firewalls n' stuff

[starr]

So I checked my speed at the bandwidth place thing and I got this

2.8 megabits per second
Communications: 2.8 megabits per second
Storage: 338.4 kilobytes per second
1MB file download: 3 seconds
Subjective rating: Great

in reality on bitTorrent I get this
Download rate 1kb/sec
On average I'll get around 10kb/sec
which is pretty damn slow

Once I was up to 100 kb/sec, but I have never hit that again

Can anyone explain this to me in a not super technical way. I think I understand the basic problems, area of service and firewall sort of stuff....but is there anything that I can do to fix it.

I just feel weird calling up Dell or Rogers and telling them I can't download things fast enough, when it only applies to bitTorrent.

Can I disable my XP firewall while downloading? Is that a really foolish idea? Will it even do anything?

Any help would be appreciated....even what to ask my customer service people so I don't sound like I'm doing bad things!

 

[mind control]

Its not your connection speed, your firewall, your OS or anything like that .. It is the nature of .torrent technology - buggy and slow !!!!!

 

[deep]

are you using shadow's experimental bitorrent client , and have you played with your connection speed settings inside that?

bitorrent's kind of unpredictable, depending on how many people are seeding a file, you may or may not get downloads as fast as your connection can handle.

10 KB/s is very slow for that fast a connection, but again it depends if there are a lot of people seeding a file.

You probably should disable your XP firewall, since it won't be as effective a firewall as third party solutions. I think the necessity of a firewall is a bit overstated , especially for typical users. If you've got a good antivirus, and use spybot search and destroy / adaware, you should be able to keep your system relatively clean. the point is that basically typical users don't have anything interesting enough to validate hacking into their systems. norton antivirus will be able to pick up most trojans. if you use a good browser like mozilla firefox, you shouldn't really be getting a lot of crap onto your system. thus not really need a firewall.

I have mine disabled for whatever it's worth.

If you're able to download software (i.e. shareware) from a big fast ftp site or software download site at speeds close to what your connection is rated at, chances are it's not your connection that's the problem - just the torrents you typically download don't have a lot of outgoing bandwidth to spread around (shadow's experimental client will tell you just how much speed is available for everyone on the torrent to use)

 

[Gunark]

Try and get yourself one of the alternate bittorrent clients (google "bittorrent shadow experimental" for example). These let you limit the speed of your uploads.

I find that unless I limit my uploads to about 5 k/sec, my downloads peak at about 20 k/sec.

I'm happily downloading sopranos episodes at 300 k/sec as I write this


edit: now if I could find some way to type my replies faster...

 

[starr]

Originally posted by deep
are you using shadow's experimental bitorrent client , and have you played with your connection speed settings inside that?


yes


bitorrent's kind of unpredictable, depending on how many people are seeding a file, you may or may not get downloads as fast as your connection can handle.

10 KB/s is very slow for that fast a connection, but again it depends if there are a lot of people seeding a file.

You probably should disable your XP firewall, since it won't be as effective a firewall as third party solutions. I think the necessity of a firewall is a bit overstated , especially for typical users. If you've got a good antivirus, and use spybot search and destroy / adaware, you should be able to keep your system relatively clean. the point is that basically typical users don't have anything interesting enough to validate hacking into their systems. norton antivirus will be able to pick up most trojans. if you use a good browser like mozilla firefox, you shouldn't really be getting a lot of crap onto your system. thus not really need a firewall.

I have mine disabled for whatever it's worth.

If you're able to download software (i.e. shareware) from a big fast ftp site or software download site at speeds close to what your connection is rated at, chances are it's not your connection that's the problem - just the torrents you typically download don't have a lot of outgoing bandwidth to spread around (shadow's experimental client will tell you just how much speed is available for everyone on the torrent to use)

yeah, i know bittorrent's kinda wonky, but i think it's on my end (but i'm also paranoid)
i'm going to disable to firewall next download and see how that goes

where does the client tell you how much speed is available for everyone to use???
edit: is that the total speed part?

 

[~atp~]

In response to Gunark's comments, I'd recommend trying "abc", which has been working quite well for me as a torrent client gui.


In terms of a firewall, I'm uber-security conscious, so my biased recommendation would be to ensure you keep a firewall running on your PC. Unfortunately, unless you're willing to sit down and learn the basics of network security and packet filtering, it may prove to a real pain in the ass when you're trying to run p2p applications.
If you decide not to run with a firewall, make sure you turn OFF Microsoft's services that it runs in the background by default.

