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Cancel Cable: How Internet Pirates Get Free Stuff

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Chapter 6 – Installing a BitTorrent Client

A client is a program that can, among other things, download files. A web browser, for example, is a client that downloads and displays webpages. An email client (say, Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail) lets you download and manage your mail. To download files via BitTorrent, you must install and configure a BitTorrent client. (In the broader context of networks, client refers to an entire computer; in this chapter, it’s a specific piece of software.)

About BitTorrent Clients

Wikipedia lists BitTorrent clients External link. For Windows and OS X, I use µTorrent External link, the most popular client. Other commonly used clients include Vuze External link, BitTorrent External link, and Transmission External link. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with Tixati External link. All are free and some run on several operating systems. For basic tasks, mainstream clients work similarly — learn to drive one and you can drive the rest. This book’s examples use µTorrent. (The “µ” is the lowercase Greek letter mu and here denotes the scientific prefix for “micro”. For typographic ease, “µTorrent” goes by the name “uTorrent” on the web. To make searching easier, this ebook uses “uTorrent”.)

Installing a Client

Installing a BitTorrent client is no different from installing other programs. To be sure that a client isn’t infected with malware, download it only from the publisher’s website, not some third-party site. Before installation, shut down any antimalware (antivirus) programs. Separate instructions for Windows and OS X installations follow.

To install uTorrent (Windows):

  1. Go to utorrent.com External link, click the Download link, and then save the file utorrent.exe on your drive. (The site autodetects Windows.)

    utorrent.com homepage
  2. When the download completes, double-click torrent.exe and run the uTorrent Setup Wizard.

    uTorrent Setup Wizard Welcome page
  3. On the “Welcome to the uTorrent Setup Wizard” page, click Next.
  4. On the “Warning” page, click Next.
  5. On the “License Agreement” page, click I Agree.
  6. On the “Choose Install Location” page, accept the default installation folder or click Browse to use or create a different location. If you like, turn off the Start-menu and icon checkboxes. Click Next.

    uTorrent Setup Wizard Choose Install Location page
  7. On the “Configuration” page, turn on “Add an exception for uTorrent in Windows Firewall” to let uTorrent communicate through Windows’ built-in firewall. If you’re using a third-party firewall, you must configure it separately.

    If you pay for internet service by the megabyte or if you don’t plan to use uTorrent heavily, turn off “Start uTorrent when Windows starts up”. (You can change this setting later in the Preferences window.)
  8. On the “uTorrent Browser Bar Optional Installation” page, turn off all the checkboxes (all are spam options). Click Install.

    uTorrent registers itself as the default program for .torrent files and opens.

To install uTorrent (OS X):

  1. Go to utorrent.com External link, click the Download link, and then save the disk image (.dmg file) on your drive. (The site autodetects OS X.)
  2. When the download completes, double-click the .dmg file.

    A disk icon appears on your desktop and the uTorrent window opens (if it doesn’t open, double-click the disk icon).

    uTorrent Installation window
  3. In the uTorrent window, drag the uTorrent.app icon and drop it on the Applications icon.

    uTorrent registers itself as the default program for .torrent files. To open uTorrent, click its icon in the Applications folder.
  4. After installing uTorrent, you can delete the .dmg file and remove the disk icon from your desktop by dragging it to the Trash or right-clicking (or Ctrl-clicking) it and choosing Eject.

Getting Help

Before you start pirating, configure uTorrent to work with your particular system. Following the general instructions in this chapter will usually get you fast download speeds with uTorrent’s default settings, but ekeing out every last bit per second depends on more factors than can be covered here, including your operating system, connection speed, latency, internet service provider (ISP), router, and firewall. If you need to troubleshoot, tweak, or better understand your configuration, try any of the following resources:

Limiting Upload Rates

Recall from Chapter 2 that BitTorrent requires all peers to simultaneously upload and download shared files. The top speed at which you can transfer data (up or down) depends on your bandwidth — the more you pay your ISP, the greater your bandwidth. Data speeds for DSL, cable, fiber, and other broadband connections let you download much faster than you can upload. This asymmetry arose because ordinary users generally receive (download) many more webpages, videos, pictures, messages, programs, and documents than they publish (upload).

Because too much outbound traffic can choke your download speed, you must throttle, or limit, uTorrent’s maximum upload speed. In general, you don’t have to throttle download speed. You can throttle upload rates automatically or manually.

To set the maximum upload rate automatically (Windows):

  1. Quit all programs that access the internet, including browsers, mail/chat clients, antimalware, Skype, iTunes, and backup tools.
  2. Open uTorrent and choose Options > Setup Guide or press Ctrl+G.
  3. In the uTorrent Setup Guide, choose the location closest to you from the Bandwidth drop-down list. If a somewhat nearby place isn’t listed, skip the remaining steps and set the upload rate manually, as described later in this section.
  4. Click Run Tests and wait until the tests finish.

    uTorrent Setup Guide
  5. If the Bandwidth test succeeded, click Save & Close. If it failed, set the upload rate manually, as described later in this section.

    If the Network test succeeded, click Save & Close. If it failed, check the resources listed in “Getting Help” earlier in this chapter and search for firewall or router or port forwarding.

