I did not write this guide so where it says "I" it refers to the writer, not me.
All the props for this guide goes to KnightsOfTheRound & MyranI thought i should share this with the community because there are a lot of people who are still not connectable and it might help people track down a specific problem. I tweeked a few things and a few lines to make it easier to read because it is a LOT to read.
First of all don't assume you are connectable.
Many people assume they are connectable, because they are successfully torrenting. That however is not always the case.
What does it mean to be connectable?
Being connectable means other peers in the swarm can make connections to you, you can make connections to other peers without being connectable your self, if the other peers in your swarm are good enough torrent citizens to be connectable.
Why does it matter?Well, Many private trackers restrict people who aren't connectable, and even on some sites no seed bonuses are credited to people who aren't. most importantly people who aren't connectable hurt the swarm. Each peer that isn't connectable is limited to sharing with only peers who are connectable. If the number of peers who aren't connectable is low the result is unnoticeable, But the higher the percentage goes the slower the swarm becomes until it dies at the point when all peers are unconnectable. There's no one left to connect to.
Why am I unconnectable? Well maybe...-Lack of proper port forwarding.
-TURN OFF DHT, PEER EXCHANGE, LOCAL PEER DISCOVERY
-Bandwidth oversaturation, incoming or outgoing.
-Too many torrents started at once.
-Too many connections per torrent, or total.
-ISP blocking chosen port
-Router not P2P friendly
-ISP modem contains router features
-ISP proxying or firewalling your connection
What can I do about it?Sometimes nothing. for instance if your ISP has you behind a proxy server that blocks incoming requests. If their only blocking certain ports you can change the port you use, and if their throttling (this has nothing to do with becoming connectable.) you could use uTorrent or
Azureus and enable encryption. It may be that you are trying to torrent from a place of business with routers, proxy servers, firewalls, and/or traffic shaping software, or appliances like websense. If your even lucky enough to get a torrent running at all, but being connectable is out of the question.However, most cases being connectable is fun, easy and can be done without spending any money at all.
First, make sure any anti-virus software you use isn't blocking any ports you use for torrenting
Second, set your firewall to give full access to your torrent program, don't block it in any way.
Third, set your bandwidth limits in your torrent software, if you let it use all your bandwidth to share information with your peers there may not be enough to browse the internet or communicate with the tracker. Not being able to communicate with the tracker in a timely fashion may cause the tracker to list you as unconnectable when you are in fact connectable. Run a speed test at Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test to find your up and down speeds, set your client for around 80% outgoing and 90% to 95% incoming. These numbers aren't set in stone so feel free to play a little but make sure you are connectable first and be prepared to change them back if you run into problems.
Fourth, Don't shutdown or start your software with a lot of torrents running. whats a lot? I think 3 would be OK, but 10 is out. The point is shut down and start your torrents individually or groups of 2 or 3 with a pause between, and if you shutdown your computer wait for your start up programs to finish before starting your torrents back up.
Fifth, limit the number of connections per torrent and total connections. defaults will usually work but maybe shrink it down more if your still showing up unconnectable.
Sixth, make sure your modem doesnt have routing features. Some newer modems have features but are not heavily configurable so the easiest thing to do is to turn these features off if possable.
Seventh, Your router may just not be good at handling P2P protocalls like bitorrent which require many connections made over a short time.
All routers have a limited number of connections they can handle being open at any one time, some leave connections open for too long, most notably LINKSYS WRT54G/GL/GS routers. There are fixes for this but it involves upgrading to beta or possibly third-party firmware, which always carries risks. If you think this applies to you follow the faq on uTorrent's or whatever client you are using site but proceed with the utmost caution.
Eighth, Try using ports between 65,000 and 65,500 this works better for most people, and do not use software like PeerGuardian2. TURN OFF DHT, PEER EXCHANGE, and LOCAL PEER DISCOVERY
Finally, and this can be the hardest part for most people, follow one of many very good guides concerning port forwarding.Port Forwarding Guides Listed by Manufacturer and Model -
PortForward.com is a good place to start.
1. Setup your computer to a static ip there are very good guides for this at portforward select your operating system and follow the guide.
2. Next you need to setup your router to forward the correct ports to your computer. A step by step guide for just about every router is located at PortForward's Other Guides - PortForward.com , scroll down and select port forwarding guides by router. Just select your router, and
then click on your bit-torrent client for specific steps on how to correctly configure your setup. Remember to use the IP address you assigned your computer in step one. Also, the port number can be almost anything you want, but I suggest using something over 50,000.
3. If you run a firewall you'll need to set it up to allow the correct traffic. go to Port Forwarding Guides Listed by Manufacturer and Model - PortForward.com select the firewall you have and follow the steps.
4. Once you've set up all of that, make sure your client is running, then go to Open Port Check Tool
enter in the port you're using.This page will tell you whether your port is open, stealthed, or closed.If it is open, then you should be Connectable.
Whats the reason for all this?
