How to Boost the Download Speed of Bit Torrent
Bit Torrent upload and download speeds depend on a variety of factors. These include client configurations and computer network configurations. Unfortunately, the tweaks users can make to clients and computers only go so far before it is necessary to purchase a higher ISP bandwidth cap. There will be immediate results, however, for those who are successful in choosing healthy torrents and applying effective configurations to the entire Bit Torrent process.
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Instructions
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Configure the Bit Torrent Client
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Download a Bit Torrent client that is lightweight and fast. This means a client that will load quickly when opened and does not run unnecessary processes, like advertisements. uTorrent is generally considered the fastest, most lightweight client among users.
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Limit the upload rate in your client preferences. Upload rate is a measure of the rate at which the computer shares file information with foreign users. A high upload rate will drastically cut the download rate.
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Turn on Protocol Encryption. Many Internet Service Providers intentionally throttle Bit Torrent traffic, as it accounts for more broadband traffic than anything else. A good client will have a Protocol Encryption option to hide the nature of the download traffic from potential throttling measures.
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Experiment with the number of connections the client allows for each download. Global connection maximum will limit the number of total P2P connections the client makes for all torrents. Peer connection maximum will limit the number of total P2P connections allowed for each download.
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Choose only torrent files with a large number of seeders and peers. This will ensure a constant download rate and a better chance of hitting high download speeds.
Configure the Computer Network Settings
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Turn off all operating system firewalls. Windows firewall settings are under the "Control Panel." Mac OSX and Linux machines do not require this step.
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Open a port for the Bit Torrent client on the router. Clients have a default range of port numbers 6881 to 6999. Configure the router's firmware to open that port range.
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Close non--essential programs that use Internet bandwidth. These programs will take away potential bandwidth from the Bit Torrent client.
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Tips & Warnings
While Protocol Encryption is not in any way illegal, downloading and seeding copyrighted material remains an illegal use of Bit Torrent.
References
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