very limited nodes

[sharpeye1972]

I've been using utorrent for a few years now and this is the first time i;ve had a problem. when logging on its only found 20 nodes where i usually have over 250.

this is obviously making my downloads extemely slow. any ideas??

[Switeck]

Your ISP is almost certainly a very anti-BitTorrent ISP.

DISABLE: LPD, DHT (both kinds!), and Resolve IPs (right-click in PEERS window on an active torrent).

Keep Peer Exchange enabled...it should be encrypted if your peer/seed connections are encrypted.

Try both Enabled and FORCED encryption outgoing and both enabled and disabled legacy (unencrypted) connections incoming.

You'll probably need to use 384 kilobit/second upload settings OR LOWER on my Speed Guide (2nd link in my signature.)

[sharpeye1972]

I am using a desktop to download and my laptop to read your post. I found myself making the changes you suggested on the desktop, switching my view to the laptop to read your next bit and when I looked back, my download speed had gone from 0 to 82kb/s. its not hovering at around 50 but thats ok, i can live with that.

I also noticed earlier, one of my downloads had finished when I got back home from work today so its not like my isp had blocked my download so im not sure why my nodes had dropped so low. nevermind.

Thanks for your help =)

[Switeck]

There's MANY ways an ISP can screw with BitTorrent traffic, of which most don't completely block BitTorrent...just cause it to run badly. A few are almost transparent and very hard to spot...and only kick in during ISP's overloaded peak hours.

Testing the various encryption possibilities for awhile (both inside and outside of peak hours) is necessary to determine what seems to work best for you.