I've got my own theory about the reported d/l speed problems.

Yes, absolutely make all the LW configuration settings recommended by murasame and as well check out the tweaks FAQ at http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/tweaks.

However! I have done all these and my LW d/l speed is still nasty (10k if I'm lucky and this is with 8+ hosts), while at the same time I can easily achieve 300k+ from http, ftp and torrent.

With Limewire, I wonder if too many people are choking their upload speed thinking that it will improve their download speed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with broadband, the one doesn't affect the other, correct? In other words, allowing full bandwidth for uploads will not slow downloads? I allow close to 100% bandwidth for uploads and I've not seen a negative effect on my d/l speed. My d/l speed sucks whether I give uploads 100% or turn them off altogether.

If the u/l bandwidth restrictions are the problem, then maybe we need a MASSIVE education effort to convince the new LW users that sharing at full speed is a *good thing.* Otherwise, maybe LW should just get rid of the option to adjust upload speed/slots totally.

Or maybe I'm just fulla shite.

Could be . . . but also the network has almost tripled these last few months see netsize. I suspect most of the new people don't "get it" yet that this is a file SHARING network, but enough of them will probably come around eventually. We've all been there before.

For download speed checks, against one of the latest free offerings from the www.magnetmix.com page (the link is also built into LW), I'd say gnutella speeds/reliability are pretty comparable to what I can see with downloads from Apple.

As for limiting uploads, I NEED the ability to limit uploads, or my ISP automatically throttles the bandwidth if I exceed 70 GB a month (it's easy to see LW serve up 3 or 4 GB/ DAY). Also, with UL's throttled to 80%, I can use my computer without noticing it lagging,

Still--the bottom line (oh well--pun noted) is right on: more and better sharers need to be encouraged.

No my friend, you could be totally right. You see, it is indeed true that in Broadband, Upload and Download bandwidths are totally separate.
Also, about the "convincing people to start uploading at full speed" part, try "convincing people to start uploading altogether". Too many people are afraid of getting caught for uploading, without knowing that they can get caught for dlding too (pff). Besides, you can only get in trouble if you're veeery unlucky and, more importantly, are using P2P to dld (or share, for those of you who are "kind" enough) all the latest movies (just go rent them for chrissakes).

__________________
iMac G4 OSX 10.3.9
RAM 256MB
LW 4.10.5 Basic
ADSL anything from 3 to 8Mbps/around 1024kbps

"Raise your can of Beer on high
And seal your fate forever
Our best years have passed us by
The Golden Age Of Leather"
-Blue Öyster Cult-

Also, don't forget about some ISPs (stupidily) regulating P2P traffic by reducing bandwidth allocated to it (I have no idea how the do it, but then again I don't know many things).

__________________
iMac G4 OSX 10.3.9
RAM 256MB
LW 4.10.5 Basic
ADSL anything from 3 to 8Mbps/around 1024kbps

"Raise your can of Beer on high
And seal your fate forever
Our best years have passed us by
The Golden Age Of Leather"
-Blue Öyster Cult-

I wonder if my ISP limits my connection. Like Techwomyn I am very lucky to get 8K, 12-15K, wow! the rare times I see 30K flash for one brief second. The other day, out of frustration, I tried BitTorrent: once it got going, it *flew*. Close to 300K.

I use Earthlink; however, in the city I live in, it really isn't Earthlink's servers I go through: I go through RoadRunner, and then I hit a bottleneck of AOL servers.

Re: The freeloaders: Once I got frustrated with them, so I shared a text file along w each program file I shared. It was worded so anyone doing a search for all types of files would pull it up. The file's name was: "If you are looking for [insert app] ..." and the accompanying text said, "You will not be able to upload it if you are a freeloader. Try sharing some files of your own for a change!"

I know that was bad, but I just couldn't help myself.

__________________
Currently sticking with an older version of Limewire Pro 4.8.1, which has proven more stable

PowerMac G4 933 with ISP Brighthouse/Roadrunner broadband 15/2 connection running Mac OS X 10.2.8

~~~~~~~~

Details of my computer (firewall, RAM, hard disk), network set-up, country, and all can be found here: http://limewiresettings.jottit.com/

you can set limewire so that it don upload 2 freeloaders
options>advanced>preferencing

I realize I can set Limewire to disallow freeloaders, or even set the number of files they have to share -- I guess I was just having one of those days.

__________________
Currently sticking with an older version of Limewire Pro 4.8.1, which has proven more stable

PowerMac G4 933 with ISP Brighthouse/Roadrunner broadband 15/2 connection running Mac OS X 10.2.8

~~~~~~~~

Details of my computer (firewall, RAM, hard disk), network set-up, country, and all can be found here: http://limewiresettings.jottit.com/

Well, just to be on the 100% certain side, I did check with my provider and they have no limits on p2p or other protocols. I didn't think so, as I am with one of the best providers in the Netherlands (they absolutely refuse to divulge names/IP numbers of ANY of their customers) so I couldn't see where they would have a problem with p2p.

So, that's eliminated. My firewall has a nice big gnutella hole drilled through it and both my WinXP and OSX boxes are configured correctly.

I used to blame the LimeWire program itself, but no longer, as the searches are fast and complete. Once in a blue moon I'll still see the 250+kbps speed spike, but so very, very rarely. I'm also sharing close to 800 files, so I doubt if the freeloader block is the issue.

Out of curiousity, what do you all of you have for your freeloader settings? I always allow freeloaders and they don't have to share. I've got 700 kbps (potential) on my up-pipe - I don't mind sharing it at all.

Just recriprocate, dammit!

The freeloader setting does nothing at all!!! It was working in old versions (I think) but not anymore as you can't tell surely if someone is freeloading.

Ciao

__________________
Liens d'intérêt /Links of interest:
Gnutellaforums en français /The House's rules you have to respect / First search the forum, then create a thread / Free software alternatives! - Logiciels alternatifs gratuits!/

The freeloader settings in the newest version, 4.0, do not work?

I am using an older version; sorry don't have it in front of me, but will guess 3.5.8 or something like that.

After perusing this thread, I decided last night to disallow freeloaders. If they are discouraged, soon they will learn they HAVE to share, and that is tough love.

Last night I set my freeloaders so they had to share 100 files. Nothing. So I set it to 50. Nothing. 35. Nothing. At 20, I finally started getting uploads.

While I realize they may be sharing monster-sized programs, they may only be sharing 20 mp3s. I upped it this morning back to 35, but am tempted to clear all files and set it to 50 for 24 hours just to see how many can get in. I share 428 files at the moment, anc could add more, but some of mine are older and may not be as popular. I don't think a setting of 50 is unreasonable, I think someone sharing only 20 files ...

Anyway, the freeloaders settings definitely still work in my version.

__________________
Currently sticking with an older version of Limewire Pro 4.8.1, which has proven more stable

PowerMac G4 933 with ISP Brighthouse/Roadrunner broadband 15/2 connection running Mac OS X 10.2.8

~~~~~~~~

Details of my computer (firewall, RAM, hard disk), network set-up, country, and all can be found here: http://limewiresettings.jottit.com/