How To Make Your Torrent Download Speed 300% Faster?
Is your torrent download speed slow and you want to speed it up? Here, we have written a comprehensive guide that covers different aspects of torrent downloading.
Using torrent clients is one of the most popular ways to share files over the web. There are many popular torrent sites to do the job. While there are just minimal basic settings needed to run these clients, there are some tweaks for more advanced users. Before you proceed with our guide on increasing torrent download speed. Learn more about how torrents work and are these illegal here!
How to make BitTorrent download faster in simple steps?
To increase the torrent download speed, you can always find plenty of good ways online. In this article, we are trying to provide you all those methods and tips at a single place. Take a look:
1. Install a Lightweight Torrent Client
To increase the torrent downloading speed, the very first step you need to follow is to install a lightweight torrent client. Although BitTorrent is one of the most popular torrent clients around, it comes with lots of bloated apps and other features. So, I prefer uTorrent most for hassle-free and faster torrent downloading. You can also install qBittorrent since it’s another lightweight torrent client.
The reason for using a lightweight torrent client is that it only focuses on downloading torrents and speeds up the transfer rate. utorrent and qBittorrent are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
You can also refer our list of best torrent clients for Mac, Windows, and Android.
2. Choose a Healthy Torrent
For choosing a healthy torrent, first, you need to understand the concept of seeder and leecher. These two terms always confuse the new torrent enthusiast, so, here I will try to clear your doubts in simple language.
A seeder is one who has the complete copy of the file shared across the network which you intend to download. However, a leecher is one who does not have the complete copy of file and has joined the network to download the file. Once a leecher downloads the file completely, he/she will become a seeder.
For a high torrent download speed, the number of seeders should be higher than the number of leechers. The more is the number of seeders, the healthier your torrent will be. So, while choosing a torrent, make sure that the seeder-leecher ratio is high.
Also Read: What Are Torrents? How Torrent Works? — BitTorrenting 101
3. Add an Exception to Windows Firewall
Windows Firewall can block your torrent client or you can say your incoming BitTorrent connections. So, adding an exception to the Windows firewall will be a good option to boost torrent downloading speed. First, navigate to Options> Preferences> Connections, now check the Add Windows Firewall exception box and then click Apply.
(Check Enable UPnP port mapping in case it’s unchecked).
Warning: Do not shut down Windows Firewall permanently as it leaves your PC open to attack.
4. Change General Settings to Optimize uTorrent
To increase the speed of your torrent, make sure you have the best uTorrent settings configured on your machine. All the three options that are shown in the figure below should be checked.
To find these options, navigate to Options> Preferences> General then check Append.! ud to incomplete files and Pre-allocate all files. Usually, the third option is already checked but if it’s not, check that too.
5. Limit Your Global Upload and Download Rate
You can also speed up your torrent downloading on clients like qBitTorrent, BitTorrent, uTorrent, etc., by limiting the upload and download rate. But first, you should understand the fact that torrents breathe the uploading done by users.
So, turning it completely off, or setting it as 1kB/s, would not be a wise option. But, at the same time, you don’t want your upload rate to set it as the maximum (‘0’ stands for unlimited) as it can choke down your own connection.
Setting upload rate to about 70-80% of your maximum upload speed would be a great option to speed up torrenting. Whereas, you can keep the download rate 0, as it is considered as maximum. To configure these options navigate to Proprties> Bandwidth, then set the Global Upload Rate Limit as 80% your max upload.
Also Read: How To Use uTorrent Web To Download And Stream Torrents In Your Browser?
6. Change the Number of Connections
Once you’ve set the upload/download rate, you can now change the number of connections to avoid any overload. Although, if you do hit and trial with the settings you might get a better result. But, for those who aren’t very much sure, I can suggest you some rough numbers which might increase torrent downloading speed.
Navigate to properties> Bandwidth, then set Global maximum number of connections to 150 and the maximum number of connected peer per torrent to 100. Leave the upload slot as it is.
7. Add More Trackers
Trackers are a good way to optimize the torrent download speed. Adding new and faster trackers to your existing torrents can increase the download speed by adding new seeds and peers to your connection.
The method of adding trackers to your torrent is not so complicated as you only have to add these links to your existing trackers. While pasting the new tracker, make sure that you are not erasing the existing ones (and do not worry about duplication).
To add new trackers, first right click on the torrent you are downloading and then select Properties. Under the General tab, you will find the trackers list. Scroll to the bottom and paste trackers from the list given below.
