Hi!
Allthoug i'm a fairly new user to BitComet i have allready seen a lot of people looking for tips and guides to get information on how to speed up download and upload rates in BitComet.
There has been many post on the subject but i dont believe i have seen a complete easy guide. I therefor decided to write one myself to try to help out a bit.
The following settings is used in BitComet 1.03, and I can not guarantie it will work for all users, but it gives you an idea on how to configure your settings.
It may seem complicated, but by following my steps and using the pics as a reference you should be able to keep track and get threw the whole thing in a couple of minutes.
Click the images for larger view.
1. First you need to test the speed of your internet connection.
Visit Speedtest.net to test your speed. Choose a server near your location, and do not have anything using the internet connection while testing.
Write down, or remember the numbers you get.
2. Since Internet Service Providers(ISP) uses Bits(e.g. 1500kbps) when they advertise theyre speed and BitComet uses Bytes(e.g. 300kBps),
we have to convert the numbers we got in the test from bits to bytes.
There is 8 bits in 1 byte, so we divide with 8.
For me the numbers are:
Download: 2706 kbps / 8 = 338 kBps (aprox.)
Upload: 319 kbps / 8 = 40 kBps(aprox.)
3. Start BitComet and open the Options menu. (Ctrl + P, inside BitComet)
Then setup your BitComet as follows:
NOTE: I use Norwegian language in my BitComet, but the settings are the same.
Connection tab:
Global Max Download Rate: Normally set this setting as Unlimited.
If BitComet is using all your bandwidth and you having problems browsing, then set this to aprox. 80% of Download rate provided in Step2. (for me, 338 * 0.80 = 270kB/s)
Since i dont experience any difficulties browsing with BitComet on full speed, I use Unlimited as my setting.
Global Max Upload Rate: This is an important setting.
Set this to 80% of the tested upload speed in Step2. (for me, 40 * 0.80 = 32kB/s)
Notice: - If you are sharing Internet connection with others, you might want to lower this value.
- If you set this too high, your download will be slow and you will have problems browsing.
- If you set this too low, other peers will not want to trade with you.
Listen Port: Pick any number within this range, 49154 - 65534.
If you connect to internet through a router then you need to forward Bitcomet's Listen Port.
Make sure that BitComet is allowed through any software firewall you may have.
If you only use the built in Windows XP-SP2 firewall, then you don't need to configure it because BitComet can automatically do it for you.
(see also Port Mapping -> Enable UPnP Port Mapping further down on post)
This page will help you with Portforwarding. (If your router is a modem/routermodem, portforwarding is done automaticly)
- To test if your Listen Port is open, start a torrent and wait about five minutes.
Now look in the Peers tab. If you see any "Remote" initiations then your port is open.
If they are all "Local" or "NAT Traversal" then you still have something blocking your port.
No Listening Mode: Avoid using this mode. This mode should only be used if you have no control over the router.
This mode will greatly reduce your rates.
Port Mapping:
- Enable NAT/Firewall Configuration ICS/ICF (XP/Vista only): Depends on User. This will automatically configure the rules in Windows ICS and/or the Windows ICF for you. I suggest you Check this, since it doesnt hurt anything even if you dont need it.
- Enable UPnP Port Mapping (XP/Vista only): Depends on User. Check this option if you want BitComet to automatically set up your router's portforwarding.
- Remove Port on NAT/Firewall (XP/Vista only): Depends on User. I suggest you Check this, since it doesnt hurt anything even if you dont need it.
This will remove the portforwarding rules in Windows ICS and ICF for you when you exit BitComet.
Task tab:
Set settings as perfered, exept:
Max Simultaneous Download Tasks: Base this setting on your Global Max Upload Rate.
For most standard DSL/Cable connections you should set this to 1 or 2. If you try to run a lot of popular torrents all at once, you will lose a lot of bandwidth to overhead. Overhead is the extra bandwidth needed for negotiating with other peers. This means that you will have less upload bandwidth available for actually transferring files.
If you aren't transferring files well, then your download speed will suffer because other peers won't want to trade with you.
Try to have at least 8 kB/s of upload bandwidth available for each task.
(for me 40 / 8kb/s = 5 simultaneous tasks, but i chose 4 so that each task gets 10 kB/s)
Task -> Long-Time Seeding:
You should limit or disable your Long-Term Seeding, as this can use up all your upload bandwidth.
Make sure your Global max AND Long-Time Seeding don't exceed 80% of your total speed confirmed by your Speed test.
E.g.
- Global max = 75% of available upload
- Long-Time seeding = 5%
- Reserved for other usage = 20%
NOTE: The lowest rate you can choose are 10kB/s.
Advanced tab:
Set Max Connections per task to: 50
Setting this too high can overwhelm your connection. (50 works good for my connection)
If you have a faster connection then mine, try 80, 100, or 150. If you use 150 try not to run too many torrents at once.
That concludes my "tutorial" of how to optimise the BitComets speed rates.
Other settings not included are settings that have little or none effect on the speed rates.
Good luck to you all and remember, my settings are not the answer to everyones problems.
Other tips that might be usefull:
- Update all hardware-drivers and make sure they are set up properly and work without complications.
- Make sure your computer is clean (no software conflict, virus, trojans, etc)
- Try to sign up or get invited to a private tracker, and try to get torrents whit lots of seeds and peers.
A good list of torrent sites to download from are Isohunt.com or p2pcore.com
