Does using the torrent protocol require having a real IP?

[Lawand]

I have a dial up connection to the internet and I was wondering if I can use torrent clients such as uTorrent without having a real IP?

I mean, doesn't the protocol connect people based in there IP?

Thanks in advance.

[thelittlefire]

In being able to post that message to the forum you had a real IP.

It's possible you're thinking you require a STATIC IP (the same IP persisting among many sessions so peers know where you are). That is a NO, you do not. The beauty of bittorrent is that you can connect from anywhere, given the torrent file metadata and the communication information (INFOHASH and tracker)... peers will connect and continue no matter your IP address.

http://dessent.net/btfaq/#what . . http://utorrent.com/guides.php for some other stuff but not bittorrent oriented, and for uT oriented, press F1 with uT's main window to see user manual.

[Switeck]

You can be firewalled multiple ways, behind 2+ layers of routers...sharing a temporary internet ip with 100 other people.

...and still use uTorrent!

But you'll only be able to connect to peers and seeds who aren't firewalled. And since many ARE firewalled, it reduces speed somewhat. But if you're on dial-up, you don't want or NEED more than 2-10 connections at once anyhow.

[Lawand]

Thanks for the information, guys