To set the maximum upload rate automatically (OS X):

  1. Quit all programs that access the internet, including browsers, mail/chat clients, antimalware, Skype, iTunes, and backup tools.
  2. Open uTorrent.
  3. Choose uTorrent > Preferences or press Command+, (comma).
  4. In the Preferences window, click Bandwidth, and then turn on “Limit upload rate automatically”.

    uTorrent Bandwidth Preferences

To set the maximum upload rate manually (Windows or OS X):

  1. Quit all programs that access the internet, including browsers, mail/chat clients, antimalware, Skype, iTunes, and backup tools.
  2. Open your browser and go to a website that can test broadband speeds. I use speedtest.net External link or dslreports.com/speedtest External link, but you can find others by searching the web for speed test, bandwidth test, internet connection speed, or a similar phrase. (Always run an independent speed test. Don’t use the speeds that your ISP advertises.)
  3. Run the test and note your upload speed. For more-accurate results, run the same test two or three times and calculate the average upload speed.

    Speedtest results 1

    Speedtest results 2
  4. If necessary, convert the upload speed to kilobytes per second (KB/s).

    Different sites report upload speeds in different units, such as megabits per second (Mb/s) or kilobits per second (Kb/s). The case of the letter “b” matters: an uppercase “B” means bytes and a lowercase “b” means bits. One byte = eight bits. If your upload speed is reported in KB/s, then use that number; otherwise, convert to KB/s by using one of the following formulas:
    • To convert from Mb/s (megabits per second) to KB/s, multiply Mb/s by 128. For example, 0.95 Mb/s × 128 = 121.6 KB/s.
    • To convert from Kb/s (kilobits per second) to KB/s, multiply Kb/s by 0.125. For example, 909 Kb/s × 0.125 = 113.6 KB/s.
    • To convert from MB/s (megabytes per second) to KB/s, multiply Mb/s by 1024. For example, 0.115 MB/s × 1024 = 117.8 KB/s.
  5. Multiply the upload speed by 0.8 and note the result (80% of capacity). For example, 117.8 KB/s × 0.8 = 94.2 KB/s.
  6. Open uTorrent and do one of the following:
    • In Windows, choose Options > Preferences (Ctrl+P) > Bandwidth (in the left pane) and set “Maximum upload rate (kB/s)” to the number that you calculated in the preceding step (rounded to the nearest whole number). Click OK.

      uTorrent Bandwidth Preferences
    • In OS X, choose uTorrent > Preferences (Command+,) > Bandwidth, turn off “Limit upload rate automatically”, turn on “Limit upload rate manually to”, and then set the limit to the number that you calculated in the preceding step (rounded to the nearest whole number). Close Preferences.

      uTorrent Bandwidth Preferences

Other Settings

Though uTorrent’s default configuration settings work fine in most cases, you can adjust them to suit you.

Limit download rates. If uTorrent is hogging bandwidth and slowing your browser, Skype calls, or other internet applications, you can do any of the following:

Adjust upload rates. If you followed the instructions in “Limiting Upload Rates” earlier in this chapter, then you limited your upload rate to about 80% of your bandwidth’s upload capacity. If you adjust this rate, keep it within about 70%–80% of capacity or your download speed may suffer (either choked by uTorrent or swamped by outbound traffic).

Elude traffic shapers. Some ISPs engage in traffic shaping, intentionally blocking or throttling BitTorrent traffic (politics and money). If your ISP shapes traffic, then your BitTorrent downloads will progress more slowly than your normal (HTTP/FTP) downloads. The Vuze Wiki lists bad ISPs External link. You can determine whether your ISP is throttling traffic by using the Max Planck Institute’s Glasnost service External link. The arms race between pirates and ISPs has left it hard to fool traffic shapers but a few basic countermeasures (short of switching ISPs) may help:

Check firewall settings. You can make sure that your firewall has an exception allowing uTorrent traffic. In Windows, open the Start menu and choose Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall > “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall” (in the left pane). In OS X, open the Apple menu and choose System Preferences > Security > Firewall > Advanced. For third-party firewalls, read the documentation.

Windows Firewall Allowed Programs window.

Check for updates. To be sure that you’re using the latest version of uTorrent, check for updates automatically. In Windows, choose Options > Preferences (Ctrl+P) > General (in the left pane) and turn on “Check for updates automatically”. In OS X, choose uTorrent > Preferences (Command+,) > General and turn on “Automatically check for updates”.

Check connectivity at a glance. A color-coded network icon on the right side of the status bar indicates your connectivity. (The status bar runs along the bottom of the uTorrent window. To show it in Windows, choose Options > Show Status Bar or press F6.) A green icon means everything is OK. A persistent yellow icon or a red icon means a router or firewall problem. A clear icon means no torrents are active. Clicking the icon opens the Setup Guide (Windows) or Network Preferences (OS X). For details, open the uTorrent help file and search for status bar.

Try a different BitTorrent client. If you install a different BitTorrent client, it will register itself as the default program for .torrent files. In Windows, if don’t want uTorrent to be your default client, choose Options > Preferences (Ctrl+P) > General (in the left pane) and turn off “Check association on startup” (for details about associations, see Chapter 3).

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