Speed Test for Utorrent
uTorrent is a popular file-sharing program, but it is one of the least memory intensive. To get the most out of uTorrent, learn more about how it works and where to find a good speed test that can maximize your uploading and downloading speeds.
Other People Are Reading
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What is uTorrent?
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Many people associate uTorrent (µTorrent) with Napster, when Napster was still a free (and controversial) program that allowed users worldwide to share music files. uTorrent is similar to Napster in that it lets users from anywhere share files of any size over the Internet.
Bittorrent is the actual client protocol used by uTorrent that allows people to share files and parts of files directly from their own computers. Thus, users do not need a high-powered server to share very large files.
uTorrent Speed
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To understand how a speed test for uTorrent works, it helps to understand how uTorrent speeds work in general. uTorrent uses a system of "seeders" and "peers." Seeders are people who have a complete file of some kind on their computer and are sharing it. Peers are people who only have pieces of the complete file.
When you use uTorrent, you are receiving pieces of files from both seeders and peers. You are a peer until you have the complete file, then you become a seeder.
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The Truth About Your Connection
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You may be paying for 8 MB of bandwidth from your local cable provider but in reality, you will never really see that speed. Cable providers don't tell you that you are actually sharing that bandwidth with a large chunk of your community, so on days when people tend to be home (like Saturdays), you may have something like 2 MB download speed and 1 MB upload speed. But on a Monday at 2 a.m., you may have double that.
If you have a better connection, like a T3 connection, you will experience much greater speeds all the time. With a dial-up connection, your speed will be extremely low.
Speed Testing
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The best way to set up your uTorrent connection is to first find out your actual speed. You can do this at any speed-check website (see Resources). Speakeasy has a reputation for being the most reliable.
Adjusting uTorrent For Maximum Speed
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Now that you have an accurate idea of your true upload and download speeds, you can set up uTorrent so it's performing at optimal conditions.
Start uTorrent, then "Options," followed by "Preferences." Input your desired maximum upload speed in the "Bandwith" section. This will have a significant impact on how well you can use other programs that access the Internet. If you set it too high, it will take a very long time to open a simple webpage and you will be unable to play multiplayer games. Next, click the section called queuing. Here you can select the maximum amount of files you can upload and download simultaneously. The less you have running, the faster they will be completed.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Computer trip image by Andrzej Malek from Fotolia.com
