1.3 Wireless behavior

[avatarl]

Not that. 1.2.2 was perfect or that I have an extraordinary router (not D-Link though), but at least it could keep up for a day or so without needed me to repair Windows wireless connection. But since 1.3, Windows connection is failing every couple of hours. Any general suggestions for configuration?

[Firon]

Get a better router/WLAN card? :/

[1c3d0g]

Maybe you could try lowering Global Maximum Number of Connections...but if a Wireless Router keeps dropping its wireless connection after some hours, usually it's not a good sign (BitTorrent is probably overloading its networking capabilities). :/

[ICleolion]

Have you downgraded to 1.2.2 to see if your connection problem disappears?

[rbgolfer]

I am having the same problem, but I am running a high end wireless router. (Pre-N) I had a few problems with 1.2.2 but since the upgrade, it is crash after crash.

[spriseris]

i would definitely try downgrading and see if the problem disappears.

[bibber]

I was experiencing similar (though not exactly the same) problems with 1.3. Just downgraded to 1.2.2 and my problems are gone. I will try to provide details.

System details: Asus M6N laptop, Intel Pentium M 1.4GHz, 512MB RAM, Windows XP Home SP2

Internal network: Intel 2915bga 54Mbps WPA connection with Linksys WRT54G wireless router

External network: 8Mbps/1Mbps ADSL

Number of torrents seeding: 8 (50KB/s capped)

Number of torrents downloading: 4 (+/- 50KB/s)

Now with 1.3 every single tracker connection ended in an 'timed out' message, marking all torrents with a red and white forbidden sign. With 1.2.2 only 4 torrents are flagged (2 seeding, 2 downloading). Also, what's interesting, the "Network OK" message at the bottom of the screen was never displayed in 1.3, neither a "NAT error" message, the area just stayed blank. Now on 1.2.2 the "Network OK" message is back.

I tried to diagnose the problem in 1.3 by specifying a local HTTP proxy which maintains some logs. Interestingly enough most of the failing trackers did not even show up in the tracker logs. uTorrent showed a "Proxy error: timed out" on those trackers, implying to me the socket connection to the local proxy (127.0.0.1:8080) failed. Some of the connections did show up in the log, but were closed by uTorrent before any response came back.

Lastly surfing the web with uTorrent 1.3 running was a drama. Many slow connections and timeouts. At first I thought it was my connection, but now that I have 1.2.2 installed I saw an immediate improvement.

Edit: Now I'm back on 1.2.2 things are better, but still not perfect. My download speeds are much better, but I'm still seeing massive timeouts on the trackers.

Here's a screendump (names of torrents hidden for privacy reasons, and no it's not porn ):

[Nanaki]

Yesterday and today my two torrents were unable to connect to their trackers and weren't downloading, but uploading. Also, my internet became unbearably slow when running.

Now I started up 1.2.2 and they start downing immediately and my internet browsing is normal. I also have a wireless connection.

[Reverie]

yeah... 1.3 does seem to put a strain on the wireless department... could it be because of the more aggressive behavior at getting peers/seeds putting too much of a strain for it to handle? I killed a DI-624S in 6days... got a DGL-4300 right now and it seems to be holding up against the pounding... of UTorrent and other stuff

[1c3d0g]

Hey, now I remember!

- Fix: Upload a little bit more aggressively

Maybe that is what's causing all these wireless connections to drop... :| Ludde, what did you do?

[junkaroo]

I am getting the similar issues since my 1.3 upgrade from 1.1.7.2.

utorrent causes the wireless connection to cease functioning (though the network connection icon in the system tray appears normally connected). It requires a repair to fix. No other computers in the house (wireless or hardwired) are disconnected as a result of this.

I will downgrade.

[junkaroo]

I am getting the similar issues since my 1.3 upgrade from 1.1.7.2.

utorrent causes the wireless connection to cease functioning (though the network connection icon in the system tray appears normally connected). It requires a repair to fix. No other computers in the house (wireless or hardwired) are disconnected as a result of this.

I will downgrade.

Same issues with 1.2.2.

Downgrading to 1.1.7.2 !!

[junkaroo]

I am getting the similar issues since my 1.3 upgrade from 1.1.7.2.

utorrent causes the wireless connection to cease functioning (though the network connection icon in the system tray appears normally connected). It requires a repair to fix. No other computers in the house (wireless or hardwired) are disconnected as a result of this.

I will downgrade.

Same issues with 1.2.2.

