How does a torrent work?

Question

How do you make it go faster it's sooo slow and it's not because of my internet connection cuz i have high speed. Also, does anybody know of a fast torrent for mac. I have tried bittorrent/azureus...but they take for ever (is there a way to accelerate download speeds?) thanks!

Answer 1

Torrent basically is a "pointer" file that points to a unique file and which tracker(s) the BT client should query for the file. Once the client opens a torrent, it will then contact the proper tracker, and query for the other BT clients who also has the file, and start negotiating with the other BT clients on that "list" for the different pieces of the file.

The key in torrent speed is only download stuff that has a lot of seeds AND peers. Normally, never download anything with less than 10 seeds and 20 peers, or expect to wait forever. Torrents can be very fast in the right circumstances. I've seen torrents download at over 200 Kbps, which is about the max I can expect on my 1.5 Mbit DSL line.

If your firewall and such are configured property then there's nothing else you can do, other than download less esoteric stuff.

Answer 2

Torrents are basically instructions on how to build files with information about a tracker which enables you to connect to other people. Try changing your ports from the standard 6881-6889 to something random 40000 or higher. Many isp's block these ranges which could be why you aren't connecting. Also enable encryption if supported since many isp's limit the speed of torrent "packets", the stuff you are downloading.

Answer 3

Torrents are just plain slow. If has nothing to do with your computer. Files may not even start or take 3 days to download on the fastest internet. Anway, to answer your question. Torrents are direction links to files stored in empty spaces of the internet. Torrents are executuable files that direct to the link and download the source.