uTorrent slowing internet to a crawl

Hiyas,

I got a problem. Whenever I have uTorrent running, the rest of my internet slows way down, even if I'm not actually downloading anything on uTorrent. (So, it's not a bandwidth issue.) More often than not, pages take something ridiculous like a minute to load, and at least half the time, they time out. The problem persists even AFTER I close uTorrent! But a few minutes after closing it, everything becomes reasonable again.

Now, I know my uTorrent isn't configured very well. I can't get a static IP because I got Comcast, and apparently, unless you pay them money, they change DNS servers on you every week. I wouldn't even mind changing my settings every week, but finding out what the DNS servers are is a problem, since they are not the thing that comes up in ipconfig, - and I'm not calling Comcast every week to find out what they are. And, without a static IP, you can't set up port forwarding, right... But whatever, it downloads, and I'm not in much of a hurry.

The internet, however, is a different story. Does it slow down because I have a dynamic IP and no port forwarding, so uTorrent goes crazy just trying to download? If not, what else and how do I fix it? This ain't cool!

Malia

 

What version of uTorrent do you have?

 

Me too. Just browsing is slow... I only have uTorrent running when im dling something though so w/e.

 

uTorrent doesn't slow down my internet browsing, although i have done some special tweaking to get it so.

 

it just slows my whole internet to a crawl as the OP said. like anything internet related is like sluggish

 

I used to on 1.6. No problem on 1.7.7

 

Which is why i asked for his uTorrent version, most software problems can be solved by upgrading to a newer version but some people either don't now or don't care for updating certain programs.

 

what's the difference between utorrent and bittorrent?

 

Currently, not much, as ever since Bittorrent acquired uTorrent they made Bittorrent a clone of uTorrent.

 

bittorent is slow like dgdsfgsgdsfhsdh

 

I use bitcomet and whenever I download something from a lot of sources, the program slooooows down and responds minutes after I`ve prompted it.
And it also slows down my browsing,even when not downloading.Maybe it`s still trying to connect or something.

 

Just tested the 1.7.7 and it doesn't kill my surfing like the previous version did, it is a great improvement but it still doesn't come anywhere near Transmission when it come to speed =/

 

Why don't you try out uTorrent? It's the best torrent client to date, and it won't cause any harm to your system.

 

Was using 1.7.6, upgraded to 1.7.7 but no improvement. But, I guess if everyone else has the same problem, then the problem is just uTorrent. I guess I'll just leave it up when I'm at school or something... I'm just puzzled that internet's slow for a while even after exiting uTorrent.

Malia

 

dont have it run at startup. so the slowness doesnt happen till u actually need to use it

 

I tweaked the 1.6 version to the point it had no impact whatsoever on my browsing speed. But of course this was wayyy back when I was a pirate, so I can't tell you exactly which tweaks I made. Come to think of it, I haven't used utorrent for a couple years now.

 

Its probably hogging the upload bandwidth which also handicaps the downloads. Make sure your not seeding any files.

 

I have the same problem as you and done some testing to figure out the source of the problem. I tested out Bittorrent, BitComet, uTorrent, and Azureus. They all exhibit the behavior of slowing down web page browsing when they are open. After closing the torrent program, the web page browsing speed may return to normal after a few minutes but sometimes I have to reboot to get it working again.

By default, I found Azureus to the least bogging and that is what I'm using right now.

However, I believe the root cause is not with the torrent programs themselves but is caused by your ISP's bittorrent throttling. This belief is substantiated by a few important observations:

[1] I was trying to set up port forwarding so that I could get faster torrent speeds. No matter what I did, I could not open up an incoming port to my computer even after I fiddled with Windows Firewall, my wireless router, and then plugging my laptop directly into my cable modem. I'm no idiot so I should have at least some success.
[2] After a torrent program runs for a while, the download and upload speeds go way down and eventually just drops to zero. Even after closing the program, rebooting, and trying again, the computer is unable to connect to the net. The problem isn't with the computer. I checked my cable modem and the normal status lights are not on. Somehow, my ISP is able throttle the torrents and eventually get the modem to a stalled state. To get things working again, I HAVE to unplug the cable modem from the power socket for at least 5 minutes. Then, I can plug it back in and resuming browsing the web like normal. If I try to download a torrent again, the process repeats itself.
[3] Using the encryption setting within Azureus, I can delay the throttling for a fair bit to get more downloading done before throttling and a reset. My web browsing is pretty normal with the torrent encryption on. However, I believe an ISP can make a good guess that you are downloading a torrent if you are using encryption and are downloading hundreds of megabytes at a time without rest. Encryption is not foolproof but it can help. Give it a try.
[4] I'm either on the Shaw Cable or Bell network and it is well known that they throttle your connection. I think they are trying to discourage you from using torrents by slowing down your web browsing speed.