Downgrading to 1.1.7.2 !!

1.1.7.2 back to normal... no more disconnects. I'll never upgrade again! ha.

[Firon]

1.3 attempts to make more connections/second (if your net.max_halfopen is higher).

1.2.2 and lower use 0-16, 1.3 0-30.

It's not a µT problem, it's that your hardware is a piece of crap and can't handle so many connections. I'm sorry to say it, but this is the reality of the situation.

Lower the value in bt.connect_speed to 16 (the old default)

To re-iterate: IT'S NOT A µTORRENT PROBLEM, IT'S YOUR HARDWARE THAT'S NOT VERY GOOD AND CAN'T HANDLE LOTS OF CONNECTIONS, LOWER THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED VALUE TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR HARDWARE

[junkaroo]

1.3 attempts to make more connections/second (if your net.max_halfopen is higher).

1.2.2 and lower use 0-16, 1.3 0-30.

It's not a µT problem, it's that your hardware is a piece of crap and can't handle so many connections. I'm sorry to say it, but this is the reality of the situation.

Lower the value in bt.connect_speed to 16 (the old default)

To re-iterate: IT'S NOT A µTORRENT PROBLEM, IT'S YOUR HARDWARE THAT'S NOT VERY GOOD AND CAN'T HANDLE LOTS OF CONNECTIONS, LOWER THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED VALUE TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR HARDWARE

Firon, thanks for the response.

After going back to 1.1.7.2, I ran utorrent successfully for 10 hours.

I read your post and ran 1.3.

I set bt.connect_speed to 16 from 30 (reads as *16 after I set it).

net.max_halfopen was set at 8 and I left it.

I restarted 1.3, and when I started the torrents, it promptly killed my connection.

Are there any other settings I can change?

Thanks for the help!

Junkaroo

[Nanaki]

1.3 attempts to make more connections/second (if your net.max_halfopen is higher).

1.2.2 and lower use 0-16, 1.3 0-30.

It's not a µT problem, it's that your hardware is a piece of crap and can't handle so many connections. I'm sorry to say it, but this is the reality of the situation.

Lower the value in bt.connect_speed to 16 (the old default)

To re-iterate: IT'S NOT A µTORRENT PROBLEM, IT'S YOUR HARDWARE THAT'S NOT VERY GOOD AND CAN'T HANDLE LOTS OF CONNECTIONS, LOWER THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED VALUE TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR HARDWARE

I really don't think that's the problem. When my family is in the house, about three different torrent clients are open, causing of course, a lot of connections, which so far hasn't been a problem. When I use Azureus (with more open connections set than my uTorrent) it also connects like normal. uTorrent 1.2 also connects like normal when I make more connections. Lastly, I tried lowering the previous mentioned value and it didn't have any effect.

Also, today, uTorrent 1.3 wouldn't work with the wireless network of my university. And that's one hell of a network.

Nevertheless, I don't mind, as I just stick with 1.2 or Azureus.

[JWolf]

I have a Linksys WRT54G router and it does not work well with DHT. With DHT enabled, eventually the router will slowly start to crap out requiring a power cycle to reset it It gets to the point where trying to access the router's web interface can fail. So if you have DHT on (two check boxes that needs unchecking), turn it off and see if it works with your router after that.

[spriseris]

two ideas:

if you have a Linksys WRT54G, make sure you're running official firmware v4.20.7.. or using one of the 3rd party firmwares such as Tofu's HyperWRT, or DD-WRT.

UPGRADE YOUR NETWORK CARD DRIVERS. or change network cards altogether. My 3COM LOM (3C905) (lom = lan on motherboard.. integrated network card) is *crap*. I recently discovered this, and updated my Linksys LNE100TX drivers to v5, and started using it instead. This helped me a lot. I realize that I'm using a wired interface card, but the same advice goes for you wireless users.

PS. I have a wonderful new laptop.. and the built-in wireless (Atheros) is CRAP!

[geezer]

How busy does the client have to be to start having problems? I've had no problems with version 1.3 but maybe I don't generate enough connection activity. I have a Toshiba notebook with built-in Intel 2200BG wireless and a Motorola SBG900 all-in-one cable modem, router, and wireless AP.

Every now and then I lose my wireless connection for a while (wireless connection icon pops up in the system tray) but that's due to my stone-age neighbors using their 2.4 GHz cordless phones (grrrr). That will happen whether I'm running µTorrent or not.

