Client Configuration
Even if your torrent has plenty of seeds with fast upload speeds, if your bittorent client is not properly configured, you will only get a fraction of of the download speed that is available to you. I personally use Utorrent because it is a very lightweight bittorrent client that uses little resources and that is what I’ll be using in showing you how to configure bittorrent.
When you connect to the internet, your computer is assigned what is called an IP address. Your IP address constantly changes though, after doing things such as restarting your computer. To successfully use bittorrent you must assign your computer what is called a static IP address; an address that never changes. Below is an excellent page in explaining how to do so for various operating systems.
http://www.portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm
The most common way this connection is set up is with the use of a router. Normally routers are used to share a single internet connection with multiple computers but I suggest you use one, regardless if you have to share an internet connection or not, because it adds an extra layer of security to your network.
When you set up your router, you must tell it to forward incoming connections to the static ip that you assigned to your computer for bittorrent to work. You must also assign ports to that IP address for both TCP and UDP connections. Use ports above 46000 to avoid conflicts with other applications. Avoid using the default bittorrent ports such as 6880-6890 because some ISPs control traffic on those ports.
There are many companies that manufacture many different routers with many different ways to forward ports. To properly figure out how to do this I suggest that you take a look at your owner’s manual or obtain an online version at the manufacturer’s site if possible. If not, below is a pretty handy site to help you figure out how to do so for many routers and applications.
Note: Routers automatically assign IP addresses within a certain range (ex. 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.100) to any computer that connects to it. Make sure your computer is out of this range (ex. 192.168.1.101 or higher) when choosing your static IP address or you might receive a message saying that the address is already assigned to another computer when other devices or users are connected to the router. I just picked that range randomly as an example so your router’s range might be different. Check and find out.
After you have everything configured, download and install Utorrent.
When the installtion is complete choose your internet connection and other basic settings. Afterwards, run Utorrent and go to Options and select Preferences. Under Preferences select Connections on the left hand side. In the Listening Port field next to “Ports used for incoming connections” select a port that you have assigned to your static IP. After that, go back to Options and select Speed Guide and click “Test if your port is forwarded properly”.
If you have done everything correctly and your ports are forwarded properly then congratulations! You have finished configuring your bittorrent client and are ready to download from D-Addicts! If they’re not, go back and double check to see if you have completed the steps properly. Depending on the modem that you have you might have to set it up to forward ports to your router before it works. Like routers, there are many different modems and many different ways that this can be done. Refer to your modem’s manual for instructions on how to do this.
