pkg_add fails due to 'broken pipe'. Is my system in a consistent state?

[Chris Stankevitz]

pkg_add -r gnome2

This command fails repeatedly with "broken pipe" because the FTP connection breaks.  When it dies, I just re-run the command.  I'm now on the fifth attempt.

The gnome2 package is a "meta" package that installs many other packages.

Q1: Is it bad for my FreeBSD system that I keep re-issuing the command "pkg_add -r gnome2"?  I'm happy FreeBSD isn't responding "already installed".

Q2: Where on my hard drive are the bytes that tell pkg_add to use ftp.freebsd.org when downloading packages?

Q3: I've been using this internet connection for years downloading packages for other OSes without trouble.  Why is pkg_add/fetch having so much trouble?

Thank you,

Chris