost - before laying blame with "software".
In your case, are the network cards running at 10 Megabits, 100 Megabits or 1 Gigabit speeds? Is your system on a cable modem? If so, how old is the modem and the coax cable? If the cabling is over 20 years old, it needs to be replaced. The white foam inside that separates the core from the outer webbing "disappears" and the inner core will ground out to the outer webbing in the cable over time. Coax cables have a 20-year shelf life both inside a building and especially outside underground, overhead or anywhere in between. I learned that when I installed new satellite dishes and replaced old systems. It matters.
We have a cable modem router that is so old it does not even have a manufacturer ID any longer that is visible. And we discovered our access changed when we became co-located with the Teaching Mission office and Facilities Management. We have issues when the Mission hogs the bandwidth when they are doing training or heavy lifting online. Is your Center co-located with other church services?
The Stake IT person who I contacted about this issue has now been transferred to be our FamilySearch onsite tech. He understands the issues we are facing at our location after I brought him up to speed earlier. Now he "owns" it.
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Thanks for your suggestion, but download speed is not the issue. In fact, the speed on the laptop connected to the church wifi where I can successfully download files is less (39.2 Mbps) than it is on our connected computers (50.5 Mbps) where we are getting the FamilySearch bandwidth error.
Hopefully someone will have some time to address this after RootsTech.
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This was discussed at the zoom meetings last evening.
This has nothing to do with internet speed at the center, and has everything to do with the contracts the church has with record owners, and the amount of records downloaded at a center.
This is center specific, so all computers and other records may be affected once the threshold is reached. Problem is, threshold is not known. It is up to the record owner.
The bandwidth exceeded error message now includes an email address at the bottom of the message. The ONLY way to fix the problem is to send an email to searchfeedback@familysearch.org. Include in your email:
- The center number
- the records you were trying to access if known
- Any other details that may be helpful
Likely you will not get a response, but the team will then work on freeing up the records for you, hopefully within 48 hours.
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As noted by others, this is not a "network bandwidth" problem. Unfortunately, the "error" message uses the term "bandwidth" in a way that most people would not expect, and it is misleading.
The Family Search Center technical support lead @Ken Richins specifically said in a previous message: "The error message is not related to bandwidth or internet speed."
The "error" message seems to be purposefully vague, referring to "your data needs".
It also says the limitation is "temporary" and "In one hour, your privileges' will be restored." Neither is true.
As I noted before, I suspect this limitation came about because a few users broke the rules and abused the system by doing bulk downloads of images, and thus ruined it for the rest of us.
(In the absence of any real explanation), I am left to suspect that this "error" message is "hiding" some behind-the-scenes "secondary" problems:
1) FS was not prepared to have to police the downloading of images (at least to this degree), and they find themselves lacking the appropriate infrastructure and/or resources to do the job properly.
2) Because of the above, there is an issue with "granularity": they cannot confine the limitation to or count specific downloads for just the "guilty parties" or for individual users or for specific restricted record sets: they have to limit whole swaths of records and/or locations. It also appears that limits are triggered automatically, but can only be reset manually; another resource problem.
I suppose that some record custodians may have specified some very "stringent" (not my first choice of word) download restrictions (like one page per day across the whole world). If so, why can't the message say so, and then make it so the restriction actually goes away each day.... (I know, I'm asking for too much. I can see it now, users waiting for the stroke of midnight, if they can find a Center that is open at the appropriate time, and then racing to be the first to download that day's page....ha! ha! you snooze, you lose!) Unfortunately, this is just adding "insult to injury", because these restrictions seem to be limited to records that are already restricted to Center-only viewing, limitations that to the regular user are already not-at-all transparent and thus seem very arbitrary.
After being patient for weeks, we made the plea, as requested, to searchfeedback@familysearch.org. The same as with others, we have never received a response to the email, but within 48 yours after the first request, we did see the message go away. This lasted for two days. After that, the Center was closed for a couple of days, and when we came back and "tested", immediately the error was back. It has been back ever since (a couple of weeks now) in spite of repeated requests.
I believe someone has mentioned that you can use "screen capture" software (such as the Snipping Tool in Windows). Yes, that is a possible work-around for many cases. But anyone who has experience with the widely-varying sizes and resolutions of the documents and screens knows that such is not a universal solution.
At this point, I don't expect to get a real explanation nor a real fix, so I guess we are stuck with screen captures.
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Absolutely none of this makes sense when I can download the exact same images on my laptop connected to the church wifi system without receiving the error message!
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What if you cleared the cache memory (cookies) of the FamilySearch computers to remove any crumbs possibly giving the imaging app a bad taste?
Where are the images being downloaded from? (This question was not asked previously in this thread. )
What determines the "bandwidth exceeded" message if you are getting 1Gig speeds on your network?
How many computers share the modem, router and hubs?
The IT service missionaries pointed out to me where our bottleneck is for our FamilySearch Center from their viewpoint seeing our network. The "common knowledge" was incorrect. My particular FamilySearch Center piggybacks on the Mission network and we are essentially all on the same network instead of being properly subnetted (three groups, with other one being Facilities Management). They get busy, we get a bad case of the slows. We were told in so many words, "It works, don't fix it".
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This does make sense because it is center specific. That is, if a center hits a certain threshold then it triggers the message and all computers in the center are affected. However, your laptop, although being used in the center on the Liahona network, is not recognized as being a center computer. All center computers are hardwired to the network. So unless you personally trip the message by downloading large quantities of records on your laptop, you should not be affected.
Again, the threshold is arbitrary, set by the record holder.
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That would mean our center threshold is ZERO records because we can't even download ONE. We have experimented with multiple record collections and we cannot download a single record without triggering the error message. This is NOT an issue of violating any record owner restrictions or an issue of bandwidth. Something else is triggering this, I just don't know what.
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Jaelene, you certainly have my attention. Someone in IT support needs to run a Shark application to see the items in the back and forth traffic to zero in on the culprit. A little bit of fasting and prayer might help too. Seriously.
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My understanding is that this is an accumulated total for the year, and the error message seems to come up in Jan and Feb. However this year the message has been much more prevalent. Perhaps earlier in the year, lots of records were downloaded?
It appears however that the only help will come by emailing searchfeedback@familysearch.org. Apparently there has been a team assembled to solve this issue.
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The Bandwidth Errors when downloading images from FamilySearch.org should be resolved now.
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