Many torrenters aren’t aware of this, but by default µTorrent functions on some very uncharitable out-of-the-box settings. This is to accommodate users who have a slow Internet connection (dialup) or have a small TCP limit. Or perhaps they’re just an evil crew that wants to download faster than you! Whatever the motives, here’s how to get µTorrent running in tip-top shape.
Before we begin, you’ll need the latest stable version of µTorrent. Most private trackers are moving away from allowing any version that is not 1.7.7 or 1.8.x (but be sure to check their FAQ for more info), and most likely beta versions are also banned. Got it? Great!
1. LLVLord TCP/IP Patch
This isn’t a µTorrent tip, but you’ll first need to do this for most of the other tips to work well. Aside from Microsoft.com, this tip can be found everywhere. WinXP limits the number of max. half-open TCP connections to just ten. Use the Llvlord patch to change your limit to 50, perhaps even 100 (but no higher).2. Use a Good Port number
Another tip that’s been done to death (but is ever-so important) is to use a port from the good port range - somewhere between 49152 through 65535. These are dynamic and/or private ports - great for keeping your ISP out of your BitTorrent traffic. Go to Options -> Preferences -> Connection and enter in number from the above range (i.e. 57000). Save your changes.
To test your port number, go to Options -> Speed Guide… and click on the button “Test if port is forwarded properly”. This will launch the µTorrent port checker webpage that will tell you if the port is open or not.
If you get an “OK” message - great - move on to Step 3.
If not, keep reading. If you run into problems with the port test, it could be for a few reasons. For the sake of these tests, we chose port 57000.
2a. Personal Firewall - If you are running firewall software such as ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security, Norton Personal Firewall, CounterSpy, McAfee, etc., then you’ll configure your firewall such that µTorrent has access to port 57000. This is normally accomplished by starting up µTorrent, and the firewall should spring up an access alert. Simply select the option to “Always Allow” the program to access the Internet. If you use Windows Firewall, µTorrent is configured (by default) for it, so there’s little to do.
2b. Home Router - If you are running a router (also called a wireless access point), you may have to configure it to direct all TCP/UDP BitTorrent traffic to port 57000 to be routed to your computer. If so, visit - http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm. Click the router you are using. Click the application, which is µTorrent, and follow the instructions.
3. Proper Upload Speed
Set this to about 80% of your overall upload line capacity. To find this out, visit speedtest.net and conduct the exam. After the test, change the results to show the output in kilobytes (see the ‘Speed Measure’ dropdown box to the right).
Multiply this by 0.8 and you have your magic number. Go to Preferences -> Connection and enter in the new number for the Maximum Upload rate. Leave your download rate at “0″ (maximum).
4. BitTorrent Settings
In Options -> Preferences -> BitTorrent you’ll need to make some recommended modifications. In the first section - “Number of Connections”, change these settings to:
Global Max. number of connections: 800
Maximum number of connected peers per torrent: 125
Number of upload slots per torrent: 80
In the next section, “Additional BitTorrent Features”, put checkmarks in all of these boxes:
Enable DHT network
Enable Local Peer Discovery
Ask Tracker for Scrape Information
Enable Peer Exchange
Lastly, make sure that “Protocol Encryption” is set to Enable, and there’s a tick in “Allow incoming legacy connections”. Here’s what the BitTorrent tab should now look like:
5. Enable Encryption
In Options -> Speed Guide… be sure there’s a tick in the “Enable Encryption” box. This may assist those users whose download speeds are suffering at the hands of ISPs that throttle P2P traffic.
6. Advanced Settings
In Options -> Preferences -> Advanced you’ll need to make a few adjustments, as well. Scroll down to where it says “net.max_halfopen” and change this from 8 to 50. (If you’re on a dialup Internet connection, don’t do this). Now, scroll up to “bt.connect_speed” and change the value from 20 to 50. Last, go to “diskio.flush_files” and be sure this is set to true. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
After making these changes, you’ll need to stop & restart all of your active torrents. Or, just quit µTorrent and fire it back up. There should be a green checkmark at the bottom of the µTorrent window - this means you are reachable (the port is properly forwarded and other settings are optimal). Note that it sometimes takes a few minutes to turn green.
Final Notes
If these modifications didn’t increase your download rates, and you’re still suffering from miserable speeds, it’s completely reasonable to assume that your ISP is blocking or throttling your P2P traffic. An SSH account or a free VPN service may be able to help.
Before we begin, you’ll need the latest stable version of µTorrent. Most private trackers are moving away from allowing any version that is not 1.7.7 or 1.8.x (but be sure to check their FAQ for more info), and most likely beta versions are also banned. Got it? Great!
1. LLVLord TCP/IP Patch
This isn’t a µTorrent tip, but you’ll first need to do this for most of the other tips to work well. Aside from Microsoft.com, this tip can be found everywhere. WinXP limits the number of max. half-open TCP connections to just ten. Use the Llvlord patch to change your limit to 50, perhaps even 100 (but no higher).2. Use a Good Port number
Another tip that’s been done to death (but is ever-so important) is to use a port from the good port range - somewhere between 49152 through 65535. These are dynamic and/or private ports - great for keeping your ISP out of your BitTorrent traffic. Go to Options -> Preferences -> Connection and enter in number from the above range (i.e. 57000). Save your changes.
To test your port number, go to Options -> Speed Guide… and click on the button “Test if port is forwarded properly”. This will launch the µTorrent port checker webpage that will tell you if the port is open or not.
If you get an “OK” message - great - move on to Step 3.
If not, keep reading. If you run into problems with the port test, it could be for a few reasons. For the sake of these tests, we chose port 57000.
2a. Personal Firewall - If you are running firewall software such as ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security, Norton Personal Firewall, CounterSpy, McAfee, etc., then you’ll configure your firewall such that µTorrent has access to port 57000. This is normally accomplished by starting up µTorrent, and the firewall should spring up an access alert. Simply select the option to “Always Allow” the program to access the Internet. If you use Windows Firewall, µTorrent is configured (by default) for it, so there’s little to do.
2b. Home Router - If you are running a router (also called a wireless access point), you may have to configure it to direct all TCP/UDP BitTorrent traffic to port 57000 to be routed to your computer. If so, visit - http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm. Click the router you are using. Click the application, which is µTorrent, and follow the instructions.
3. Proper Upload Speed
Set this to about 80% of your overall upload line capacity. To find this out, visit speedtest.net and conduct the exam. After the test, change the results to show the output in kilobytes (see the ‘Speed Measure’ dropdown box to the right).
Multiply this by 0.8 and you have your magic number. Go to Preferences -> Connection and enter in the new number for the Maximum Upload rate. Leave your download rate at “0″ (maximum).
4. BitTorrent Settings
In Options -> Preferences -> BitTorrent you’ll need to make some recommended modifications. In the first section - “Number of Connections”, change these settings to:
Global Max. number of connections: 800
Maximum number of connected peers per torrent: 125
Number of upload slots per torrent: 80
In the next section, “Additional BitTorrent Features”, put checkmarks in all of these boxes:
Enable DHT network
Enable Local Peer Discovery
Ask Tracker for Scrape Information
Enable Peer Exchange
Lastly, make sure that “Protocol Encryption” is set to Enable, and there’s a tick in “Allow incoming legacy connections”. Here’s what the BitTorrent tab should now look like:
5. Enable Encryption
In Options -> Speed Guide… be sure there’s a tick in the “Enable Encryption” box. This may assist those users whose download speeds are suffering at the hands of ISPs that throttle P2P traffic.
6. Advanced Settings
In Options -> Preferences -> Advanced you’ll need to make a few adjustments, as well. Scroll down to where it says “net.max_halfopen” and change this from 8 to 50. (If you’re on a dialup Internet connection, don’t do this). Now, scroll up to “bt.connect_speed” and change the value from 20 to 50. Last, go to “diskio.flush_files” and be sure this is set to true. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
After making these changes, you’ll need to stop & restart all of your active torrents. Or, just quit µTorrent and fire it back up. There should be a green checkmark at the bottom of the µTorrent window - this means you are reachable (the port is properly forwarded and other settings are optimal). Note that it sometimes takes a few minutes to turn green.
Final Notes
If these modifications didn’t increase your download rates, and you’re still suffering from miserable speeds, it’s completely reasonable to assume that your ISP is blocking or throttling your P2P traffic. An SSH account or a free VPN service may be able to help.
Read d rest...
Recently i am having my uTorrent very slow.So i have to apply a tweak to it.Here is it.
