Improving Torrent Speeds
Writing by shinda on Tuesday, 11 of April , 2006
For a while now I’ve been looking to find ways to improve my torrent download speeds, after all the only thing better then being able to download anything, is to be able to download anything fast.
Firstly, if you have no clue what Torrents are, then understand them to be the latest fad in downloading and sharing files. I could go into more depth on it, but if you havn’t needed or used torrents yet, the chances of you needed using torrents is pretty slim.
Firstly let’s deal with the basics:
The Client
The client is the program used to actually download the files. Now I’ve used most of them out there and I can cleary say that BitComet is by far the best.
- Azereus slowed down my computer, making it a pain to download and work normally , but it does come loaded with features.
- BitTornado, didn’t deliver on the speed, and lacked the User Interface,
- BitLord an adware / spyware version of BitCommet.
So my advice is to get BitComet. It works, its fast, doesn’t have problems, what more could you ask for.
Change your DMZ settings
If you’re using a router, chances are your computer doesn’t have direct access to the internet. You can change that by enabling DMZ or port forwarding, that way your computer can get direct access to the internet (indeed making your computer more susceptible to being hacked, and getting a virus, but you may get faster downloads).
Choose your Torrent Files wisely.
Nearly all torrent sites list the number of seeds and peers. A good torrent file is one where the seeds:peer ratio is closest or greater then 1. So a file with a seed-peer ratio of 50:50 is better then one with a ratio of 50:1000.
Disable Windows firewall.
Yes it puts you at the mercy of hackers and virus’s, but it also helps improve download speeds.
To disable windows firewall:
- Go to Control Panel.
- Click Windows Firewall.
- Click on off and go OK.
You could configure your settings and all that, and still have your firewall on, but that would require further explanation and I don’t want type all that up. Also chances are you got other firewalls that came installed with windows, that you may need to configure / turn off, which I’ll leave you to figure out on how to do on your own.
Now that we got the basics out of the way, there are a few other things you could try, such as patching your windows and changing the number of open ports and also capping your upload speeds.For more info on how to do those and some other tips check out this thread on torrentfreak.com.
As always, I can’t guarantee that doing all the above will fix things but if you are having problems, then you can try each step individually and one of these may just work for you.
Category: Tech
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gaffer from 
Made Tuesday, 11 of April , 2006 at 6:18 pm
great post, espically how im just getting into downlaoding stuff from torrents,
an eye opening post…
singh from
Made Tuesday, 11 of April , 2006 at 8:57 pm
i have always used bitcomet, but recently switched to utorrent, which is the best program ever, with all the features of bitcomet and then some. utorrent also bypasses rogers torrent throttling, if ur using rogers then u kno what im talking bout and if u dont, then google it.
utorrent is a very good program and i suggest u switch to it, i have used all the programs listed in the blog but utorrent is by far the best.
gaffer from
Made Tuesday, 11 of April , 2006 at 9:28 pm
shinda whats ur word on that, u tried utorrent? if so, please discuss
Scientist from
Made Wednesday, 12 of April , 2006 at 12:45 am
I used Utorrent but I think Bitlord was better.
I decided to get a version of UTorrent and the following is my quick review on it:
- Just as fast as BitCommet.
- Lack luster user interface, but then you can download skins.
- All the bells and whistles, reminds me of Azereus.
- Lots of advanced options that you will probabbly never use, let alone possibly understand.
- RSS support meaning if what I think it means, automated downloads from RSS feeds.
- No boss key?? (Doubt anyone uses this but I did notice the feature missing)
Basically UTorrent can be compared to Linux. It has all the bells and whistles one could hope for, but not ever user will come to appreciate these. So, if your a techi there’s probabbly nothing better then uTorrent, but since most of you probably aren’t Bitcommet is good enough.
singh from
Made Wednesday, 12 of April , 2006 at 3:30 pm
i guess im a techie then =)
Looks like uTorrents encrpytion pack and port scanning features also allow you to get 100+ downloads when using the school internet connections.
Simply amazing.
singh from
Made Wednesday, 12 of April , 2006 at 6:38 pm
Shinda,
I think you have found a new Bittorrent Client for yourself 
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! ogaarkprrhd
