This guide is meant to explain how to increase your download speed when using utorrent and still be allowed to browse the the Internet, with just a small slowdown.
µTorrent Quick Tips -
Official FAQSpeed Guide (basic)
This should popup when you first run µTorrent, otherwise head over to Options>Speed Guide (CTRL+G). Follow the instructions on the screen. You will want to test your upload speed on a few sites to make sure you input the speed you are getting and NOT the speed your ISP claims to be giving you. Make sure to do a few tests and take a rough average of them. Choose the closest option in the drop down menu (better to choose a lower speed than a higher one, but only one setting below). For more about the 80% rule see below for details. For step 2, choose your port. Make sure to test if it is port forwarded, see below if you have a router.
Manual Settings (advanced)
Options>Preferences
>Connection
Port used for incoming connections: xxxxx
You can use any port that isn't in use already, 45682 is the one I use. If you have a router, make sure to have this port, port forwarded. See below for more details.
Randomize port each time µtorrent starts: UNCHECKED
I have a router and therefore I leave this unchecked. 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 it shouldn't slow down speeds, but for some reason it can cause problems sometimes. It is not needed if you port forward manually and I would actually recommend disabling it if you port forward manually.
Add µTorrent to Windows Firewall exceptions (Windows XP SP2 or later only): CHECKED
If you don't have the firewall on, you can uncheck this option. Otherwise, check this option or add µTorrent to the exceptions list manually. See below for details.
Proxy Server: I don't have a proxy set up, if you do make sure to set this part up correctly.
Global Maximum upload rate (kb/s): [0: unlimited]: Do not put this to 0. See below or the speed guide above for more details.
Alternate upload rate... & Global maximum download...: User Preference
Use the first option if you plan to seed a torrent. Capping download speeds for testing or to maximize browsing speeds is sometimes useful.
>BitTorrent
Global Maximum Number of Connections: 1000
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 overall slowdowns. Play around with this number and see how many connections are being used in Help>Show Statistics
Maximum Number of connected peers per torrent: 250
This number should be lower than the number above. 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 & Use additional upload: User Preference
This depends on how much you want to upload to other users. Do not set too low or it may affect download speeds. I have it set to 4.
Enable DHT, Enable DHT for new torrents: CHECKED
This is recommended to be checked to improve speeds. More people will be available for sharing if this is checked. (private trackers don't like this, turn DHT off for them)
Ask tracker for scraper information, Enable Peer Exchange: CHECKED
This is recommended to be checked to improve speeds.
Protocol Encryption: ENABLED
I would recommend everyone to enable this. This can help increase speeds with many ISPs. If you suspect your ISP is throttling ports (i.e. you are getting 0-10kb/s) set this to FORCED.
Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED
>Queuing
Maximum number of active & Maximum number of active: User Preference
I have mine set to 4 and 3.
*The rest in this section is user preference also.
>Advanced Options
Most of these can be left on default, except:
net.max_halfopen>50
DO NOT CHANGE THIS OPTION unless you have windows xp sp2 and you have patched tcpip.sys. I have mine patched to 50 and hence the above setting. See below for further details.
peer.lazy_bitfield>User Preference
If you are getting ridiculous speeds (1-5kb/s) your ISP may be to blame. Set this option to true if you believe this is the case.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:54 pm