[Guide] Maximizing Bittorent Speed with Azureus

skychilled — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:22:33 +0800

Maximizing BitTorrent Speeds with Azureus (Guide / Tutorial)

This is a pretty long journey in quest to get the best out of your Internet Speed.Have you ever thinking about getting high speed download with under 2KB/ps upload?. At the time this tutorial posted i am using Streamyx 512kb/ps [of course everyone know its sucks and usually give 10KBps-40KBps]
I already post this stuff once on Azureus official forum which can be located here MY IGNORANT POST!! but there seem like nobody care about this because they got good internet speed!!

This article explains how to get up and running with Bit Torrent technology efficiently step by step. It shows how to battle ISPs throttling bit torrent speed and other ways to get the best optimization of your bandwidth.

Disclaimer:

Proceed at your own risk! The information here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I will not be held responsible if this document causes your computer to explode or burst into flames. In real serious terms, if any corruption of data, hardware damage or any other kind of damage/losses/etc. arises from the use of this document, I will not be responsible for it. If you don't like this, please don't read any further.

Introduction:

This is a tutorial step by step guide on setting up Azureus. It details all the steps from downloading to optimizing your settings. Many people have used Bit Torrent and think they are running with optimized settings, even then, it is advised to read through this guide and see what you may have missed to better optimize your settings.

A quick rundown of its major features and we're talking SPEED here

Peer Exchange
Obtains more peers for your downloading torrent in addition to trackers. Peer exchange checks with other peers to see if they know of any other peers. More Peers = More Speed! (provided the peers are seeds and are not choked)

Protocol Encryption
This is the major speed booster if your ISP throttles bit torrent traffic . It can do wonders on torrents with high seeds and can give high speeds especially if your peers are using the top 3 clients I mentioned above, as those are the popular ones that support this standard.

Capping Upload Speed
Uploading data to other peers at full throttle will severely limit your download rate. This is one key element we have to adjust for a good download / upload ratio. Unless you are purely seeding and not using your computer for other tasks, limit your upload to 80% of full bandwidth.

Distributed Hash Table (DHT)
Similar to Peer Exchange, it also obtains more peers for you to download from. If the tracker is down, and the torrent is not private, you can depend on DHT to continue to download!

Local Peer Discovery
Searches for peers in the same ISP as you. Connecting to a peer in the same network (or ISP) means you can get the maximum speeds from that peer, assuming he is generous with his uploads.

What We Need

1. An Internet Connection and its maximum download and upload speed. If unsure, visit Speed Test [Press Here] to run a speed test. Note: Minimum Flash 7 is required. Remember to select a download location closest to you, especially if you are outside US. The Recommended Server works out most of the time.

2. Patched TCPIP.sys to allow more concurrent half-open connections. Windows XP SP2 and Vista limits the number of half-connections to 10. This limitation can impact your Bittorrent experience.
(Step By Step TCP/IP patch).

Please take note that your windows version can change if you have turn on the " Window's Update"as the windows will update latest patch and program fixed.. Different Version need a different patch.

Step by Step how to patched your TCP/IP[Winxp/Vista/Win7]

I) Download the required file to patched your TCP/IP which can be located here:
TCP/IP Patcher Download
II) After the file finished downloading, Double click at it and you will get something like this

III) Set the New Limit to "255" and press the "add to tcpip.sys
IV) Now you done Crackin your basic windows TCP/IP connections . Congratz

Configuring Azureus

I personally recommend that you guyz download this version of azureus that comes with "Shu Mod Build 210" which is located here.This is already been Cracked by " DigitalDJ Hack".It contain some cool plugins that cant be find anymore on the web such as 3D view. I already scan it with "Eset Smart Security Version 4.0.467.0 and its found no virus [Be sure to scan it with anti-virus after download if you still curious]
Download Here

The configuration part is where most people mess up. Most of us will just click through the dialogs accepting the default values. This may apply to some of us, but not the majority.

1. Run the "Configuration Wizard" which is located under the "Tools-> Options". Ignore the security warning (Click Run) - we know perfectly well that the file is legitimate

2. It will give the following dialog:

3.Follow this steps by choosing the "advance mode" where u can get a lot of way how to tweak the connection to improve your speed

4. And the next dialog box is the most important step

Now the value that we are interested in right now is the Upload Limit in kB/s (aka KBps). If you have trouble understanding your speed, consider this: Internet Explorer shows download speed as KBps when you download a file.

There is a big difference between 5Kbps and 5KBps. Make sure you got the right values in KBps (not kbps, the case of 'b' matters) . Use Goggle Speed Calculator if you need help with conversions.

