Apart from the “High” and “Low” settings on the bandwidth, there are other settings you can tinker with to achieve better download speeds. After your file has completed downloading, you may choose to close uTorrent at this point. However, others may opt to keep uTorrent running in the background in order to seed the torrent. Though seeding is not imperative, some users do so willingly, as a means of “giving back” to the torrent community, so to say. But what exactly is uTorrent, and what makes it so great?
- This may seem like an unimportant distinction, but files must be hosted and downloaded.
- A torrent with a low number of peers or seeders may be a fake.
- The free plan offers 200GB of storage with a limitation of 50MB per file.
One shady torrent can expose you to a world of trouble — from malware and hacks to data leaks and copyright claims. However, due to its nature, many people use it to download pirated content, which is illegal in most countries. And if you’re worried it will take you hours to download or upload files on uTorrent, you don’t have to be. For precise information on which server locations support P2P sharing, you can check out NordVPN’s detailed server list. NordVPN doesn’t support port forwarding, a feature that, although not necessary, can make torrenting much more effective.
The all-important speed test
The more you seed for other users, the faster your download speeds will be. As the more peers you’re connected to, the more pieces of the file you get at once and the faster you can download it. An example of such a peer-to-peer software program is BitTorrent. Peer-to-peer file sharing is different from the client–server model, where content is directly distributed from its server to a client.
Though it is free from malware, it doesn’t protect the users from downloading malicious files that can harm their device and sensitive data. Considering this and the security concerns, security experts have suggested some of the best ways to use uTorrent safely. With increasing risks of malware, spyware, and viruses infecting your device using antivirus software has become the need of the hour. Before you download any torrent file using the uTorrent client, run the antivirus software on your device. By doing so, you can reduce the risks of viruses and malware infecting your devices.
Tethering Options – USB, Bluetooth, and WiFi on Android to Share Mobile Data
Naturally, this is a deterrent to many people using torrent sites and they choose to not seed for this very reason. Once a user has selected a file for download it will appear in Portable uTorrent main dashboard. Here it will display the speed at which it’s being downloaded, the size of the file and the estimated time it will take for the download to complete. Once this time has elapsed and the file is downloaded, it will then start the process of “seeding’.
BitTorrent is a network and protocol used to share files, so BitTorrent itself cannot install adware on your computer. With legal leverage and a list of names, the copyright trolls then go after torrenters via mail, email, or even by going door to door and handing out settlement letters. These letters are not legally binding documents or injunctions. Copyright trolls use intimidation, fear, and shame to make torrenters pay without ever going to court. A common tactic is to threaten to sue for over $100,000 but only ask for $3,000 or so in the settlement. That makes the $3,000 look like a good deal, but going to court is costly and risky for them, so don’t give in if you receive such a letter.