download and seed

[guest]

I have read the general guide and don't know if I found answer for this. What I am having trouble is that there are seeds but no peers. My download speed is like 1kb/s...so extremely slow.
Why is that? What can I do to speed up the download or change the download speed? Thank you. By the way, I am using a cable modem and there is no other poeple sharing the internet connection at the moment.

[Rama]

First of all make shure no firewall/router blocks BT.
And maybe those seeds don't have much bandwith left, so you need
to be patient.

[guest]

Actually, I always have this problem of download speed. It seems that no matter when or what BitTorrent file I try to download, I always get the download speed like 5 or 6 kb/s on average and it rarely go pass 10kb/s, which is so incredibly slow. There are seeds and peers and the peers downlaod rate varies, but some of them can go up to like 90 kb/s. I use a cable modem and have tried to modulate the connection (setting). But no matter how I set it (unlimited, cable fast or slow, 1/3 of the max connection speed, the number of max upload, etc), even if there are no other people using the internet connection at the moment, I still ge t the download rate like 5 or 6kb/s. I don't have this problem when I downlaod files that are not BitTrrent format and they are so much faster!
Can someone tell me how to fix this problem or at least direct me to wherever I can find the answer?

[Flash_Squirrel]

Firewall and Router Problems

We all know how BitTorrent works ( Right? ) but sometimes we still have little problems here and there.
One of those little problems is the one connected with Firewalls and Routers.

A Firewall is a software (or hardware) that protects your PC from incoming connection (like Trojans, Hackers, etc...) but the problem is that it usually blocks every connection, bad or good (<-- our loved BT).
A Router is a little box (different from your external modem) that connects your PC to the internet line and its equipped with an internal Firewall.

Your download speed is proportional to the number of people connected to your client, if a lot of people are connected with your client, you will (usually) get a better speed, and thus, if your firewall blocks them, your speed will suffer a lot from that.
BitTorrent connects you to the "world" by some ports, those ports are the main point of your problem, since your Firewall/Router usually blocks them. The ports are the ones between 6881 and 6889.

Now, lets list the problems (and the possible solution) connected with ports opening:

• Software Firewall: Its a common problem, your firewall is probably blocking the ports. Try to disable your Firewall while using your client, and see if BT is able to connect to some remote clients (A Remote client is a "connecion" behind a router or a firewall). You can check the list of client in the Advanced menu located in the lower left part of your client.
  If the problem is your Firewall, you are set! If you need to download anything via-BT, just remove the Firewall for a while, and set it back once your DL is complete.
  
  
• Router: The dreaded router, the magical box that protects you from the evilness of the internet. The same problem is located here, but with a little variant... you cant "remove" your router, so the only way possible is to open the infamous ports (6881-6889) and let BT connect to you without problems.
  There is no real general way to open ports, you have to pick your Router manual (Yes, that 7500pages book hidden somewhere in your room) and read if you can open the ports, and how to open them. You can see if you have them opened in the Advanced menu. If you see a Remote Connection (r), you are done, your ports are forwarded now.
  
  
• Seeds Sometimes your speed in not caused by any of the things said above. The problem might be the ammount of seeds and peers. If there are no seeds, you wont be able to finish the file, and thus you will probably get a 0k/s. Same if the beers and seeds are on a slow connection. You cant expect 500k/s from someone with a 56k modem... right? Be carefull about those things, a good way to spot if you are actually connected with peoples in Remote is to check the Advanced Tab.