Use of Proxy Server

[misha222]

I set up uTorrent to work with HTTP Tunnel Client V4.4.4000. It seems to be working, even for peer-to-peer communication, as I have messages in the Tunnel Client log telling me each time a new connect request is issued by uTorrent.

I had to set up uTorrents preferences to use a SOCKS proxy, at 127.0.0.1 on port 1080.

But I noticed something really strange... Even when I kill the Tunnel Client process, uTorrent seems to continue to function like it never missed a beat. It continues to perform uploads and downloads normally, but this should not be the case if I kill the listener on port 1080!

Either I never configured things correctly, and uTorrent is still not using my proxy, or else it was using the proxy when it was there, but just went back to using my standard IP address when it had to. I'm almost certain that the proxy is being used, because I see messages to that effect in the proxy log file (IP addresses that match the addresses of my peers from uTorrent). But if that's the case then HOW CAN uTorrent simply "keep working" when the server listening on 127.0.0.1:1080 is shut down?

If the box is checked in "preferences" to say "Use Proxy" then it should NOT work if the proxy is not working properly. There should be no "assumption" that the user just wants to expose his IP Address if there happens to be some problem with his proxy.

Please email me a reply if you can.

Thanks.

-Misha

[Firon]

What µTorrent version?

[misha222]

I'm using uTorrent version 1.7.7 (downloaded only days ago).

I observe that uTorrent continues to download/upload when I select a proxy server, even if I change the IP address to something absurd (or kill my HTTP-tunnel client).

My thinking is that if a proxy is selected, then that's a hard choice by the user, and uTorrent should not simply revert back to using the default HTTP connection (exposing the user's normal IP address).

If my HTTP-Tunnel client crashes (for whatever reason) then uTorrent should stop transferring data too. This also would give a convenient way of testing that the tunnel was actually configured properly and working. (When you kill the tunnel then uTorrent would stop transferring data to.)

I went into the "log" window in UTorrent, and one of the selections there is "show peer traffic." When I check that I see a bunch of messages that represent peer traffic, not that I know what they all mean. But if I then kill my HTTP-Tunnel client, I expect to see that traffic come screeching to a halt, and that's not happing. uTorrent keeps going like it never missed a beat, and the "upload" and "download" kB/s totals keep increasing, as usual.

Unless there is a HUGE time lag between what is really going on and what is being reported on the user interface, I have to assume that peer traffic is still taking place, even after I intentionally kill HTTP-tunnel, and that should NOT be taking place.

Note: I think there's some truth to the "time delay" theory I expressed above, because even when I kill the Internet connection completely (by hitting the power switch on my cable modem) I still see what appears to be peer communication taking place in the log, and the kB/s totals still keep updating in the UI. But that CAN'T be happening without an internet connection (can it?)

My main concern is that when I select a proxy server 127.0.0.1 on port 1080 that uTorrent will ONLY ever use that proxy, and if the proxy fails (for whatever reason) then uTorrent will simply stop transferring data. uTorrent should never revert back to using the non-proxy default network IP address for my PC.

I'm not getting a "feel good" confirmation that this is the case, because nothing apparently changes in uTorrent when I kill the proxy, but I expect to see that uTorrent is now no longer transferring data.

Is there some way we can verify that data transfer (peer or HTTP) is taking place NOW (in real time) without waiting for the kB/s readings to show up through the delayed UI?

Also is there some way uTorrent could display the IP address it is using currently for HTTP and SOCKS (in my case I'd expect to see 127.0.0.1 for both.)