How to open ports on router for better torrent performance

I've been using utorrent to download and upload torrents for a long time. Recently someone told me that I need to open port(s) for utorrent from my router settings for better downloading and uploading performance. Is it true? If yes, how can I do that?

My utorrent version: 2.0 and the port used for incoming connections: 61829. My router: Yaksu S200 ADSL router modem and I can reach its settings via web interface. I looked at the settings but they seem a bit complicated to me. Other info you may need to know: I have dynamic IP. I'm using Win7 x64.

Mehper C. Palavuzlar

Posted 2010-02-24T09:34:13.247

Reputation: 51 093

Answers

I've also been using Utorrent for quite some time. I have never messed with Router settings and get some pretty fantastic download speeds.
One thing that is worth looking at is whether your ISP throttle torrenting. My ISP (BT) throttle torrents between 6pm and 12pm weekdays and most of the weekend. If you've recently started seeing problems this could be something to look at. One of the cool features in uTorrent 2.0 is the fact that it can be set to randomise the ports it uses on start up, this helps alleviate ISP torrent throttling.

If its something you want to do you would open the ports on the firewall of the router.

Joe Taylor

Posted 2010-02-24T09:34:13.247

Reputation: 11 533

Thanks for the info. I'm connected to internet with 8 Mbit speed, and I leave my PC almost always open. The maximum torrent DL speed I've seen is around 350~400 KB/s. IN average it's around 100 KB/s. Turkiye is in the list of countries with low-speed internet connection thanks to (!) ISP monopoly and the government. When I download via http the speed goes up to 800 KB/s but torrent speed is problematic... – Mehper C. Palavuzlar – 2010-02-24T10:04:22.510

@Mepher C. Palavuzlar - I unfortunatelly couldn't find any reference to your modem, but you should try to explore a little (asking here if you need) to try to open one port for torrent. in my exp. you can expect higher speeds then. – Rook – 2010-02-26T22:19:37.960

The only time to worry is if you are using a tracker that keeps track of your ratio. If you aren't connectable you won't be uploading to anybody but the people you are downloading from.

Many routers have UPnP. If you see a green checkmark on the bottom of your utorrent window then you are connectable. If you see a yellow triangle then you are not connectable.

If you aren't using a tracker that makes you maintain a good ratio then I wouldn't even worry about it. If you need to maintain ratio then you will want to forward a port. You can check your connection using the Options/Setup Guide. You can test your connection and also find instructions for forwarding a port on just about any router.

Zooks64

Posted 2010-02-24T09:34:13.247

Reputation: 1 938

1Not true, the bittorrent protocol is designed to encourage seeding by making clients more likely to connect to a high-speed seeder. – Phoshi – 2010-02-26T22:22:12.757

Starting with gadzooks64's answer...

All you really really need to look for is the green connected logo in uTorrent's status bar:

alt text

If that's on, then everything is configured as it should be.

Nitpick: Routers have ports, not modems.

Ian Boyd

Posted 2010-02-24T09:34:13.247

Reputation: 18 244

The green indicator is always on. – Mehper C. Palavuzlar – 2010-03-02T20:28:23.780