Increase download speed of a BitTorrent client

Some users of the BitTorrent client report experiencing slow downloads when sharing P2P files. This is most likely to occur on computers behind a home router or software firewall.

Being behind firewalls, the BitTorrent client may block incoming Bit Torrent network connections. Given the load balancing and "swarming" nature of the BitTorrent network, clients unable to take incoming requests for uploads will naturally be allowed less  bandwidth  for downloads.

To solve this problem, consider the following:

• When a user starts a BitTorrent client, the client sets up a network resource called a "port" to allow other Bit Torrent clients to connect onto it.

Each port possesses a unique number called the "TCP port number."

• A BitTorrent client normally associates the TCP port number 6881. However, if this port is busy for some reason, the client will instead try successively higher ports (6882, 6883, and so on up to a limit of 6999). In order for outside BitTorrent clients to reach this one, they must be able to connect to the correct port.
• When connecting to another BitTorrent client, the requesting client will first try port 6881, then 6882, and so on. However, if the computer is on a firewalled network, the incoming request may not reach these ports. On the other hand, if these requests succeed, the accepting client will be able to download faster.
• Firewalls can block nearly all of the ports used by P2P clients. To ensure the BitTorrent ports are made available to requesting clients, a home router or firewall can be manually configured to accept them. Most home routers possess a feature called "Port Range Forwarding" to do this. This feature allows the administer to tell the firewall where traffic for a given port number should be directed.
• For BitTorrent, many home users set up port forwarding on the TCP range 6881-6889. These ports must be directed to the computer running the BitTorrent client. If more than one computer on the network may run BitTorrent, a different range such as 6890-6899 or 6990-6999 can be used for each. Remember that BitTorrent uses ports in the 6881-6999 only.
• Many people don't realize that Windows XP computers include the built in  windows firewall . If port forwarding is set up on a home router, but Windows Firewall is running on the BitTorrent client computer, incoming requests may still fail to reach the client. Ensure the Windows Firewall is either disabled or is set up to allow the appropriate BitTorrent ports to pass through. The same recommendation applies to other software firewalls.
• On home networks without a router, the software firewall (Windows Firewall, ZoneAlarm, or other) must be set up to provide the equivalent forwarding or pass-through capability as needed.

TO know all about Bittorent read this:http://dessent. net/btfaq/

1. Cap your upload
Limit your upload speed to approximately 80 percent of your maximum upload rate. You can check your upload speed over here (never trust your isp). Once you know your maximum upload speed, change the max upload (to 80%) speed in your torrent client’s preferences.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone should share as much as possible, but if your upload rate reached it’s max, your download rate suffers significantly.

2. Hack the max TCP connections
If you’re on XP sp2, your TCP connections are limited to a maximum of 10. This seriously hurts your downloading speed because it wont let you connect to a high amount of ip numbers. It is supposed to slow down viruses because their spreading strategy is to connect to a high amount of ip numbers, but it also cripples your torrent downloads.
A nice way to fix this is to download this patch (EvID4226Patch223d- en.zip mirror), it allows you to set the maximum allowed connections to any number you want. Any number between 50 and 100 is ok (more on this).

3. Check seeds and peers
A simple tip, but o so important. Always look for torrents with the best seed/peer ratio. The more seeds (compared to peers) the better (in general). So 50 seeds and 50 peers is better than 500 seeds and 1000 peers. So, be selective.

4. Change the default port.
By default, bittorrent uses a port 6881-6999. Bittorrent accounts for a lot of the total internet traffic (1/3), so isp’s like to limit the connection offered on the these ports. So, you should change these to another range. Good clients allow you to do this, just choose anything you like. If you’re behind a router, make sure you have the ports forwarded or UPnP enabled.

5. Disable Windows Firewall
It sucks. Windows Firewall hates P2P and often leads a life of it’s own. So disable it and get yourself a decent firewall, Kerio or Zone Alarm for example.

Last but not least… Buy a faster connection…

Category: Bittorent, Tutorial