1.Your ISP is where it starts
Check the maximum download
and upload speeds allowed by your ISP. Most ISP’s have specific
bandwidths for both uploads and downloads. Obviously
your torrent download speed won’t cross the cap set by the ISP. Go
over to this article on Speed.io for broadband speed test and this one by on ways to increase your connection speed. There are many other
bandwidth testers like DSLReports which is included in the speed test
within uTorrent.
2.Choosing the right BitTorrent client
Use the better clients out there like uTorrent, Vuze or
the BitTorrent client itself. Wikipedia lists about 51 of
them supporting the BitTorrent protocol. The choice of client
used should always be updated to the latest version. The screenshots here
depict uTorrent. The settings should be similarly configurable for other
clients too. Mac users shuld also check ourTransmission vs. uTorrent post
3.Go for healthy seeds and peers
A peer is any computer participating in the download and upload of a torrent
file. A seed (or seeder) is anyone who has one complete copy of the
file being shared across the torrent network. A leech (or
a leecher) is the person who does not have the complete file yet
but has joined the network to download it. A leecher becomes a seeder
when he downloads the entire file and then shares it across the network.
For high torrent speeds, the best bet is in numbers. The greater the number
of seeders, the healthier the torrent and the better the chance of higher
speeds. The rule of thumb says to choose the torrent files with a high
number of seeders and preferably lesser number of leechers i.e. a higher
seed-leecher ratio.
4.Get through the firewall
Firewalls can block all incoming BitTorrent connections coming through. To
ensure otherwise, a firewall should be manually configured to accept the
connections and let it through the client. Windows XP has the Windows
Firewall. Configure the firewall installed to accept the connections by
checking the BitTorrent client on the allowed list i.e. Options – Preferences
““ Connection – check Add uTorrent to Windows Firewall. Also, check
theWindows Firewall exception (if you keep it enabled) in your client too.
Shutting down the firewall is not recommended as it leaves the computer
open to attack.
Note: If the home computer is behind a router, it also should be configured
through the feature called Port Range Forwarding to enable torrent traffic.
The router documentation should have specific information on this.
5.Limit your upload rate
A peer to peer network is all about sharing alike, but an unlimited
upload rate hits the download rate too. Using the speed tests, find out your
maximum upload speed and then set your client’s upload rate (Global
Upload Rate in uTorrent) to about 80% of your maximum upload speed. You
can also try varying your upload speeds ““ keep it high initially and then
gradually bring it down towards the middle of the download. Note: Mind the
speed units ““ it may be given in kilobits per second (kb/sec)
or kilobytes per second (kB/sec). 1 kilobyte = 8 kilobit
6.Go to a different port
The default port for the BitTorrent protocol is any between port
numbers 6881-6999. ISPs throttle traffic on these ports as BitTorrent
sharing involves high bandwidth usage. It’s easy to configure a different
port in your torrent client. Use some number above 10000 to get
around ISPs and also avoid problems with other applications. By default, the
uTorrent port is randomized each time it starts. Set a specific port by not
enabling the Randomize Portsetting.
7.Increase the number of Max Half Open TCP connections
This figure specifies how many connections a torrent client should attempt
to establish simultaneously at any given time. Windows XP with Service
Pack 2 (SP2) or newer, limits this to a default of 10 as a barrier against virus
multiplication. But that’s a bummer for torrent speeds as torrents too need a
large number of simultaneous connections. A patch has been available for a
while from LvlLord which modifies the TCPIP.sys file in Windows to allow a
higher number of TCP connections.
After running the patch, you have to set the number of connections in your
torrent client. For example, in uTorrent go to Options ““ Preferences ““
Advanced – net.max_halfopen. Set any number from 50 to 100. But see that
net.max_halfopen is set lower than the value set in TCPIP.SYS. Always check
if it is still patched because Windows updates sometimes overwrite it.
8.Experiment with Protocol Encryption
Some ISPs love to act like Big Brothers and constrict bandwidth for P2P
protocols. Protocol Encryption in most of
the torrent clients helps to override this bandwidth shaping. Enable
outgoing protocol encryption and put a checkmark on Allow Incoming
Legacy Connections.
With protocol encryption, ISPs find it difficult if not impossible to detect that
the traffic is coming from BitTorrent. Experiment with enabled, disabled and
forced options because you could be getting better speeds with encryption
disabled. Non-encryption makes a torrent connection compatible with
someone who is not using encryption but as a minus it makes the torrent
detectable to an ISP with a bandwidth restricting policy.
9.Bandwidth and connections
Your BitTorrent client’s settings options will let you enter figures for
““ Global maximum number of connections gives the maximum number of
connections that a BitTorrent client can make for any P2P exchange. Setting
this too high does NOT mean higher speeds. Setting it too high would take
up useless bandwidth and too low a figure would miss out on peers. For my
256kbps connection, I have a setting of 130. Maximum number of
connected peers per torrent gives the maximum number of peers that a
BitTorrent client can connect to for any P2P exchange. Experiment by setting
this number close to the available peers for a particular torrent. For my
256kbps connection, I have a default setting of 70. Number of upload slots
per torrent gives the maximum number of peers that a BitTorrent client will
upload to for any P2P exchange. A low setting may affect downloads. For my
256kbps connection, I have a setting of 3.
uTorrent has a Speed Guide which handily calculates the figures for a
particular connection.
10.Some common sense
Most BitTorrent clients allow us to view the individual files in a download.
You can selectively disable the download of files you don’t think necessary.
Familiarize yourself with the customization settings of your particular client
available in the Help files or at the website FAQs.
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