Greetings.

I've been using Limewire for several years now. I used to live in SD. Just this May, I was able to download large files (150 megs+) from a DSL modem at anywhere from 20 KB to 120 KB consistently! Even from only one other host. And this is in South Dakota, where the farmers have no need for high-speed internet.

I moved to Reno in June and resumed downloading files connected through a Cable modem. However, the rate I see now usually runs along the lines of "Downloading from 7 hosts @ 0KB." I rarely see a D/L speed get above 10 KB, and it never lasts.

The ISP website is geared toward "idiot users," in that there are no real answers in their support section ("Try unplugging your modem, waiting a few moments, and then plugging it back in.").

In spite of the slow speed on Limewire, Safari can easily download iTunes and Quicktime updates at 250 KB.

Can someone please explain to me what happened?
Am I being throttled, so to speak?
Was the 120 KB just a fluke?
Why is Safari still fast and Limewire suddenly slow?
Is this what is referred to as "filtering" in other posts?
Should I call my ISP?
Am I asking too many questions?
Can someone stop me?
Help?

Thank you for your help.

There is a chance your speeds are being throttled/filtered. Let's try something & see what speeds you get. Downld a magnet link file from this site: http://www.magnetmix.com/video.shtml & report back as to what speeds you get. Have a look at Stief’s example: http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...692#post138692 to see what speeds you can get.

Another option is to change your port. To do this, go to LW's preferences >Advanced>Firewalls & change the listening port to one of the following: 3500, 1203, 80, 20282, or 443. After you change it, press apply, go to File>Connect or disconnect & reconnect & give it time to connect & settle. I'm not sure if you need to re-open LW after the change or not. If you do see an improvement then it looks like your isp is filtering speeds on port 6346 which is the official gnutella network port.

Okay.

Well, first of all, thank you for your help.

I changed the port number several times. While my D/L seemed to pick up, the increase was negligible.

The magnetmix file peaked out at around 2,300 KB/s for about 10 seconds, and then bottomed out to 5 KB/s. Also, it was the second file I attempted. The first file didn't even start. Generally, the D/L was very erratic, but still better than what I've been seeing.

I also forgot to mention that I'm running LW 4.8.1 on OSX 10.2.8. And I've also stayed up to watch D/L speed during off-peak hours. Even at 4 AM, they were crawling. 5 PM or 5 AM, they're always slow. Will ISPs constantly throttle?

My other downloads are doing a little better, but I imagine they're not doing as well as I may like because it's now after 5 PM here, so everyone is home and D/Ling themselves.

Sorry I went on and on, but thanks for letting me know about the ports. If you can help me any further, I'd certainly be appreciative.

Speed not only depends on number of hosts or modem but sometimes also on where u live. Depending on how close u live to the hosts decides upon hom many kbs get successfully transfered to u.

So when u were in South Dakota u might have been transferring from someone in the same city (not really, example for really close) So when u moved u must have moved states away (example for far) from your host even though there was 7 hosts online.

Usually in this situation i would just stick it out and be patient.

Thanks anyways, guys (gals?).

Really no biggie. I really only download things I intend to buy, so it's all good.

Again, thanks.

Hey wait a second. Limewiring just made me think of something when he responded. I beleive that LimeWire remembers your hosts you connect to so that it can connect faster the next to boot it up! If so, then when you moved states away from your original location, you may still be connecting to your SK hosts, and not the Reno hosts that you should be connecting to. I'm not sure or not if LimeWire even remembers hosts, as I haven't tested it, but I think I remember someone mentioning it. Anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong.

I have a suggestion, but I don't know if it'll work or not. :P Try re-installing LimeWire. This would in theory have it find fresh hosts in your new location and you should have better speeds.

considering that thought, try researching for that file to find more hosts, thats wat i do when i need sources. I search for it and the download usually ends up continuing or speeding up.