How to speed up torrenting: 7 superfast hacks

Torrenting is just another way of getting files spread from one computer to another. While many people associate torrents with illegal download, it’s just a technology. That would be like saying YouTube is illegal because there are songs that break copyright on YouTube.

Torrenting is just technology. What you do with it makes it legal or unlawful. It’s up to you to make sure you try to use torrents legally and ethically.

Remember to stay safe while torrenting. Here are our 5 best VPN providers for the fastest torrenting experience:

1. NordVPN

   The best VPN for torrenting overall
   9.8
2. Surfshark VPN

   P2P-sharing torrent VPN with infinite connections
   9.5
3. TotalVPN

   Affordable VPN for torrenting with extra security tools
   8.2
4. PrivateVPN

   Torrent VPN with great P2P features
   8.7
5. Proton VPN

   Private & secure P2P VPN for torrenting
   8.6

In this article, we will be walking you through using torrents and ultimately on how to speed up torrenting. But first, it’s important to know why and how torrenting works, this is to ensure you have a basic knowledge of torrents before delving into speeding up torrents.

These are the different parts we are going to cover today:

• what makes torrenting so special
• how torrenting works in 2018
• how to download using torrents
• the must-haves of torrenting
• how to speed up torrenting in 7 simple ways

What makes torrenting so special?

In today’s world, we have several methods of downloading files from the internet. The conventional method of downloading is copying a file from a remote server. Other options include downloading files from the cloud using cloud-sharing services.

With torrenting, sharing files is a little bit different and these are reasons it stands out.

• When downloading torrent files, you get to take advantage of the full access you have with your internet connection. Downloads aren’t limited when using torrents for downloads; you get the fastest speed your connection can provide.
• Quality of downloads is at its peak when downloading files using torrents. Torrents helps sort out corrupted and unresponsive files. For this reason, files download through torrents are of high-quality.
• Apart from torrent clients that profit from the whole technology by displaying ads, torrents are open source and free from advertising
• It’s also important to note that torrents don’t depend on any single server. You only take bits from a user’s machine to complete a download of a file to your machine.

How torrenting works in 2024

What is incredible about the torrent technology is that instead of the data being on a server where there are limited connections, the torrent breaks the file into pieces while sharing from all the computers it is on to everyone else.

That is the simple technology behind torrents.

This type of file sharing is far more efficient than other forms of downloading since so many connections can be made at once making it the most efficient way of sharing files on your computer with others.

To work with torrents, there are some important things that you’ll need to do.

Get a reliable Bit Torrent client

The first step to take when downloading a torrent file is to use a reliable torrent client. A Bit Torrent client will help you manage all your downloads in one place.

There are lots of torrents clients out there, sticking to reliable sources is key to ensuring your computer is safe from adware. uTorrent and Vuze are two reliable sources you can get your torrent client from. For this example, we will be using uTorrent.

1. Download uTorrent. Choose from the pricing option according to your needs and download.

1. Install the torrent client. Remember to be careful when installing the torrent client, If you are not downloading from a reliable source, it’s possible for the installers to be laced with harmful malwares.

1. You get your uTorrent interface like this.

Find a dependable torrent site or tracker site

Now that we have a torrent client, what we need next is a dependable torrent site that has lists of torrent files. These sites, in most cases, don’t host the torrent files, they only serve as an intermediary.

A simple Google search will show you some public torrent sites you can start from.

It’s important to note that some torrent sites don’t stay too long on the net before closing down. As at the time of writing this article, Kickass Torrents mirror/new site (katcr.co) is still live, and we will be using this for our guide.

Download your torrent file

Once you get to the homepage of Kickass Torrents, you can:

1. Search for an item or click on “switch to full page” to get access to the front page files.

1. After finding your desired file, click on it, in the image below, we have chosen “Puppet master…”Click on the “Download Magnet” button and if you have your uTorrent client installed as shown above, your download start automatically.

1. The magnet file will trigger your uTorrent client software to open. Select a path you want to save your file and click OK as shown in the image below.

1. Download begins after selecting a path to save file.

Now that we have shown you how torrenting works and how you can possibly get your first torrent file downloaded, it’s time show you how to speed up torrenting using the outlined methods

How to speed up torrenting in 7 simple and fast ways

A lot of people are keen to download or transfer huge digital files within fraction of seconds. Many have been able to keep a good account on one of the most demandable private BitTorrent tracking service providers to speed up their torrenting experience.

