Before leaping to the Ubuntu site to download the freshest bytes and
bits, you may want to wait for a bit. Canonical tells me that the site
is currently getting overwhelmed and some people are not being able to
get into it. For me, the site and download links worked, but at speeds
of about 100Kbps, they certainly aren’t fast.
You should use whichever region is closest to you, you can either manually add these to
East Coast US:
deb http://us-east-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
West Coast US (California):
deb http://us-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
West Coast US (Oregon)
deb http://us-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
South America (São Paulo, Brazil)
deb http://sa-east-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
Western Europe (Dublin, Ireland)
deb http://eu-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
SouthEast Asia (Singapore)
deb http://ap-southeast-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
NorthEast Asia (Tokyo)
deb http://ap-northeast-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
I've always gone with the 'select best server' GUI tool: from , go to Edit -> Software Sources in the menu. (You can also do this from the Preferences for Synaptic or the Update Manager.)
Under the Ubuntu Software tab there's a drop-down next to "Download from:" If you select "Other..." you'll get a button that says "Select Best Server"; clicking on it gets Ubuntu to run some tests to see what mirror will give the best download speed.
I can't comment on whether this is better or worse than the method you found for yourself. Perhaps someone with some expertise on the issue can comment!
Here are some screenshots for the graphical method:
You should use whichever region is closest to you, you can either manually add these to
/etc/apt/sources.list/file or paste them into the custom URL field of the software sources application.
East Coast US:
deb http://us-east-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
West Coast US (California):
deb http://us-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
West Coast US (Oregon)
deb http://us-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
South America (São Paulo, Brazil)
deb http://sa-east-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
Western Europe (Dublin, Ireland)
deb http://eu-west-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
SouthEast Asia (Singapore)
deb http://ap-southeast-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
NorthEast Asia (Tokyo)
deb http://ap-northeast-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
I've always gone with the 'select best server' GUI tool: from , go to Edit -> Software Sources in the menu. (You can also do this from the Preferences for Synaptic or the Update Manager.)
Under the Ubuntu Software tab there's a drop-down next to "Download from:" If you select "Other..." you'll get a button that says "Select Best Server"; clicking on it gets Ubuntu to run some tests to see what mirror will give the best download speed.
I can't comment on whether this is better or worse than the method you found for yourself. Perhaps someone with some expertise on the issue can comment!
Here are some screenshots for the graphical method:
