help with port problem

[fogler12]

I clicked random port a few times under the Connection tab and now nothing ever downloads. I went to that portforward site to see if thats how i fixed it but i have no idea what to do with that since i dont have a router, i just plug into the wall in my apartment's internet. any smart people out there that can help me out?

[Ultima]

Now why would you do that in the first place? If you can't remember what port you used before that (presumably) worked, and UPnP doesn't work, we can't help you, seeing as how you can't configure your router anyway.

[fogler12]

I dont know crap about ports and what not.. I was seeing if I tried a new port if it made my DL's go faster. So you're saying there is no way to download stuff ever again?

[Ultima]

Were you ever getting a green light to begin with?

[fogler12]

sometimes it was green and sometimes it was a yellow triangle

[Ultima]

Then the best you can do is try to find the port that you used previously. Mabye you can try Shields UP! to scan for open ports, though it's no guarantee.

[fogler12]

so even if i reinstall utorrent or switch to another torrent program or anything, i'll never be able to download torrents basically? and theres no way i can figure out a port number for utorrent that works for me (the shields up thing didnt say i had any open)

[Ultima]

Did you have a specific port set up in your firewall for µTorrent to connect? If not, then yeah, there's no way to do this other than to mess around until you find the previous port you used -- you can use the Speed Guide to check if the port you configure in µTorrent is open..

[fogler12]

i couldnt' tell you. all i did was install utorrent and it worked fine, and after i messed with the ports it doesnt. so i just need to try all 5 digit combinations from 10000 to 99999 until i find a port that works is what your saying

[Ultima]

Well, it's actually 10000 up to 65535. If you're 100% sure you had a green light before messing around with the port, then yeah, that's what you're going to have to do to try to find that port. And you have to be sure µTorrent is running and listening on that port when you test each port -- basically, change the port in the Speed Guide and click the test button each time. I wonder if that'd be considered hammering though... so if you can, don't do it too quickly.

[fogler12]

what if it was never green? cause i was just guessing that it was since i could download stuff, but to be honest i dont ever remember it being... still the same situation applies?

[Ultima]

(Why would you "guess" that...?) Anyway, nope, that just means you never had a port open to begin with, which means there's no point trying. Just being in the red doesn't mean you can't download, it simply means you can't take incoming connections, and can't connect to other people who are firewalled as well. So even if you were able to download before, it doesn't mean you necessarily had a green light in the first place.

[fogler12]

and portforward.com would have no solution for which port for me to use since i just plug my computer into the internet in the wall and not a router?

[Ultima]

Yep, no solution, as you have to know what router you're using.

[fogler12]

is there anyway i could figure that out? would you guess if the apartment's main office would have that info

[Ultima]

Yeah, if you want, you can try asking them about forwarding a port to your computer, though I wouldn't count on it, unless they're really nice people.

[liwitherspoon]

Jesus! Try port 10449. I use that and it works fine. On Preferences>Connection tab, make sure that the "Randomize port each time uTorrent starts" is unchecked. If that doesn't work, delete the program and download a new copy (it does't take that long) then you will be back to the program's default port. Write down the default port number on a piece of paper! If that doesn't work, you have some other kind of problem! Note: It has been said that port numbers above 10,000 are better, because they are jammed less by ISP's.

[liwitherspoon]

I just wanted to add that I sometimes use a free wireless connetion at a cafe, and obviously cannot foreward ports on their router, and yet I am able to consistantly upload at 40-50 KB (that's Kilo Bytes with a capitol p/s, and have reached download speeds of up to 200 KB p/s on uTorrent and other p2p programs. I can also split the bandwidth and use uTorrent and eMule at the same time! So, if you are getting bad speeds on DSL, it probably has to do with your ISP, or you are too far away from the phone company, or something else. If you are using a dial-up connection, you may as well forget about p2p.

[Ultima]

It's not that ports above 10000 are not throttled by ISPs as frequently, it's because less applications actually use those ports, so there's less of a chance for conflict... Anyhow, how can you tell folger12 to use port 10449 if he's not the one controlling the port configuration?

[Switeck]

ISPs generally don't throttle on a port-by-port basis period. If they do, it's basically only port 80 (and maybe a couple special service ports like their VoIP) that's NOT throttled.

On the other hand, ISPs OFTEN block ports by default -- my port 80 is "stealthed" by ComCast ISP. I can still use OUTGOING from port 80 or destination port 80 (like connecting to a web page on port 80) -- just I cannot receive (INCOMING) on port 80. So it's generally 1-way blocking.

Some ports may be blocked 2 ways -- you can neither send NOR receive on such ports. ISPs that do this may be looking after their customer's interests (somewhat) if it's ports like 129-139 or 445. But if they're doing that to 6881-6900 then they're obviously just intent on crippling your internet access to reduce their bandwidth costs.

Choosing a random port well above 10000 just increases the odds the port is not blocked BOTH ways. Restrictive ISPs are likely blocking most incoming ports beyond a select few, so almost NO ports work unfirewalled with them.