A friend send me a hacked version of acqlite for the Mac that connected to as many ultrapeers as possible, rather than just 5 like Limewire does. I don't know much about the Gnutella protocol or how it works, but this seems to have a real impact on the amount of search results, and the quality of them.

I was wondering if there's something I can do in Limewire (aside from adding them on my own, a hard thing to do since I don't know any hosts or anything) to give me this similar functionality.

Is it even worth it? Maybe someone who knows a little more about this protocol can elaborate on why this would or wouldn't have an effect. Maybe this is all just a placebo effect, and the search results are just better at the times I search.

Seems a bit of a cheat, but I rather doubt it helps much in the long run: all it seems to do is use up spots someone else might need (see all the "I cannot connect" posts).

LW already adjusts the optimal balance between the number of peers to message for a search result, and still allow room for file-transfer messages. This is adjusted to give everyone the best experience. Pro users get a bit of an edge to thank them for their support, but without hurting the network.

Greedy or abusive clients can get blocked or banned and are openly discussed in the gnutella developers.

So far I've found LW to be pretty trustworthy and responsible. Glad you posted your question--looks like you've spreading the right ideas about how gnutella should work.