Ok before I moved to Japan (military) everything with Limewire worked beautifully and I always got my Turbo Charged connection. Now that I'm in Japan living off base with Fiber internet I'm running into all kinds of problems and I'm unsure if maybe this ISP here blocks or throttles Limewire or what is going on.

What happens is:

I can connec to Limewire and it will come up with Starting Connection the problem is that it never really makes it past Starting Connection, occasionally it will go up to Fair/Good but then even when I search for files when downloading them it TRIES 100's of hosts and never starts downloading and then my connection goes back down to Starting Connection. I'm having this problem with just about anything P2P or Torrent related. My first thought is that it has something to do with uPnP not working. When I was trying to download a WoW update their updater wouldn't work and it would say No uPnP Device or whatever. Well I know my router supports uPnP and it's turned and I haven't changed anything from the time I left the states so the WILD CARD here is the ISP and the Fiber Optic router they set up.

Can I do the uPnP stuff manually and if so how? I've seen stuff about it but am unsure what I would need to do to make it work manually. Could this be my overall problem? Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated as this is totally frustrating. I can use Newgroups and download at 50MBps or more sometimes but I can't download from P2P and there is no way to know if it's just a different configuration I need to run or if it's something this ISP here in Japan is doing to prevent it. Thank you.

I just tried to manually port forward instead of the uPnP that isn't working then I restarted and yet still I log into Limewire and it goes to Fair connection stays there awhile and then craps back to Starting Connection. Could it just be this ISP can't communicate with anything very well over here in Japan even though my connection is rediculous depending on what I'm DLing? I know it's not PC related because I have 3 PC's hooked up on this network and all 3 experience the same issue with Limewire, it has to be Router/Modem/ISP based but I ruled out the router as nothing changed with it from the time I left the states EXCEPT I had to configure it for PPPoE connection because that's how my internet connection works here, could this be the culprit? Any solutions? Thanks.

Could you please give us your system details?
System details - help us to help you -> Provide these details when you post!!!(click on link)

Is there any difference in your connection quality (in LW or any other p2p app) at different times of day?

Like I said before I have 3 systems with the same problems, they are all different but I'll give you the info on my main box:

1. OS version? Vista, Yes it's an administrator account.
2. What firewalls you have? Windows Firewall is off but I have AVG Internet Security 8.0 and that firewall is enabled and I allow it to let Limewire or any other P2P app do it's thing.
3. How much ram? 4GB
4. Hard Disk space available? 100GB+ plus 1TB+ storage
5. Connection type? Fiber Optic
6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers? The modem doesn't have any english so I can't really tell you anything about it, it's a NTT modem, the router is a Linksys WRT54GSV4.
7. Where are you trying to connect from? Home
8. What version of LimeWire (LW) & Java do you have? Limewire 4.16.7 Pro
Java 1.6.0_05
9. Who is your ISP (Internet Service Provider)? HeroNet over NTT Fiber
10. Do this simple test for us. Using your browser go here: http://www3.limewire.com:6346/ The page should say 'Your test worked!'. What happens when you go there? Page says: Your test worked!!
11. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? I have 2 other computer hooked up wirelessly to the router but none of them are ever on Limewire at the same time.
12. Is this a your 1st try at LW or is this a new problem with an experienced user. It's a new problem, never had problems before.
13. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface? Yes because I'm using my AVG Firewall (nothing has changed with this since Limewire worked properly and I've tried with it off, it makes no difference)
14. For those using a modem/router, how is your modem/router set up...are you port forwarding or is UPnP enabled? From seeing WoW downloader tell me there wa no UPnP device I decided to port forward the listening device and disable UPnP in my router to the same results...never getting a connection better than Good and even if I did it lasted moments and went back to Starting Connection
15. What security programs are you using (antivirus etc)? AVG Internet Security 8.0
16. What country are you living in? Japan


There is no difference in my connection quality at any time of the day, it sucks equally all day and my internet is not congested I'm running on a 100MB Fiber connection.


I have to assume one of the 4 things below are the culprit as they are the only catalysts in my overall connection with Limewire from past to present:

1. Japanese ISP HeroNet, Are they doing something to throttle block P2P software such as Limewire? no way of knowing as any google result is probably in Japanese
2. The Japanese Fiber modem they installed, Could it be not letting my connection get good?
3. The fact that I'm in Japan (doubtful as I've connected to a WIFI nearby here and it allowed me a Turbo Charged connection to Limewire)
4. The way I'm connecting to the internet is PPPoE, I've never done this before but I had to change my router setting and put in a given username and password to make my internet work, could this configuration for internet make P2P not work.

Thanks for any solutions you may have.

I can't find any info about HeroNet blocking p2p. Their terms & conditions are a bit vague, but there's a mention of not infringing on copyright.

When you set up your port forwarding, did you use the instructions here: Port Forwarding for the Linksys WRT54GSv4 and did you set up a static IP address first?

You could also try changing ports. In LW tools > options > advanced > firewall config. Change LW's listening port to 65000 (or something in the range of 49152 - 65535) > apply > ok.
Now set up port forwarding for that new port number. LW's listening port, port in the 'manual port forward' box & port forwarded within your router's config should all be the same number.

You could also try updating your Java & deleting LW's preferences folder(s). More info about that here: If LW Will Not Connect

Instructions for Setting up a Static IP for VISTA _____ If you didn't set up a static ip first, then you will need to delete the port forward rule you set, & re do it starting with a static ip, then setting the port forward rule again.

BTW I am aware at times around Japan they do suffer from isp bandwidth overload. Also some of the pipes between countries from Japan can also become overloaded. From memory I think some ISP's in Japan do shape or have some kind of limitations re: p2p ... best to check their fine detail in the ISP support guidelines & rules.

Another point is .. hard wiring internet for heavy bandwidth use is much much more reliable. Wireless is much less reliable or consistent (bandwidth may drop & rise at various times & for torrents may result in loss of connection at times).

However, the router model range (wrt54g) you are using is a "lemon" in that the firmware had problems & Linksys never fixed the firmware that came with it & is unreliable for use in UPnP mode. Port forwarding is the best way to go. And although there is a 3rd party fix for the firmware, we do not recommend it to novices since a mistake may render the device unusable. Thus with the Linksys wrt54g range for heavy bandwidth you will probably notice sudden drops of connection at times when run in UPnP mode. Whilst port forwarding improves it for that model, it's still not perfect but certainly much better than it would be. (Of course we are talking about making the best use of the router with its firmware problems.)