Turbo Charged Connection

[tempusfugit]

- just a tad confused - some information / commentary would be appreciated -

I've been using LW for a number of months now and have been very pleased with the service that is offered. I'm a music lover and have managed to download in excess of 800 audio files (which I am sharing).

Each time I loaded LW I took note of the LW PRO suggestion and after awhile decided that it would be a good thing to contribute and do a little payback for all the great music that I have acquired.

So, I did just that about a week a go - signed up and paid up for LW PRO.

I didn't notice any difference in the quality of the connection on my first login to LW....but the second time around, I got the 5 "blue" bars and an indication of a "Turbo Charged Connection".

The search results were wickedly fast and it was a big improvement...money well spent.

Since then, I have logged on maybe 25+ times and the connection quality has been very sporadic....sometimes only poor or fair and occasionally good.

Of the 25+ times I have only been turbo connected about 4 or 5 times.....

Currently my connection is staled at "fair".........

Was just wondering if this was normal .....I kinda thought that as a "PRO" user I would benefit from the better connection....

Any information / commentary or advice would be kindly appreciated.

Thanks in advance = Roger

P.S. nothing has changed in my system over the last number of months. My connection is via DSL & my system is high quality with tons of RAM and a lot of storage capacity (more than 150 GB free space on each of 2 drives). MY OS is Windows Media Center with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

[Remoc]

It May be that your ISP is throttling your bandwidth. Have you noticed it being different times of the day or night when you are able to get a full connection? Are you seeing a Brick Wall over the Blue Globe, which would indicate that you may be having Firewall issues.

[sueraw]

I've had the same problem! I thought it was a bit of a con to get you to pay for PRO then not let you connect! Mine only works in the morning which is totally useless! Like you, I'm a music lover and I dont have time to look for music at 7am! Good luck with finding a solution! If you do, maybe let me know...:-)

[tempusfugit]

Hey Remoc:

Thanks kindly for the reply and information - much appreciated.

I'll be disappointed if my ISP is throttling my bandwidth - as I'm sure we all are / will be. My provider is ALIANT (out of Newfoundland, Canada) and I guess they're part of the ma Bell network....

I've only been successful in getting the turbo connect on about 4 visits (in a one week period)....as best I can recall one was in the afternoon and another was in the evening...don't recall the other 2.

Currently my connection is only fair - as it was last night when I made the initial post.

When I first activate LW, the brick wall is there....and my shared file count is (initially) at zero....

VERY quickly thereafter (30 seconds or so) my shared file number jumps to the correct 868 and the brick wall disappears....so, it seems to me that it may not be a firewall issue

I'd very much appreciate your continued assistance and suggestions as well as any other members who may have the "knowledge" to help me thru this quandry....I'm a retired senior and know enough about computer to be dangerous

Obviously some other members are having the same problem (see post by sueraw) and if there is a "common" solution it would benefit at least 2 members.

It almost seems to me that the "network" is not recognizing my ISP address as being a PRO user albeit that I do have the yellow / orange colored home page...

I do hope there is a solution to this - ironically, I seem to have had better connections prior to becoming a PRO user.

Thanks again for your kind assistance.

Cheers = Roger

[tempusfugit]

Last night (after my post) I logged off and waited about 30 minutes.

Signed on again (8:45 PM my time) and got the turbo connection. I stayed on-line for about 3.5 hours (only 2 uploads and 8 downloads).

Tried it again this morning around 08:30 AM (my time) - only got the poor connection.....

Just tried again (same time as last night)...only getting a poor connection.

My shared files show and the firewall (brick) disappears after about 30 seconds (as before).

Is this the way it will be with the PRO version or is it an anomaly ??

Would appreciate some further help / advice.....TIA.

Cheers = Roger

[Remoc]

Hi tempusfugit, It does appear that Aliant may be up to no good. I found this lengthy Interview that I thought you may find interesting. I didn't read it all but it may give you a hint of whats going on. Hope this Helps.

Spark | CBC Radio | What would you ask Bell?

[tempusfugit]

Remoc:

Thanks for this - like yourself I did not get to the entire piece but certainly "got the drift".

Here's an update from last night and again tonight:

First let me say that when I'm in "turbo" mode, I noticed that I am only connected to 5 "Ultra Peers".....

Last night when I connected I got an "excellent" connection but it was not turbo - and I was connected to about 20 "peers".

Tonight when I connected (about 5 minutes ago) I got a turbo connection - again to 5 UltraPeers.

So, it seems to be a "hit or miss" thing.....

That being said, I must make an observation about "managing expectations" - which I trust that the appropriate LW "PRO" folks will become aware of....

The advertisement or encouragement to become a pro user certainly left me (and I suspect others as well) with the "impression" that it would indeed be faster etc. etc. etc.

I was unaware of any bandwidth throttling issues until I visited this forum.

If that is indeed "part" of the problem with the connection quality, then it would seem appropriate to place some sort of caveat in the PRO encouragement to indicate that the quality may not be up-to-expectations and it is something that is outside the control of the Gnutella folks.....

While that could result in a lesser uptake on the use of PRO, it could be more realistic and off-set the large number of posts in this forum that relate to "connection problems".....

Please don't take me wrong - I'm not dissatisfied - LW has been VERY good for me and allowed me to build an extensive library of music. It is primarily for that reason that I decided to "contribute" by becoming a Pro user.....the added benefits would have been nice...and when they are only forthcoming on a sporadic basis, then one gets into the realm of "managing expectations".....

Hence my suggestion for some form of amendment to the advertisement...

In the meantime, I'll continue to use LW and will take whatever is given to me at any given time.

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers = Roger

[Remoc]

I know you must be disappointed after actually buying Pro thinking you were doing the right thing in donating to the cause, BUT I have learned My Lesson. I will NEVER give another Penny to the good ol' Limewire Boys, because it has become nothing more than a Cash Cow for them. IMO They don't care about the Members or the Program. All you have to do is hang out here for several hours and you will start to see all of the Problems the members are having. IMO all they are concerned with is the Allmighty Dollar. I don't even use LW anymore, but don't let me influence you or anyone in any negative way. This is just the way I feel. I've used LW for over two years and have seen it go straight down the tubes. There are alot of things they could do for the Members and all I've seen them do is ignore the Big issues. BTW, The Helpers here are all unpaid volunteers that have absolutly NO affiliation with LW what so ever. TTYL

[tempusfugit]

My apologies for the delay in responding.....

Thanks for taking the time again to reply and provide the information - much appreciated.

From other forums in which I participate, I'm aware of the role of "Mods" and, quite frankly, it's "almost" always a "thankless" role to fulfill. Glad you were here to help us "newbies" with some of the cold hard facts of life.

As indicated in my previous post, I'll just have to take whatever is available by way of connection and count my blessing when I get a good one (like tonight)....

I won't bemoan the contribution even if it was a cash grab...I've already got value for my bucks with the music that I've acquired.

I do hope that other "newbies" to LW visit this site and this particular thread to enable them to make informed decisions about the "PRO" version of LW and it's "limitations"....

Cheers to all = Roger