The authors of Azureus have been very helpful in providing a list of predefined values. Your connection should be near to one of the above categories. "xx/384k" means that your download is unlimited and your upload is limited to 384kbps (which is 48KBps by Google Calculator).

With your results of the speed test you did above, select the closest upload speed from the list. Azureus immediately adjusts the "Affected Settings" area with recommended values for your upload speed. We're not finished yet.

Note: The default download speed in Azureus is Unlimited. Even if your download is limited, it is always better to leave it at unlimited to get maximum download speeds. However, if you need to limit your download speeds, right-click the Azureus icon on the system tray (bottom right), click Download Limit and set accordingly. You can also set this in the Preferences dialog.

Note: Azureus randomly generates a port number in Current Port. This guide assumes the port number to be 55641 - but you can substitute it with the number Azureus shows.

5. Port forwarding is also important. Click on "Test if port is forwarded properly" to run the test. If you have trouble running the test, it could be due to one or more of the following reasons:

I) Home Router
If you are running a router (sometimes called wireless access point) at home, you will have to configure it to route all TCP / UDP bit torrent traffic to port 55641 to your computer. If so, visit this page for a guide on how to port forward. Click the router you are using and follow instructions.

II) Personal Firewall
If you are running a firewall software such as Norton Internet Security, Norton Personal Firewall, ZoneAlarm, etc, then configure your firewall such that Azureus has access to port 55641. This is normally accomplished by starting up Azureust. The firewall should spring up an access alert. Simply select the option to "Always Allow" to allow the program to access the Internet. Messages such as "Azureus wants to act as a server" must be allowed as well. In fact, if the program in question is Azureus, you should always check "Allow" no matter what request it is.

Windows Firewall Users
Azureus will automatically configure Windows Firewall for you so there is no action needed from you.

III) Corporate Firewall
Are you running this software in a corporate network? Bad news - you have to inform the admin that you want the port to be directed to your computer. The good news - you can still go by without port forwarding, but speeds will not be optimal.

IV) Having done all the above, if the website still says that it has problems accessing the port, the ultimate test will be when we do a test file downloading. Let's click on Use Selected Settings.

* Now you see the full speed of Azureus in full SMILE.*

Starting a simple torrent

1. Minimize Azureus for now. Notice it resides on the system tray (bottom right) automatically.

2. Click to Sample (i choose random songs as for experiment of this)

3. You should get this dialog:

This is the metadata file, it contains information on the file you want to download eventually. That is why it is so small. We want Azureus to automatically start downloading it, so click Open.

NOTE: The "Name and Type" may differ on your system.

4. The file opens with Azureus which automatically pops up this dialog (scaled for easier viewing)

All values are automatically filled in for you. Here is also where you select files that you don't want to download - if the download has many files which in this case is not. Remember where the file is stored in "Save As", or save it in a different location that is more convenient for you.

All looking good, click OK.

Progress of the Download

Click on the Sample torrent (the only item in the list) to view more information on it. The Download speed was 21KB on 1 seed

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/sampletorrent.jpg

Actually the torrent has a total of 1715 seeds and 715 downloader. 1715 seeds is a lot and it means you should get the full file in no time! A seed is a term used to refer to peers who have downloaded and sharing the complete file.

However, after running for 5 minutes, the speed refuses to go above 30 KB/s, which is not possible for a highly seeded torrent. Could it be my ISP throttling?

Enabling Transport Encryption and Increasing Max Half Open Connections

Azureus by default disables Transport Encryption. We need to enable this so that the ISP's packet shaping hardware will detect our bit torrent traffic as normal traffic and hopefully let it pass.

1. Click on Tools --> Option

2. Click on Under the "Connection" tree there is "Transport Encryption"

3. You should get a dialog similar to one below

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/protocolencryption.jpg

4. The one we are concerned about is Transport Encryption. Check all the box as show above

5. Click on Advanced Network Setting

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/advancenetworksettin.jpg

Change the "max simultaneous outbound connection attempts " value to 100 by selecting the line, changing the value at the bottom to 100 and clicking Save. If you did NOT patch your TCPIP.sys to allow more concurrent half-open connections above (under 'what we need'), Do NOT perform this step .Fill in "Bind To Local IP Address Or Interface" with your static ip .Check the box " Prefer IPv6 address when IPv6 and IPv4 are both available" and "Enforce IP Binding"

6. Click OK. Stop all torrents, wait 10 seconds, and Start the torrent. Now let's watch the speeds.

Hopefully, the above changes will improve speeds. Ultimately, it depends on the number of seeders and peers with high upload rate. Remember, you must upload to enjoy good download rates, but not so high that it affects download speed. Experiment.

