BitComet in default is not maximized for performance. Through fine-tuning, BitComet could offer better download speed to the user. The tips below offer an insight to configure BitComet to run better. It may work for you or it might not since the end result depends on your computer and your bandwidth too. Thus, the tips below are meant as a guideline only.
Under BitComet options menu, you will see the Connection tab as highlighted in the diagram above. If you are using an ADSL connection, it is recommended to change the General settings. In the diagram above, the setting is meant for an ADSL link with 4Mbps upload speed and 1Mbps download speed. You will need to adjust the speed accordingly since BitComet refers to the speed as kiloBytes rather than kilobits as in the case of ISP. For an instance, a 1Mbps link will give you a rate of 128kBps. The figure 128kBps is derived from the following calculation:
1024kbps / 8 = 128kBps
So, if you have more bandwidth, you should adjust the speed accordingly.
You should make sure that your listen port is opened too. It is preferred to use a higher port number rather than lower port number since lower port number is assigned by IEEE for specific usage.
The Port mapping configuration should be same as shown in the diagram above.
Next, you should click on the BT Task tab. In the BT Task tab as shown in the diagram below, you should enable DHT network and anti-leech. DHT network helps to search for the same torrent from other peers through public network (Any torrent clients that support DHT) even when the trackers are down. Thus, DHT helps to look for more peers that have the same torrent without relying on the trackers.
The anti-leech feature should be enabled to help eliminate bad/slow transfer after a pro-long period. Starting from BitComet 1.01, anti-leech filter, upon enabling helps to disconnect peers which transfer little data after a long time because this will affect the maximum connections possible (In effect, slower download speed).
As for the protocol encryption, you should change the configuration to “always” if your ISP is throttling p2p bandwidth. If not, you can leave the configuration at default.
Next, we should move on to Long-time seeding tab as shown in the diagram below.
Long-Time Seeding is actually referring to BitComet P2SP or it is also known as persistent seed. P2SP actually helps to increase the download speed of a torrent and it should not be disabled. Sometimes, it helps to bypass ISP bandwidth throttle for p2p network since the packet is encapsulated in http, giving better download speed.
Based on the diagram above, you should set an upload rate limit for the long-time seeding if you are using ADSL connection because it will affect your download speed. The upload rate you set will depend on the bandwidth that you are willing to share with a minimum of 10kBps. However, it should not be more than the upload rate set in the global max upload rate in the Connection tab.
Next, we will move on to the Service tab as shown in the diagram below.
Under the Miscellaneous header, you should put a check on “Check if port is forwarded properly automatically”. This will help to make sure that the listen port assigned for BitComet is reachable giving better download speed. The indicator is actually the button to the bottom right of the main BitComet program. If the button is green, then the port is forwarded properly. For more information, you can refer to BitComet help at http://blog.bitcomet.com/post/1310/.
Next, we will move on the Advanced tab as shown in the diagram below.
Under the Advanced tab, we will leave everything as default except network.max_connecting_connections and network.max_connections. The network.max_connecting_connections refer to half-open tcp connection. It is the establishment phase where TCP is negotiating for connection to a peer. You can use the value 70 or more but you will need to change the TCP/IP limit value under the Advanced tab. We will move on to that after this. For the network.max_connections, you are changing the value to avoid connections flooding to your computer. You can use the value 230 or even 300 if you have bandwidth.
Finally, we will move to the TCP/IP Limit section under the Advanced tab as shown in the diagram below.
For Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and above, the default half-open limit has been confined to 10 connections only. Thus, we will need to modify this value accordingly to allow more connections possible. It is recommended to use BitComet 1.03 and above for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3. The older version of BitComet has problem changing the tcpip.sys file in Windows XP. You can use the value 80 or even up to 120. A value of 200 will usually flood your router/modem and thus it is not recommended. Unless you are using a high end router/modem at home, then just use 120 as the value for the half-open limit. After you click on Apply, you will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
