http://www.limewire.com/english/content/netsize.shtml shows most are having quite good success--the people only search out these forums when they have problems, and they are a very small portion of the regular users.

re the ISP problem, others here on the forums generously helped me find out it wasn't LW. Thanks to an upload packet dump analysis and comparisons between two ISP's, my preferred ISP told me they were using the NBAR p2p controls that CISCO supplies with all their routers (not all ISP's turn all or part of its options). They also tried the Sandvine p2p controls for a while.

The solution here was simple--they allowed me to connect through a high numbered port .

I use gnutella to share legitimate content, so could expect my ISP to cooperate and honour my needs, which they eventually did. However, most of the help desk were unaware that the network engineers were experimenting with p2p controls, and I had to learn by trial and error how to set up and configure the systems (Mac only) and home network properly to be sure the problem wasn't at my end, which it often was at first.

My crude methods involved trying several clients (LW and Acq mostly; drumbeat and neo once or twice--ashton hadn't written poisoned then) on several machines for over a year, switching between direct and NAT'ed connections, and all the while trying to keep up with the changes in hardware like router and cablemodem upgrades, up Java, OSX, and other gnutella users. Firewalls are the biggest block to p2p communications.

Too many variables, and probably too little help to you.

Short answer? Focus on uploads first to learn how downloads can get screwed, and find out if poisoned uses port-hopping to get around your ISP's.