[bibber]

As posted earlier I too have a Linksys WRT54G (firmware v4.20.7). In response to the postings here I did some more testing. My general procedure for these tests:

1) Start uTorrent with 12 torrents loaded, 9 seeding, 3 downloading.

2) Wait two or three minutes.

3) Right click all working trackers in turn and do an 'Update Tracker' to see if they keep working.

Between the tests I gave my router two to three minutes to calm down.

Now these are my results:

A) 1.2.2 disabled DHT: 4 trackers failed at first, 4 after doing manual updates.

1.2.2 enabled DHT: 4 ..., 4 ...

C) 1.3 disabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 30: 4 ..., 12 ...

D) 1.3 enabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 30: 4 ..., 12 ...

E) 1.3 disabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 16: 4 ..., 11 ...

F) 1.3 enabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 16: 4 ..., 9 ...

Not satisfied still I disabled my wireless connection and got some UTP to connect my laptop directly to the router:

G) 1.3 disabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 16, wired network: 4 ..., 12 ...

H) 1.3 enabled DHT, bt_connect_speed 16, wired network: 4 ..., 10 ...

Those 4 trackers were the same everytime and I verified them to have connection problems indeed.

I still think something's amiss in 1.3. Debugging a single tracker I get this:

1) Let uTorrent startup: tracker connection OK.

2) Do a 'Update Tracker' within uTorrent: tracker connection timed out.

3) Open a Cygwin command prompt and do a 'curl -I' to the tracker url: tracker connection OK.

4) Go back to uTorrent and do another 'Update Tracker': tracker connection timed out.

Now what sense can we make out of this? Is there anything else I can change in the 1.3 environment?

I'd like to debug this problem, but in the meanwhile I'm back on 1.2.2.

[Firon]

EVERYONE HERE USING A WRT 54G/GL/GS SHOULD READ THIS, IT'S A SEVERE PROBLEM WITH THE ROUTER'S FIRMWARE

Linksys routers do not handle P2P apps very well, or even a lot of connections. They have a lot of bad settings in regards to TCP timeouts with default firmwares. Namely, they track connections for 5 days, obviously overloading the router very quickly, sometimes even causing it to completely freeze. Even firmware replacements don't fix it, but with alternative firmwares you CAN fix the issue.

Change your firmware (if you switch to HyperWRT2.1b1 tofu11 (54G/GL only)] you don't need to do this step, it's pre-set in the firmware) and put in a startup script:

echo 4096 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_max
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
echo "600 1800 120 60 120 120 10 60 30 120" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp_timeouts

HyperWRT2.1b1 Thibor (54GS only) (requires this step) Go to the web interface, click Administration, Edit Startup, put the command in there and hit Save, then Save settings.

HyperWRT2.1b1 tofu11 (54G/GL only) (doesn't require this step)

You're on your own for other firmwares.

Also Nanaki: a lot of NICs (especially wireless ones) seem to have problems with the number of connections µT makes. Integrated stuff is often worse. Try updating your drivers (and lower net.max_halfopen if you raised the value before). Make sure you restarted µT after changing those options. If turning off DHT helps, then it means that the number of connections mainline's DHT generates is too much for your NIC.

junkaroo: turn off DHT, sounds like something (NIC, modem, router) doesn't like the UDP packets. 1.1.7.2 didn't have DHT (which uses UDP packets) which may explain your problem.

[Primus]

Would like to add to this, since I'm a DD-WRT user.

The current beta 23 release of the DD-WRT code (12/12/05) contains a fix for this problem. So if you upgrade to it there's no need for the startup script anymore.

[Firon]

Alright, I'll add that to the FAQ as well. So that's two builds now that fix it, DD-WRT b23 and HyperWRT2.1b1 tofu11...

[bibber]

Will try the firmware update for the router later, but can anybody explain what changed in 1.3 that would suddenly break the router? As described before, why can I setup a TCP connection to a tracker outside of uTorrent (using the same router!) just fine and is uTorrent itself unable to create the connection?

As said I will try the firmware, but I seriously doubt it will help.

[Firon]

- Feature: Added setting to control how fast utorrent tries to connect to new peers.

- Change: Increase the amount of connects a bit.

- Fix: Upload a little bit more aggressively

I guess one of those did something to cause problems. By the way, did you patch TCPIP.sys? Or raise net.max_halfopen (especially without patching it)? Check the event log (eventvwr.msc) and see if there's any event 4226...

You should still change the firmware though.