"I" flag in Peers Tab

[ady4um]

I'm using ut 1.7.7, green icon, port test ok.

I would like to understand the meaning of the "I" flag, or the absence of it.

After searching in the forum, it is not so clear to me. In "old" posts, I saw "I" is "Interested". Is this right? In most posts, and in the help file, "I" means the peer has "incoming" connections (regarding to "me", the user who "sees" that peer in the peers list). Is *this* correct? Am I understanding it right?

What is the actual result of having "incoming" connections?

In my case, I am dl AND ul from/to peers without the "I" flag, and also from/to peers with it.

What should I understand of those peers I see (and ul and dl to / from them) in the list which do not have the "I" flag?

Thank you in advance.

[DreadWingKnight]

http://utorrent.com/faq.php#What_do_all_those_flags_in_the_Flags_column_mean.3F

[ady4um]

Thank you for your answer, but actually that was not what I was looking for. As I said, I searched for an answer in the forum, and the help file. I have also read the faq before. I can read

I = Peer is an incoming connection

But what this means? Specially, since I am seeing peers with "I" and also without it, and I dl / ul from / to both "types" of peers, I am not actually understanding the difference between them.

[DreadWingKnight]

Incoming connection means they connect to you instead of you connect to them.

Once a connection is established data can transfer on it in either direction.

[ady4um]

So if I understand correctly:

1) When the "I" flag is present, it means the other peer got in contact with me *first*, as opposed of me getting in contact with him, and we could exchange data in either direction (he "discovers" me).

2) When the "I" flag is not there, it means *I* got in contact with the other peer first, I was the one who "discovered" him, and we could exchange data in either direction.

Did I understand correctly?

[jewelisheaven]

That is correct. When you accepted the connection its I for you, when it's outgoing... they accept the connection.

Usually when you don't see I that's the sign of a problem, explained by the http://bt.degreez.net/firewalled.html

[Switeck]

You'll NEVER see ANY "I" flagged Peers/Seeds if you're firewalled. They could not connect to you first, since some sort of firewall or lost route blocked them.

[ady4um]

Thank you for your answers. I have some more questions related to this.

I have some peers with "I" and some without it, and I get to ul and dl from both (not very "good" steady speeds, though). From your answers I can say that peers *with* the "I" flag (at least one is enough) means I'm not firewalled, right? I can see the green icon, and the port test is ok.

Several different situations follows.

What about those without the "I" flag? If I can dl *and* ul from / to them, I would think that *both* of us are having somehow "incoming" connections. So in that situation, shouldn't the "I" flag be displayed? (sorry if this is not correct, I'm just trying to lern)

If I see that a peer with relevance > 0 is *permanently* just receiving from me, and I can't get to download from him (dl from him = 0 ) , could this behaviour say something about me or him being firewalled?

And what if I *can*, both receive and send data with such a peer (no "I" flag, relevance>0 ), but he is *permanently* receiving from me much much much more than I recieve from him? (dl < 50% of ul, after uploading for a while) Can I draw any kind of conclusion?

Thank you again for your answers and your patience.

[Firon]

If you're getting I flags and they aren't peers in your LAN, then it means you aren't firewalled and your port is forwarded.

Also, once the connection is established, traffic goes both ways, regardless of which side is firewalled. All that matters is how it started.

[Switeck]

It's like a phonecall. The incoming connections are what rings YOUR phone.

You dialing out rings someone else's phone. (outgoing connection)

But once the connection is established, both ends can talk (upload/download) to each other at the same time.

A phone with no ringer or a cellphone that's only turned on to dial out is like being firewalled.

[ady4um]

Thank you all for your answers. I'm having some problems downloading, and I'm looking for any clue of what's going on. According to your answers, I tend to think all this "I" flag is not related in any way to my problems. But maybe I'm wrong? Maybe you can look at these other topics and could try to help me find any clue?

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=41201

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=40784

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=40197

I do appreciate the help I have received in the forum in each post, including this one. Sadly, I have not solved the problem yet, and I'm still searching and "playing" with ut to get it done. Thank you again. Your help and knowledge is highly appreciated.

[Switeck]

I see sudden drops on my upload due to ComCast (my ISP) forcibly disconnecting random peers/seeds just because they're showing BitTorrent traffic.

A slightly higher half open value in uTorrent may slightly overcome disconnection problems...as although you're no longer uploading to disconnecting peers, others are picking up the slack...so your TOTAL upload speed remains near-max.

You mentioned somewhere what ISP you're on?

Do some research (a couple searches here and on GOOGLE) for what kind/s if any of BitTorrent throtting or disrupting your ISP does.

Or just messing-with-the-line in general. Some of the really slimy ISPs out there love screwing with their customers because it saves them money short-term.

You can also try with half open value set to ZERO. If you're not firewalled, you'll should still get incoming connections on torrents you already have active...and it is easier to see how stable your connections to other peers/seeds are if your uTorrent isn't constantly trying to make new ones on its own.

uTorrent's log window is helpful in this regard, but it's rather hard to read at first. It's how I know my ISP likes to do disconnects within 40 seconds of a new connection being made.

[ady4um]

Thank you for your answer. Half open connection max 3 because I am on Vista SP1. If I up this to 4, I will see every now and then the 4226 event id (but not more than twice every hour, usually less than that). Just let me know if this is of any importance to get steady speeds or if this can negatively influence any other part of the system / connections.

Sometimes, when finishing downloading a file in this "large" torrent, I can see the ul speed steady. Is there any way to test if I'm choking myself? I really don't know what else to do to get at least the same avg. dl speed as the ul speed in this torrent. Both the ratio and the avg speeds are tending to the same direction: I'm almost always giving more and faster than what I'm receiving.

What about manually changing the port every now and then? Please help me, here or in the topics I posted, wherever you think appropriate. Thank you in advance.

[EDIT]

My ISP is 012 (Israel), while my cable modem and the connection is provided by HOT. According to the wiki, my ISP is messing up with high bandwith usage, but not throttling.

[Firon]

I'm pretty sure that 012 throttles BT altogether.

[Switeck]

To test your upload speed, increase it by 2 KB/sec...wait 30 seconds to see if it will go that fast...and then raise it again another 2 KB/sec. Once it goes "ragged" on the Speed graph in uTorrent, lower it back down to a stable level...and maybe another 2-5 KB/sec more so you have some upload left free for web surfing and for when downloading at >50 KB/sec speeds.

[ady4um]

@Switeck

The thing is, I already did it! When just seeding I can get steady ul speed (not always, though), usually at 9 kB/s global ul speed and just 1 active torrent. But when I am downloading this multi-files torrent - "unskipping" files - my ul speed gets "crazy" after 45 minutes tops. Changing slots to 2 and limiting global ul speed to 8, then to 7, and then 6. Did it again, but unchecking "use additional ul slots...". Set speed guide to 96 kb/s. Changing the port every now and then maybe helps, but not always. And so on. 2 months ago I could get steady ul speed at 128 kB/s. Since then, well, I just don't know what else I could try.

[Switeck]

Possibly the result of uploading/downloading to/from other people on the same ISP or at least region.

[ady4um]

So let's say everything that happened with this torrent is ISP related. Besides leaving the ISP to try other, is there anything I could try to at least improve my situation? II *can* get steady ul speed while just seeding, so I think maybe I still *could* change some settings or params in ut. Any suggestions? What about changing the global ul speed limit to unlimited? If my ISP is throttling, is there any real meaning to limit my ul speed in ut? And what about making half connections zero? I'm not sure I understood how this could help me. If I change it to zero, what should I look for? What to do next?