BitTorrent Tutorial

[Shug7272]

Tutorial for BitTorrent use with special attention to router and firewall issues. If you need more help or have a specific question PM me and I will be glad to help. If you have anything to add or think I forgot something usefull let me know.

BitTorrent is a great P2P client for sharing any type of file on the internet. For those of you who don't understand P2P it works by sending information from your computer to others and vice versa without the need of a central server to hold all the information. So instead of going to website www.testmy.net and looking for a file you just find who else on the internet has the file on their computer and ask if they will send it to you. BitTorrent works differently than any other P2P and fixes the major problems with the other popular clients. For example Kazaa has millions of users but only a fraction of those users share their files, this can become a big problem especially with rare files. 100 people may have a certain file but only 20 may be willing to share it. BitTorrent solves this major problem of sharing by forcing you to share your file.The speed you download is directly related to the speed you allow others to get parts of the file from you, so the more you give the more you get. BitTorrent will give you a little bit of the file you are looking for and then require you to share what you have with others in order to get more of that file. So lets say A, B, and C all want file X. First off you will need the file so someone will have to "seed" the file, this means that person D has the whole file and shares it with everyone. Now person A and B start to download file X and get 50% done, person C comes along and says "Hey I want that file too, may I have it?" Person C will now ask person A, B, and the seeder if they may download and everyone will say "sure". At this point person C will begin to download the first part of file X from person A, the mid point of file X form person B and the last of the file from the seeder. Now person A comes to person B and says "Hey I need the last part of file X and the seeder is busy can I get it from you?" Person B says " I don't have it yet either." Now person A and B will go to person C and say "may we have the last part of file X while we give you the first part?" and person C says "you bet you can here you go." I hope this isn't to confusing but I want you to understand how this all works and how great it really is. In simple terms you may be downloading the same file from 20 different people and at the same time be giving parts of that file the others don't have yet to them. This all happens quickly and automatically.

First off you will need a BT (BitTorrent) client, I recommend Azureus it is by far the best. http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

Of course there are many diffrent clients and they are free so feel free to try them all out but you will want Azureus especially if you have a firewall or router. BT will NOT work well if you have a router or firewall that is not configured for BT due to the fact that your computer will not allow others to ask you for the file and once everyones BT client thinks you are ignoring them and not sharing NOBODY will share with you.

Ok, so after you have downloaded and installed Azureus you need to get some files right? But where do you get the files, BT clients don't just search other users for the file you want so BT is not ideal if you are looking for certain pieces of shady material. (see porn in the dictionary) BT is ideal for large files such as uncopyrighted movies, music albums, apps, etc. BT will work for the shady material but there are better options. There are many sites devoted to BT, start with these 

http://isohunt.com/

www.bushtorrents.com

Now I have the BT client and websites with these GREAT files but when I click on them it just downloads a small file about 40k with the name of the program you are wanting.THIS SUCKS, right?

Ok, here is where BT gets a little different, you have to download a Torrent that has the tracker in it before you can get the file you want. This file basically says to your BT client "Ok, you want the file Shug7272bigsexy.avi, well you need to look for these people at this place and they will hook you up with it." So once you find the Torrent on these websites I listed (or others) you download it, it is a small file and when you double click it. Your BT client will open and start getting your file. BT takes a while to speed up because you have to "leech" (take the file you want without sharing) part of the file before you can share so the other clients don't trust you until you get enough and you start sharing. Once you have downloaded so much of the file you will start to share and upload to others, at this point other BT clients will say "hey look at this guy, he is sharing alot and uploading fast so lets send him whatever he wants as fast as we can." I usually download whatever I am after at about 200kbs after about 5-10 minutes.

Now then the whole nasty situation of "ports" comes into this equation. In the old days only those with a router needed to change their port settings in order to download fast (remember a router will act as a firewall and not allow others to share files from your computer so nobody will share with you.) but today isp's are blocking or limiting the ports that BT uses which is 6881-6889 by default. They are doing this so that you will not be able to share quickly with others and use the isp's bandwidth.

So lets fix this problem, when you start Azureus the wizard will guide you through picking a port. Don't pick a port between 6881-6889, this can cause slow speeds. Once you have picked your port you will be able to test it to see if this port is open and working. If your test comes out good your ready to go. If not the next section will tackle port forwarding and firewalls.

Great all done right, nope. If you have a firewall or router you will need to use "port forwarding". So, I use a linksys wireless G router. I first need to know my ip address before I can do much, so on your desktop in windows XP click Start->Run and type cmd and hit return. This will bring up a dos shell. Now type ipconfig and hit return. This will show you several things and your IP ADDRESS. Yea. Now just go into your firewall or routers configuration and forward the port you used in Azureus to that IP address, enable tcp and udp forwarding and enable. You should be all set. Depending on your router or firewall this process will be diffrent. For my linksys I enter http://192.168.1.1/ in my web browsers address bar and hit return, enter my name and password and it takes me to my routers configuration. I then select "Applications&Gaming" and then forward the ports from there. Good luck and if you need help PM me. See you on BT. You will also have to instruct any firewall you have to allow BT to use the port at will.

Contact the author of this guide >> Shug7272 >> https://testmy.net/forum/index.php?action=pm;sa=send;u=398