I also had a lot of problems downloading files. I thought something was set up wrong on my part. Then I found FURI. Furi is the best (for Mac Users) on downloads. It sometimes takes so long that u KNOW its not working and then it does. U may want to read thses:
http://www.limewire.com/index.htm Check the developers section
A couple of things I have written:
http://forums.gnutelliums.com/Forum1/HTML/000032.html
http://forums.gnutelliums.com/Forum1/HTML/000024.html


MAC users FURI load instructions:
http://www.jps.net/williamw/furi/mac_readme.html
enjoy
walt
If I may suggest START with Limewire, its easier then switch to FURI, its a better program at this time.