Download speed way too slow

Beginners
1

qwen_image_edit_fp8_e4m3fn.IRFpfsqH.safetensors.part

This takes hours. 1.9Mb/sec for 19gb is in my opinion very frustrating.

Why is this so slow, and is there a solution for this?

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4

Downloading via HF CLI (with XET enabled) is usually faster than using a browser, though it’s rare for browser downloads to be significantly slow…

It’s possible your ISP or network route is imposing speed restrictions.

It’s slow because you’re fetching a single 20.4 GB model file over the Hub’s Xet backend, often via one browser stream, across a congested CDN path, while your disk must assemble many chunks. That combination bottlenecks network and I/O. The specific file is indeed ~20.4 GB and stored with Xet. (Hugging Face)

What’s happening

  • Huge artifact + Xet reconstruction. Xet splits the file and reassembles locally. Parallel writes favor SSDs; HDDs need sequential mode or they thrash. (Hugging Face)
  • Browser = single stream. CLI and multi-connection tools do better than a lone HTTP stream. (Hugging Face)
  • CDN region variance. Throughput varies by location. Users report slow or unstable transfers that improve when switching region/VPN. (Hugging Face Forums)
  • Observed caps. Community reports ceilings around ~10 MB/s on some routes or setups. (GitHub)

Fixes that actually speed it up

1) Use the HF CLI on SSD with Xet “high performance”

# Linux/macOS
pip install -U "huggingface_hub[cli]" hf_xet  # docs: https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/en/guides/cli
export HF_HOME="/fast-ssd/.cache/huggingface" # docs: https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/en/package_reference/environment_variables
export HF_XET_HIGH_PERFORMANCE=1              # docs: https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/en/package_reference/environment_variables
# If your download disk is an HDD, prefer sequential writes:
# export HF_XET_RECONSTRUCT_WRITE_SEQUENTIALLY=1  # same env vars doc

# Pull exactly the diffusion weight into ComfyUI
hf download Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-Edit_ComfyUI \
  --include "split_files/diffusion_models/qwen_image_edit_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors" \
  --local-dir "/path/to/ComfyUI/models/diffusion_models"
# CLI --local-dir reference: https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/en/guides/cli

Why this helps: Xet high-performance mode increases concurrent range gets and CPU usage; cache and Xet writes land on a faster SSD; CLI avoids single-stream browser limits. (Hugging Face)

Windows (PowerShell):

pip install -U "huggingface_hub[cli]" hf_xet  # CLI docs ↑
setx HF_HOME "D:\hf_cache"                    # env vars docs ↑
setx HF_XET_HIGH_PERFORMANCE 1                # env vars docs ↑
# For HDD targets only:
# setx HF_XET_RECONSTRUCT_WRITE_SEQUENTIALLY 1

hf download Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-Edit_ComfyUI `
  --include "split_files/diffusion_models/qwen_image_edit_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors" `
  --local-dir "C:\ComfyUI\models\diffusion_models"

2) If the CLI is still slow, try multi-connection HTTP (aria2c)

# Get the file’s “Copy download link” from the HF file page
# (example file page: https://huggingface.co/Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-Edit_ComfyUI/blob/main/split_files/diffusion_models/qwen_image_edit_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors)
aria2c -x16 -s16 -j4 -c "https://huggingface.co/Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-Edit_ComfyUI/resolve/main/split_files/diffusion_models/qwen_image_edit_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors?download=true"
# aria2/parallel guide: https://dev.to/susumuota/faster-and-more-reliable-hugging-face-downloads-using-aria2-and-gnu-parallel-4f2b

Users consistently report higher throughput with multi-connection pulls on large Hub assets. (DEV Community)

3) If Xet misbehaves on your route, test without it

# Temporarily force fallback from hf-xet
export HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET=1   # Windows: setx HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET 1
# Also consider bumping timeouts for flaky links
export HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT=60

These toggles are documented and help isolate whether the Xet path or your route is the culprit. (Hugging Face)

4) Try another region path

If speed is stuck, switch network egress (VPN/off-VPN or another POP). Reports show material gains after changing region. (Hugging Face Forums)

Sanity checks for your exact case

  • You are pulling the correct file and its size is expected: 20.4 GB Xet-backed diffusion weight. If you saw a .part name, that’s just a partial file while downloading. Use the direct file page to confirm size before retrying. (Hugging Face)
  • Use CLI or aria2c and verify that throughput jumps above your current ~1.9 MB/s. If not, try the VPN step and the Xet disable toggle. (Hugging Face)

References

  • Qwen Image/Edit ComfyUI files. Confirms file path and 20.4 GB size for the fp8 weights. (Hugging Face)
  • HF environment variables. High-performance Xet, sequential writes for HDDs, cache locations, Xet disable, and timeouts. (Hugging Face)
  • HF CLI usage, including --local-dir. (Hugging Face)
  • Reports of slow or unstable downloads and region effects. (Hugging Face Forums)
  • Observed caps around ~10 MB/s on some setups. (GitHub)
  • Multi-connection download recipe that users employ to improve throughput. (DEV Community)