Why is apt-get downloads so slow

It seems to be a problem with the sources. Go to

System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Download from -> Select best server

For more additional details, refer this thread.

In my case, I had set a bandwidth limit in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades:

// Use apt bandwidth limit feature, this example limits the download
// speed to 70kb/sec
Acquire::http::Dl-Limit "70";

(I wasn't expecting this to affect my "attended upgrades" also..)

As soon as I commented out this line, apt install went much faster.

The apt-fast package can be installed in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu by adding the apt-fast/stable PPA to your software sources and installing it using these commands.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apt-fast/stable 
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install apt-fast 

During the apt-fast installation process, you will be prompted to perform some package configuration. After successfully installing apt-fast, simply use it the same way you run apt or apt-get.

This is added late, current os 20.04 focal, had a few weeks of having to wait 3 or more minutes at the end of apt-get update for some unknown cause. I struggled with trying to find a fix via search engine. Somehow I came across an article about snap and complaint that it took too much time.

I found this at https://cialu.net/a-better-ubuntu-linux-without-the-crappy-snap/

I ran the following:

$ sudo apt autoremove --purge snapd gnome-software-plugin-snap

I was worried about all the removals, but apt-get update runs like it used to. Question: Is snap a cloud based thing? ( that would explain the time delay )