uTorrent settings under Optimum Online

[ibex333]

Before I say anything, I'd like to point some things out.

1)If I posted this in the wrong section, please forgive me and move this. This is my 1st time here.

2)Yes I know this was probably asked a million times before, but I cant find ALL the info I'm looking for.

Yes, I did my homework. I went to dlsreports.com, and read Lex Luthor's FAQ. I also tried to sort through 125 or so pages of inconsistent arguements and flame regarding Optimum Online...

And finally, YES, I used a search function on this forum, BUT, I still have some questions, so please help me.

Anyway.. On to my questions.

I will be switching to OOL from Verizon DSL soon, for reasons that I do not wish to discuss. Still I decided to do some research in advance, and found out about the upload cap. Even though that makes me VERY unhappy, I'll have to deal with this, since going back to Verizon is NOT an option, and P2P is something I'm not willing to give up.

So far I found out that upload speed must be set to 16-18KBytes/sec (128-144kbps)

And in advanced options I should set peer.lazy_bitfield = true

I heared something about "scheduler", but I dont know how to make it work, and what time intervals to set.

Aside from this, I'd like to know if there are any other ESSENTIAL settings I should be aware of. I have no desire to get "throttled" and having to call OOL.

Some people mentioned that one should not leave P2P running overnight.. This seems vague and unclear. I know that no one can tell me the exact time and speed one can upload without getting caped, but I need approximate numbers.

Basically, what I need to know is how do YOU avoid getting throttled. How many torrents do you usually run? What settings do you use in uTorrent? What are your time/speed patterns? Anyting else I need to know to avoid problems?

Any links, help or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

[SL83]

I'm on OOL, and I run µTorrent all night long days on end and I have never been capped.

The upload speed for OOL users is 2 Megabits per second. That translates to rougly 250KB/s. I just set my speed to that, and forward a port for my firewall. Everything else I leave on defaults. Haven't had a single issue.

The scheduler is easy enough to figure out. Enable it. There are 3 settings, white box (disable transfers), light blue box (limit transfers), dark box (full transfers).

It gives you the days of the week and the hours of the day in military time. Each box represents an hour. It's that simple.

[ibex333]

This makes me wonder... Why is there so many ppl online complaining that they were capped.. Some even note that they were capped after 2 hours of uploading at full speed. I suppose that's not true for everyone.

[SL83]

They were probably capped before they even started using P2P. Most people don't even know they are capped. Not once have I been capped. Just because I used to work for OOL, doesn't mean I get special treatment from them. It may be the case that people on more overcrowded nodes are more likely to get capped. In that case, I'm lucky I'm not on a crowded node.

Just test the waters. If you do get capped, call them up and ask them to remove it. They will probably ask if you run servers or use a lot of P2P programs. Just tell them no. If you want to give them further info, you can tell them that you do a lot of work at home and that you are required to upload data back to your company's FTP servers.

But don't tell them you use BitTorrent or host a gaming server or file server etc.

[ibex333]

Allright. Thanx a lot for the info.

By the way. How does one know if they are on a crowded node? Or the only way to find out is to get capped?

[SL83]

You'll know if your speeds fluctuate to a crawl during peak hours of usage.

Other than that, you can't really know. If it is bad enough, eventually they will split the node so it won't be so crowded.

[ibex333]

Sorry for so many questions but what time/s would be considered peak hours? I'm assuming evenings? After work hours?

[SL83]

Yup. And maybe even early morning.

[ibex333]

hey.. I just got upgraded to OOL...

I forwarded the port for uTorrent exactly the same way I did before when I had Verizon DSL, except now the uTorrent checker tells me that my port does not appear to be open. The dht status becomes green eventually after around 3 min, but that's a lot longer than it used to be before.

Any idea what's going on?

[kewldude607]

I also have OOL.

Things to check about port forwarding:

- Did you forward to the right address? If you have DHCP then you must check every reboot.

- Did you forward the right port?

[ibex333]

Well, I'm pretty sure I did.

