I am using L/W trying to download a not-too-big file (37 Mb) which seems to be only on a single host. However that host is on line 24 hours per day with about 5000 files available (because I can "Browse Host" any time of day or night and get results).

When I try to download the file I usually get the "Waiting For Busy Hosts" message. So I wait and every few minutes I get the "Connecting..." message but then it reverts back to the "Waiting For Busy Hosts" message.

Then after several times cycling through the "Waiting For Busy Hosts" and "Connecting..." messages I finally get into the "Waiting in Line Position 5" etc. message and the download eventually starts. However the download lasts for perhaps 30 seconds, downloading 100-200 kb, then goes back to the "Waiting For Busy Hosts" condition.

In addition, more often than not, even though I know the host is on line, L/W drops the connection and I get the "Need More Sources" message. I realize that the Host is probably very busy, however why does L/W drop me from the "Waiting For Busy Hosts" queue even though I know the host is on line?

Are there any tricks that can be done manually? (like periodically clicking on "Resume" or "Force Resume" or "Kill Dounload" followed by "Download" once again.) Actually I have tried all of these and none seem to work.

By searching and re-searching and tweaking manually, I get about 5%-10% of this file every 24 hours or so, but it is becoming a career! Every hour I get a total of about 1/2% of the file in little 30 second snippets that are about 10 minutes apart! Yes, I know it would be more cost-effective to purchase this particular piece of music. But it is rare and apparently unavailable.

Any suggestions or comments would be welcome.

I know how frustrating that can be! Having been a dial-up user not long ago, it would've been even more difficult for me. lol Search results can go stale after a period of time. I'd suggest you re-search for the source(s). I don't know what limitations you have set at present, but you could also temporarily lift any you have on Speed & Quality (LW's menu Tools-Options-Searching or for mac that's Options-Searching & OSX that's Prefs-Searching.) Doing this 'might' help you to find more sources for that rare file. If your version of LW has Local Preferencing in Advanced, you might also untick this. But this is generally related to obtaining files from other cultures, etc.

One other idea I have is an attempt to connect directly with them. If you can get their IP address, you can try adding this in LW's Connections window. However the LW Beta 4.1.7 might be moe successful at that b/c it has a direct connect search option.