Use utorrent1.6 and port forward the right ports. I think Utorrent default is 34146, I forwarded that on my router as well as my DSL modem. I reach speeds up to 200/300 Kbps on most torrents with 3/768 with 2-3+ seeders as long as all my ports are open/firewalls down and I'm not using the internet. This of course brings makes your computer vulnerable security-wise but I'm sure you know that.
Try: http://www.portforward.com/
I hope you're using torrents to download *legally*.
*edit*: Noting the post above, torrents are useful in downloading large files that are legal, a lot of demos for games coming out now are put in torrent form. People used to put home videos on them but YouTube killed that... I think you can still find some Star Trek vids.