Download accelerator works by splitting a download into multiple segments and simultaneously downloading each. All downloaded segments will be combined into a single file once all finish downloading. This method circumvents the download speed limit imposed by some providers.
Download accelerators usually are part of download manager programs which could come as a standalone desktop application or a browser extension. A popular download accelerator for Linux is axel. axel is a command-line application and is great for automation and when working on remote servers via SSH.
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install --assume-yes axel #Ubuntu and Debian
$ cd Downloads/
$ axel https://wordpress.org/latest.zip Initializing download: https://wordpress.org/latest.zip File size: 21.7178 Megabyte(s) (22772803 bytes) Opening output file wordpress-6.0.2.zip Starting download Connection 0 finished Connection 3 finished Connection 2 finished Connection 1 finished Connection 1 finished Connection 0 finished Connection 3 finished [100%] [..........................................] [ 3.8MB/s] [00:00] Downloaded 21.7178 Megabyte(s) in 5 second(s). (3856.91 KB/s)
$ axel --help Axel 2.17.11 (linux-gnu) Usage: axel [options] url1 [url2] [url...] --max-speed=x -s x Specify maximum speed (bytes per second) --num-connections=x -n x Specify maximum number of connections --max-redirect=x Specify maximum number of redirections --output=f -o f Specify local output file --search[=n] -S[n] Search for mirrors and download from n servers --ipv4 -4 Use the IPv4 protocol --ipv6 -6 Use the IPv6 protocol --header=x -H x Add HTTP header string --user-agent=x -U x Set user agent --no-proxy -N Just don't use any proxy server --insecure -k Don't verify the SSL certificate --no-clobber -c Skip download if file already exists --quiet -q Leave stdout alone --verbose -v More status information --alternate -a Alternate progress indicator --percentage -p Print simple percentages instead of progress bar (0-100) --help -h This information --timeout=x -T x Set I/O and connection timeout --version -V Version information Visit https://github.com/axel-download-accelerator/axel/issues to report bugs
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