The torrent network is one of the most widely used file download networks today. In it we can find almost any file, just as we could do before with other P2P programs, such as eMule, and download it to our computer. However, surely we have found that, when downloading a file, the download speed is exasperating. Luckily, this is almost always our fault. And we can fix it very easily.
To do this, we are going to share 5 tricks with which we can speed up torrent downloads on our computer, eliminate problems and eliminate bottlenecks.
Check download port
In order for the download program to be able to go to the Internet, and most importantly, for other clients to be able to connect to our computer, it is necessary to reserve and open a download port on the router. If the port is closed we will be able to download files, but the speed will be extremely slow.
The download programs will allow us to choose the port we want to use. Some even allow us to use, for security, a random port every time we open the program. The important thing is to make sure that the port is open, or that we use protocols like UPnP that allow us to open it automatically when we need it.
remove speed limits
By default, torrent download clients are configured to use 100% of our connection’s download speed. But, to avoid problems, we have the option of configuring different limits, both upload and download.
If we have configured any of these limits, it is possible that this is the reason why our connection is slower than it should be. And, in that case, what we have to do is disable upload and download limits so that the program can use 100% of the available bandwidth.
Activate DHT
The DHT, Distributed Hash Table , is a protocol used to allow clients to enter more peers through the BitTorrent protocol. Thanks to it, it is possible to find more users who are downloading files from different trackers, creating a single network distributed and shared by all the users of the P2P network.
Some clients may have this protocol disabled by default, since it does not get along too well, especially with private trackers. But, unless our tracker blocks it in its rules, we can activate it to find more pairs, more seeds, and improve the download speed of the files.
In addition to DHT, there are other similar protocols to improve download speed, such as PeX. We can also activate it to find peers in this other protocol.
Find a torrent with many seeds
When we are going to download a torrent from the Internet, it has two values: the number of “leechs”, or people downloading without having completed the download, and the number of “seeds” , or people who have downloaded the entire torrent and are sharing it. . In order to complete a download, it must have at least one seed that is sharing it. But with a single seed the download speed will be very low.
That is why, for a torrent to download well, and at a good speed, it needs to have many seeds. The more, the better.
Use an SSD
When we download a file from the Internet, it is copied to the hard drive byte by byte. When we are going to start the download we can choose where we want it to be saved. Your computer likely has a very fast primary SSD with the operating system and a slower, but higher-capacity conventional hard drive for storage.
As long as we have enough space on the SSD, it is preferable that the download is saved there by default. As this unit is faster, we will eliminate possible bottlenecks, and we will be able to take better advantage of the download bandwidth.