Question: "How Do I Speed Up My Torrent Downloads?

"

Increase download speeds by opening TCP port 6881, the "dedicated lane" for torrent file
downloads.

Answer:

December, 2008

If you are a Bit Torrent downloader, you know what slow download speeds are like...frustrating
and annoying, to say the least. Instead of getting your music or movie within a couple of
hours, your software predicts it will take 2 to 4 days.

Now, while many of the speed factors involved are out of your control, there is at least one
thing you can do at your receiving end to improve this speed. It is called "Port Forwarding", or
"opening your specific TCP ports". This is how it works.

1) That blue or green network cable coming out of your computer/modem/router is

actually a busy highway comprised of 65,536 tiny electronic lanes (yes, over sixty-five
thousand little lanes for your electrons). Each lane is called a "port", and each port is designed
to allow only specific types of information through. Many ports are assigned in a semi-
standardized way. Here are some example port assignments:

• HTML pages: port 80

• FTP file transferring: port 21
• World of Warcraft: port 3724
• POP3 email: port 110
• MSN Messenger: port 6901 and ports 6891-6900
• Everquest: port 1024
• Bit Torrents: port 6881

2) Bit torrents, by default, first look for port 6881 to enter/exit your computer. If
port 6881 is closed for whatever reason, torrents then go to port 6882, then 6883, and so on,
until it eventually tries port 6999 before giving up.

3) Every ISP, and every home router, can optionally block any of these ports with the
intention of preventing hackers and controlling the network.

4) If you tell your own personal router and firewall at home to open (aka "forward")
port 6881 and port 6882, then your bit torrents will find their way into your computer that
much faster. Sometimes up to 5x faster.

Yes, opening ports does increase the possibility of getting hacked by unwanted bad guys, but
there are means to reduce that threat while still getting fast torrent download speeds.

Next: Bradley Mitchell explains port 6881 and what's involved with opening ports for your Bit
Torrents.

Step-by-Step Port Forward Guide: The helpful people at Portforward.com will explain
exactly how you port forward your specific router.

Related: The Complete Top 35 Torrent Sites List.

More BitTorrent articles:

 • Bit Torrents 101: How BitTorrent Downloading Works.
• The Best Bittorrent Client Software of 2008.
• Meet Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent open source code.
• Overview of P2P copyright legalities.

Back to Home Page

More Internet for Beginners Q&A

More Bit Torrent Help:

Beginner's Guide to Torrent Downloading"What is the Best Torrent Software?"MUTE

Anonymous P2P Networking

Reader Favorites:

How to Become a Power eBayer"What is 'Codec'?"The Student's Internet Research Guide

P2P Have-to-Knows:

The DMCA Law, ExplainedHow to Play Daa FilesHow to Play Bin, Cue, Dat, and RAR Movie Files

Related Articles

• BitTorrent Ports Tip to Speed Up Bit Torrent Clients

• BitTorrents 101: Understanding P2P with Torrents
• What Are The Best Bit Torrent Search Engine Sites of 2008?
• Intrusion Protection and Network Security
• Troubleshooting Network Games

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Internet for Beginners Guide

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Bond multiple DSL & Cable

uTorrent was very slow for me until recently I applied a few tweaks. Here’s what I did.

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

1. Under ‘Port used for incomming connections’, enter any port number. It is best
to use a port number above 10000. I use 45682.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Add utorrent to Windows Firewall exceptions (Windows XP SP2 or later only):
UNCHECKED (do this only if you have windows firewall disabled)
5. Global Maximum upload rate (kb/s): [0: unlimited]: 22 (for 256k connection)
6. Protocol Encryption: ENABLED. I would recommend everyone to enable this.
This can help increase speeds with many ISPs.
7. Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED

Options>Preferences>Torrents

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Use additional upload slots if upload speed <90%: CHECKED
5. Maximum number of active torrents: 2 (for 256k connection)
6. Maximum number of active downloads: 1 (for 256k connection)
7. Enable DHT Network: CHECKEDThis is recommended to be checked to
improve speeds. More people will be available for sharing if this is checked.
8. Enable DHT for new torrents: CHECKED
9. Enable Peer Exchange: CHECKED
10. Enable scrapping: CHECKED
11. Pre-allocate all files: CHECKED
12. Append .!ut to incomplete files: UNCHECKED

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

1. Go to start>run>type cmd, press enter>type ipconfig, press enter

2. Remember both your ip address and your default gateway
3. 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
4. Under ‘Applications’ fill out one line for each p2p client you use
5. You need to use your ip address, the correct port range and set either tcp or udp
6. You can find and change the ports in the actual p2p client’s settings, just make
sure they are the same in the router
7. Most p2p apps need both tcp and udp checked, if you are not sure check your p2p
client’s FAQ
8. 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.

And last optimize your Internet connection with TCP Optimizer.