Thursday, May 8, 2008

Fast Torrent Downloading

Seed, Seed, Seed

The key to getting awesome download speeds is seeding. From the looks of it UTorrent may have an internal credit system. I could be wrong, but from my extensive downloading research it seems as though there is a Credit system internally built into UTorrent. What is a Credit system you ask? Well a Credit system means that there is a record being kept at how much you download to how much you upload. A general rule is for every megabyte you download, you should at least upload 1.5 megabytes. This will get you a ratio of 1.5 which is ideal for most downloader's and uploaders. Having a good ratio helps boost your speeds dramatically. Remember after a torrent has finished please seed till at least a 1.5 ratio. This will help out the whole Bit-Torrent community. Do not be a jerk.

Downloading the File First, Seeding Later

Back to my scenario, I love to download the file first and seed later. I used to set my upload speeds to 2KB/sec so I could accomplish this. I have a cable connection of 3MBps down and 40KB/sec up. The more upload speed I use the slower I can download. This is probably the case for most people. How do you get around this little mishap? Here is how, when you first start the torrent, make sure your upload speed is above 20KB/sec. Let this setting stay for at least an hour. Once your ratio has reached something above a 1.0, lower your upload to speed to 8KB/sec or above. I recommend 10KB/sec. This will show UTorrent and the tracker that you are a good seeder and from that they will send more bandwidth your way. Give it another hour and check on the torrent, your speeds should have dramatically increased. If not chances are the torrent is either not a very popular torrent, I am completely wrong or my testing was just a spoof.

Seeding Later

Remember to seed after the torrent file has finished. Seeding is how Bit-Torrents are kept alive. You were able to download the torrent because someone else was seeding it for you. Remember that! It is not just a take, but a give take community. You give back 1.5 times what you take. My suggestion is after you downloaded 3 torrent files, open those torrent files up for a single night at your highest upload rate. Once you hit a 1.5 ratio or above stop the torrents and you are finished. Than repeat the process for your next 3 torrent downloads. This way you can have the full file quickly and give back to the community at the same time when your internet connection is generally idle.

For more.....visit...

0 comments: