Ah, the never-ending struggle for faster torrent downloads! Everyone’s been there, staring at their screens, watching that thing crawl like a tortoise. It’s like waiting for water to boil, except even more anxious because you can’t wait to get your media.
But guess what? There’s hope yet! In fact, there are quite a few clever tricks one can use to bring some needed speed into your torrent downloads.
Before Speeding up Your Torrent Downloads
Before moving on to the tips you are looking for, remember that you cannot have more than your ISP gives you. In other words, your monthly plan limit determines the maximum speed you can achieve.
It sounds basic, I know. But you would be surprised by the number of torrent users looking for a loophole that will give them even more speed. That is simply not possible.
If your slow torrent downloads are caused by a very limited internet plan, you should definitely consider a better one. You can always check what your ISP is offering at the moment or even consider a new provider.
Our Tips to Increase Torrent Download Speeds
Check if any of the following tips apply to your situation. If yes, you will most likely increase your torrent speed.
Choose a healthy torrent file
A file with only a few seeders will download much slower than a healthy torrent with many available seeders. As you can imagine, no seeds mean the torrent file won’t download. Always check and prioritize the number of seeders.
Even though peers also exchange data, prioritize seeders. These are the ones sharing the entire file. To learn more about the types of users, read our post about seeders, peers, and leeches in torrenting.
Limit your upload speed
One of the oldest tricks in the book is to restrict your upload speed to around 80%. Leave the download limit at 0, which is the maximum.
This way, your internet connection isn’t overwhelmed by the uploading task, leaving more room for the torrent download.
This can be modified in the bandwidth options, as seen in the image above. You should first test your upload speed and calculate 80% of that value.
Add more trackers
A new tracker connects you to new peers and seeders, which results in faster speeds. However, keep in mind that trackers change constantly. Many close and new ones appear.
Trackers can be found by right-clicking each torrent still active in your BitTorrent client. They will be located in “Properties.” You can copy them from other sources and paste them there. After including them, check if the number of seeders and peers has increased.
Get a reliable BitTorrent client
A good torrent client software like uTorrent or qBitTorrent improves your chances of downloading torrents at a fast rate. On the other hand, some inefficient programs limit your speeds. Check out our BitTorrent client ranking list if you are looking for good suggestions.
Allow a firewall exception
When installing a BitTorrent client, allow a firewall exception when that option appears. This means the firewall won’t block any sources, connecting you directly to more seeds.
To ensure this option is enabled, go to “Options” and open the “Connection” tab, as shown in the screenshot below.
However, keep in mind that some popular clients, such as qBitTorrent, do not have that option. In this case, you have to go to the firewall settings in your operating system and manually allow an exception for your specific client.
Use a VPN that has a minimum impact on speed
For this suggestion, I assume you are using a VPN to keep your identity safe. If you’re not, you should. The negative side of a VPN is that it impacts your connection speed. Encryption consumes resources, which makes your connection slower.
However, some VPNs invested heavily in developing their servers to keep them fast and minimize the impact on speed. Some of them even have servers optimized for P2P. Here are a few examples of such providers.
Make sure you are not being throttled
It is common for an ISP to throttle a connection when they realize one of their customers is torrenting. P2P downloads consume a lot of bandwidth, and ISPs save resources by slowing down your connection.
Another advantage of using a VPN is that encrypting your internet connection avoids torrent throttling. The ISP won’t see what you are doing and won’t slow you down.
Do Your Part for a Healthier Torrent Ecosystem
We couldn’t discuss this subject without mentioning that faster torrents depend on you, the user. You need to do your part to have a healthy torrent ecosystem with good download speeds.
Make sure you seed the torrent files you downloaded until they reach a 1:1 ratio (at least), meaning you give back to other users the exact amount you took. If everyone did that, the number of seeders would be higher, and everyone would download faster. Read more about it in our post about the importance of seeding torrents.
Conclusion
Alright, you’ve put the advice into action and followed some of the steps we discussed in this post. In other words, it’s the moment of truth. You should start to see those download speeds climbing.
