good red dot, bad red dot problem

[coloneltravis]

1.) Sometimes with a red dot, my download speed appears to be ok. But I always wonder if it could be better. Torrent downloads are often in the 200-230 kB/s range. Every now and then I'll seen them about twice that - don't know why, so I've always thought it was a variable seeding issue.

2.) When I restart the computer and download a torrent, I always start off with the yellow triangle and the speed is terrible (20-40 kB/s). Then during the middle of a download it will turn red, and the speed is still terrible. Last time I noticed the yellow-to-red switch, it was about 20 minutes into my download.

I don't know what triggers this huge speed swing. No matter when I test the port on uT, I get the "does not appear to be open error" - that is a constant. If it's purely a firewall problem I can't find it. I've spent a decent amount of time on port forwarding. Never gotten it to work and I've tried many times, always following the guide on portforward.com.

I've gone through the forum, checked out and followed the advice on a bunch of links, read the FAQ, etc. I'm baffled. But I'm convinced it's something I'm not doing right, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this. I've adjusted some uT settings but I do not remember all that I did except mess with the dl and ul limits, and assign port numbers by clicking the random port button.

My uT settings:

Download limit - unlimited

Upload limit - 100K

Max connected peers per torrent - 75

Max active torrents - 15

Upload slots - 8

Connections global - 250

Max active downloads - 15

net.max_halfopen - 8

My system:

OS - 32-bit XP Media Center SP3

CPU - DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2Ghz

RAM - 2GB

Firewall - Avira Premium Security Suite (just a fyi, I noticed in the firewall thread Avira wasn't among the ones listed.)

Modem/Router - Actiontec M1424WR 4.0.16.1.45.120

ISP - Verizon

Connection type - cable

UL speed tests - 18000 Kbps-20000 Kbps

DL speed tests - 1000 Kbps-1300 Kbps

One quick thing about AMD Athlon 64 X2 - I saw the thread for the problems with that CPU, so I updated my drivers but it didn't affect the speed. OK, that's all I can think of now. Thanks in advance.

[astratwin]

You need to forward your ports to make that go green. There are guides on how to do this in the FAQ

[coloneltravis]

I said I read the FAQ and followed the advice there and elsewhere on the forum. I followed the guide on portforward.com, I've changed the port # several times and adjusted the router accordingly. The port never opens.

What the heck am I missing here?

[Switeck]

Did you do your speed tests while uTorrent was running torrents?

It just seems unusual for upload speed to be so much higher than download!

The ip you're posting from maps to Verizon FIOS.

[thelittlefire]

Aside from that fact that's not POSSIBLE on cable internet.

Start with xx/384

Have you checked to be sure that you're not behind double-NAT.. The actiontec is the only device from your ISP to you?