uTorrent slows internet browsing drastically.

[ddsniper]

Hello uTorrent users and moderations! I am going to cut to the chase, because I am really in a bind .

About Me:

I have usually been pretty keen in solving computer problems, and would best describe my computer experience as an "enthusiast and above an 'intermediate' level." With this in mind, please feel free to provide me with more technically based know how.

Situation:

I seem to be having a similar problem with uTorrent suddenly disrupting my internet browsing ability once uTorrent is open. Whether it is IE7 or Mozilla 3, open the browser after uTorrent is started causes browsing to almost cease. My home page of google takes a few minutes to load, and then other websites do the same thing. Similiarly, based on one of the other threads, once the google.com domain loads once I can browse and do searchs on google alone fine until I try to go to another site.

Background information (hopefully I covered what you need, but feel free to ask for more information):

Recently I updated to uTorrent 1.8 Beta Build 11140, from the previous beta build. I don't think it is a beta issue, rather something that was tweaked that finally showed a flaw in my configuration. Since then I have been having an issue with simultaneously browsing while downloading/uploading with uTorrent. Since the problem first occured, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling uTorrent 2 times (just the program), installed Azureus (thinking it was a uTorrent problem), and finally wiped the uTorrent settings out of the %APPDATA%\uTorrent folder to try and fix the issue. Azureus seemed to slow the computers browsing down, and clearing uTorrent's settings seemed to only fix the problem for roughly 30min.

My Difference compared to other threads: The only way to resume normal browsing functions is to restart the entire computer. Closing uTorrent, logging off, and killing processes not needed for windows environment does not bring back browsing.

System Specs:

(deleted)

I appreciate any help/advice on the matter. I hope I didn't ramble on, or fail to clarify anything.

Thanks, dDSniper.

[Ultima]

Horrible settings. Check the first link in my signture -- and read it carefully.

[ddsniper]

These settings have worked for uTorrent and its previous versions for over a year :\. Specifically what settings are horrible?

Thanks for the speedy reply.

dDSniper

[Ultima]

- Global number of connections was the most obvious one

- DHT is another potential problem-causer

- Your net.max_halfopen setting may be set improperly

- ESET Security Suite may need to be configured properly

All of these are covered in the link too

[ddsniper]

What do you recommend for my internet speed? Which settings of the speed guide example: xx/512.

I can't believe how fast you can respond lol.

dDSniper

[Ultima]

... Just pick your proper upload rate (as per the instructions in the Speed Guide). That means you'll need to know your connection's maximum upload rate (and if you don't, you'll need to test it -- also linked to from the Speed Guide).

I don't mean to say "RTFM," but this is (honestly) covered pretty succinctly in the link :/

[ddsniper]

Why do you suppose this issue would suddenly arise like it has?

I have always had constant DL speeds of the high 600kb/s, and was able to browse the net. Not uploading enough is causing this issue?... I found out, in the past, that if I upload under 20kb/s then I cannot DL at these high speeds.

This shouldn't be the issue though, and should at least stop when uTorrent is closed correct?

Thanks again Ultima, I appreciate this advice a lot. I will look into the manual soon.

[Ultima]

I'm not really sure why it might suddenly happen. It might be that your router suddenly decided it wanted to be stupid and die on lots of connections. It might be that you have an improperly-set net.max_halfopen connection, perhaps patched TCPIP.sys, and a Windows Update reset the TCPIP.sys halfopen limit. It might be that ESET had some update that caused things to go haywire.

FYI, the manual, while nice, isn't as important as the Speed Tweaking Checklist in this situation

As for whether it'll stop when µTorrent is closed... it might take a bit of time before the problem subsides, depending on what the problem is (I'm not 100% sure, since it can be caused by various things, as pointed out).

[ddsniper]

If I am not mistaken doesn't the TCPIP.sys patch not work with/effect Windows Vista. I thought it only helps Windows XP machines. I think Windows Vista fixed the issue.

Thanks, read the checklist I shall.

