Basically after a few weeks ago, but more frequently after downloading the latest events from the bigger promotions(Bellator XXX, UFC 119, Dream 16), µTorrent started to crash my entire local network. I have 1 computer I use for web browsing, gaming, seedboxing, and video/audio playback. Its an "omni-box", if you will. The system is connected to 1 modem, there is no extra hardware. Wall>modem>PC's network adapter, that's it. The problem is still occurring somewhat as I type this, µTorrent's upload speed is going up to max then back down to 0. When I say crashing my local network, I mean the actual modem stops functioning, the lights that indicate an active internet connection temporarily disappear, and Windows has to reset the local network connection and adapter after the modem resets.
I contacted my ISP about this problem, and the tech support guy basically said the problem would be consistent with me overloading my local network. His assumptions seem correct: if i simply shut µTorrent down, my internet does not go up and down every few minutes. The Windows resource monitor also seems to confirm his assumption that with utorrent.exe running, I am using almost all my network bandwidth. Here's a screenshot of the Windows resource monitor that seems to clearly indicate µTorrent playing a big role in maxing out my network.

I have done several things to minimize the problem. I patched my tcpip.sys file to increase the max "half-open" connections in Windows from 10 to the max, 255, however this didn't seem to make a difference. The biggest difference seems to have been when I shut the uTP "bandwidth management" off completely in µTorrent.
So as i continue to try and sort this out on my end trying to keep seeding while also allowing myself other internet functions(online gaming, voice chatting with Skype, etc.) I'd appreciate any possible solutions, immediate or long term. A few ideas i've had:
Turn off or remove from µTorrent the amount of torrents I'm seeding to this site, which is over 100 at this point?
Buying a premium network card(instead of using the one that came with my motherboard) to increase the amount of bandwidth my local network can handle?
Adjust some additional settings in uTorrent to keep it from using so much bandwidth?

If this is router/modem then too many connections could cause it to run out of memory and crash.

I explained exactly how my setup is in my OP. A cable comes from my wall and plugs into my modem. My modem plugs into my motherboard's integrated network card. Very simple. So what do you mean by "too many connections"?
All other questions aside for now, would buying a premium network card allow me more "Network Utilization" headroom? As you can see in the screenshot, its at 99%, and I'm pretty sure that is the problem. Would a premium network card allow me to use all my current programs without maxing that out?

Well I think too many active torrents is causing my network utilization to break 100%, crashing my local network and modem. Now that I've restarted utorrent so many times, the tracker is rejecting my connections with the "Failure: Connection Limit Exceeded!" Error. However, now even with the same programs open(only difference is utorrent is being rejected by the tracker now), I'm only getting 0-1% "Network Utilization" under the Windows resource monitor. Now i'm about 100% sure the only way to fix this problem is to drastically reduce the amount of torrents I'm trying to seed at a time.
I still wonder though, if a premium network card would allow more active torrents to be seeded. Anyone have any info as to whether or not adding one to an "omni-box" like mine would help with this issue?

some modems have builtin routers. If you can hook up more than one computer up to modem than it's also a router if you can't then it's not. Adding a network card is good if you plan to network more than one computer but I doubt it would help in your case. According to resource monitor my Network Utilization is 100% but I'm only use 25% of upload and less than 1% download but in task manager it's show less than 10% Network Utilization.

Might not even be on your end could be ISP messing with the connection. http://wiki.vuze.com/w/Bad_ISPs

Thanks for the info. My modem has 1 connection for a CAT-5 cable and 1 for USB, and only 1 can be used at a time. Based on this, I doubt its a router. Also, my ISP rents routers to people who sign up for internet for more than 1 computer, so I don't think they provide anything other than plain, no-router modems.
I also knew my ISP had been limiting my bandwidth, just not sure how. According to that list, they not only limit BitTorrent bandwidth but also "limit bandwidth for accounts with a high traffic volume".
I am definitely a "high traffic volume" customer, especially with my seeding to this site. Unfortunately my ISP has a monopoly on broadband in my area, there is no other option, no other broadband competitors to sign up with.
I'm not the only one in my area that's fed up with my ISP's joke service. If anyone reading this has 2 or more broadband providers in your area, feel very grateful for that. People in area's like me are stuck knowing our ISP is screwing us over and can't do anything about it.

