How to Speed Up the Torrent Download
Level of difficulty: Easy
Torrents are generally information files that reference the location of sets of files shared on Peer-to-Peer file sharing networks circulated on the Internet and made available to any computer user with a Torrent client program. Basically, there are a number of factors affecting the speed by which the target file referenced by a Torrent is completely downloaded by a requesting computer user. These factors may include the speed of the Internet connection, the number of host machines (seeders), the number of users attempting to simultaneously download the file (leechers or peers), home router configuration, and firewall settings among others. One of the more popularly used Torrent client programs is the BitTorrent which can be downloaded on various host servers on the Internet and will be used as a reference for this guide. The following steps also take into consideration that the Internet connection, number of seeders, and the number of lechers are ideal enough and are not the cause of the slow downloading of Torrent files.
Materials Needed:- Computer
- Internet connection
- Torrent client
- acceleration tools
Step 1
One of the major factors that usually cause a slowdown in the downloading of Torrent files is the high amount of traffic on the TCP port used by the Torrent client. In BitTorrent, the default TCP port number is 6881. To change this value to successively higher ports, click on the 'Options' menu and select 'Preferences'.
Step 2
In the 'Preferences' window, click on the 'Connection' option and replace the corresponding value for the ports used for incoming connections. Click on the 'OK' button to finalize the configuration.
Step 3
Normally, problems with slow Torrent downloading are associated with computer systems residing behind network firewalls or routing devices. Another possible cause is that the software firewall is preventing the incoming connection to the TCP port number used by the Torrent client. For Windows Firewall, the port must be unblocked by clicking on the 'Start' button and choosing the 'Control Panel' option.
Step 4
In the 'Control Panel' window, select the 'Security Center' category and click on the 'Windows Firewall' option to bring up its corresponding configuration window.
Step 5
Under the Windows Firewall screen, click on the 'Exceptions' tab and select the 'Add Port' button to display the 'Add a Port' dialog box.
Step 6
In this dialog box, type in the appropriate name of the Torrent client software as well as the TCP port used to accept incoming connections. Click on the 'OK' button twice to open the TCP port and allow for faster Torrent downloading processes.
Step 7
For computer systems residing behind router devices, simply opening the port in the software firewall service is not enough. The TCP port number must also be explicitly defined under the Port Range Forwarding feature of the router. The manner of accomplishing this generally varies depending on the router manufacturer. Refer to the device’s documentation for proper setting of this feature. BitTorrent port forwarding is within the range of 6881 to 6999 TCP ports only.