And as deep said, depending on who's seeding the file and how many, your d/l speeds will vary greatly.

 

[deep]

Originally posted by starr
yeah, i know bittorrent's kinda wonky, but i think it's on my end (but i'm also paranoid)
i'm going to disable to firewall next download and see how that goes

where does the client tell you how much speed is available for everyone to use???
edit: is that the total speed part?

I think that's what it's labelled as, I don't remember offhand. Might be something like total outgoing speed or total upload speed - that's what's divided up amongst people downloading.

I don't think it's anything on your end, you can disable your firewall without worry, just try and make sure you cover the rest of your bases as detailed. the things I mentioned won't really interfere with download speed.

edit : if you click on advanced on your bitorrent download window, it shows you who is on the torrent . there's a column that shows how much upload speed they're contributing to the torrent. I think you'll notice that a lot of people off supernova completely shut off their upload speed so they just leech from the torrent rather than help spread the wealth. on tighter communities (suprnova is public), people aren't so stingy with their upload speeds and keep them right open for others to download, as well as stay on to seed a file long after they're finished downloading. it's from these sources that I get the fastest speeds on bitorrent. try experimenting and clicking on a torrent in supernova that has a shitload of seeders (there's a column that indicates how many people are seeding a file), and compare that to torrents where there aren't that many seeders. I'll bet you see a difference.

 

[starr]

yeah, i'm just lazy

told myself i'd get firefox and the other stuff later (spybot, etc.)
but just downloaded it now
guess i have to get up to date someday

 

[deep]

I think you'll like firefox, its faster at loading up pages than IE is generally. Since it seems you're obsessed with speed lately

Oh, and when you're doing speed tests, try to pick a speed test server close to you, as congestion on the intarweb between you and a faraway server can make your download speeds seem worse. I use golden triangle, and they have a copy of broadbandreports speed test here :

http://www.golden.net/SpeedTest/

It should give you pretty accurate readings that aren't diluted by net congestion. But if you're getting 2.8 megabits that's as fast as a cable connection should be.

 

[Gunark]

We've got half our office converted to Firefox now. Everyone's loving it -- which kind of surprises me considering most people's complacency about these things.

It's good times all around.

 

[~atp~]

On a slight tangent,


has anyone noticed funky behaviour with the file-type associations list that it creates?

I've found myself editing the xml file directly a couple of times...

 

[starr]

Originally posted by deep
I think you'll like firefox, its faster at loading up pages than IE is generally. Since it seems you're obsessed with speed lately

everyone is going to cringe after i say this...
but i usually use netscape
i know, my bad....it's the nostalgic value - i signed up with netcom oh so long ago

as for your link
it's all LIES
2004-03-09 00:39:35 EST: 2240 / 361
Your download speed : 2240988 bps, or 2240 kbps.
A 273.5 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 361565 bps, or 361 kbps.

 

[xtcfreak]

to add to everyones comments, your download speed depends on how fast you are uploading to other torrent users. In shadows (the best one i find), I have my upload speed set to "unlimited" .. Also, if you are using a firewall , you need to open the ports 6881 - 6889 .. if those ports are closed, you will not be able to upload.. this will slow your speeds..

Also, be sure to download a torrent that has alot of seeds and users as said above.


I usually find it takes about a half hour before the speeds start kicking in..

good luck.

Jay

Btw, the "azuris (??sp)" client , will test your ports to see if they are open.

 

[~atp~]

Hehe, gimme your IP and I'll "test" your machine for free.

 

[deep]

Originally posted by ~atp~
On a slight tangent,


has anyone noticed funky behaviour with the file-type associations list that it creates?

I've found myself editing the xml file directly a couple of times...

has to do with the mime types and how a website makes them available or something...apparently firefox like foobar is pretty stringent on this kind of thing, whereas ie uses workarounds to compensate for bad website coding

this issue used to pop up in the previous releases , especially with bitorrent - someone would click on a bitorrent file and it'd spew out ascii code rather than opening the proper association

the official answer in the (then) firebird forums were that this was a problem with sloppy coding on the web page side , not in firebird failing to adhere to standards

ps. starr ... firefox and netscape are both based on mozilla technology so you should notice some commonalities

 

[deep]

Originally posted by starr
everyone is going to cringe after i say this...
but i usually use netscape
i know, my bad....it's the nostalgic value - i signed up with netcom oh so long ago

as for your link
it's all LIES
2004-03-09 00:39:35 EST: 2240 / 361
Your download speed : 2240988 bps, or 2240 kbps.
A 273.5 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 361565 bps, or 361 kbps.

if yer really paranoid, you can go to broadbandreports.com and use the online tests they've got i.e. to see if there's packet loss on your connection. I doubt there is.