There are some great ways to speed up torrents, but you’ll need to find the best methods that will work for you.

In this section, we will be showing various ways to speed up torrenting.

1. Check your Internet connection from your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

They can identify your maximum download speed based on your subscription. The most basic type is the Dial-up connection where the connection is through a phone line.

If you use this type, you may consider upgrading to a Broadband connection for faster speed access. The option for Broadband includes DSL (Direct Service Line) or a cable connection. Your ISP should be able to confirm their speed for each connection.

2. Prioritize your downloads

If you are downloading a lot of torrent files simultaneously, chances are the download will be slower. Download first the more important ones then do the rest later. If possible, try downloading just one file at a time. This will increase your speed significantly.

If you are downloading multiple torrent files, right click on the file with less priority and click on pause. You can continue with the next file after the prioritized file is downloaded.

3. Download torrents with high number of seeders

Torrents with a higher number of leechers to seeders are slower and will take significantly longer to download than the inverse. In some cases, a torrent file with little to no seeds will make the entire download incomplete.

One way around this is to check if your favorite torrent site filters file based on number of seeders.

For example, Kickass Torrents arranges their files with files having top hundred seeders at the right of their homepage.

4. Make use of Seedbox

Seedbox devices have recently become popular among BitTorrent users. When installed in high-speed networks, seedbox will be able to give a boost to the torrent transfers rate & make it easier to handle through any browser sitting anywhere in the world.

But it should not be mistaken that seedbox use is only limited to speed enhancement of BitTorrent transfer.

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The ‘seedbox’ is a not such a familiar term that many of us would be familiar with it. A dedicated and private server designed for downloading & uploading of larger digital files at faster rates is known as a dedicated seedbox.

There are several advantages of seedbox services:

1. high speed:  Dedicated or shared seedbox servers operate at a faster speed than the usual home-based internet service.
2. instant downloading and uploading facility: Seedboxes allow unlimited bandwidth in the uploading of files & help them transfer at a faster rate in both ways.
3. economic advantage: The seedbox gives the user an opportunity to get economic advantage regarding cost & performance which is absent in case of non-seedbox users. It also enables him/her to keep a healthy dedicated seedbox account.
4. round the clock access to torrents facility: Seedbox is far more superior to BitTorrent trackers as they will provide users with the access to seedbox servers at any time & from anywhere in the world.
5. no risk of ISP capping: Since the seedbox traffic does not include ISP account details in them, the user does not face any risk of ISP capping.

There are service providers that give out seedboxes for a period of time with a payment plan. Some recommended providers are:

1. Seedbox.io
2. RapidSeedBox
3. DediSeedBox

5. Change client’s number of connection 

Increase speed by making changes to number of connection. The reason behind changing the number of connection is to avoid any overload.

There is no specific number to change the number of connections to, but if you play with the numbers, you might have better results apart from what we will be recommending.

A good number to start with is 150-170 for global maximum numbers of connection, and 100-120 for maximum numbers of connected peers per torrent.

To achieve this, follow these steps

• Click on option
• Select preferences from the drop-down
• Select Bandwidth from the available option them change your settings to the numbers shown in the image below

6. Add a firewall exception to the client 

Another effective way of increasing the speed of your torrent files, be it uploading or downloading is to add a firewall exception to your torrent client software. To add a firewall exception to uTorrent

• Click on option at the top left corner of uTorrent client
• Locate “preference” on the drop-down option
• Click on “Connection“ from the left tab
• Check “Add firewall exception”

7. Limit client global upload and download rates

To increase torrents speed, limiting your torrent’s client global upload and download rates will help speed things up. This method has only been tried on popular torrent clients like BitTorrent, uTorrent and qBitTorrent.

Most clients have their upload and download rates set at 0 (unlimited) which is not advisable.

The perfect range to keep your upload rate is anywhere between 70-80% while the download rate should remain at 0.

To change this setting using uTorrent, follow these easy steps:

• Click on option in the top left-hand corner
• Locate Preference in the drop-down list
• Click on Bandwidth
• Set the global upload rate to 70%
• Click Apply  then OK

There you have it, the steps outlined above shows you exactly how to make torrenting faster.

There are no set formulas to achieving this, but with a lot of trials and errors from your side, you will be able to find what works best for you.

Do you have any other tips or tricks on how to speed up torrenting? Let us know in the comments below!