 

i use to use azueres too but calvin talked me into utorrent

 

It was for a good cause, but if you don't like it feel free to switch back.

 

Sometimes your firewall may also be the culprit because it doesn't play well with torrents. Try turning it off temporarily, wait a few minutes, then check your browser speed. Also, what kind of connection do you all have? Perhaps your torrent program is simply using up most of your bandwidth.

 

If you do not want it to slow your internet connection that much then try setting a download limit to at least 90% of your current dload speed.(I only keep 5 kbps for webpage loading and so my internet browsing speed does not really change)

 

I want it at top speed, so my DL finishes quicker. i can take no internet use for the time being. im not gonna die. ^^

 

Try to limit the Download Speed JUST below the maximum speed of your connection.

This way u ll get Good Torrent speed also, and u can Surf the net too.

And enable QoS scheduler from the Properties.
QoS will allow better management of bandwidth for browsing.

 

I have Comcast and use uTorrent 1.7.7 and I had the same problems also. It would crawl along browsing, even the other laptop on the wireless connection would slow down. I'm sure it's all about Comcast. They even sent me an email because EA got pissy about me downloading a copy of Madden2004.

Maybe if your crap products wouldn't randomly stop taking the registration key when you try to install it, people wouldn't look for it for free. It cost 3 dollars on eBay. To hell with EA and Comcast.

 

Bart, thanks for your post. That makes sense. My speed also improves if I reset the router, which I've been doing randomly out of desperation. I'll give Azureus a try.

Gosh, I miss Optimum Online... if I was downloading a few torrents at a time, it was going at ~250 kbps with only a mild effect on internet speed - and if I wanted to use the internet, I'd just set it to download slower. Static IP, port forwarding, never having to reset the router - *sob* those were the days...

 

Good post Bart. Looks very reasonable. I used to unplug and restart my Cox modem when it slowed down. It was just trial and error, but now I know why it worked.

 

I use Azureus ! Its better than utorrent as far as simultaneous surfing is concerned !!

 

Azureus or uTorrent is fine, as long as you use the latest version.

 

AT&T DSL has the torrent throttling as well, but after not downloading any torrents for a few weeks, my modem doesn't get throttled.

 

I take my words back..

My Internet browsing also Slows down to a Crawl when using uTorrent 1.7.7

Even when the DL speed of a torrent is 10-20 kbps ..the entire internet starts crying.

My connection is 3 mbps btw...


I also tried Limiting speeds... doesnt work!

 

If DNS is the problem. Please Try my internet connection tweaks...
Search for "Hidden Secrets"

 

hmmmm weird..i had the same problem with uTorrent,but when i updated to version 1.7.7 i didnt hv the problem anymore.

 

Why nobody mentioned about the dirty tricks that Comcast uses? Search FreePress.net and you will know a possible reason of the slowing down.

 

Hey guys, I never had this problem before, but now even if I have utorrent 1.7.7 open and downloading even at 5kbps, I can't load any website at all. It really is crazy. I have no clue why it is doing this.

I have a 15Mbps FiOS connection, with wireless-N wifi. So that is not the culprit. Also, my girlfriend is able to download on uTorrent at 1Mbps while still surfing the net on my same network. It really is perplexing to me.

 

Have you guys tried the uTorrent 1.8 beta to see if it fixed the problem?

 

I can't say I have had that problem with utorrent 1.7.7 but I wonder if it is an issue with having too many half-open connections maybe? Or maybe the router is being worked too much with the amount of connections? My router used to lock up hard before when I tried using any torrent program until I limited the number of half-open connections and the length of time they would remain waiting for a response (along with Linux firmware).

 

Did you enable forced encryption so there is no throttling (assuming your internet provider blocks torrent trafic)?

 

I was able to bring up my internet speed during uTorrent downloads now by disabling uPnp port mapping, decreasing my global max # of connections from 600 to 200, and the number of connected peers per torrent to 50. Let's see how long this great speed lasts.