Why have your computer set to a static IP?On networks where DCHP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is running you get an IP address issued automatically when you connect.In theory this is great but until you connect you don’t know what this IP address will be. Most routers have a set range of IP addresses to use
but how these are issued depends on the make/model of the router.So if you set up port forwarding for the IP currently issued to your PC today, will it work tomorrow or even after a reboot? Maybe but if the PC gets issued a different IP address your PC will never see the data on the ports you forwarded.How can you be sure of always having the port forwarded to the right computer port – simple set up a static IP address. That way every timethe computer restarts it will be the same IP address and the port forwarding will work perfectly.
Why be connectable (or what happens when you are not?)A 1gig torrent is uploaded. The uploader starts seeding. 9 leechers jump on to the torrent. The torrent is going very slow. He has already seeded 5GB but no one has completed. Turns out they are all unconnectable. This means that the uploader needs to send 1gig of data to each of them. If he stops seeding before they have completed the torrent it will dry up and no more data will be transferred.
Another example:
You find the torrent. There's 10 seeders. You're hopeful for good speeds. Your PC starts looking for bits. The speed is slow and you only seem to be connecting to 1 seeder.... WTH!!! Well if 9 are not connectable this means you'll not be able to leech very much from them and at very slow speeds.
The essence of this guide is not to get you individually faster download speeds but the reverse; faster upload speeds. The more people that are directed to this guide and follow it properly the faster the swarm will become which means faster download speeds for everyone.
****this may not pertain to everyone but when setting up the router i had 3 different settings to choose from for my forwarding service; TCP or UDP or BOTH but when setting the firewall i had to set 2 exceptions 1 for each so i back tracked and setup my router with 2 services as well. Also i found a setting on the WAN settings page for the router to accept ping's from the internet....
The reason for this when i finished setting the router i downloaded the port checker available at portforward and ran the test but couldnt get both TCP and UDP to work and i couldnt ping my router.
*********************************************************Troubleshooting your connection.If you are having problems connecting,
please try the following steps one at a time and then attempt to connect again,
as each step has the potential of solving the connection issue.
First of all: Make sure you arent using a bad client.Check the Faq!
1. Refresh your connectionRenewing your IP address and flushing your DNS cache
can often help resolve connection issues.
For Windows:
Click Start then Run
Type cmd in the run box and press Enter (a Command Console window should appear)
In the Command Console window, type ipconfig /release and press Enter
Wait for a few seconds for a reply that the IP address has been released
In the Command Console window, type ipconfig /renew and press Enter
Wait for a few seconds for a reply that the IP address has been re-established
In the Command Console window, type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter
Close the Command Console window and attempt to play the game
If you are using Windows Vista or 7, you will need to load the Command Console differently:
Go to Start, then Programs, then Accessories and locate Command Prompt
Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator from the drop down menu
Now continue from Step 3 of the Windows instructions above
For Macintosh Apple OS-X: Click Apple, then System Preferences, then Network and finally Network Status
Select Built-in Ethernet from the Network Status menu and click Configure
Click Renew DHCP Lease (this process may take a few minutes)
Close the Network Status window
Open the Terminal
If using Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.x, type dscacheutil -flushcache
2. Resetting your modem and/or routerIf the connection difficulties persist, please Power Cycle your modem and router to reset them and allow them to re-establish a connection to your ISP.
Please follow these steps to completely power cycle the devices in your network connection:
Shut down all computers connected to the modem/router
Power down/unplug the router if you use one
Power down/unplug the modem
Allow to sit for 60 seconds, unplugged
Turn on the modem, allow to completely boot up till the front panel connection lights show a steady connection
Turn on the router, if you have one, and allow to completely boot up as well
Start the computer and allow to completely boot up
3. Check that there are no issues with the trackerCheck the forums, if there are any known issues with the tracker,
you can often find more information here.
4. Firewalls, routers, and internet connection sharingWhatever client you're using, find out what listening port you're client is using and visit portforward.com
and make sure your home network is forwarding ports
correctly from your router to your computer.
Your firewall can block ports - try disabling your own firewall
and using the windows firewall to test whether or not this is the problem"
If you are using any type of firewall, router, or you are sharing your internet connection between multiple computers, you may need to set your system up to allow access to the tracker.
The firewall or router will need to allow unrestricted communication on TCP ports 6881-6889. You may find assistance in configuring your firewall and/or router in Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide
If possible, try uninstalling any firewall applications on your computer, and physically removing the router from your internet connection (by having your computer connect directly to your modem). This will allow you to identify whether the firewall or router is responsible for the connection problem. If this turns out to be the case, please consult the documentation that came with that networking product, or contact the manufacturer for further assistance setting it up properly.
5. Check for updatesOut-of-date drivers or operating system files can cause connection issues. Please check for the following updates:
Operating System Updates:
Be sure that you have the latest updates for your operating system.
Windows updates are available at
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com Mac OS X updates can be obtained by clicking on the Apple icon
and choosing Software Update...
Broadband users:There are several drivers that, if out-of-date, could cause issues for broadband users. If you need more help in locating drivers for your hardware, please contact the hardware manufacturer or a qualified technician. If you access the internet through an external broadband modem, be sure you have the latest firmware and drivers available for your modem. If your computer connects to the modem via USB, be sure you have the latest drivers for your motherboard or your USB PCI card. If your computer connects to the modem via Ethernet, be sure that your network card has the latest drivers installed.