[Ultima]

TCPIP.sys can actually be patched in Vista, but meh, I wouldn't bother ever patching the file -- period (XP or otherwise). Lowering net.max_halfopen is the better alternative to patching the file.

[Switeck]

It may also be due to changes in the kinds/sizes of torrents you're getting...or that you're not stopping old torrents after awhile. Thus, you're getting closer to the global connection max than before. With 100 connection max per torrent, running 1 torrent should never hit over 100 connections...but once you're running 6+ torrents then you might hit 600 connections and just about every consumer-grade networking router, modem, and network card will have varying degrees of failure.

[Monojuevos]

Hey ddsniper, I've recently encountered this exact same problem. What ISP are you on? I'm on Verizon FIOS (Actiontec router), and I was accustomed to usually blazing-fast speeds, torrents AND browsing at the same time. Then recently, all of a sudden, I started having the same problems as you. I'm truly baffled.

[ddsniper]

Switeck that might be the problem. I had 6 torrents start and forced 3 others to start. After all but 4 finished, I was able to browse the internet and post this response with ease. I'll just have to keep watch over how many torrents I have open and proceed that way.

I lowered my DL/UL settings based on the tweak guide, but I'll continue to tweak them up to get the most out of my connection. I did not use the TCPSYS patch on Vista. And I have left the net.max_halfopen at default 8, because I do not feel this was the issue.

Monojuevos my ISP is SBC (Which is now AT&T). I have the Elite package which DLs 6Mb/sec and ULs around 768k/sec.

Thanks Ultima and Switeck for the quick responses and solutions. I seem to be back to normal.

In conclusion:

I went ahead and took Ultima's advice and lowered my global connections settings from 600 to 375. I also went ahead and reset my router to factory default and reset the settings for it to allow the uTorrent port I use. Although this didn't resolve the problem, I was able to get browser capability back after the majority of my torrents in the queue finished and I was left with 4 live torrents.

On another note. I think a faulty torrent may be to blame for this issue, because I was accustomed to running upwards of 10 torrents at the same time before with no speed issues in browsing. After this questionable torrent finished, I was able to browse. But then again, this could just be based on certain circumstances.

The issue is resolved.

dDSniper

[jewelisheaven]

You have no business running that many torrents simultaneously with unchanged settings. At minimum you should lower per-torrent slots with so many concurrent torrents... but it could slow each individual torrent's download time since you're appearing to others as such a lower throughput peer than you are in practice. It's a balancing act, as long as you get settings that work you may not notice any degradation in speed say if you normally download overnight, but it is something to consider.

[Switeck]

10 torrents at once is the upper limit *IF* 5+ of them only have a couple peers or seeds. And even then, upload slots have to be set stupid-low so the average upload speed per upload slot can at least beat 2 KiloBYTES/second. Or in other words, 1-2 upload slots each with maybe 1 or 2 torrents set with 3 upload slots.

I doubt it was a faulty torrent and think it was just a big "last straw" on the camel's back that broke it. Incoming connection rate can be VERY high on torrents with 1000's of seeds/peers! They're trying to connect to you and some BitTorrent clients are poorly designed and even try multiple times at ONCE...and retry quickly, especially if they're only running the one torrent. High half open rates don't just affect you.

[bilzebub]

>>These settings have worked for uTorrent and its previous versions for over a year :\.

I wouldn't be so quick to blame his settings ONLY -- sure they may be bad -- but could it not also have something to do with the beta build? On my vista puter and the most recent 3 betas, I have horrible browsing speeds too (also use ESS firewall and a dlink 655 router).

I have already severely clawed back connections etc, and I will disable dht -- but the thing is, none of these mattered with the stable build. Both he and I had success with it, even with horrible settings. I will go back temporarily to 1.7.7 to see...

[Switeck]

One can also assume a lot of software has been manually or automatically updated, so there's really no guarantee that a computer is "exactly" the way it was a year ago.

An ISP could be rolling out its anti-BitTorrent methods, slowly at first then getting progressively worse over weeks/months so people don't instantly catch on.