How to Optimize uTorrent's Download Speed

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Quickly maxing out download speed in uTorrent.

How to Optimize uTorrent's Download Speed

User-Submitted Article

Here is a comprehensive list of steps you need to take to configure uTorrent 1.8.3 for maximum speeds. I'll show you how to make yourself connectible by port forwarding, open more connections, and conduct a speed test to ensure the best configuration.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• An internet connection
• uTorrent 1.8.3 installed
• Administrator privileges
• Access to your router

1. 1
   
    
   Let uTorrent choose the port for you.
   Choosing a Port:
   
   Go to Options -> Preferences -> Connection and click "Random port" to obtain a port.
   
2. 2
   
    
   Testing port with the speed guide.
   Testing the Port for Connectivity:
   
   Go to Options -> Speed Guide and click "Test if this port is forwarded properly". It will direct you to a web page, which will show you a result.
   
3. 3
   
    
   A successful test.
   Checking the Port:
   
   The opened web page should say that "Port XXXXX is open and accepting connections", where XXXXX is your random port. If so, please skip Step 4.
   
4. 4
   
    
   PortForward.com banner.
   Opening the closed Port:
   
   If your port "does not appear to be open", then either a firewall or a router is blocking the connections.
   
   If you have a router, it is likely that the port needs to be forwarded. Follow the particular guide for your router on PortForward.com (in Resources).
   
5. 5
   
    
   Settings on Speedtest.net.
   Conducting a Speed Test:
   
   Visit Speedtest.net (in Resources) on an idle connection. Make sure it's idle!
   
   On the web site, click on "settings" at the top and change the speed measurement to kilobits. Click save - the page should refresh.
   Record the upload speed statistic. Make sure it's in kiloBITS, and not kiloBYTES, lest you underestimate your connection eightfold!
   
6. 6
   
    
   The recommended settings for 384 kb/s connection.
   Configuring the Bandwidth and Connections:
   
   Refer to the Conservative Settings Chart by Switeck in the uTorrent forum (in Resources).
   
   
   
   Open Options -> Preferences -> Bandwidth and refer to the chart for input. Shown is a screenshot of my settings with a "384 kbit/sec" connection.
   
   The last two columns of the chart refer to settings in Options -> Preferences -> Queueing, not shown. I personally don't pay attention to the Queue.
   
7. 7
   
    
   Maximize the size of the swarm.
   Accessing more Peers:
   
   For public torrents, in order to access more peers, enable DHT, Peer Exchange, and Local Peer Discovery to access peers not currently tracked by the torrent's tracker(s).
   
8. 8
   
    
   LvlLord's patch in process.
   Patching TCPIP.sys:
   
   For XP: Visit www.LvlLord.de for his patch tool (in Resources). Follow the directions and set the connection limit to 100.
   
   For Vista: Visit the blog entry on My Digital Life (in Resources) and follow the directions to download and extract the proper version of their patch.
   
   Windows 7 does not need this patch, since it has no limit.
   
9. 9
   
    
   Advanced options should be changed with care.
   Changing Advanced Options:
   
   Open Options -> Preferences -> Advanced and change bt.connect_speed and net.max_halfopen to 80 (80% of maximum). This allows uTorrent to take advantage of the recently patched "TCPIP.sys" file.
   
10. 10
    
     
    Recommended disk cache settings.
    Taking Advantage of Disk Cache:
    
    The settings in the screen shot reasonably uses the disk cache feature in uTorrent. You can adjust the cache size according to the amount of RAM you have available. Using the disk cache decreases disk usage.
    
    While sacrificing some RAM, these settings prevents the nasty Disk Overloaded error and promote overall disk performance.
    
11. 11
    
     
    Encryption your traffic when you are throttled.
    When Your ISP is Throttling the Bittorrent Protocol:
    
    Check AzureusWiki's List of Bad ISP's (in Resources) if you don't know whether your ISP is throttling you.
    
    
    
    If it is, uTorrent offers protocol encryption in Options -> Preferences -> Bittorrent that prevents your ISP from detecting your Bittorrent connections. Force outgoing encryption, and disallow incoming legacy (unencrypted) connections. Most Bittorrent clients support encryption, so this shouldn't restrict your accessibility in the swarm.