Here is the list of trackers:
udp
In case you want more trackers, here is the complete torrent tracker list.
8. Pick the best port for torrenting
As you might know, the BitTorrent protocol depends on the TCP protocol for transferring data over the internet. The recommended and possibly the best TCP port for torrenting is between 6881-6889. So, if you’re still wondering how to make torrent downloads faster, you can try configuring the same on your computer.
Did you find the article on how to increase torrent download speed useful? Or, do you know any other methods to speed up the torrent downloading? Let us know in comments below.
Also Read: 10 Best Websites For Legal Torrents And Safe Download | 2019 Edition
How to Speed up Torrents (with Pictures) – wikiHow
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This wikiHow teaches you how to increase the download speed of a torrent. Torrent download speeds can be increased by practicing basic Internet speed habits, though you can also modify your torrent client’s settings in order to speed up some torrents. Keep in mind that if the torrent doesn’t have enough seeds to complete its download, there isn’t much that you can do.
1
Select torrents with enough seeds. Torrents with fewer “seeds” (uploaders) than “leeches” (downloaders) will take significantly longer to download than in the inverse. [1]
If a torrent has few to no seeds, you won’t be able to download the whole torrent.
2Close background services and programs when downloading. Running any programs—especially those which take up large amounts of bandwidth, such as streaming services—while attempting to download torrents will invariably slow down your download rates.
3
Try downloading one torrent at a time. In the event that you’re running into issues with torrent speed while downloading multiple torrents, try pausing all but one. This will allocate the bandwidth that the other two torrents were using to the one that isn’t paused.
You can pause a torrent by right-clicking it and clicking Pause.
4
Prioritize a specific torrent. If you’re downloading more than one torrent, you can set its priority to “High” in order to cause it to download faster than the other torrents in your queue:
Right-click a torrent.
Hover your mouse over Bandwidth Allocation.
Click High
5
Avoid downloading other files when downloading a torrent. Again, running streaming programs and file-sharing programs other than your torrent client will prevent your torrents from downloading in a timely fashion.
If you share an Internet connection with one or more people, try to download your torrent when you know that they aren’t downloading or streaming.
6Download during periods of low activity. This goes for both inside of your house and in general: try to download late at night or early in the morning during a period where you know that anyone else on your Internet connection isn’t also downloading or streaming.
7
Connect your computer to your router via Ethernet. Using an Ethernet cable to connect your computer to your router will ensure that there aren’t any hiccups in your download speed.
If this isn’t an option for you, bring your computer as close to your router (or vice versa) as possible.
8
Use a VPN when downloading torrents. If your ISP is throttling your Internet speed because they don’t approve of you downloading torrents, using a VPN will help you circumvent the restrictions.
Keep in mind that torrenting illegal files can result in your IP address being blacklisted (among other criminal charges).
Open uTorrent or BitTorrent. These are the two most popular torrent clients.
If you don’t have uTorrent, you can download and install it from
If you don’t have BitTorrent, you can download and install it from
2Click Options. It’s in the upper-left side of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.
3Click Preferences. This option is at the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Preferences window.
Prevent torrent standby. This will ensure that your computer doesn’t enter Standby mode if you’re actively downloading torrents:
Click the General tab.
Check the “Prevent standby if there are active torrents” box.
Click Apply
Enable UPnP. UPnP is a connection type which allows your torrent access to the correct port(s) in your router:
Click the Connection tab.
Check the “Enable UPnP port mapping” box.
6
Optimize the upload and download capacities. This will ensure that you aren’t spending too much bandwidth on uploading while allowing you to download an unlimited amount:
Click the Bandwidth tab.
Find the “Maximum upload rate” heading near the top of the window.
Type 500 into the text box to the right of the “Maximum upload rate” heading.
Make sure that the “Global Rate Limit Options” text box has “0” in it.
Change the number of possible connections. This will help keep your torrenting profile in good standing with the community while maximizing your download speeds:
Set your “Global maximum connections” text field to 150.
Set the “Maximum connections per torrent” text field to 100.
Set the “Upload slots per torrent” text field to 3-5.
Change the number of maximum ongoing downloads. To do so:
Click the Queueing tab.
Increase the number in the “Maximum number of active downloads” text box.
9
Click OK. It’s at the bottom of the window. Your settings will be saved; from now on, your downloaded torrents will use your optimized settings.
