Tweaking Bittorrent - How To Configure Bittorrent

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 9:30 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Hello there,

I'm using uTorrent, i would like to ask about port. I know that the port selection should be 6881-6889, however in "Options> Speed Guide> Current Port: ___", i input 6881-6889 to the box. However, they just select 6881.

I did the port forwarding already, it work fine. Sorry, i'm new to this.

Thanks alot in advace for replying~

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

sorry, if NAT check is down, i don't know of an alternative.

most places have stopped recommending 6881-6889. they recommend using other ports like 8000+ or 9000+. you can google to see what is a safe port range.

i'm not sure how utorrent works, but usually, for every torrent you'll download or upload, you'll need one port. normally, you don't have more than 3 or 4.

whatever port range you choose, make sure you open the same ports on your router (port forward).

Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 8:50 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

That's cool jholic~ Thanks alot!!! You're nice =)

Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 9:12 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I use utorrent, and one of my favorite features is that it uses only one port no matter how many torrents you are downloading. So, shtanhui, you are right in that it will only let you put in one port.

People stopped recommending opening 6881-6889 because of possible hacking. When you open a port (port forwarding, uPnp mapping, firewall exception, and the whole lot) you are telling the computer not to check anything that comes through the port. When everybody uses a certain port, it became predictable and easily hack-able. As to which port you should pick... any port is fine as long as it's not a well-known port. Usually the well-known ports are at the lower range (e.g. 22 for SSH, 80 for HTTP websites) so anything that has (four or) five digits is pretty safe, unless you also have set another program (such as DC++) to use the port already.

Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

ethidda~ Thanks for replying~

So, does it mean that i could use uTorrent's randomize feature if i were to download from d-addicts? omg~ I din't knew that there would be hacking~ It sounds scary.

Thanks alot for letting me know =) You're great~!

Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 12:10 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I would say that randomize is the best and safest solution. In order for it to work properly, though, you have to enable uPnP. If you are running windows (I use XP. I know Vista has this. But not sure about earlier versions), you can go to firewall configuratiions to the exceptions section and enable upnp.

If you connect to the internet using a router, you have to first make sure that your router has upnp support and enable that as well.

If you can't enable upnp support for both your browser and your computer, then utorrent won't be able to connect properly to the internet (warning or red sign at the bottom for NAT error) and you would have to set utorrent to use a single port with gold old firewall exception and port forwarding.

Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 9:52 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

ethidda: i'm old, so forgive my caution. when xp first came out, upnp did not have such great reviews.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t10844.html

things could have changed since then, but i disabled upnp years ago, and i do not have problems running anything.

i do not use utorrent, so i do not understand how the randomize feature works. if you only use ONE port, how can you 'randomize'??

shtanhui: this is what i would do. i would NOT randomize the port. use a static one that is NOT 6881-6999. then every two weeks, just change the port. ethidda gives you great advice about safety from hacking. that's something to keep in mind.

Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

@jholic: utorrent uses only one port, and it's the config file. It can also randomize the port every time it is started up, meaning that it chooses a new port randomly every time the program is started.

@shtanhui: it seems that uPnp is quite unreliable, at least before sp2. It might still be unreliable after sp2. So the best solution is to follow jholic's directions.

can i ask if on an average of 7.5kB/sec normal for my download..??

and once again as guided @ http://toritraders.com/guides/firewalls.htm
so i shld open up my linksys admin site,enters the port range of 6881 to 6889,protocol i select 'BOTH',enters the last 3 digits of my IP and check 'Enables'..??

hereby is a screenie of my download progress,can any pros or admins rectify if there's ani hiccups or mistake by mi...thks..and btw how much shld i limits my Upload speed so as to maximise my downloads then..??Thks again..kind souls pls pm mi and let mi noe..thks Wub

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

@pinkrav4: If you look at the status bar on the bottom, to the right side, you will see your upload speed, your download speed, and then a pink circle with an exclamation mark in it. That circle means that your ports have NOT been forwarded correctly. You want it to be a green circle (green = go Big Smile

).

What you do is double click on the red circle, and you will see a number near the bottom. It's either a 4 or 5 digit number, and that is the port that utorrent is using. That is also the ONLY port that you want to forward through your firewall (and your router if you have one).

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:40 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 2:16 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

If you don't use uPnP, yes you would have to change the port forwarding every time (but then, how many times do the serious downloaders actually restart utorrent?). I imagine that the port range can be set in the advanced configurations (which are name, value pairs), but I haven't really done any serious configuration for my utorrent because I'm behind the university firewall anyways. (So, I get 10Mbit+/sec connection both ways, but I hardly ever get to use it all. ;( )

Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 2:30 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

jholic: Thanks for the uPnP information! It would help so much!! Arigatou~~!!!

ethidda: From now on, i'll just choose anything from 8000-9000+ right? Anyhow type a number? =)

Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 2:34 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

@shtanhui: pretty much, yes. The number can also be five digits. I usually keep mine somewhere in the twenty thousand's. And yeah, just type in a random number. Smile