Still can't do it

[Jazzy Jeff]

Sorry guys if this has been discussed to death, but whatever I do I can't get good download speeds.

With normal downloading I can get up to 450kb/s, but with Comet I can only get 20 or something.

I've been to portforwarding, but I just don't get that. I've read on this forum that of you have a router you do't need to get a static IP, but at that site they say you do. But even following their instructions, download speeds still are slow, even with lot's of seeders.

I have a Sitecom DC200 router. My WAN and LAN both show different IP's. LAN is 192.xxx.x.x and the WAN is 84.xx.xx.xx

Any help would be much appreciated ^_^

[kluelos]

Other peers in the swarm need to be able to contact your client, in order to negotiate for and swap pieces of the torrent. If they can't, then you are limited to the contacts your client initiates, which means fewer, slower contacts, and your download speed will be greatly reduced.

In order for other peers to contact yours, they need to know which port to use. It doesn't matter which port that is, so long as it is one specific port.

If others are to contact you, then that listen port must be open. It must not be blocked by firewalls. If it is blocked, then others can't contact you, with consequent slowdown.

If you have a router, then the router probably has a firewall. If it does, then the firewall must be opened to traffic on the listen port, and must pass it through to your computer. The traffic contains both TCP and UDP packets, so the firewall must pass both.

This process of having an open port and passing on whatever comes in for that port, is called "port-forwarding".

Most routers can set up some sort of rule to pass data for a particular port, but most routers will do that only for specific, designated IP addresses. It's just the way they're built. They won't allow all traffic for a particular port through to all connected devices; they require the passthrough to be to a specific IP address. It's a security measure.

Most internet connections in most places use dynamic IP addresses. When the computer connects to the internet, it uses Dynamic Host Control Protocol to obtain a dynamic IP address. That address can and does change from time to time. The means and method for connecting to the internet are controlled by your ISP.

Your router connects through your modem to your ISP, where DHCP is used to give the router a dynamic IP address. The router funnels all traffic from machines connected to it, through that dynamic IP. So, to the internet, all of the machines connected to your router appear to have the router's dynamic IP address. You interfere with this at your peril.

Your computer connects through your router to whatever the router is connected to.

When the computer connects to the router, by default the router uses DHCP to assign a dynamic IP address to your computer. Because it's dynamic, it can and does change from time to time. But the means and method for connecting to the router are controlled by you. You can set it up any way you want to, that works.

If you have opened a port in the router's firewall, and given it your computer's dynamic IP address, you've got a problem when the computer's IP address changes, as it does if it is dynamic. Now the hole in the firewall is no longer pointing to the right place.

The solution is to give the computer a static, unchanging IP address which the router knows, and to use that IP address for your port forwarding. The router is (typically) able to address only a local class C network, so that constrains the addresses you can use.

The router also has a pool of addresses that it assigns via DHCP, and you want to remove your static address from that pool, so it doesn't get assigned to something else, which will cause big problems. The usual way to do this is to constrain the pool's upper limit, and use an address higher than that limit but still within the network class. How you do that is idiosyncratic to the router.

This is speaking to most routers, most network setups. If yours is different, you need to recognize that and adjust appropriately. But it is up to you to do that.

(Some software and some routers claim to be able to use UPnP to bypass all this, and tell the router which ports to open and close, when. By and large, it does not work, even though the router claims that it will. If you try to explore why it doesn't, you'll get everyone pointing a finger at everyone else. "It's their fault, not ours". Shorthand: it doesn't work.)

The point is, and was, to make other clients on the internet able to contact yours, through a specific port. You need to make sure the traffic can get through your router's firewall, but it must also get through any other firewalls you are running. It only takes one thing to block the port and it won't work.

Hopefully, if you understand what it is that you are trying to do, most of this will make a lot more sense.

[Jazzy Jeff]

Thanks Kluelos.

It still sounds like Chinese to me. I have absolutely no knowledge of routers and networks.

We have 2 pc's at home, sharing the same connection and router.

Which IP do I have to use as static, my WAN or LAN IP? And how do I know what static IP not to use, or which one TO use?

To open a port should I use Special Internet Applications or User-Defined Virtual Servers?

Do I only have to set TCP or also UCP, and can I assign the same port number to all of them?

In User-Defined Virtual Servers should I give my LAN or WAN IP?

I can upload without a problem using Bitcomet, but downloading is horrible. It sometimes "peaks" to 30kb for a few secs, but then it immediatly drops to less than 10 :( .

Lot's of questions I know, sorry for that, but it would be great if some can be answered.

[kluelos]

Which IP do I have to use as static, my WAN or LAN IP? And how do I know what static IP not to use, or which one TO use?

Your LAN IP. Do NOT frack with your WAN settings or you will be unable to connect to the internet.

To open a port should I use Special Internet Applications or User-Defined Virtual Servers?

Use the virtual server.

Do I only have to set TCP or also UCP, and can I assign the same port number to all of them?

Already answered. Use the same port.

In User-Defined Virtual Servers should I give my LAN or WAN IP?

LAN. Do not change anything on the WAN side.

I can upload without a problem using Bitcomet, but downloading is horrible. It sometimes "peaks" to 30kb for a few secs, but then it immediatly drops to less than 10 :( .

If your firewall is blocking your listen port, this is the result.