There is a thing about P2P connections, which makes them faster than usual online escapades. Unlike other forms of downloads where the user needs to connect with a centralized database for request files and media, P2P connections, mostly torrents, allow multiple users to work on a single file; thereby speeding up the downloads significantly over a single or group of devices.
Better termed as peer-to-peer connections, torrenting concerns content sharing without you having to rely on one source. Not just that, torrents, despite the flak they receive occasionally, are still insanely popular. BitTorrent, one of the more sought-after torrent clients is still known to manage close to 3.5 percent of the entire global internet traffic.
The concept of P2P connections, however, is as simple as it gets. As multiple users have, better termed as seeders have the concerned file or piece of content on their respective devices, each of them adds to the potency of the download on a particular device, known as the Leecher. At one point, therefore, it is advisable for a particular file or rather the torrent of the file to have more seeders than leechers.
Regardless of the pretty straightforward principle, torrenting is often thwarted by slow speeds, which aren’t always because of the ISP.
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Why is Slow Torrenting bothering you?
There can be many reasons leading to slow P2P transfers, especially slow torrenting. Before we starting discussing the ways to speed up the same, the reason for sluggishness needs to be known:
- Poor seeding
- Excessive router-based port forwarding
- Poor bandwidth management
- Peer blocking firewalls
- Erratic encryption settings
- Erroneous speed calculations
- ISP throttling speeds
- ISP blocking select torrent ports
Regardless of the multiple reasons for slow torrenting, the role of an ISP is probably the most significant. ISPs tend to monitor your internet usage and try to restrict high-bandwidth connections. In certain cases, data streams with high-bandwidth requirements, including YouTube, Torrents, Skype, and Netflix are blocked or throttled.
Not just that, the select torrenting ports including 6881-6889 are duly blocked, so as to kill the seeding or rather the uploading seeds.
Faster Torrenting- 9 Ideas that Work
Follow these 9 intuitive strategies to readily speed up your torrenting, regardless of the ISP and country-specific restrictions. Besides, this list of sites will allow you to get access to almost every piece of desirable content whereas the ideas will work towards improving leaching and seeding speeds.
- A Lightweight client helps
Firstly, you should aim for a torrent client that is free of bloated extensions and features. An app like UTorrent is a good option, owing to the minimalistic interface and hassle-free usage requirements. Moreover, a lightweight or rather a clean torrent only concentrates on the P2P speeds instead of bombarding the user with suggestions.
- A Healthy Torrent is Important
The torrent that can adhere to the requisite seeder-to-leecher ratio is termed a healthy torrent. Put simply, a torrent with a higher seeder count is the one to choose for a particular file or content piece. This means the number of people uploading the required file is more as compared to people asking for the same.
This feature automatically results in higher downloading speeds. Besides, once the leecher ends up downloading the said file, he or she gets added to the list of seeders.
- Change the Settings
A good way to increase the download speeds is to tweak certain torrent-based settings, provided you listened to us in the first place and opted for uTorrent as the client of choice. Now that you are already here, navigate straight to the Options section and reach out for Preferences and General. Once there, activate the Pre-allocate mode in the ‘when downloading’ mode.
This way auto allocation is managed and the downloading speeds increase, significantly. While you can also rely on other changes, there will be a separate topic to help you understand the more technical aspects before asking to implement the same.
- Get a VPN
An ISP, despite you using a verified list of torrents and clients, is still able to track your usage and throttle speeds accordingly. Therefore, it is advisable to get hold of a VPN client, so as to mask the IP address and invoke anonymity. This way, it becomes easier to manage P2P downloads without the Internet Service Provider knowing about the same.
Plus, torrenting isn’t limited to smartphones and laptops but also concerns Streaming devices. With streaming devices, you need to prioritize a VPN as the ISPs are pretty hard on these entertainment hubs. Therefore, if you have something like a Roku or a Fire TV Stick on you, using a VPN for accessing torrents and the concerned clients is advisable.
Internetprivatsphare can provide you with an easy-to-understand guide to ensure that you are able to set up the VPN client in no time. While Getmoreprivacy is also popularly known to provide the same services.
- Add Firewall Exceptions
Your Windows Firewall can play spoilsport if you are deep into P2P connections. Therefore, if the speeds aren’t going up despite you trying every other hack in the book, try and add the torrent client to the list of Firewall exceptions. The best thing about using a cleaner torrent with a responsive UI is that you can simply head over to the Connections tab in Preferences and enable the Firewall Exception thing.
Note: Refrain from shutting down the Windows Firewall directly as it opens the device to threats
- Limiting Upload and Download Rates
Most people get the speed concepts wrong, when maneuvering the global download and upload speeds are concerned. Besides, the amateurs fail to change the speed limits, which end up interfering with the torrenting speeds. Therefore, it is advisable to reach out for the Bandwidth tab upon click on Preferences and set the maximum download limit to 0kB/s, which is the maximum unregulated rate.
For uploads, having the same rate isn’t recommended as it might slow down the download speeds. Therefore, if you are aware of the upload speeds offered by the ISP, try and set the same to almost 70 percent of the same.
- Fix the Number of Connections
Once the upload and download rates are out of the way, it is necessary to change the number of connections, to get the most effective file downloading speeds. A lower number of connections can slow down the speeds as you are often connected with a limited number of seeders. A good ballpark, therefore, is to set the global connections to 150 and the peer-to-peer slots at 100.
- Take Note of the Torrenting Port
The torrenting protocol depends on the concerned TCP transmission protocol. Therefore, the requisite TCP port is necessary to make torrenting faster than usual. However, this attribute can also be configured upon accessing the torrent dashboard.
- Add Sufficient Trackers
Trackers are valuable assets that can find the best set of seeders and leechers for the concerned file. Therefore, if you are unsure as to why the speeds are being bottlenecked despite following every other strategy to the letter, a new and verified list of trackers might help. Besides, accessing the same is pretty seamless as you only need to head over the exact torrent name on the list and paste new trackers in the mentioned list.
Regardless of your internet speed limit, these steps are expected to amplify your torrenting speeds, miraculously. Besides, it is also advisable to follow our list of torrent sites and resources, to get the best set of trackers on-board.