I checked again and everything seems right. I didnt have DHCP on verizon, no reason why I would have it now...(what's DHCP anyway?)

The only thing that puzzles me is that my ip did not change from verizon to OOL.

When type ipconfig/all, I still get the same ip, same DNS, same everything.. weird. Another strange thing is that when I go to one of those sites that tell me my ip, i get a DIFFERENT ip!!!

[ironboyzz]

Suggestion ibex333,

If you are not using a router ool basically has static ips and change every so often (a yr1/2) .

If you are....

Don't know your router so at a disadvantage.

Have OOL and run this way...

Grab the 2 DNS ips from router status or dbl clk lan, click support then details. Mine are 167.206.3.202, 167.206.3.136. Depending on the area you are they may differ.

Set your router as DHCP as normal. Set your DHCP ip range to 20 (any low number)

e.g. on mine range is 20 starting at 100 giving 192.168.1.100-119.

In windows set ip to manual letting last ip segment > than range in router.

e.g.

IP Address: 192.168.1.201

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

Use Following DNS Servers (Checked)

Prefered and Alternate DNS servers use from DSN in router respectively.

Forwarding ip will be the 201 address.

Have used this config with ool for yrs.

Funny I'm switching to Verizon FIOS...

hth

[ibex333]

I must admit that I'm having trouble understanding you. I will try to do what u say off course.

If money was dropping on me from the sky, I'd use Verizon FIOS off course. But since it does not, I calculated that paying for Verizon Phone +DSL + Optimum TV = around $180 every month. On top of that, I have to pay for EVERY call I make, and I CANNOT call across US unless I PAY EXTRA for it.

With OOL triple play, even when the price goes up after a 1 year promo, I will still be paying around $160 a month, which is $20 cheaper than Verizon. On top of that I get faster speeds(even though they are far from what was advertized), and I can call across US all I want and call to anyone in my city all I want. The price will still remain the same. Some other benefits is one bill for all services, and features like caller id and call waiting included in the price --- not extra charges like Verizon.

The only drawback is the possibility of getting capped for using uTorrent... Well I'm sure if I'm careful, that wont happen.

For the extra $20 I have left over I can order "BOOST" - which I dont need and will not get, or get a nice magazine subscription, or $20 x 12 = $240 (nice mid range video card upgrade every year)

[ibex333]

What I understood from your post ironboyzz, is that I should get the DNS servers from my router. I did that, and typed them in in the network connections, in control panel. I got the ip,subnet mask and gateway by going to start, run, cmd, ipconfig/all.

I guess I set up the static ip adress correctly since I can still go online....

I dont see the option to set my DHCP range to 20 anywhere.... I dont see that option in router, I dont see it in windows.

Apparently the ip adress that i get when i type "ipconfig/all" is NOT the one I should type in when I'm setting the static ip.

When I use the port checker it scans the ip that my router assigned not the one from "ipconfig" - and naturally it tells me that port is NOT open.

I tried typing in the ip adress from my router, but windows tells me that that ip is in use... I'm confused.

Mabe I should disable the DHCP? it seems to assign the new ip, no? What's DHCP anyway? what is it 4?

[SL83]

Oh goodness, some misinformation and confusion in this thread.

In Windows TCP/IP Settings - Give yourself a manually assigned IP address.

Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 (Windows will automatically fill this for you)

Default Gateway should be your router's private IP address.

For DNS servers, just use your router's IP address.

Ibex, if you'd like, I can remotely configure your router and windows TCP/IP settings for you. See this thread: http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=10695

Let me know either way.

[ibex333]

SL83, I'm greatful for your help, and your offer of assistance.

However I first want to try to solve my problem by myself, and only when I feel completely hopeless, will I resort to remote assistance. I would feel much better about myself if I would fix my problem. I now have your AIM

, so I will contact you in the worst case scenario.

I now understand where and how I should get the default gateway, subnet mask and DNS servers.... But what do you mean by giving myself a manually assigned ip? do you mean that it can be any ip?

[Drolander]

Any ip as long its outside your DHCP range or far from the ip your computer always get when your router gives it out

[ibex333]

How does the saying go? Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.. Teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime....

