How to Boost Utorrent Download Rate

Simple tweaks in uTorrent's program settings can make a big difference in speed.

UTorrent is a torrent client program that enables users to download torrent files over a peer-to-peer network. The speed of the download is largely determined by how many "seeds," which are people sharing a full copy of the file, and "peers," which are people sharing partial copies of the file, are hosting the file. You can also optimize the program so it is operating at its fastest. However, this optimization is useless if there are few people sharing the file.

Instructions

1. Close all other downloads when using uTorrent. Other programs that use the Internet, file downloads and transfers eat up bandwidth. To ensure the fastest connection possible for uTorrent, shutdown all programs that require an Internet connection.

2. Maximize the connection. Click "Options" then "Setup Guide." Make sure "Bandwidth," "Network" and "Automatic Port Mapping" are all checked. Click "Run Tests." The program will configure automatically uTorrent's connection settings to the most optimal.

3. Authorize uTorrent if the computer is using a firewall. Click on "Options," "Preferences," "Connection," then select "Add Windows Firewall Exception."

4. Encrypt downloads to prevent the Internet service provider, or ISP, from throttling them. Some ISP's will cap downloads of users using torrent client programs. To prevent this from happening use an encrypted connection. The encrypted connection masks the uTorrent's download traffic. Click on "Options," "Preferences" and "BitTorrent." Check "Allow Incoming Legacy Connections" and set "Outgoing" to "Enabled." Use this option only if uTorrent once had good speed, but now it has slowed down, and you have confirmed the ISP is throttling traffic.

5. Limit the upload rate. Occasionally the upload speed of a file will be so high that it limits the download speed significantly. If this is the case, limit the upload speed. Click on "Options," "Preferences" and then "Bandwidth." Change the "Maximum Global Upload Rate" to a low value. Limit the number of "Upload Slots Per Torrent." Always make sure the "Maximum Global Download Rate" is set to "0," which means unlimited.

References

• uTorrent: uTorrent Connection Setup Guide