Bit Comet & Torrent questions(???)

I'm not real familiar with the whole 'torrent' thing, but I was under the impression that torrents are supposed to download quicker when using Bit Comet or a similar util. I thought the whole idea was that becuz torrent files are generally quite large (300mb+ up to 3gb or more) that a seperate app was created to increase download speed. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I've downloaded a total of 4 torrents (all w/ Bit Comet) and they've all taken over 5 hrs each. The size of these files is under 200mb. Yesterday I downloaded a 157mb torrent; started at about 8:30am. At 4:00pm it was at 38%. I left it running and it finished sometime before 8:00am the next day. That's close to 24hrs for 157mb download!!! I rarely get download speeds above 8 or 9 kbps with BitComet, but with a standard download with IE I get 150kbps or higher. What's up? Does anyone with torrent experience know what's going on? Also, what's with torrent trackers, seeds, etc. I'm clueless when it comes to torrent lingo. I have no idea what these things mean. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

hopperdave2000

 

Okay...

A "torrent" isn't actually the file you are after. It is a SMALL (only a few kb!) file used to track the actual file you want to download.

When you load this torrent file into your client (ie BitComet, BitTorrent, or my personal fave Azureus), the client will search for peers that have parts of this file, and will begin downloading them. Once finished, it will piece the file together as a whole.

How fast you download the file depends on how many people are "seeding". That is people who have downloaded the file, and are now sharing it. The more seeders, the more people you can download the same file from, and the higher your speed. "Leechers" are folks who have downloaded the file, and are NOT sharing it. Look for high seed counts when choosing the torrent, and your speeds will improve.

 

Do you have a firewall router or software firewall... both? If so you have to forward the port you are using. Also you could have your upload speed to low or to high. If your upload speed is to low you won't have a high download speed and if your upload speed it too high you'll upload more then you download which will also decrease your speed.

You can refer to this guide for speed problems or just bit torrent questions.

 

So how does one forward the port one is using for bittorrent d/l's to get past the firewalls?

 

Actually, a leecher is someone who has not completed a download. It does not signify any lack of sharing whatsoever. In most cases, a leecher is sharing the portions of a file he has downloaded.