Extra Tips

1. Look for more public tracker servers that have the file. I find that the best one place to get a torrent with many trackers already included is

ISOhunt.com. Because they were just the best on finding tracker or the web .More tracker equal more speed

Needless to say, the speed increased tenfold!

LOOK AT THOSE PEER

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/neversameagain.jpg

Peer Connection MAXIMIZATION

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/hope.jpg

Alternatively, you can search Google for the torrent name and download the torrent. Azureus should pop-up a box when you attempt to add it. Answer yes,

and Azureus will use the tracker(s) from it.

You can still add more trackers to your torrent by downloading the same file from different tracker servers

If the box does not come out, you are downloading a wrong torrent.

2. Go to Tools --> Options --> Under the file root press Performance Option

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/Diskcache.jpg

Modified the "Size of Cache In MB" to much larger digit , as i told you before , more equals better

Further Things You Can Try For Optimum Speed

Pointers 3-7 and 9 below have the potential to affect your speeds positively and **negatively**. Experiment.

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/nofirewall.jpg

1. There should be a green Circle at the bottom, not a Grey circle as below.

CODE

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/feifei8509/firewalled.jpg

Grey Circle - No Incoming Connections

If Azureus keeps showing this even after 5 minutes, check the possible causes at the early of this tutorials

2. To get more peers, right-click the entry on the list, and click Update Tracker. Do this especially if you are on a private tracker before you exit the
application, so that your ratio is maintained.

3. Setting a high upload can sometimes slow down a fast torrent. For example, in my DSL 512KB connection, if I do upload at 10KB/s I can get up to
200KB/s. If I upload at 30KB/s, the download speed gets limited to 100KB/s. The total upload available to me is 60KB/s.

This is where you have to experiment by setting a low upload rate (from 10 at Preferences > Connection) and watching if the speeds increase for 5
minutes, especially if the torrent is heavily seeded.

But remember, you must upload in order for peers to share their downloaded data with you. It is possible to set a very low upload, but the chance of
peers sending you their data will decrease, pulling down your download speed.

4.Some people have reported speed increases by setting the peer.lazy_bitfield setting to false in Advanced Preferences. However, in my case,
it
lowered the speeds.

5. Change the Transport Encryption (Tools, Options, under Connection tree , Transport Encryption ) to Uncheck The "Require Transport
Encryption" box . This will
force encryption on all outgoing packets and will not fallback to un-encrypted mode if the peer refuses to co-operate. Good to connect to
only
encryption-enabled peers. Avoid doing this for torrents with low peers/seeds.

6. Remove the check for "Require Encrypted Transport" (Tools, Options, under Connection tree , Transport Encryption). This will make all your
outgoing
and incoming packets fully encrypted, except for tracker communications. Peers who are using a torrent software that doesn't support
encryption are
dropped. Avoid doing this for torrents with low peers/seeds.Enabling this feature instructs to establish connections with the crypto handshake, which
will consume more CPU time due to the D-H key exchange. If it is disabled Azureus will only use the obfuscation header for peers that either require
that via PEX/DHT or when a remote peer initiates a crypto connection.

Further details are controlled by the following settings:

Minimum encryption level
this will specify the minimal encryption level you will choose when establish encrypted connections, currently available are

1. Plain: This only uses the obfuscation header and transmits the entire payload unencrypted. It's still easy to identify but might be enough to confuse
simple traffic shapers
2. RC4: This mode uses strong cryptography to obfuscate the traffic and is only attackable with very sophisticated and expensive attacks but it
consumes more CPU time than the Plain method.

Allow non-encrypted outgoing connections if encrypted connection attempt fails 2

This option ensures compatibility with legacy clients that don't support the traffic obfuscation but makes it easier for the ISP to identify users that
engage in BitTorrent activity. List of BAD ISP [Internet Service Provider]

Allow non-encrypted incoming connections

Disabling this option will prevent any peer from connecting to you unless he uses the obfuscation header. Thus it even prevent peers from
connecting to
you when they support encryption but don't know that you require it. But as stated in the implementation specs Azureus' PEX and Distributed
tracker is obfuscation aware and thus tells other peers to use it even when they default encryption to off.
Enabling this option may be necessary when the ISP limits ports instead of single connections.

7. Avoid private trackers, especially those with torrents that specifically tell Azureus to disable DHT (effectively disabling Peer Exchange and Local Peer
Discovery too). You can tell if the torrent is private by selecting the torrent and looking at the DHT value. If it says "disabled", it is a private torrent.

