Why Is the BitComet Download Speed So Slow?
BitComet is a popular application that uses the BitTorrent protocol. It is one of the older torrenting applications currently on the market, originally having been released in 2003. It stands out from its competitors due to its unique features, including an in application browsing window, as well as the ability to download the beginning and end of a file first so that it can be previewed.
BitComet is used to open files of the .torrent format. It then connects to any other clients currently uploading or downloading that file, and downloads from ones with pieces it does not have while uploading the pieces it does have to others that don't, providing a net gain in speed.
Like any torrenting application, BitComet can download slowly for any number of reasons.
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Low Bandwidth
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While torrenting does generally increase download speed, it cannot increase the maximum amount of data that your connection can download at a given time. This is determined by your provider, wireless setup and possible network limitations.
Few Seeds/Peers
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The torrent you chose to download may not have many "seeds." Seeds are people who have finished downloading the file, and are spreading it to everyone else currently downloading it. If there are no seeds, and the entire file hasn't been distributed to the peers--people currently uploading what they have downloaded, but are downloading the rest--then it will be impossible to acquire the entire file.
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Too many leechers
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Leechers are peers who for some reason are not uploading while downloading. This means that for all the data that they are downloading, they aren't spreading it to the rest of the peers, causing a net drain on the system instead of a more equitable sharing ratio.
Share Ratio
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Certain private trackers have the concept of a share ratio that determines how fast you can download based on your upload/download ratio in the past. If you have downloaded 1 gigabyte and have uploaded 500 megabytes, you'll have a ratio of .5, which may cap how fast you can download. Likewise, if you have instead uploaded 2 gigabytes, you may be given extra speed as an incentive and reward.
Network Problems
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Certain ports may be blocked on your firewall, or the program itself may be blocked. Check both your software firewall and the firewall built into your router for problems. It's also possible your Internet service provider has blocked all peer-to-peer traffic, though that is unlikely.
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References
- Photo Credit Network connection image by Fantasista from Fotolia.com
