Can someone explain Bittorrent? How does it work?

[Room101]

Is it a file sharing program like Kazaa? Whats the deal with it?

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Yes.

Okay, I have used it to get tv shows that I couldn't otherwise get, but essentially you download the bittorrent client, then you find a site that allows you to download torrent files. The torrent file sorta links you up with the people who currently have the that file shared out and you download a little here and a little there from each person until you get the entire thing.

It's a bit more reliable and secure than Kazaa.

And remember, if you do decide to use it, it is considered good practice to leave your active torrent files open and running for awhile so that you can...ahem...give as well as receive.

[mouse7]

2. Use Shareaza for e-donkey, bittorent, and gnutilla protocols

Much better client. One of the best. It's free and has no spyware or crud like that.

Link to shareaza...

http://www.shareaza.com/

[Room101]

3. Why is the download speed on Bittorrent so slow?

Im downloading "Uncovered the whole truth about the Iraq war" the speed is at 3kb. I have a cable modem, what is the deal?

[BritishHuman]

4. You're getting it off other people

And they may have crappy speeds, or be sharing with a lot of people.

Also, when I use my full upload my download speed drops markedly - last time I used bittorrent you couldn't throttle upload, so I sometimes suffered with that.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. And there may not be a lot of seeds.

The more seeds there are, the faster the download.

[Kamika]

6. never managed to figure out bitorrent

Direct connect is easier and much better I think

[Nomad559]

7. It's crap

Save yourself a headache BEFOREATHOUGHT, Bittorrent Is crap. Go to any Bittorrent help forum and see for yourself the problems with Bittorrent. Slow speeds, fake files and viruses are common.
I suspect that the majority of people that try It, stop using It after a couple of days, as I did.

[Room101]

8. Thanks everyone,

I'm downloading Moveon's "Uncovered" right now from Bittorrent I will see how it goes. Looks like I will stay with Kazaa.

[Kamika]

9. try direct connect

its a billion times 10 times better then kazaa

[Selwynn]

15. What the hell is "direct connect?"

[Kamika]

16. its a program..

called "direct connect"
http://www.neo-modus.com/

get the dc++ client

http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/

and no offence but you don't need to use harsch language.

Ok DC is probably the best out there but you need atleast 5 gigabytes of stuff to get into the best "hubs" and you cant share installed stuff, has to be mp3s.. or rips of cds etc

[starroute]

10. My son, looking over my shoulder, objected to that

He said, "I don't know what this 'fake files and viruses' crap is. If you go to reputable sites and download respectable files, instead of warez sites, you shouldn't have any problem."

He finds BitTorrent excellent, especially for new things that a lot of people are trading around at once. It's only older and more obscure files, which hardly anyone is sharing, that may be hard to find and give you terrible download speeds if you do find them.

[Room101]

12. BitTorrent just gave me a blue screen

GRRRRRR

[Liberal Veteran]

14. Never had that happen....which client are you using?

Using the experimental client I never had that happen at all. But it will let you resume if you stop a download intentionally or unintentionally.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. I agree with your son...

I have never had any problem with bittorrent. No fake files or viruses. Download speeds are not really any worse usually than Kazaa and sometimes better except as you said on older torrents that no one is seeding.

[Nomad559]

18. http://suprnova.org/

It's funny how the BitTorrent users never suggest that the new users should visit a BitTorrent forum and read the pros and cons of the BitTorrent client, and then decide for themselves If BitTorrent Is a good or bad choice for a peer to peer client.

I've been using warez sites for over 4 years, and I have never downloaded a virus. I've only downloaded about 2 or 3 fake files, and the download speeds I get on warez sites are great.

[karnac]

11. Audiognome is my choice.

Alot of features. But if you don't have anything to trade, forget it!

[bbernardini]

17. BitTorrent and Direct Connect are both great!

I do a lot of downloading of lossless live audio, and both programs have been a godsend. I have never had any problems with BitTorrent. Yes, speeds will sometimes be slow, as only one person might be offering a fileset. Once that fileset is spread out amongst a bunch of people, however, look out! (Your speed may also depend on the popularity of what you're trying to download, obviously.)

I only visit a small amount of Direct Connect hubs dedicated to lossless live audio as well. Yes, some require a minimum share, but those wanting you to share 5 gig of mp3s are probably not worth it anyway. (The file sizes I deal in tend to make a 5 gig minimum slightly more realistic, but I've never seen one that high.)