Can ya help me out peoples?

[Chaoticfactor]

Look, this is the first time i have ever used a torrent system to get a file i need and im having all sorts of issues. For my credit i have tried to read the topics but i find that the wording can get a bit technical. So here is the situation. Im going to Ohio State...so im on a network. I have all my firewalls disabled and i got about halfway through the download and am now encountering this problem where my speeds have like crashed. Most of the time they are like .1-.8kbs. Horrible! But it's inconsistent....sometimes they are around 10kbs and sometimes they are below 1. Im running on Windows Vista and have a dual core processor with 2 GB's of Ram. So....without all the technical jargon...would someone plz explain to me what i may be able to do to ensure consistent quality download speeds? Remember....im new at this so i would love it if you kept the technical talk to a minimum. Thats not to say im PC illiterate....just torrent and networking illiterate. Thanks. Also..i have no idea what so ever as to how to open ports or what to do to enable the port to be open. remember...im on a network...so ill be damned if i have a clue where the router is or if i even have a router at my university...lol. HELP!

[Switeck]

Most college and universities block torrent traffic or cripple it to barely over dial-up speeds to prevent it from overloading their limited shared internet connection.

You cannot configure the uni's router to port forward. UPnP will almost certainly NOT work. So you're probably hopelessly, permanently firewalled. You would still be able to upload/download from unfirewalled peers and seeds...were it not for probable uni disruption of BitTorrent traffic.

You may even require permission to do what you're doing, as it may be forbidden normally.

[Chaoticfactor]

Thank you for that bit of information. If anyone has any additional information on how to boost my speed or get around the university plz feel free to post it.

Thanksa for your time

[Switeck]

Force encryption outgoing and disable all incoming legacy (unencrypted) connections.

Also try disabling DHT (both kinds), LPD, and Resolve IPs (right-click in Peers window of an active torrent).

2nd link in my signature as well -- don't choose very high values or you'll probably just see worse results. ...So try something between 128 and 512 kilobits/second.