You may have to close and re-open uTorrent or BitTorrent before the settings will be implemented fully. [2]
Add New Question
Question
Why do torrents stall at 99. 5%?
Torrent downloads the file through many seeders. As such, the file is split into many parts. It takes some time to merge those parts to a single file.
What is the metadata that is downloaded?
Metadata are small files that tell your system what the torrent contains. You can think of metadata as a summary of what files are going to be downloaded.
Why does the download sometimes stall at “Queued”?
You may need to change the number of torrents that can be active at the same time in your settings.
What is the best torrent client?
Some people recommend uTorrent as the most reliable.
Why are my torrents disappearing?
If you remove any torrents, be careful to only highlight the torrent(s) you wish to remove. Everything highlighted will go poof when you select “Remove. ”
How can I speed up torrents on a smartphone?
Download ram booster, free up space wherever possible, and close all other programs that require the net while you’re downloading.
What if the torrent is stuck on connecting to peers?
Exit torrent and run it as the administrator. That should help. If it doesn’t help restart your internet broadband, reboot and try again.
How can I determine whether a torrent file is defective or not during a download?
Before you commit to a download, check the number of downloads of the file and then read all the comments regarding the file. There will be more and more seeders when the file is a good one. If the file has a few seeders and they go offline, you will have to wait for them to return. By using the tips here, you should never have a defective torrent.
Can I set two different downloaders, to download half each, and recombine after the download? Or is this what’s already happening on a different scale?
You cannot add two similar torrents because as you do it will merge into into single torrent.
What does “seeding” mean? Does that mean the download is finished?
In computing, and specifically peer-to-peer file sharing, seeding is the uploading of already downloaded content for others to download from. A peer, a computer that is connected to the network, becomes a seed when having acquired the entire set of data it tries to download.
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Many ISPs monitor accounts for illegal activity, including illegal downloading of torrents. You can avoid this by sticking to legal downloads and, in some cases, using a VPN.
Downloading torrents for paid entertainment or products constitutes piracy, which is illegal in most places.
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How to Increase Torrent Download Speeds: 10 Tips and Tricks
Imagine being on the autobahn with the accelerator down and then you realize that you are driving a wrecked car. The plight is not so uncommon on the information superhighway too.
Torrent users would attest to the fact that half of our time is spent looking for ‘healthy’ torrents and the other half trying to download (and a bit of upload too) at the maximum speed. The former is mandatory; the latter thankfully is within the realm of tweaking.
If you are the one who thinks that your torrent download speeds could do with a boost then keep reading. Below, you’ll find a few tips on how to speed up torrent download speed. And if you’re new to Torrenting, don’t forget to check out the official MUO Torrent guide and apps to convert info hashes to magnet links.
Note: MakeUseOf doesn’t condone the illegal use of torrents. Using torrents for illegal purposes is done entirely at your own risk. We assume no responsibility for any legal issues you may encounter.
Your ISP is where it starts
Check the maximum download and upload speeds allowed by your ISP. Most ISP’s have specific bandwidths for both uploads and downloads. Obviously your torrent download speed won’t cross the cap set by the ISP. Go over to for broadband speed test and this article by Tina on ways to increase your connection speed. There are many other bandwidth testers like DSLReports which is included in the speed test within uTorrent.
Choosing the right BitTorrent client
Use the better clients out there like uTorrent, Vuze or the BitTorrent client itself. Wikipedia lists about 51 of them supporting the BitTorrent protocol. The choice of client used should always be updated to the latest version. The screenshots here depict uTorrent. The settings should be similarly configurable for other clients too. Mac users shuld also check our Transmission vs. uTorrent post
Go for healthy seeds and peers
A peer is any computer participating in the download and upload of a torrent file. A seed (or seeder) is anyone who has one complete copy of the file being shared across the torrent network. A leech (or a leecher) is the person who does not have the complete file yet but has joined the network to download it. A leecher becomes a seeder when he downloads the entire file and then shares it across the network.
For high torrent speeds, the best bet is in numbers. The greater the number of seeders, the healthier the torrent and the better the chance of higher speeds. The rule of thumb says to choose the torrent files with a high number of seeders and preferably lesser number of leechers i. e. a higher seed-leecher ratio.
