net.max_halfopen, what effects it has, exactly?

[Herra]

Yees, I've read the FAQ so I know what the setting controls, but what I would like to know is that what kind of effect it has on my dl/ul speed or connection in general. For example, if I raise it from the default 8 to say, 20, will I download faster? What kind of settings people recommend for different sized connections? etc etc. I would appreciate any kind of info on this.

[DreadWingKnight]

For example, if I raise it from the default 8 to say, 20, will I download faster?

No. It only affects the speed at which you make new connections, not the speeds of the connections.

[Switeck]

It can indirectly affect ramp-up speeds when you start a torrent though.

If you're trying 20 ips at a time versis someone trying only 8 ips at a time, potentially you could reach your max connections quicker than they do. This difference may only be a few seconds over a 10 minute interval.

But once the connections are established, how much speed you get out of them would be the same.

Always trying lots and lots of ips eats up a surprising amount of bandwidth. If you had max connections (not the same thing as net.max_halfopen!) set to 1000 then your internet connection could end up wasting possibly >10% its bandwidth trying to connect and stay connected with more peers and seeds than it can handle.

Even for ~2 Mbps connections, trying to make more than 8 connections at a time (net.max_halfopen value) or maintain more than 100 connections total...is almost pointless.

[Herra]

Alrighty then. Thanks.