Hello,

Within the last week, I started experiencing *extremely* slow downloads that only register at 0 KB/s. Before that I was doing fine, with most things downloading at 10 KB/s or much faster. Now, only once or twice have I seen anything download at typical speeds (I've seen up to 17 KB/s once), but 99% of the time, things are hung up in "Connecting..." or are downloading but perpetually at 0 KB/s.

I also get "Need More Sources" much more frequently than I remember, and "Connecting..." often comes right up after I double-click a result, but it stays that way for up to several minutes and never actually connects.

I found this thread about 0-3 KB/s speeds that seemed similar to my issue, and I tried the recommendation in that thread by setting by reverting to Java 5 v12, setting up a static IP through my router and using port forwarding. The setup went OK, but didn't seem to have any effect.

Here are my specs:

1. what OS version (eg: Windows 98, XP,OSX, Vista) ?
Windows XP Professional, SP2
2. What firewalls you have ?
Standard Windows XP Firewall only
3. How much ram ?
2 GB (2 x 1 GB) - plenty fast computer
4. Hard Disk space available ?
42.6 GB on my OS partition (C
5. Connection type (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.) ?
cable modem
6.Modem what brand name & model numbers ?
Toshiba PCX1100U
7.Router brand name & model numbers ?
Netgear RP614 v2
8. Where are you trying to connect from (house, apartment complex, school, student accommodation, work, etc.) ?
apartment unit
9. What version,LimeWire & Java, are you using. Go to L/W's Help/About L/W, THIS show both LW & Java version.?
Limewire 4.12.11, also tried FrostWire 4.13.1 Beta
Java 1.5.0_12
10. Who is your ISP provider (Internet Service Provider) ?
Road Runner (Time Warner)
11. Do this test click here: http://www3.limewire.com:6346/ should say 'Your test worked!. What happens ?
Saw "Your test worked!!"
12. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? If yes, please give details of set up.
I have a laptop connected via Ethernet cable to the same router as this PC; it also uses Limewire (4.12.06 I believe?) but the laptop is rarely used (maybe 2-3 times per week)
13. Is this your 1st try at LW, or is this a new problem with an experienced user.?
new problem with experienced user
14. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface ?
yes, both on LimeWire and FrostWire
15. Have you given full permissions for LimeWire to pass through your Firewall ?
yes
16. XP users, Please state XP firewall on or off.?
on
17. In Start & remove Programs, Is this update Installed, "Security Update for Windows XP (KB931261)" ?
yes
If Windows Updates are not seen, Tick the box at top of page, (show updates)
18. Are you using Manual Port faward in LimeWire OR UPnP ?
You can check HERE, IN LimeWire Go, Tools/options/advanced/firewall Config
I have tried both and continued to experience this same problem, currently using UPnP

Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide!

Mike

1. Configure your XP firewall: Firewall configuration instructions (click on link)

2. When speeds suddenly drop like that it tends to suggest ISP shaping against p2p program bandwidth. Do a simple test for us; download a magnet link from the following link and tell us what happens in regards to connection & speed: + MagnetMix.com +: The Source for Good Content

@Lord of the Rings:

Thank you so much for your help!

So, here's what I tried, and my results:

- I spend some time tinkering with Windows XP firewall, and the first thing that I noticed was that (contrary to what I had originally thought) it wasn't actually even on! I do have ZoneAlarm installed, so I turned that off temporarily to eliminate the firewall from the equation. I still noticed the same download speed problem, though.
- The magnet link worked just fine for me. LimeWire found 2 hosts almost immediately, and reached a maximum download speed of over 170 KB/s very quickly.

I then thought that it might be the actual items that I was downloading that were causing the problem, and this theory actually seems to hold water. I tried downloading some different items at random, and I was able to get the old behavior back - I connected to hosts relatively quickly, and reached download speeds above 10 KB/s.

Could it just have been the particular items that I was downloading? I found hundreds of results and potential hosts (many items having nearly 100 sources), but nearly all of them either stalled on "Connecting..." or started downloading, but maxed out at 0 KB/s and just trickled in.

Thanks again for your help - please let me know if you think it could have just been the particular items that I was downloading that were causing the problem.

That cancels out your ISP being responsible then. Yes there's 2 causes I can think of:

1. Fake files; Beware of Fake files in search results (perhaps in some cases for you where you can't connect to host.)

2. Downloading from either dial up (or have greatly limited their upload speed) or those who are already maxed out uploading & don't have much left to spare, OR you are downloading from typical miserly clients such as Shareaza (RAZA). Since they use more than one network which requires them to use most of their upload bandwidth on those networks, it doesn't leave much over for gnutella. So typically they only give miserly speeds. Searching more hosts is best option. And also getting more results option.

Thanks so much!

I will keep that info in mind, and it definitely seems that we've canceled out other potential causes for the slowdown.

I appreciate your help!

hello innit onnit on the bonnet