Torrent Help (Transmission)

[FadeToBlack]

I'm NOT an expert at all when it comes to torrents and I know that there are probably countless threads on this subject, but I searched and couldn't find a good answer to my question.

I found this REALLY cool site where you can download LEGAL torrents of bootleg audio/video concerts. VERY cool. The problem is, I have a very slow transfer rate. Even with 3 people seeding, I was only getting between 5-10 k/s. Not good at all.

I think the problem has something to do with my ports. When in Transmission's Advanced preferences, under the "Incoming TCP Port" section, it is showing that my "Port is Stealth." I figure this is probably one of the causes of my slow transfer issues.

My question is, how do I set it up so that my port isn't stealth, so that I can get a decent transfer rate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Eidorian]

You're going to need to forward the incoming port on your router.

http://portforward.com/

[bjett92]

3 people seeding isn't much either

[FadeToBlack]

Originally Posted by bjett92

3 people seeding isn't much either

Yeah, I figured that had something to do with it, as well. I still figure I should be getting faster speeds than this, though, even with a low number of people seeding.

Originally Posted by Eidorian

You're going to need to forward the incoming port on your router.

http://portforward.com/

Man, that is A LOT of reading.

I know if I wanna get this done, I probably should read it and learn about it, but honestly, I'd just like to get the thing working. Maybe I'm just used to how simple most things on the Mac are - they just work. I wish the same could be said for BitTorrent.

EDIT: Decided to just give up on trying to get it to work. Yeah, I'm lazy, but this isn't hugely important to me, anyway. Thanks for your help, though, everybody.

[Jason S.]

Port forwarding is actually pretty easy. What kind of router do you have? I can probably walk you through it.

[Kilamite]

Even with my incoming port closed I can reach maximum download speeds. Takes a lot longer to get there though.

I'd base it down to the fact that there is only 3 peers. I'm currently downloading an episode of Weeds and there is 4 peers. I'm getting 5-15kb/s on a 2MB connection.

Remember, those people probably have their upload speeds set between 3-8kb/s. If there is a few folk downloading that torrent, that'll get split up between you all and you'll probably be getting 1kb/s or so from each. Maybe less or more depending if there is any segments available from other downloaders.

What is your upload speed set to? If you have it too high, it'll drain your bandwidth causing slower downloads.

[FadeToBlack]

Originally Posted by Jason S.

Port forwarding is actually pretty easy. What kind of router do you have? I can probably walk you through it.

It's actually a cable modem/wireless router combo. It's a Motorola SBG900.

Originally Posted by Kilamite

Even with my incoming port closed I can reach maximum download speeds. Takes a lot longer to get there though.

I'd base it down to the fact that there is only 3 peers. I'm currently downloading an episode of Weeds and there is 4 peers. I'm getting 5-15kb/s on a 2MB connection.

Remember, those people probably have their upload speeds set between 3-8kb/s. If there is a few folk downloading that torrent, that'll get split up between you all and you'll probably be getting 1kb/s or so from each. Maybe less or more depending if there is any segments available from other downloaders.

What is your upload speed set to? If you have it too high, it'll drain your bandwidth causing slower downloads.

I actually got fed up and deleted Transmission, but I'm pretty sure I had my upload speed set at 10 kb/s. I may give it another try, though. There's so much awesome bootleg video/audio stuff out there that I'm constantly wanting to download, but can't because I can't get the torrenting stuff down. I never had any trouble when I had my computer plugged straight into a regular cable modem. I used to get pretty good download speeds, too, from what I remember. This was back in my pirating days. I don't do that anymore, though, and haven't for a long time.

If you guys wanna try to help, you're welcome to. I sure appreciate it.

[Jason S.]

OK, I'll be glad to help.