First go to Options>Preferences>Network
Under ‘Port used for incomming connections’, enter any port number. It is best to use a port number above 10000. I use 45682.
Randomize port each time utorrent starts: UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have a router. If you do not have a router or a firewall, and want extra security,check this option.
Enable UPnP port mapping (Windows Xp or later only): UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have experienced it slowing down speeds. It is not needed if you manually port forward.
Add utorrent to Windows Firewall exceptions (Windows XP SP2 or later only): UNCHECKED (do this only if you have windows firewall disabled)
Global Maximum upload rate (kb/s): [0: unlimited]: 22 (for 256k connection)Protocol Encryption: ENABLED. I would recommend everyone to enable this. This can help increase speeds with many ISPs.
Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED
Options>Preferences>Torrents
Global Maximum Number of Connections: 130 (for 256k connection)This number should not be set too low or the number of connections made to your torrents will be limited. Setting it too high may cause too much bandwidth to be used and can cause slowdowns.
Maximum Number of connected peers per torrent: 70 (for 256k connection)If you see that the peers connected to a specific torrent are exactly this number, or very close, increase this number to improve speeds.
Number of upload slots per torrent: 3 (for 256k connection)This depends on how much you want to upload to other users. Do not set too low or it may affect download speeds.
Use additional upload slots if upload speed <90%: title="Click to Enlarge" href="http://www.johntp.com/wp-content/uploads/torrents.jpg">
Options>Preferences>Advanced
net.max_halfopen: 50
If you use Windows XP SP2, patch tcpip.sys with LvlLord’s Event ID 4226 Patcher to get better performance.
DO NOT CHANGE THIS OPTION unless you have Windows XP SP2 and have patched tcpip.sys.
You can also patch tcpip.sys with xp-Antispy
If you have a firewall, Open up the options/preferences/settings for the firewall - usually your firewall will have an icon to click in the taskbar
Look for the keywords “allow list” or “programs”
Add the application you want to give access to the internet
Make sure to save your settings when you are done
If you have a router
Go to start>run>type cmd, press enter>type ipconfig, press enter
Remember both your ip address and your default gateway
Type in your default gateway into your default browser, a password prompt may come up. The default username and password are admin for my router
Under ‘Applications’ fill out one line for each p2p client you use
You need to use your ip address, the correct port range and set either tcp or udp
You can find and change the ports in the actual p2p client’s settings, just make sure they are the same in the router
Most p2p apps need both tcp and udp checked, if you are not sure check your p2p client’s FAQ
Save your settings
Check PortForward.com to forward ports for uTorrent.
Some of the settings I mentioned above are relative to my bandwidth.
How to calculate optimal settings for your connection
In order to apply the following tips you need to know your maximum upload and download speeds. You can test your bandwidth over here.
Maximum upload speed
If you use your Maximum upload speed, there won’t be not enough space left for the files you are downloading. So you have to cap your upload speed.
This is how I calculate my optimal upload speed…
upload speed * 80%
Maximum download speed
Setting your maximum download speed to unlimited will hurt your connection. So use this to calculate your optimal setting.
download speed * 90%
Maximum connected peers per torrent
upload speed * 1.3
Maximum upload slots
1 + (upload speed / 6)
Disable Windows Firewall
Windows Firewall hates P2P and so disable it and get yourself a decent firewall like Zone Alarm.
Note: Some of the settings mentioned below are optimized for 256k connection. If you want to calculate the optimal settings for your connection, check at the end of this tutorial. But I suggest you to read the entire tutorial for guidance on other settings.
First go to Options>Preferences>Network
Under ‘Port used for incomming connections’, enter any port number. It is best to use a port number above 10000. I use 45682.
Randomize port each time utorrent starts: UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have a router. If you do not have a router or a firewall, and want extra security,check this option.
Enable UPnP port mapping (Windows Xp or later only): UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have experienced it slowing down speeds. It is not needed if you manually port forward.
Add utorrent to Windows Firewall exceptions (Windows XP SP2 or later only): UNCHECKED (do this only if you have windows firewall disabled)
Global Maximum upload rate (kb/s): [0: unlimited]: 22 (for 256k connection)Protocol Encryption: ENABLED. I would recommend everyone to enable this. This can help increase speeds with many ISPs.
Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED
Options>Preferences>Torrents
Global Maximum Number of Connections: 130 (for 256k connection)This number should not be set too low or the number of connections made to your torrents will be limited. Setting it too high may cause too much bandwidth to be used and can cause slowdowns.
Maximum Number of connected peers per torrent: 70 (for 256k connection)If you see that the peers connected to a specific torrent are exactly this number, or very close, increase this number to improve speeds.
Number of upload slots per torrent: 3 (for 256k connection)This depends on how much you want to upload to other users. Do not set too low or it may affect download speeds.
Use additional upload slots if upload speed <90%: title="Click to Enlarge" href="http://www.johntp.com/wp-content/uploads/torrents.jpg">
Options>Preferences>Advanced
net.max_halfopen: 50
If you use Windows XP SP2, patch tcpip.sys with LvlLord’s Event ID 4226 Patcher to get better performance.
DO NOT CHANGE THIS OPTION unless you have Windows XP SP2 and have patched tcpip.sys.
You can also patch tcpip.sys with xp-Antispy
If you have a firewall, Open up the options/preferences/settings for the firewall - usually your firewall will have an icon to click in the taskbar
Look for the keywords “allow list” or “programs”
Add the application you want to give access to the internet
Make sure to save your settings when you are done
If you have a router
Go to start>run>type cmd, press enter>type ipconfig, press enter
Remember both your ip address and your default gateway
Type in your default gateway into your default browser, a password prompt may come up. The default username and password are admin for my router
Under ‘Applications’ fill out one line for each p2p client you use
You need to use your ip address, the correct port range and set either tcp or udp
You can find and change the ports in the actual p2p client’s settings, just make sure they are the same in the router
Most p2p apps need both tcp and udp checked, if you are not sure check your p2p client’s FAQ
Save your settings
Check PortForward.com to forward ports for uTorrent.
Some of the settings I mentioned above are relative to my bandwidth.
How to calculate optimal settings for your connection
In order to apply the following tips you need to know your maximum upload and download speeds. You can test your bandwidth over here.
Maximum upload speed
If you use your Maximum upload speed, there won’t be not enough space left for the files you are downloading. So you have to cap your upload speed.
This is how I calculate my optimal upload speed…
upload speed * 80%
Maximum download speed
Setting your maximum download speed to unlimited will hurt your connection. So use this to calculate your optimal setting.
download speed * 90%
Maximum connected peers per torrent
upload speed * 1.3
Maximum upload slots
1 + (upload speed / 6)
Disable Windows Firewall
Windows Firewall hates P2P and so disable it and get yourself a decent firewall like Zone Alarm.
Note: Some of the settings mentioned below are optimized for 256k connection. If you want to calculate the optimal settings for your connection, check at the end of this tutorial. But I suggest you to read the entire tutorial for guidance on other settings.
Read d rest...
uTorrent, one of the most popular BitTorrent download clients available on the web, must be updated as soon as possible as a new vulnerability has been discovered in the application. SecurityFocus today reported that certain releases of both BitTorrent and uTorrent include a "peers windows remote denial of service vulnerability."According to the report, uTorrent 1.7.5, 1.6.1, 1.6 and BitTorrent 6.0 are all affected by the glitch, but previous versions might be also vulnerable. The only version which seems to be avoided by the vulnerability is uTorrent 1.7.6, so users of this release can employ their BitTorrent client as safe as anytime before.
"BitTorrent and uTorrent are prone to a remote denial-of-service vulnerability because the applications fail to perform adequate boundary checks on user-supplied data. Attackers can exploit this issue to crash the affected application, denying service to legitimate user," SecurityFocus explained in the advisory.
Both applications are extremely popular in a virtual world dominated by peer-to-peer and file sharing software solutions. To prove you that, here's some statistics provided by our Windows downloads section available right here on Softpedia: BitTorrent, a p2p file sharing client available for multiple platforms including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, has recorded no less than 480,744 while uTorrent has attracted 449,044 hits. And keep in mind that uTorrent has only 254 KB!
In case you're one of the vulnerable users out there, you're probably looking for a solution to patch and correct the flaw. According to reports, uTorrent can be easily fixed by deploying the latest version of the application, especially designed by the vendor to repair the reported vulnerability.
If you want to download the latest uTorrent release, you can take it straight from Softpedia using the following link. Also, the newest version of BitTorrent can be found here.
Read d rest...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
