Increase torrents download speed

Transmission client in Ubuntu 12.04

What is torrent(s)?

Torrents is a protocol that uses peer-to-peer network. It can be used to download huge chunks of data (say files) from the internet (www) with less risk of disturbance or interruption in the middle. Torrents clients like bitTorrent, Vuze, uTorrent, Transmission (in Ubuntu OS) are some examples. Torrents has a different way of functions. It does not download from a single download source but downloads by redistributing the file to multiple users who can act as hosts and servers at a same time. Speed of download may be directly proportional to your internet speed but you can make the following customization to increase torrent speed.

NOTE:
I use 384 kbps shared line; so some setting are customized to my necessity. You may change it accordingly.

I used uTorrent client running inside windows7.

Open utorrent then go to Options=>Preferences=>Network
1. Under 'Port used for incoming connections', enter any port number. It is best to use a port number above 10000. I use 45682 (default).
2. Randomize port each time utorrent starts: UNCHECKED.
3. Enable UPnP port mapping (Windows XP or later only): UNCHECKED.
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]: 1 (this limits upload rate to 1 kb per second)
6. Protocol Encryption: ENABLED. This can help increase speeds with many ISPs.
7. Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED

8. For download rate see the example of computation at last of this article.

Again, Options=>Preferences=>Torrents
1. Global Maximum Number of Connections: 152 (for 384k 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: 128 (for 384k 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: 1. This is yours choice how much you want to upload to other users. But setting too low may affect download speeds sometimes.
4. Use additional upload slots if upload speed <90%: CHECKED
5. Maximum number of active torrents: 2
6. Maximum number of active downloads: 1
7. Enable DHT Network: CHECKED. This 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

Also, Options=>Preferences=>Advanced
net.max_halfopen: 50

If you have a firewall:

• Open up the options/preferences/settings for the firewall - usually your firewall will have an icon to click on 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 (ADSL , DSL or Wireless)
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 upload speed us set maximum or [0 = UNLIMITED], this uses lots of bandwidth and slows the download.
  
  
• Download speed formula 
  Download speed = Internet speed x 90%