How to Increase uTorrent Download Speed
More than 150 million people use uTorrent, making it a top choice for downloading torrents. Sometimes, you might find your downloads slow or unstable. This can happen when your speed drops to zero Mbps.
Fortunately, there are simple ways to boost your torrent speed. You can tweak your connection settings or adjust your torrent client. We’ll show you how to make uTorrent faster without needing to be a tech expert.
Why Is My uTorrent Speed Slow?
Your torrent download speed might be slow for several reasons. Here are the most common reasons why your torrent downloading speed is slow:
- Your Internet Speed – The Internet plan you’re paying for may have a cap on the amount of data you’re able to consume each month or offer low Mbps download rates. The best way to fix this is by getting a higher Internet speed plan.
- Few Seeders and Too Many Leechers – Seeders are the number of people who have the complete file that you’re able to download from. Leechers are those who are also downloading the file. Files with more seeders and fewer leechers give better download rates.
- ISP Throttling Your Bandwidth – Some Internet Service Providers throttle your bandwidth when doing things like streaming or downloading torrents. A VPN for uTorrent can get around bandwidth throttling, or you’ll need to find a better ISP that doesn’t have this policy.
Other possible reasons for slow uTorrent downloads include your firewall getting in the way, your uTorrent settings, and your Wi-Fi connection. These things can all be adjusted, which we’ll cover in the following sections.
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How To Make uTorrent Download Faster on a PC
If you’re using a desktop computer to download torrent files, you can increase your download speed. Here are the best ways to increase uTorrent download speed on your PC:
How To Make uTorrent Download Faster
- Use a Wired Connection to Boost Internet Speed
- Download Torrent Files With More Seeders
- Don’t Have Many Simultaneous Active Downloads
- Allocate Bandwidth to the Torrent File
- Manually Select Bandwidth Allocation
- Enable UPnP Port Mapping
- Add a Firewall Exception
- Add More Trackers
1. Use a Wired Connection to Boost Internet Speed
Using a wireless connection to download torrents is convenient. But, it doesn’t provide the best downloading speed. If you’re annoyed by slow downloads, consider switching to a wired connection.
Connecting your desktop computer to your router or modem directly with an ethernet cable will almost always increase your maximum download speed. This is a simple step to take before trying other methods. It can improve your download speed, and you don’t need any technical knowledge to do this.
2. Download Torrent Files With More Seeders
More seeders mean faster download speeds. So, a file with more seeds will improve uTorrent speeds. Most torrent sites let you arrange your search results by seeders, with the files that have more seeds being at the top.
If your uTorrent download speed is slow on a specific torrent, look for a comparable file with more seeders and fewer leechers. Many torrent sites will have multiples of the same file. Find the one with the best seeder/leecher ratio and choose it instead. Don’t compromise your device’s security for a better torrent speed. Add only verified and safe files to your uTorrent client.
3. Don’t Have Many Simultaneous Active Downloads
Even with a fast Internet connection and many seeders, your download speed is capped. To get the best download speed, limit the number of active torrents.
It’s best to have only one active torrent at a time. Once a file finishes, the next one in line starts downloading. You can add many files to uTorrent, but make a queue for each one.
To set up one active download at a time, take the following steps:
- Select Preferences from the Options dropdown menu in uTorrent.
- Open the Queueing menu.
- Set the Maximum number of active downloads to one.
4. Allocate Bandwidth to the Torrent File
If you’re skipping the last tip and have many torrent downloads, you can prioritize them. You can give more bandwidth to the files you need faster. This way, the important files download quicker, and the less important ones download slower.
To do this in uTorrent, it’s quite simple:
- Right-click the file you want to allocate bandwidth to.
- Hover over Bandwidth Allocation to open the menu.
- For files that need to download quickly, choose High, and for less important files, choose Low.
5. Manually Select Bandwidth Allocation
To boost your uTorrent speed, try tweaking the bandwidth settings. You can adjust several options in the Bandwidth menu to speed up uTorrent.
First, tweak the Global Upload Rate Limiting. A high upload rate can slow down your downloads. But, setting it too low can also hurt speeds. Aim for 70% to 80% of your max upload speed.
Next, check your Global Download Rate Limiting. This setting controls your download speed. For instance, a 1,000Kbps limit means your speed tops out at 1Mbps. Setting it to zero lets uTorrent use your full connection speed, which can greatly improve your download speed.
Lastly, play with the number of connections. The right number depends on your internet. Too many can cause slowdowns. You don’t need to change the upload slots per torrent.
Try different numbers to find the best. Setting your global connections to 150 and peers to 100 can help speed up uTorrent.
To change your bandwidth settings, follow these steps:
- Click Options in uTorrent and select Preferences.
- Go to the Bandwidth tab.
- Under Global Upload Rate Limiting, set your maximum upload rate to around 70% to 80% of your max upload speed.
- Now, set your Global Download Rate Limiting to zero.
- In Global maximum number of connections, type in 150, or test different amounts to find the ideal connection number for you.
- For the Maximum number of connected peers per torrent option, you can either test out different numbers or just opt for 100.
6. Enable UPnP Port Mapping
Let’s dive into more advanced tips. You can enable UPnP port mapping to make your torrent clients forward ports better. Not all torrent software has this option. But, if you’re using uTorrent, this can help speed it up.
Here’s how to enable UPnP port mapping:
- Open uTorrent, click the Options dropdown menu, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Connection tab.
- Check the box next to Enable UPnP port mapping.
- Click the box next to Enable NAT-PMP port mapping.
- Hit the OK or Apply button.
7. Add a Firewall Exception
Windows Firewall might be blocking your Utorrent download speed. This happens when your firewall stops incoming connections to your BitTorrent client. Luckily, fixing this is simple with uTorrent. Here’s how to add uTorrent to your Firewall exceptions:
- Go to the Options menu and click Preferences.
- Click the menu labeled Connections.
- Check the box next to Add Windows Firewall exception
- Hit the Apply or OK button to confirm the action.
8. Add More Trackers
The more seeders you have, the faster your file will download. To increase seeders, add more trackers to your download. You can find active uTorrent trackers by doing a simple Google search.
Once you find the trackers you want, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the file and open Properties.
- Copy the trackers and paste them under Trackers. Don’t worry about duplicates, but don’t delete existing ones. Separate each tracker with an empty line.
- Click the OK button.
How to Increase uTorrent Speed on Android
As an uTorrent Android user, you can take steps to boost your download speeds. Some methods work on the app too. For example, pick torrents with lots of seeders and tweak your bandwidth settings.
Another tip is to download over a fast Wi-Fi network instead of using mobile data. To get the fastest speeds, adjust your bandwidth settings on Android:
- Open the uTorrent app and go to Settings.
- In the Bandwidth menu, go to Download Limit and slide it to Max KB/s.
- Open the Upload Limit slider and lower it to around 20 KB/s.
- Tap the Set button.
How to Speed Up uTorrent With a VPN
Bandwidth throttling is when your ISP limits your internet speed. This makes downloads slow. BitTorrent users often face this issue, affecting their uTorrent speeds. But, using a VPN can help bypass this problem and boost your download speed.
A good VPN encrypts your internet traffic. This way, torrent users can download files without their ISPs noticing. Your ISP won’t know what you’re doing online, so they can’t slow down your speeds.
Also, a VPN protects you from legal trouble when downloading copyrighted materials. Always use a VPN when torrenting. If your VPN has ad blocking, you can also avoid annoying uTorrent ads.
Which Strategies Work Best?
Several strategies can improve uTorrent speeds, but some work better than others. The fastest way to fix slow downloads is to add more seeders to your file.
Choose a file with more seeders and fewer leechers. Adding trackers to your download can also help. Adjusting your bandwidth settings and using a wired connection can also boost your speed.
To download a file quickly, give it more bandwidth. Put other downloads in the queue. Make sure uTorrent has a firewall exception. Port forwarding can also speed up seeding and downloading.
These tips should help your uTorrent client run better. They can significantly increase your internet speed. These tips work for other torrent clients too, not just uTorrent.
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