Torrenting Speed Not At Max

[xuanhearts]

I've never had this problem until now, so just checking here. I'm using a D-Link modem, model DSL-2640B and ADSL2+ mode. It's a standard issued device by TM Net in Malaysia. My windows is Window 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

So recently I've been experiencing some pretty low torrent speed as I download from my usual sources. The uploader is well known for the quality of their torrent, and I've always been able to download at maximum speed (around 500+ kb per sec) or somewhere close at least. But recently the torrenting speed is extremely low (I've tried out with many other torrents), and the best I could get was only about 200~250kb/sec. I've tried a clean install and settings reset (and even a windows firewall setting reset because there was a weird app confusion causing my listening port to be blocked, which is green now) but it doesn't work.

What's weird is that my normal web surfing speed and download speed are definitely not affected. I've tried some filesharing websites, speedtest, pingtest, and watched some livestreams at best quality just to make sure my ISP isn't fooling around with a cap, but everything seemed totally fine. In fact I've just phoned them to see if they're capping my torrent and while the results aren't clear, it is at least not a normal cap (if there's one) because my line seemed fine when they checked. I've even tried Glasnot just in case but got the same results (although the detailed statistics is far from my liking). I suspected that maybe my own Windows was somehow choking the line maybe and updated it to the latest version, but the result remain the same (Do tell me if there's anything else I can do to check). Updated network adapter since there's mention that an outdated driver might cause a slow down, but still same results. At this point I'm not sure what I can do because I've tried so many things and none of them are working.

However, I'm pretty sure that when I used a broadband (only two days interval before I switched back to my home modem), I have no such issues with Bitcomet and everything was downloading, well, like a broadband should. On the other hand, I can't think that any one of my family members have tampered with the modem settings because not one of them even know how to access it, but just in case, if there's a guide that I could use to comb through here I'll be grateful.

Please help me out here, because I've been using BitComet for so many years and it's the only torrenting application that I'm fond of (the others rarely worked, if at all >_>).

Edited January 15, 2013 by xuanhearts (see edit history)

[The UnUsual Suspect]

I do know it's been very common in Malaysia for ISPs to throttle bittorrent traffic, but I cannot say for sure if this is the case or not. Many ISPs have used packet sniffing software to put any determined to be bittorrent into a queue so you can recevive them only at a reduced rate. To combat this protocol encryption was used, but that was at least partially countered by smarter detection software... so it can be difficult to completely avoid throttling.

You also have an ADSL connection which gives you faster speed on download vs upload, so you are limited at what you can upload to other peers and if you aren't able to give back to a peer that is sending you data, that peer will lose interest in trading with you Most asynchronous connections will have slower download speeds using bittorrent.

Also confirm that your listening port is open and that you've adjusted your max upload speed so you have about 20% reserved bandwidth for efficient communications with peers.

[xuanhearts]

Done. Not much difference, if at all really >_> but oh well. It has been going well for at least four years and now... T_T

[kluelos]

What's weird is that my normal web surfing speed and download speed are definitely not affected

Well, no, that's NOT weird. Normal web surfing and downloading are coming from dedicated servers. Bittorrent is not.

Bittorrent is coming from peers -- people just like you with computers like yours and connections like yours, and your speed is always dependent on how many of them there are, where they are, and whether you can connect reliably to them -- which is different for every one. This is the single biggest factor affecting your speed. It's also the one that is constantly variable, and the one that you can't do anything about.

[xuanhearts]

As variable as it is, this time it is extremely obvious that something is very wrong with my torrenting this time. Of course the speed is going to go up and down at times, but I've never experienced a continuous down, not even over 200kb/s download speed for ANY torrent files for nearly three weeks.

[kluelos]

Unfortunately, your area has a history of it, with undersea cables being damaged and the like. You should scan the news to see if something like this has been reported, and the prognosis for getting it repaired.