Broadband file transfer
 

Should be a simple question for one of you geniuses.

Racking my brains to find a way to transfer large files at high speeds to friends and family. Say for instance I have a gigabyte sized file and want to send it to a friend. I can do this for instance through several instant messaging programs but since nearly everyone I know uses broadband 4kbps seems a paltry slow.

Any easy suggestions?

FTP? It depends on your ability to upload to them. Just because they can pull down quickly doesn't mean you can meet that speed.
GREAT sig, by the by. Chief Joeseph = great!

Hmmm, FTP. How would one go about accomplishing this? The only experience I have with FTP is uploading stuff to my server for my website. How would I then upload to an individual? Use their IP address? Let's say for instance with Cute FTP Pro. I have pretty good upload speed, supposedly 1mbps. Thanks, you are the first one who recognized the quote from my sig!

Be careful, check your and your friends ISP and see what they capp your monthly Upload and Download sizes at. Most ISPs wont let you upload / download any more then 10gb a month and if you go over they hit you hard. So watch out for that, I know it was bad for my friend when he went over his 30gb limit (He has got a really nice ISP :) )

have them run a temporary ftp server. i'd stay away from the one built into windows because it's a little weird to setup. i use BulletProof FTP Server but it's more complex than what you'll need. try looking at www.download.com.

Serv-U FTP server is a good one. The new MSN MEssenger 6.0 has a sort of FTP engine built into it as well, although Im yet to try it on any large files. BitTorrent could also be an option.

burn a CD and mail it. Seriously it's generally faster and cheaper.

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a CD binder in the mail.

LOL! Good point Juan, never thought of that! To me trying to figure out things is more than just finding what is the easiest. I am also trying to increase my knowledge. So it looks like I'm going to have to learn some more about FTP.

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes
hurtling down the highway."
-- Tannabaum

ftp'ing a gig of data over anything less than ether is nuts.
If it's someone across town, cart your PC over to their house and share the file directly. For someone farther away, a CDRW is your friend.

I have IIS installed and when i want to send a file to someone i have a username and pass i will tell them and email them a link to the file in the http://user:pass@website format so that it is a click able link. I hate mailing stuff, and when I had a 3mb transfer rate with no limits, it was easier to let them d/l it. you also want them to have a d/l manager like getright so that if you reboot or connections drop or whateve it can be resumed from where it left off at.........