SugarSync sucks…

Image via CrunchBase

Sucks the life out of your computer anyway. The messaging sounds enticing, but I had a real world experience yesterday that should make you think twice about using this tool…

“SugarSync makes it easy to backup, share and access your files, anytime, anywhere. With SugarSync you get online cloud storage for all your files — documents, music, photos, and video. When you make a change or add files on any of your PC or Mac computers, SugarSync automatically syncs your files to the cloud, where you can access them from any Internet-connected device — including your smartphone or iPad.” Source; File Sync – Share Files – Online Backup – SugarSync

A Personal Digital Coaching client contacted me a few days ago saying her internet connection had slowed to a crawl. When we tested her only speed, her ping time was 2882ms and her download speed was .19Mbs [that = sloooow for you folks from the U.P.]. I used GoToAssist to move through a classic troubleshooting methodology including hardware, software and internet connection. We methodically optimized her system but still no joy. I asked what changes she had made to the system and SugarSync was the only major one but she wanted to leave it on so we made no progress in 60 minutes of work…

Last night I received an email telling me that the problem had been resolved and that she was getting download speeds of 10Mbs — roughly 40x faster! The only difference? SugarSync was uninstalled…

Is this consistent with your experience? What did I miss?