Woohoo!!! The checker finally says that port is open and the status is green!

That happened after I deleted my uTorrent and used a fresh copy.(same version 1.5)

I also decided to delete all settings I made in my router "virtual server" and did everything from scratch.

And off course I followed all your instructions carefully. Thank you everyone, for helping me!

[SL83]

Zing.

[ibex333]

Never mind. I was too quick to assume everythign was ok. After a reboot, lo and behold, I have the same problem again. Yellow DHT in uTorrent, and red error on port checker - port is NOT open. I dont know what the heck is happening here. lol

I guess I'll have to ask you for help after all, SL83... I'll try a few more ideas, if all fails you're my only hope.

I'll let you know.

[SL83]

Never mind. I was too quick to assume everythign was ok. After a reboot, lo and behold, I have the same problem again. Yellow DHT in uTorrent, and red error on port checker - port is NOT open. I dont know what the heck is happening here. lol

I guess I'll have to ask you for help after all, SL83... I'll try a few more ideas, if all fails you're my only hope.

I'll let you know.

I have a feeling that you forwarded your ports correctly in your router config page, however, you still are getting a dynamic IP from your router. Go into Windows TCP/IP settings and make sure that you have a manually assigned IP address. Then make sure that manually assigned IP address is the one that is specified in your port forwarding/virtual server tab on the router.

Basically what happened is, you did everything right, but when you rebooted, your computer got a different IP address than the one it had before, so now the port forwarding is no longer pointing to your computer.

[ibex333]

Never mind. I was too quick to assume everythign was ok. After a reboot' date=' lo and behold, I have the same problem again. Yellow DHT in uTorrent, and red error on port checker - port is NOT open. I dont know what the heck is happening here. lol

I guess I'll have to ask you for help after all, SL83... I'll try a few more ideas, if all fails you're my only hope.

I'll let you know.[/quote']

I have a feeling that you forwarded your ports correctly in your router config page, however, you still are getting a dynamic IP from your router. Go into Windows TCP/IP settings and make sure that you have a manually assigned IP address. Then make sure that manually assigned IP address is the one that is specified in your port forwarding/virtual server tab on the router.

Basically what happened is, you did everything right, but when you rebooted, your computer got a different IP address than the one it had before, so now the port forwarding is no longer pointing to your computer.

I was thinking the same thing, but what you are telling me to do doesnt seem to work. I went into my router options, and under "WAN" I have an option to enable static ip adress.... It was set to "dynamic" by default.

So I changed it to static, and... now I cant connect to the internet, unless I change it back to dynamic... lol

Do I have to do anything with DHCP settings? Isnt that what's responsible for changing the ip every time? I tried disabling DHCP and connecting with static ip(in router) --- cant connect to internet.

then i tried enabling DHCP and connecting with static ip(in router) -- still cant connect to internet.

The only way way my PC connects to internet is when the static ip is set in windows, but dynamic is set for the router.

Or, if both windows and router are dynamic.

Oh by the way... I just rebooted my computer again, and the port checker shows "green ok!", but uTorrent shows yellow(loading) DHT, and never goes to green. (this is with windows set to static, and router in dynamic)

I have you "added" to AIM, so I'll contact you if you are online. If not, I'll talk to you here.

By the was what is DMZ for? It is disabled by default in my router.

EDIT: Also, I just checked the uTorrent FAQ, and my router is listed under the list of "problematic" routers.

I have a Dlink DI-604. The thing is, I had no prob with it when I was using Verizon DSL.

uTorrent FAQ says :

The following modems/routers have known problems with too many global connections, limiting them to 200 or less should fix the problems. I dont know how to limit global connections... I'll go dig in options and try to find it.

EDIT: Ok I found it. it was in uTorrent settings.

Question. Must there be a torrent quenued up in uTorrent for the DHT to turn green?

The strangest thing happened...