Get through the firewall
Firewalls can block all incoming BitTorrent connections coming through. To ensure otherwise, a firewall should be manually configured to accept the connections and let it through the client. Windows XP has the Windows Firewall. Configure the firewall installed to accept the connections by checking the BitTorrent client on the allowed list i. Options – Preferences – Connection – check Add uTorrent to Windows Firewall. Also, check the Windows Firewall exception (if you keep it enabled) in your client too. Shutting down the firewall is not recommended as it leaves the computer open to attack.
Note: If the home computer is behind a router, it also should be configured through the feature called Port Range Forwarding to enable torrent traffic. The router documentation should have specific information on this.
Limit your upload rate
A peer to peer network is all about sharing alike, but an unlimited upload rate hits the download rate too. Using the speed tests, find out your maximum upload speed and then set your client’s upload rate (Global Upload Rate in uTorrent) to about 80% of your maximum upload speed. You can also try varying your upload speeds – keep it high initially and then gradually bring it down towards the middle of the download.
Note: Mind the speed units – it may be given in kilobits per second (kb/sec) or kilobytes per second (kB/sec). 1 kilobyte = 8 kilobit
Go to a different port
The default port for the BitTorrent protocol is any between port numbers 6881-6999. ISPs throttle traffic on these ports as BitTorrent sharing involves high bandwidth usage. It’s easy to configure a different port in your torrent client. Use some number above 10000 to get around ISPs and also avoid problems with other applications. By default, the uTorrent port is randomized each time it starts. Set a specific port by not enabling the Randomize Port setting.
Increase the number of Max Half Open TCP connections
This figure specifies how many connections a torrent client should attempt to establish simultaneously at any given time. Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or newer, limits this to a default of 10 as a barrier against virus multiplication. But that’s a bummer for torrent speeds as torrents too need a large number of simultaneous connections.
A patch has been available for a while from LvlLord which modifies the file in Windows to allow a higher number of TCP connections.
After running the patch, you have to set the number of connections in your torrent client. For example, in uTorrent go to Options – Preferences – Advanced – x_halfopen. Set any number from 50 to 100. But see that x_halfopen is set lower than the value set in Always check if it is still patched because Windows updates sometimes overwrite it.
Experiment with Protocol Encryption
Some ISPs love to act like Big Brothers and constrict bandwidth for P2P protocols. Protocol Encryption in most of the torrent clients helps to override this bandwidth shaping. Enable outgoing protocol encryption and put a checkmark on Allow Incoming Legacy Connections.
With protocol encryption, ISPs find it difficult if not impossible to detect that the traffic is coming from BitTorrent. Experiment with enabled, disabled and forced options because you could be getting better speeds with encryption disabled. Non-encryption makes a torrent connection compatible with someone who is not using encryption but as a minus it makes the torrent detectable to an ISP with a bandwidth restricting policy.
Bandwidth and connections
Your BitTorrent client’s settings options will let you enter figures for ““
Global maximum number of connections gives the maximum number of connections that a BitTorrent client can make for any P2P exchange. Setting this too high does NOT mean higher speeds. Setting it too high would take up useless bandwidth and too low a figure would miss out on peers. For my 256kbps connection, I have a setting of 130.
Maximum number of connected peers per torrent gives the maximum number of peers that a BitTorrent client can connect to for any P2P exchange. Experiment by setting this number close to the available peers for a particular torrent. For my 256kbps connection, I have a default setting of 70.
Number of upload slots per torrent gives the maximum number of peers that a BitTorrent client will upload to for any P2P exchange. A low setting may affect downloads. For my 256kbps connection, I have a setting of 3.
uTorrent has a Speed Guide which handily calculates the figures for a particular connection.
Some common sense
Most BitTorrent clients allow us to view the individual files in a download. You can selectively disable the download of files you don’t think necessary.
Familiarize yourself with the customization settings of your particular client available in the Help files or at the website FAQs.
Some useful resources:
BitTorrent User Guide
uTorrent FAQ
Vuze FAQ
Optimizing the speed of torrent downloads is a lot of trial & error and a bit of patience. If your Torrent connection isn’t working at all, you may want to look into some ways you can bypass Torrent connection blocking. And if you’re on the lookout for torrent sources, try these free torrent sites.
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Saikat Basu
(1534 Articles Published)
Saikat Basu is the Deputy Editor for Internet, Windows, and Productivity. After removing the grime of an MBA and a ten year long marketing career, he is now passionate about helping others improve their storytelling skills. He looks out for the missing Oxford comma and hates bad screenshots. But Photography, Photoshop, and Productivity ideas soothe his soul.
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