1. Once you have Transmission running, click the app name in the menu bar and click Preferences.
2. Click Advanced and note the Incoming TCP Port.
3. Now we need to figure out the IP Address that your computer is using in the network. Open System Preferences, click Network, and then the Advanced button.
4. In the sheet that pulls down, click the TCP/IP tab, and note the IPv4 Address. It will usually start with 192.168. Also note the Router's IP Address; copy and paste this address into the address bar in Safari or whatever browser you use.
5. You will be prompted to enter a username and password to gain access to your router's settings. The default login information for your router is:
   Username: admin
   Password: motorola
6. On the left hand side of the page, click "Gateway." The top menu will change; click "Port Forwarding." Click "config" directly under the top menu.
7. Use the following settings...
   Template: Custom
   Name: Torrents
   Port Start: use the port number we found earlier
   Port End: exactly the same number as Port Start
   LAN IP Address: this is the IPv4 that we noted in System Preferences
   Make sure Enable is checked, and click Add.
8. Click the Apply button at the bottom of the page to save the changes and you are done. Check Transmission's Preferences again. It should now show a green bubble with the text "Port is open"

[FadeToBlack]

Originally Posted by Jason S.

OK, I'll be glad to help.

1. Once you have Transmission running, click the app name in the menu bar and click Preferences.
2. Click Advanced and note the Incoming TCP Port.
3. Now we need to figure out the IP Address that your computer is using in the network. Open System Preferences, click Network, and then the Advanced button.
4. In the sheet that pulls down, click the TCP/IP tab, and note the IPv4 Address. It will usually start with 192.168. Also note the Router's IP Address; copy and paste this address into the address bar in Safari or whatever browser you use.
5. You will be prompted to enter a username and password to gain access to your router's settings. The default login information for your router is:
   Username: admin
   Password: motorola
6. On the left hand side of the page, click "Gateway." The top menu will change; click "Port Forwarding." Click "config" directly under the top menu.
7. Use the following settings...
   Template: Custom
   Name: Torrents
   Port Start: use the port number we found earlier
   Port End: exactly the same number as Port Start
   LAN IP Address: this is the IPv4 that we noted in System Preferences
   Make sure Enable is checked, and click Add.
8. Click the Apply button at the bottom of the page to save the changes and you are done. Check Transmission's Preferences again. It should now show a green bubble with the text "Port is open"

Thank you so much!!! It's working perfect now. I haven't tried any torrents yet, but the port is indeed open. Thanks!!!

I have one question, though. Seems like I remember reading in another thread that I'll need a static IP address for this to work. Do I need to change any other settings?

I'm a networking noob.

[richthomas]

well if you have other computers on your network and you disconnect from the network you router may give you a different IP when you reconnect. if your Mac is the only computer on the network you will always have the same IP which is one value higher than the router's IP so you dont need a static IP.

you can either set a manual IP in network preferences by choosing "DHCP with manual address" under TCP/IP or set your router to reserve an IP based on your MAC address.

im not sure about your router but with my netgear i do this by clicking LAN IP setup under Advanced click add and enter an IP, my MAC address and then a name. you can find you MAC address by option clicking the Airport icon, its the first grey value and make sure you set "Using DHCP" in network preferences under TCP/IP.

[mankar4]

legal torrents of bootlegged audio and concerts?

[FadeToBlack]

Originally Posted by mankar4

legal torrents of bootlegged audio and concerts?

Yep. Here's a link:

Tapecity

I have an Eee PC that I use wirelessly, which is soon to be replaced by a 12" iBook when it comes in. I restarted my iMac after I set up the port forwarding and it's still showing that my port is open, so I guess I won't worry about it until I start having issues.

[cyork35]

Ok guys I'm just going to add to this thread.. I am having a similiar problem but I can't get my port to say open. I properly forwarded the port on my router to my macbook's ip address (which i made static and set up) and my firewall is not on or anything.. But my port is still set to stealth.

I have a Linksys Wireless-G router if you need to know. Does anyone know what is wrong??? I appreciate any help!

[macon]

Ive searched everywhere to find some information but have been unsuccessful so far. I am only getting download speeds of around 3-4 KB/s.

I have a direct connection no router:

macbook
2mb cable modem (no router, no need for port forwarding Ive been told)
application: transmission

and have set up a port at (Other) 59991 for TCP and UDP in the firewall section of system preferences on my mac, specifically for transmission, ensuring that the same number is referenced in preferences > network settings of transmission, but no matter what I try, I get 'port is stealth'.

I have tried Azureus also, but have seen no improvement in DL rates.

any ideas?

