10 ways to speed up torrent downloads

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10 Ways To Speed Up Torrent Downloads Torrent users would attest to the fact that half of our time is spent looking for ‘healthy’ torrents and the other half trying to download (and a bit of upload too) at the maximum speed. The former is mandatory; the latter thankfully is within the realm of tweaking. If you are the one who thinks that your torrent download speeds could do with a boost then keep reading. Below, you’ll find a few tips on how to speed up torrent download speed. 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 Tina 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 our Transmission 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,

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Secrets for quick torrent download

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  • 10 Ways To Speed Up Torrent DownloadsTorrent users would attest to the fact that half of our time is spent looking for healthy torrentsand the other half trying to download (and a bit of upload too) at the maximum speed. Theformer is mandatory; the latter thankfully is within the realm of tweaking.

    If you are the one who thinks that your torrent download speeds could do with a boost then keepreading. Below, youll find a few tips on how to speed up torrent download speed.

    1. Your ISP is where it startsCheck the maximum download and upload speeds allowed by your ISP. Most ISPs havespecific bandwidths for both uploads and downloads. Obviously your torrent download speedwont cross the cap set by the ISP. Go over to this article on Speed.io for broadband speed testand this one by Tina on ways to increase your connection speed. There are many otherbandwidth testers like DSLReports which is included in the speed test within uTorrent.

    2. Choosing the right BitTorrent clientUse the better clients out there like uTorrent, Vuze or the BitTorrent client itself. Wikipedia listsabout 51 of them supporting the BitTorrent protocol. The choice of client used should always beupdated to the latest version. The screenshots here depict uTorrent. The settings should besimilarly configurable for other clients too. Mac users shuld also check our Transmission 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 thetorrent network. A leech (or a leecher) is the person who does not have the complete fileyet but has joined the network to download it. A leecher becomes a seeder when hedownloads 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, thehealthier the torrent and the better the chance of higher speeds. The rule of thumb says tochoose the torrent files with a high number of seeders and preferably lesser number ofleechers i.e. a higher seed-leecher ratio.

    4. Get through the firewall

    Firewalls can block all incoming BitTorrent connections coming through. To ensureotherwise, a firewall should be manually configured to accept the connections and let itthrough the client. Windows XP has the Windows Firewall. Configure the firewallinstalled to accept the connections by checking the BitTorrent client on the allowed listi.e. Options - Preferences Connection - check Add uTorrent to Windows Firewall. Also,

  • check the Windows 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 thefeature called Port Range Forwarding to enable torrent traffic. The router documentationshould 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 thedownload rate too. Using the speed tests, find out your maximum upload speed and thenset your clients upload rate (Global Upload Rate in uTorrent) to about 80% of yourmaximum upload speed. You can also try varying your upload speeds keep it highinitially 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 kilobytesper 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.Its easy to configure a different port in your torrent client. Use some number above10000 to get around ISPs and also avoid problems with other applications. By default, theuTorrent port is randomized each time it starts. Set a specific port by not enabling theRandomize Port setting.

    7. Increase the number of Max Half Open TCP connections

    This figure specifies how many connections a torrent client should attempt to establishsimultaneously 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 thats a bummerfor 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 inWindows 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 valueset in TCPIP.SYS. Always check if it is still patched because Windows updatessometimes 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 bandwidthshaping. Enable outgoing protocol encryption and put a checkmark on Allow IncomingLegacy Connections.

  • With protocol encryption, ISPs find it difficult if not impossible to detect that the trafficis coming from BitTorrent. Experiment with enabled, disabled and forced optionsbecause you could be getting better speeds with encryption disabled. Non-encryptionmakes a torrent connection compatible with someone who is not using encryption but as aminus it makes the torrent detectable to an ISP with a bandwidth restricting policy.

    9. Bandwidth and connections

    Your BitTorrent clients settings options will let you enter figures for

    Global maximum number of connections gives the maximum number of connections thata BitTorrent client can make for any P2P exchange. Setting this too high does NOT meanhigher speeds. Setting it too high would take up useless bandwidth and too low a figurewould 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 peersthat a BitTorrent client can connect to for any P2P exchange. Experiment by setting thisnumber close to the available peers for a particular torrent. For my 256kbps connection, Ihave a default setting of 70.

    Number of upload slots per torrent gives the maximum number of peers that a BitTorrentclient will upload to for any P2P exchange. A low setting may affect downloads. For my256kbps 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 canselectively disable the download of files you dont think necessary.

    Familiarize yourself with the customization settings of your particular client available inthe Help files or at the website FAQs.

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