After I DISABLED the DHCP server,(in router options) and quenued up a torrent, the DHT turned green and I got a steady 460+ KB/sec down, and 91KB/sec up!! I'm gonna cross my fingers... hopefully tomorrow when I turn on my PC, I will not get an error again... heh

[Firon]

It's not a DHT icon, it's a network status icon.

[SL83]

I went into my router options, and under "WAN" I have an option to enable static ip adress.... It was set to "dynamic" by default.

So I changed it to static, and... now I cant connect to the internet, unless I change it back to dynamic... lol

You MUST leave the router to get an IP address automatically via DHCP. OptimumOnline has a certain protection that will disable your modem if you have your IP address set to a static IP. The IP address that you should set to static is your computer's private ip address. This you do via Windows TCP/IP Settings. In your router settings under WAN, it should ALWAYS be DHCP.

Basically what we are doing is making sure that the computer behind the router will always get the same IP address, so then the router will always be able to forward the ports to the correct computer. It does not matter if the router gets a randomly DHCP assigned IP address, because that doesn't come into play at all in regards to your router forwarding to your computer. That is all on the LAN side.

Also, you might not get a green light immediately. The green light basically says that you have incoming connections. Now, it may be possible to have the port forwarded properly, but no one trying to connect to you. If the port checker says the port is open, you can be pretty sure that your port is forwarded correctly.

After I DISABLED the DHCP server,(in router options) and quenued up a torrent, the DHT turned green and I got a steady 460+ KB/sec down, and 91KB/sec up!! I'm gonna cross my fingers... hopefully tomorrow when I turn on my PC, I will not get an error again... heh

Disabling the DHCP server in the router's options isn't recommended unless you have all the computers in your network set to use a statically assigned IP address, and you're not changing the network much. A better solution would be to keep the DHCP server enabled, limit the number and range of IPs that it will hand out, and then assign static IP addresses OUTSIDE of that range. For example, I have my computer statically set with 192.168.1.100 and my sister's set with 192.168.1.101. These IP addresses will ALWAYS point to the two specific computers even with the DHCP server on because I have the starting IP address for DHCP set to 192.168.1.102.

So when my brother comes up from Maryland, I don't have to go and manually configure his computer with a static IP address, he just get's his IP via DHCP.

[ibex333]

Ok... I think I narrowed it down.

The culprit seems to be the DHCP server in my router options.

Yesterday, I disabled DHCP, and got a green light in port checker and in uTorrent. I was able to download and upload a test torrent at an acceptable speed, with no problems.

Just as I expected, when I turned my computer on today, I got a red port checker error, and a yellow light in uTorrent.

I went into router options, and this time, - enabled the DHCP. Checked the port checker... It's GREEN!! And so is uTorrent.

What gives? Yesterday it was green with DHCP DISABLED.. and now it only turns green with DHCP ENABLED!!

I'm gonna list all my ips and settings here so that you can see them:

(I dont care if someone tries to hack me, since I dont have credit cards, and I dont have any valuable info on my PC)

In Windows, I have my static ip set to: 192.168.0.3

In router "WAN" tab, I have the dynamic ip ENABLED.

On the DHCP tab, I have the "DHCP Server" ENABLED, and the range set to 192.168.0.4 - 192.168.0.99(mabe my range is off?)

Lease Time - 1 week

The "Static DHCP" is DISABLED. -- I dont know what that one is for. Was disabled by default.

In the router "STATUS" tab, I see the following.

LAN

MAC Address

00-13-46-BC-F4-EA

IP Address

192.168.0.1

Subnet Mask

255.255.255.0

DHCP Server

Enabled

MAC Address

0*-13-*6-BC-F*-EB -- replaced some numbers with stars, just in case (a little paranoid)

Connection

DHCP Client Connected

IP Address

24.1*5.1*8.2*6 -- replaced some numbers with stars, just in case (a little paranoid)

Subnet Mask

255.255.240.0

Default Gateway

24.185.176.1

DNS

167.206.3.207 167.206.3.143

PS: Ok.. this is crazy... just a few minutes ago, the port checker was green, and now I checked again, and it's red! I didnt reboot, I didnt touch any settings!