[Eidorian]

There's a chance your modem might be a router. You're going to need to log into and/or get the model number. After that you can turn off NAT and the DHCP server on your modem if you're not going to use those services.

[macon]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

There's a chance your modem might be a router. You're going to need to log into and/or get the model number. After that you can turn off NAT and the DHCP server on your modem if you're not going to use those services.

Its an Ambit 255 (model E08C007) standard issue from virgin, which I have been told is just a modem. when I log in to the router address however a username and password screen appears branded motorola, but none of my username and passwords work, nor does a default username: admin pword: motorola .. Hence I am guessing that it is just a modem..?

[Eidorian]

Is the IP address that your computer is assigned a private one?

[macon]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

Is the IP address that your computer is assigned a private one?

I believe so, it starts with FE80. Sorry I know nothing about IPv6 - what does this mean?
thanks

[merl1n]

Originally Posted by macon

I believe so, it starts with FE80. Sorry I know nothing about IPv6 - what does this mean?
thanks

That's not an IP address. Thats the beginning of a MAC (Machine Address Code) address for the ethernet (or Airport) hardware.

The private IP is what you assign to your network interface in the form of (and this is just an example) 192.168.x.x

Example Static Setting:
IP = 192.168.1.10
Netmask = 255.255.255.0
Gateway (your router) = 192.168.1.1

[macon]

I assume then yes my IP address is private i.e. 192.168.etc etc

[chrissqt242]

I'm having a similar problem. I'm using transmission, and I followed all of the steps above. It says my port is open, but I'm still getting download rates of only 5-10 KB. It says it's downloading from 7/77 peers. This file has been downloading for about 2 hours now and still has downloaded LESS than 1% of the 7 GB file. Is there any way to get it to download from more of the peers or something?

I know virtually NOTHING about torrents, so anything will help! Thanks!

[johto]

Originally Posted by chrissqt242

I'm having a similar problem. I'm using transmission, and I followed all of the steps above. It says my port is open, but I'm still getting download rates of only 5-10 KB. It says it's downloading from 7/77 peers. This file has been downloading for about 2 hours now and still has downloaded LESS than 1% of the 7 GB file. Is there any way to get it to download from more of the peers or something?

I know virtually NOTHING about torrents, so anything will help! Thanks!

Make sure you havent turnet on the "turttle" mode accidentally. I did yesterday and was wondering why my download was hovering at 10kb/s
Normally my max download is 2000 kbytes

[chrissqt242]

Originally Posted by johto

Make sure you havent turnet on the "turttle" mode accidentally. I did yesterday and was wondering why my download was hovering at 10kb/s
Normally my max download is 2000 kbytes

Thank you! I actually saw that lit up, but I wasn't sure what it did, so I was afraid to turn it off, haha. That seems to have helped a little bit, though. Now it's downloading between 15-30 KB. Still not as fast as your 2000 though!

[johto]

Originally Posted by chrissqt242

Thank you! I actually saw that lit up, but I wasn't sure what it did, so I was afraid to turn it off, haha. That seems to have helped a little bit, though. Now it's downloading between 15-30 KB. Still not as fast as your 2000 though!

For 2000kbytes you need 24Megabyte ADSL or equal...that turttle "throttle" thingy is sometimes usefull if you want to slow your download / upload for a moment. Make sure you configure your speed settings in the preferences
If you dont know how fast your internet connection "should" be, leave "limit download bandwith" unchecked.

Its usually usefull to limit your max upload some minor percent, like 10% so that the download works smoother. You can questimate your realistic upload speeds by benchmarking it on various sites using http://www.speedtest.net/

[Skoolz]

Ok guys, I'm completely new to Mac and pretty computer illiterate in general. This is my problem: My port is stealth. I have no router (I don't think), as my computer is connected directly to my modem using a DSL connection. I am using a MacBook 3,1 with Mac OS X 10.5.2 (Leopard). In my system preferences, I have allowed incoming connections for Transmission, but I am still getting very low download speeds (no more than 5 k) and moderate upload speeds (about 80 k). You're probably laughing at me right now because I have no idea what I'm talking about, so I was hoping someone could explain this to me in a way that I would understand.
I should also point out that I also use Vonage voIP through my DSL connection. Is that a router? Is this going to be infinitely complicated? Please help me!