 

irrespective of what you download...

P2p Apps like uTorrent are Illegal..

so be careful when you download illegal stuff sometimes ..

if u do ..then change your IP's

and Delete the File from your HD ASAP!

 

They are illegal why? I'm downloading some free MMORPG's to try off bittorent right now as the game makers have no money to get a fast server, is that illegal? Are you joking? If so, lame joke.

 

No, i also download Demo versions of games from Torrents..
but i heard that P2P itself is illegal in some countries.

Obviously, waiting in queue on those pathetic slow sites is soo irritating i know..

I just said that if you download Pirated Stuff then you can get in trouble..otherwise your download is LEgal.

 

Alright, just wanted to make sure you knew that P2P and uTorrent aren't illegal as that's a common misconception.

 

I've had this problem with uTorrent for years. I've heard different things. I heard that uTorrent is too hardcore for a lot of routers and as such they get "overwhelmed" and the rest of internet traffic suffers, but I don't know about that. Sometimes after real fast/large downloads I have to reset my router and modem because the internet connection will die as soon as the DL finishes. I used to use another program, which while not as nice as uTorrent, never slowed my internet browsing while I was using it. Program was BitTornado. I more or less have been forced to pause all downloads while browsing or only use uTorrent when I'm not using my computer.

 

I have an adsl connection with 1mbit up and 5mbit down. I had the same problems with uTorrent (i use v1.7.7), that is browsing when downloading was painfully slow and even downloading wasn't as fast as it should have been. So i slowly throttled uTorrent up-speed and when throttled to about 50% of the default settings the internet browsing went from slow to lightning fast and the download speeds suddenly quadrupled. In numbers:

uTorrent up-speed at default settings:
-------------------------------------
download: 150kbit
upload: 150kbit
internet: painfully slow

uTorrent up-speed at 50% of default settings:
--------------------------------------------
download: 550kbit - 750kbit
upload: 68kbit
internet: lightning fast

So try to tweak uTorrent up-speed and see what happens.

 

DHT and Peer Exchange are the most likely culprits, followed by the half open setting. I use all private trackers so DHT and PE don't help me.

If you want to configure Windows to allow more half-open connections, follow this tutorial. My Windows maximum is set to something like 1024 (It was ~ 65k before Service Pack 2 capped it at 10), and uTorrent is configured (As you see in my screenshot) with 64. Not a bit of internet clogging.

As another tip, if your router supports it, set up QoS so your torrent traffic gets lower priority than your browsing traffic. I use (For example) port 58420 for torrents so in my router all traffic going through port 58420 has a lower priority than all other traffic in my network.

 

by Default MANY ISP's BLOCK Torrents. .. unless you know how to Bypass the Firewall.

SO i did that and now i am getting Full speed.

 

actually, what you need to do is shut off utorrent while you're not using it.

anyways, heres how to speed up your connection.

go to http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest and click on whatever speed test fits you. then click on one that is the closest to where you live (or where you get a better connection). then you take the upload rate and divide it by 16. then put that as your limit for you upload rate in utorrent. if that is still a little slower than expected, divide that upload rate from dslreports by 32 instead, and use that as your upload limit. don't set a download limit while you're downloading torrents if you want to get fast speeds.

what also is happening is that comcast is ridiculous and they notice you're using a lot of bandwidth so they limit your internet connection so it won't ruin everyone elses. they will literally shut off your internet periodically to help solve problems that they don't know how to maintain. you think i'm lying? next time your internet "goes out", call comcast and tell them you are having trouble with the internet. they'll say they need to send someone out to check on your modem because at their building they "see" no problems. then just tell them no thanks, and that you won't be paying this months bill because you don't get internet often enough. within 5 minutes your internet will come back on. sometimes they just shut off sections of neighborhoods to help rebalance their servers. i've called in before while the neighborhood was out and they said that they didn't see any problems in other places in my area, just my home, when clearly 3 of my neighbors had the same problem. i told them well i don't feel like dealing with them this month, so don't expect money from me because my internet shuts off too much and it isn't worth my trouble to pay them. sure enough, 5 minutes later my internet came back on, but my neighbors were still out.

 

Thanks, this and limiting the upload limit did it for me!

I've spent ages trying to sort this out..

 

If anybody still has slow browsing issue, these are what you could do:

In my case, lowering "net.max_halfopen" did improve browsing speed.