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Optimize BitTorrent Speed

1. Seeds/peers ratio

Optimizing your BitTorrent speed starts with picking out the right torrents. Don't just automatically go for the torrents with the highest number of seeds. In general the more seeds than peers, the better.

For example: 50 seeds and 50 peers is better than 200 seeds and 600 peers.

2. Be connectable

Make sure your firewall is correctly configured. And if you have a router, make sure you have either uPnP enabled or you have opened up the necessary incoming ports. Most BitTorrent clients have some sort of indicator which tells you if you are connectable. Usually the indicator is a green smiley or circle somewhere at the bottom of the main screen — look for it. If it doesn't have a green color you've overlooked something, also read the next tip below. This is probably one of the most important tips in order to optimize your BitTorrent speed.

3. Windows firewall

It doesn't like file sharing and tends to lead a life of its own. Turn off your Windows firewall and get a decent firewall.

4. Default port

One third of all internet traffic is BitTorrent traffic. When ISPs realized this, some tried to limit that traffic. Their logic is quite simple: the less traffic per customer, the more customers their network infrastructure can support. And more customers equals more profit.

Limiting traffic on certain ports is very simple method of reducing traffic, particularly if those ports are the default and popular BitTorrent ports. The default BitTorrent ports are 6881-6999. Basically, change this setting to any other port, but I recommend choosing a higher number and not a lower one. For example choose something above 10000.

Changing your port is done in the settings or preferences area of your BitTorrent client. If you have a router, remember to open up the new port and close the previous one (see Be connectable, above).

5. ISP throttling & BitTorrent encryption

Limiting traffic on the default BitTorrent ports wasn't enough to slow down BitTorrent. Some ISPs turned to a more advanced method of slowing down BitTorrent by employing traffic shaping solutions. These solutions identify BitTorrent traffic and slow it down, and it does that by prioritizing any other traffic. Traffic shaping does have its uses though, particularly when you're streaming content or playing online games; it will help assure your service is not needlessly interrupted.

It didn't take long for a solution to appear. All modern BitTorrent clients now have built-in encryption which circumvents traffic shaping solutions. If you want to optimize your BitTorrent speed I suggest you turn encryption on. For more information about encrypting BitTorrent traffic see my how to encrypt BitTorrent traffic tutorial.

6. Active torrents

The BitTorrent transfer protocol rewards sharing. The fewer torrents running, the higher your upload speed is for each torrent and in turn, the faster your download speed will be. So do not have too many active BitTorrent downloads at the same time.

Note the difference between bits and bytes. The capitalization of the letter B indicates it's bytes and not bits.
One kilobyte per second divided by 8 is 1 kilobit per second, so 8kbps = 1kBps.
One megabyte per second translates into 1024 kilobytes per second, so 1MBps = 1024kBps.

Determine your upload speed by checking with your ISP or simply by googling "speed test". Convert your upload speed into kbps and read on...

If your upload speed is 256kbps then stick to a maximum of 2 active torrents. Anything less and stick to just one, for every 256kpbs above that you can add another 2.

7. Max connections

It is obvious that setting the maximum number of connections too low will reduce your torrent speed. However, what some people don't know is that setting it too high will also hurt your download speed. If your BitTorrent client has a built-in speed guide that optimizes your BitTorrent speed then I advise you run that and stick to the settings it suggests. If you want to configure your settings manually, then continue reading this tip and definitely read the one above and below as well.

It is important to limit the number of peers you connect to, because if you connect to too many you simply slow your download speed down. After testing various settings I found that the following worked best for me: Limit the number of peers per torrent to 140% of your upload speed in kilobytes per second (make sure you're not using kilobits — see italic part of the previous hint).

So if you have an upload speed of 256kbps:
256kbps divided by 8 and times 1.4 equals 45 connections per torrent.
If you take the previous hint on active torrents into consideration that means you should not have more than 90 connections in total for all torrents.

8. Upload speed

You should limit or cap your global upload speed to 80% of the maximum upload speed your internet connection can sustain. When you download torrents, your torrent program sends request for torrent parts to other users. If you have your upload speed maxed out (because you are uploading torrent parts to other users) there will be a delay in your request for new file segments. Your download speed will be slower!

Before you can cap your upload speed and optimize the BitTorrent speed, you need to know your maximum upload speed. Consult your ISP or simply run a speed test. Just google "speed test" and there should be plenty of useful sites where you can test your speed. Make sure you are not utilizing your connection when you're running the test or results will be skewed.

Some torrent programs can be configured to dynamically limit your upload speed, if you're using such a torrent program then simply set your upload speed to automatic.

9. Peer exchange & DHT

BitTorrent trackers provide your BitTorrent program with a list peers that are downloading the same torrent and might be willing to share file segments with you. BitTorrent clients will never share a list of peers with the tracker, so it may be useful for BitTorrent clients to share peers with each other. All modern BitTorrent programs support this method of peer exchange.

The BitTorrent peer exchange implementation is called DHT. It is particularly useful when you are experiencing problems with the BitTorrent tracker. However, it may also help you find more seeds and peers for your torrent downloads. Just remember that peer exchange is only allowed for public torrents, not private torrents.

10. Speed up torrents by 200%

You've actually hit the end of the line, I'm all out of BitTorrent optimization tips to optimize your BitTorrent speed even further. The only thing that can always be improved even more is your ability to pick out good torrents. There is also the ultimate solution to all your problems: a better, faster internet connection ;-).