This is the speed test results I got on my dsl connection right after I was upgraded to 3 megs

http://www.broadbandreports.com/spe...65cc203;2.0;speedtest.golden.net/1077942602/1

 

[starr]

Originally posted by deep
has to do with the mime types and how a website makes them available or something...apparently firefox like foobar is pretty stringent on this kind of thing, whereas ie uses workarounds to compensate for bad website coding

this issue used to pop up in the previous releases , especially with bitorrent - someone would click on a bitorrent file and it'd spew out ascii code rather than opening the proper association

the official answer in the (then) firebird forums were that this was a problem with sloppy coding on the web page side , not in firebird failing to adhere to standards

ps. starr ... firefox and netscape are both based on mozilla technology so you should notice some commonalities

netscape spews out ascii code all the time...i have to copy the link to i.e. and then it works
we'll see how firefox does, although i like it already (google toolbar add-on that netscape lacks)

just added adaware and removed this one program that disappeared on me when i tried to remove it using add/remove from my control panel

i love technology

 

[deep]

use both spybot and adaware - sometimes one picks up what the other doesn't

make sure you have the latest definition files when scanning

latest version of norton antivirus is pretty nifty ... it's added active spyware blocking in the same way it blocks virii

check out the tips and tricks for firefox, there's a lot of stuff you can do with it that once you get used to you'll wonder how you didn't have it before (i.e. tabbed browsing)

 

[Stan]

Originally posted by xtcfreak
to add to everyones comments, your download speed depends on how fast you are uploading to other torrent users.

That's not always true. If you have cable, your download speed can be drastically reduced if your upload is saturated. In that case, you're much better off limting your upload to around 20 to 25 kps

 

[Stan]

A more secure alternative to using a software firewall is to get a hardware firewall / router, like a Linksys. It's more expensive, but also, safer. Also, it's useful if you have more than one PC accessing the Internet, or if you plan on getting an Xbox or PS2 and want to play online.

 

[starr]

Originally posted by deep
use both spybot and adaware - sometimes one picks up what the other doesn't

make sure you have the latest definition files when scanning

latest version of norton antivirus is pretty nifty ... it's added active spyware blocking in the same way it blocks virii

check out the tips and tricks for firefox, there's a lot of stuff you can do with it that once you get used to you'll wonder how you didn't have it before (i.e. tabbed browsing)

the new netscape has tabbed browsing
love that feature!!! and glad to hear that firefox has it too

somewhat concerned that spybot is difficult to remove from my system

 

[starr]

is everyone asleep?
so went to the microsoft page, because i thought of that last

and thought about opening the specific ports for bittorent (because i'm slow...yes i realize that)
but for the ip address the instructions say to put in 127.0.0.1

does that only pertain to their specific messenger example.

should i type in my own address (i think that's what i'm supposed to do)

or is the above number generic to all systems (seems wrong?)

last question i swear

 

[Stan]

For the Local IP, you can leave it as blank, as the tracker will automatically detect it and ignore whatever value you put in there.

 

[starr]

Stan you are indeed correct (I inputted all the values anyway, and when I read your post went back to fix it and saw the computer had corrected itself).

I would like to thank Tribe for getting my upload speed to 176 at the moment....
I'm so touched, and will hopefully be watching that episode of Alias that I missed two weeks ago.

Most of all, deep, Gunark, atp and stan in no particular order, for the first time ever I have a green light and I am eternally grateful.

Without all of you, I would not be at 11% fully downloaded right now.



edit: for those with "speed issues" I highly recommend this site http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ports.asp

 

[starr]

Originally posted by xtcfreak
Also, if you are using a firewall , you need to open the ports 6881 - 6889 .. if those ports are closed, you will not be able to upload.. this will slow your speeds..

yes you were correct, i just wasn't sure if i should open them or turn off the firewall

in the end atp scared me, so i just opened a few up

but i got new software out of my little search, so it's all good