uTorrent is slowing down browsing significantly

[ryoden]

Hi,

I assume that this is NOT a DL speed issue so it is correct to post it here. I have looked at some of the other threads of this nature but none of them seem to have a definitive answer (unless i missed the one that did).

I have had the problem for a while so I reformatted the C drive and reinstalled WINDOWS XP PRO

Added service pack 1 and 2

To start with there wasnt a problem and then it started slowing browsing down again.

I have a 4 MB download speed (and I can achieve this and slightly higher on uTorrent such as 440kbs).

My upload should be 40 kbs but I have set it to 25kbs in order to free up bandwidth (not that it seems to make any difference).

Global Max = 100

Max no connected peers = 70

number of upload slots = 3

Encryption is enabled

Number of active torrents = 2

Max number of downloads = 1

I havent altered anything in the advanced section although i did try and lower the NETMAX HALF OPEN from 8 to 5 but that made no difference so I put it back to 8.

I dont have any alterations made to the TCP settings as yet.

My router is using port forwarding and its a Belkin, I have a green NAT so that seems to be working ok.

I have the windows firewall on.

I have spybot in resident and super anti spyware as well.

I can run a hijack file if you think it would be useful.

Thanks if anyone can suggest what to try first.

[EDIT] I just remembered that I get the problem even when only uploading (seeding) but the problem dissapears when i pause everything (thought I would mention that as I saw another thread where someone had this problem even when uTorrent was idle but active.)

[DreadWingKnight]

My router is using port forwarding and its a Belkin,

Belkin routers are notorious for having painfully LOW connection limits. You need to set your global connection limits to below 60 with most of them.

[ryoden]

Ok - I have changed my setting to the following configuration:-

Global Max = 50

Max no connected peers = 40

number of upload slots = 3

Result being that the refresh rate of my browser hasnt noticeably changed.

{EDIT} I shut down the PC and the router and modem after I made the changes - waitied for 5 mins before rebooting all of them.

Hmm page load time now seems a little erratic - I thought that it had improved but it now seems to vary from 1 second to 7 seconds (which is better than the previous average of 5-12).

Is there any way of measuring the difference (program?) more accurately so i can see if that change has actually impacted on the problem?

[Switeck]

There's other features in uTorrent that make connections.

You'll probably need to disable:

DHT, Local Peer Discovery, UPnP, and Resolve IPs

Peer Exchange reuses peer and seed connections, so you can leave it enabled.

Then try testing with uTorrent's half open rate as low as 1.

I'd be shocked if you have problems after that...

[ryoden]

thanks - after a little more fiddling the refresh rate is now acceptable

[Switeck]

If it took changing ALL those settings to get browsing "acceptable"...that router's complete junk.

[ronxp2000]

What is a good router for less < $100 to use with Utorrent, and does good UpnP and great nat detection

My Linksys WRT54G version 6 I think, works great. But it slows down the whole PC when I use Utorrent. I do like the broadcast power of my router for the laptops in the house, they all work at full speed.

[Firon]

Is your browsing slowing down or the entire PC? If the entire PC, then there's a lot of reasons for that. One of the most common ones is that your disk controller has lapsed into PIO transfer mode, which you can resolve by uninstalling it from the device manager and rebooting.

[ronxp2000]

Sorry, by the entire PC, I mean the entire INTERNET SPEED across my PC and all PC's accessing the router. Just INTERNET SPEED, not PC speed itself. My apologies.

[Firon]

Well, for that particular router, you need to replace the firmware with DD-WRT. The stock firmware is kind of junky.

[Switeck]

1st and 2nd links in my signature should help.