Hi mate, this is clear to me.

First 2 questions; What speeds does your isp offer? What modem have they provided you with?

Everything you say tells me that the problem is that your modem sucks. Im sorry to say so but the tech support you have with your ISP also sucks. I know this might sound harsh and all but the fact remains that the problems you experience when using µtorrent can only be a few things, specially since it affects all connections, not just one program. Its surely your modem unless you are operating on some shitold computer, wich I know you dont. Dont worry about your network card in first hand, it should be just fine.

edit: Try running your transfers thrue a VPN tunnel if you have isp problems. In some cases that solves a lot of problems as they dont see that its torrent traffic at least...
Sadly it might be even worse then just your modem at home. if they have shitty switches and routers in their system in general that can also affect the end user bigtime. They probably need to make massive changes and put new modern hardware but havnt because they are cheap. Its a typical scenario these days.

A Scientific Atlanta Webstar DPC2100r2, pic:

The speed I am signed up for is 30 Megabits per second download, 1.5 Megabits per second upload. Since programs display bandwidth in bytes, I think the equation to approximately convert M/Kbits to M/Kbytes is to divide the bit value by 8 to get the byte value. That would be about 4 megabytes per second download and 200 kilobytes per second upload. This currently the fastest internet plan they offer.
And Dent, you don't have to apologize when saying anything bad about my ISP! . They are an absolute shit telecom in every aspect, and know they can be because they are a monopoly. They treat their customers like shit and lie to them because we have no competing broadband company to sign up with.
And like I saw in the list provided in the Bad ISPs link, my ISP both limits torrent bandwidth, and also limits bandwidth to "accounts with a high traffic volume", which I would qualify as even if I didn't use torrents, but even more certainly do with torrents.

I don't know the first thing about setting up a VPN tunnel. Is it something I can do with just the OS (Windows 7 x64 Pro), some other piece of software, do i need hardware, do I need to sign up for a subscription service like Anonymizer, etc? All the guides and explanations on Google are vague, and most of them show you dealing with a router, or are telling you how to use the VPN tunnel to connect to your home computer from your work computer. I know my ISP is guilty of limiting BT bandwidth, and limiting all of my bandwidth because my account is likely flagged as a "high traffic volume" account. Being flagged as a "high traffic volume" account is likely heavily caused by my torrent activities.
If at all possible, please get back to me via a PM or post about how I could set up a VPN tunnel for my whole system, or just utorrent. Finally, thank you again Dent, you've been helping me so much with every problem I've had since I started using this site. Dent=DA MAN!

I have the best job in the world. I just have to make sure everybody is happy Its a pleassure to be able to help.

You can setup a VPN tunnel manually off course, but its well worth it using a company that does all the hard work for you and provides good speeds.

Try this one it looks solid:

vpntunnel.se

Remember I dont garantuee by any means that this will solve your problems but I do recommend that you try.

Thanks, I'll have to think about giving vptunnel.se a chance. I heard a lot about something called Anonymizer, a service that sounds very similar in concept to a VPN tunnel. However, I noticed in the FAQ for Anonymizer:
Q: Does Anonymizer software support Peer-to-Peer programs?
A: Anonymizer services do not support Peer-to-Peer programs. Anonymous Surfing and Anonymizer Universal are only meant to make the user anonymous as they surf the Web on supported devices.
Glad I checked that out! Although I've heard tons about Anonymizer, finding out it doesn't support P2P programs makes it almost totally worthless.
But on the vpntunnel.se FAQ FAQ I found:
Q: Can I fileshare with the VPN service?
A: Yes you can fileshare how much you want.
And:
Q: Are my Internet traffic completely encrypted even for my ISP?
A: Yes, not even your ISP can see what you do on the internet when you use your VPN tunnel. All traffic is always encrypted.
Once again, Dent comes through for the win! .
So according to the vpntunnel.se FAQ, it should work with every program i use to connect to the internet, right? I'll definetly want to make sure of that before I give it a go.
Thanks again