Problem downloading torrents?
 

Hi, firstly, I've read dozens of forums on this already but I can't see anybody having the same problem as me.
I just had Virgin 100 installed yesterday, I though "woo fast downloads", so I started to download Ubuntu via torrent to check out the speed. It didn't budge past 1.1MB, and kept dropping and rising throughout the download. I decided to download a load more to see how they worked out, including a mixtape with 23,000+ seeders which didn't go above 100KB/s.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2012/12/24.png

So far I have:

• Reinstalled windows as VM said it was my PC
• Turned off firewalls on both the PC and SuperHub
• Portforawarded ports above 25000, made sure BitTorrent was on a port higher than this
• Capped BitTorrents uploads at 50, 100 and 150KB/s
• Forced an encrypted connection on BitTorrent
• Tried 15+ different torrent files, the highest speed I've gotten is 1.1MB/s

When I was on Sky 20mbps I got a constant download of any torrent at minimum 1MB/s. I've heard about them capped you if you torrent too much but these are my first downloads on VM.
I just reinstalled windows 7, firewall off. I'm running the SuperHub Software V2.37.01. I'm going through a wired connection from the hub.

Any ideas why my speed isn't constant and fairly slow?

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2012/12/25.png http://www.pingtest.net/result/74004031.png

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

I didn't think torrents could be constant by their very nature,all depends on number of actual seeders(not reported seeders) and at what speed they are up loading

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

These are the current speeds I'm facing from various Linux distros; ridiculously slow!

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2012/12/23.png

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

If you are using a Superhub you may want to lower the maximum number of connections, there could be too many for the thing to handle.

VM do throttle torrents though so you may be suffering from that. Try it off peak on a weekday and see how you fare, though I can pretty much get my full 50meg connection maxed out regularly.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

How many would you say, I've set it to 80. Also, what sources are you using for your torrents? Mine really like to drop all the time. I just hit 2.7MB/s then it dropped to 10KB/s...

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2012/12/22.png

It's getting really annoying now :(

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Virgin throttle torrents and newsgroups big time in the evenings and weekends. Their throttling works based on a percentage of current load, so could explain why its low but not a constant speed low.

I thought using ssl/encryption on the client got around that though.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

That could be why, but like you say, I don't see why it drops from just under 3MB to 10KB max... I also read encrypting torrents stopped throttling, I might try a VPN service.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

I tried downloading from a newsgroup server during their traffic shaping hours once, got between 4 and 7kb/s but it was pretty steady at those speeds. Exact same server 3 hours later, out of the shaping time and it maxed my connection out.

Setting your torrent client to only initiate/accept encrypted connections along with using a random port should give similar results as to what a VPN would do. Worth trying anyway.

After I cancelled my VM broadband I decided to go with Sky simply because they had no traffic shaping or time of day limits.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

If you are using torrents I would say using a VPM is a must.

VM use 2 types of throttling. STM runs at peak times but I am pretty sure that Protocol Management (BT and NNTP) runs at all times. In theory Protocol Management guages the load on the network and gives you a percentage of the available spare capacity. As many areas are over subscribed anyway and those that aren't run on the absolute minimum bandwidth by design, the bandwidth allocated to you for BT/NNTP use could well be zero. :(

Welcome to the world of micro managed BB. :shocked:

Maybe you should have stayed with your unmanaged sky connection? :erm:

I'm with SkyFibre Pro these days which is completely unmanaged. I'm quite sure my grass is greener than yours. ;)

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

I've just tried downloading a Linux iso from here (dont worry mods, its a Linux tracker and nothing else) and even with just 10 seeds I was hitting 3.4 MB/sec after a few minutes.

So either uTorrent manages to avoid VM's throttling or they just arent doing it in this area.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Yeah, slightly regretting the move now :P any reasonablly priced VPN services you know of which will work well with 100mb?

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Do you need to do this?

There's an option in the SHUB about UPnP (in the 'Advanced' section) which I thought was something to do with port-forwarding for utorrent?

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Sorry I have never used or felt the need for one as I am only a very occasional BT user.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Torrent speeds are fine here, perhaps you're using public torrents? I would recommend a seedbox + FTP client but if you're using public torrents most seedbox providers don't allow them.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

disk caching in the utorrent settings plays a major part in the download speeds, i was from 1mbs - 5 i think to my maximum of 11mb by changing my disk caching settings (i think)

settings > advanced > disk caching > override automatic cache size and set to 1700mb on avg (google it if u need another number)

I havent looked back :angel:

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Probably area dependent, I found out last week p2p isnt shaped here at peak which shocked me given the utilisation issues.

Whenever I have tested torrents on a windows machine on a DC line generally it has no issues getting sustained max speeds on 100mbit ports on well seeded torrents. Most torrents generally have high speed seeders anyway so can go faster than you realise.

I was tempted to test on some gigabit servers, but they all in use for important stuff so I couldnt.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

I just wouldn't expect anything marvellous from torrents anyway. The best I ever had for one torrent was 4.5MB. An aggregate speed from 6 good torrents gave me 10MB, just once. Most of the time I don't expect better than 0.5MB from any one torrent. Poorly seeded torrents can be way below this.

In any case I think it is pointless and anti-social to use torrents heavily during peak periods. I only run mine at night. For my own security I use BTGuard, which slows torrents down still further, but adds to my peace of mind.

To me the whole point of having 100Mb/120Mb is the use of capacity for multiple apparatus and persons across a large house. Fast torrenting is way down my list especially when all but the largest files download whilst I sleep.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

I have to agree, I hope the new p2p shaping is better implemented in the next version of there traffic management than it is now. I have no issues outside of the main hours let them download and upload to there hearts content. But at peak times is just no on.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

So if one person watches a video through Youtube at peak time at 40Mbps and someone else watches it through torrents and uses 40Mbps at peak time why is the former somehow more entitled to use the same amount capacity which he is paying the same amount for?

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Here Here Qas.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

My issue is about UPLOAD not download, Heavy torrent users will upload massive amounts to comply with seeding demands by most private trackers.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

You are missing the point. The way you put it sounds so reasonable except that is not the reality.

Videos need to be streamed in real time, i.e. You are watching it there and then. Torrent downloads / uploads can be deferred to off-peak times. Given that, even on BT fibre, there are congestion issues, it seems only sensible and mindful of other users to defer what you can.

Torrents are targeted by VM because they can and often are left for very long periods of time, 24/7, using disproportionate amounts of capacity up and down. Videos tend to last for shorter periods of time, mostly using the downstream.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

Well, no. Your streaming can be deferred to off-peak times as well. Buffer it up off-peak and watch it the next day. iPlayer allows you to download many shows as well. Why should the guy using torrents wait an extra day to watch their stuff instead of you?
So people streaming Youtube should defer it too. You really need to watch that many cat videos today?

Personally I've never seen any congestion issues on BT fibre, especially not on the upstream, thanks to everyone getting 30Mbps of dedicated upstream capacity all the way up to the symmetric backhauls.



---------- Post added at 19:01 ---------- Previous post was at 18:59 ----------

And the dimwits uploading several gigabytes of full-res photos to Facebook every day are more entitled why?

Sure, cable has a particular problem with upstream capacity, but that's why there's STM. It's implemented badly but the principle is right. Use a disproportionate amount, your speed gets cut, it cares neither what you use it for or why. Everyone is treated equally.

Re: Problem downloading torrents?
 

"all downloads are equal, but some are more equal than others" :)