That said, the main reason private trackers exist is because they enforce sharing rules that tries to prevent a person from downloading a torrent and
running off without uploading back the same amount of data he downloaded.

For new and popular torrents on such trackers, you may be able to get good speeds as everyone will be trying to increase their upload/download ratio. Again, experiment. The key point here is the seeds/leechers ratio and the popularity of them in public and private trackers.

8. Check the Availability column for the torrent. If it is less than 1, chances are that the torrent is new and the original uploader is still uploading.
However, if it remains at a value less than 1 (eg, 0.98) for more than a day, either the torrent does not have seeds or it is fake.

9. Reset your internet connection by switching off and on the modem and router (if applicable).

10. Download the latest network driver, uninstall the current one and install back the latest network driver you downloaded by using Device Manager in
Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager.

11.Make sure you did not set a download limit accidentally! Many people unknowingly set the download limit when they actually intended to set the
upload limit in the right-click menu of the tray icon. To check, Options > Preferences > Connection > Download > Set to "0" > OK

Experiment. On a heavily seeded torrent with lots of peers, doing everything above (with the exception of 4) got me better speeds.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) What are the good/best ports to open for Azureus?
There's no "best port" or good ports . All ports are suitable for use with Azureus, unless you are running a program that is using the port (use a port
number above 49152 to be safe).

However, feel free to change the default port of it by going to Options, Preferences, Connection and adjusting the "Port used for incoming
connections" as necessary. Remember to re-adjust your port forwarding settings in your firewall/router too.

2) I have tried all the above and my speeds are still slow! In fact, it got worse! What can I do?
Try downloading a different torrent. A high ratio of seeds to leechers (Eg 2000 seeds to 10 leechers) will make a big difference in speeds. Make sure
there is a green light at the bottom or check the possible causes.

Verify your speed by running a Speed Test from different locations to ensure your connection is fast to the major locations
in the world. For example, if you are downloading Chinese torrents, you should select a download location from China (or somewhere nearby) in the
speed test.

Finally, try enabling Require Encrypted Transport and performing the extra things outlined here. If speeds still do not improve, we are also not aware of
the cause.
Perhaps your ISP has managed to break encryption in bit torrent traffic. Or your ISP is limiting your connection speeds, especially if they are in this list
ofBAD ISP!!!! . Do let me know in the reply if you have found a way to solve your problems even
with the suggestions above.

One more thing - it has been reported that reinstalling the network driver has made speed differences for many people. To reinstall, go to Control Panel,
Network Connections and locate your network connection - most of the time it should be "Local Area Connection 1". Right-click the icon, Properties
and note down the name under "Connect Using". There are two ways to update drivers:

AUTOMATICALLY: Click Configure > Driver > Update Driver. Allow the system to connect to Microsoft Online to check for drivers. Only manufacturers
who send their drivers for certification can be found in Microsoft's website.

MANUALLY: Locate the latest driver for this device by going to the official site and downloading and installing it. Blizzard also has a nice guide here.
WARNING: Installing an incorrect driver can cut off your internet! If unsure, call the technical helpdesk (e.g. Dell / HP / Acer ) and request for assistance
on updating network drivers.

3) How do I reset Azureus settings?
Note that this will delete all saved torrents and settings. Go to your C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data folder and delete the
Azureus folder. To reset the max half open connections, run the lvllord utility again (for XP) or run the undopatch.bat (for Vista).

4) Does this guide apply for BitTorrent application as well?
Yes - the application has just a name change so it is safe to use this guide. If you compare BitTorrent vs Azureus, both are almost the same in features
except for the naming, branding, icons and some additional links. There may be additional 'features', but all features from Azureus are there.

Reference

This tutorials wasn't mine at all . Its actually from the founder of Bootstrike.com Ganesh who working hard
to make this tutorials here (which is actually about Utorrent and i modified it to Azureus).
Still full credit to him .. Bravo Ganesh [even i dont even know you =.=|| ]

Bootstrike.com

Azureus Wikipedia

Hopefully that this tutorial will make it easier for beginner to understand how the Azureus work .
It is absolutely necessary for us in malaysia which have high latency/ Low internet speed to do all this stuff to get the full benefit of the application it self.

I will frequently update this post with a lot of usefull information so i hope that the Forum Admin will make a new lounge where we can put tutorials and guide to help everyone who frequently get connection problem or maybe make this post sticky

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[Guide] Maximizing Bittorent Speed with Azureus