I know this thread is over a year old since the last post, but I've run into the same problem with the PHP timeout for downloads.

My host offered the solution of mod_xsendfile and has enabled it for my domains.
http://codeutopia.net/blog/2009/03/0...dfile-and-php/

Problem is, I know absolutely nothing about PHP, so I'm unsure which file I need to add the required code. If anybody knows which file handles the product download prompt, and how to modify the code, I'd be really grateful. My only other option is switching to a private server, but I'd rather try this first.