D/L speed probs? I'm skeptical.
 

I've got my own theory about the reported d/l speed problems.

Yes, absolutely make all the LW configuration settings recommended by murasame and as well check out the tweaks FAQ at http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/tweaks.

However! I have done all these and my LW d/l speed is still nasty (10k if I'm lucky and this is with 8+ hosts), while at the same time I can easily achieve 300k+ from http, ftp and torrent.

With Limewire, I wonder if too many people are choking their upload speed thinking that it will improve their download speed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with broadband, the one doesn't affect the other, correct? In other words, allowing full bandwidth for uploads will not slow downloads? I allow close to 100% bandwidth for uploads and I've not seen a negative effect on my d/l speed. My d/l speed sucks whether I give uploads 100% or turn them off altogether.

If the u/l bandwidth restrictions are the problem, then maybe we need a MASSIVE education effort to convince the new LW users that sharing at full speed is a *good thing.* Otherwise, maybe LW should just get rid of the option to adjust upload speed/slots totally.

Or maybe I'm just fulla shite. :D

Re: D/L speed probs? I'm skeptical.
 

Could be . . . but also the network has almost tripled these last few months see netsize. I suspect most of the new people don't "get it" yet that this is a file SHARING network, but enough of them will probably come around eventually. We've all been there before.

For download speed checks, against one of the latest free offerings from the www.magnetmix.com page (the link is also built into LW), I'd say gnutella speeds/reliability are pretty comparable to what I can see with downloads from Apple.

As for limiting uploads, I NEED the ability to limit uploads, or my ISP automatically throttles the bandwidth if I exceed 70 GB a month (it's easy to see LW serve up 3 or 4 GB/ DAY). Also, with UL's throttled to 80%, I can use my computer without noticing it lagging,

Still--the bottom line (oh well--pun noted) is right on: more and better sharers need to be encouraged.

No my friend, you could be totally right. You see, it is indeed true that in Broadband, Upload and Download bandwidths are totally separate.
Also, about the "convincing people to start uploading at full speed" part, try "convincing people to start uploading altogether". Too many people are afraid of getting caught for uploading, without knowing that they can get caught for dlding too (pff). Besides, you can only get in trouble if you're veeery unlucky and, more importantly, are using P2P to dld (or share, for those of you who are "kind" enough) all the latest movies (just go rent them for chrissakes).

Also, don't forget about some ISPs (stupidily) regulating P2P traffic by reducing bandwidth allocated to it (I have no idea how the do it, but then again I don't know many things).

I wonder if my ISP limits my connection. Like Techwomyn I am very lucky to get 8K, 12-15K, wow! the rare times I see 30K flash for one brief second. The other day, out of frustration, I tried BitTorrent: once it got going, it *flew*. Close to 300K.

I use Earthlink; however, in the city I live in, it really isn't Earthlink's servers I go through: I go through RoadRunner, and then I hit a bottleneck of AOL servers. :(

Re: The freeloaders: Once I got frustrated with them, so I shared a text file along w each program file I shared. It was worded so anyone doing a search for all types of files would pull it up. The file's name was: "If you are looking for [insert app] ..." and the accompanying text said, "You will not be able to upload it if you are a freeloader. Try sharing some files of your own for a change!" :D

I know that was bad, but I just couldn't help myself. ;)

you can set limewire so that it don upload 2 freeloaders
options>advanced>preferencing

I realize I can set Limewire to disallow freeloaders, or even set the number of files they have to share -- I guess I was just having one of those days. ;) :D

Well, just to be on the 100% certain side, I did check with my provider and they have no limits on p2p or other protocols. I didn't think so, as I am with one of the best providers in the Netherlands (they absolutely refuse to divulge names/IP numbers of ANY of their customers) so I couldn't see where they would have a problem with p2p.

So, that's eliminated. My firewall has a nice big gnutella hole drilled through it and both my WinXP and OSX boxes are configured correctly.

I used to blame the LimeWire program itself, but no longer, as the searches are fast and complete. Once in a blue moon I'll still see the 250+kbps speed spike, but so very, very rarely. I'm also sharing close to 800 files, so I doubt if the freeloader block is the issue.

Out of curiousity, what do you all of you have for your freeloader settings? I always allow freeloaders and they don't have to share. I've got 700 kbps (potential) on my up-pipe - I don't mind sharing it at all.

Just recriprocate, dammit! ;)

The freeloader setting does nothing at all!!! It was working in old versions (I think) but not anymore as you can't tell surely if someone is freeloading.

Ciao

The freeloader settings in the newest version, 4.0, do not work? :eek:

I am using an older version; sorry don't have it in front of me, but will guess 3.5.8 or something like that.

After perusing this thread, I decided last night to disallow freeloaders. If they are discouraged, soon they will learn they HAVE to share, and that is tough love. ;)

Last night I set my freeloaders so they had to share 100 files. Nothing. So I set it to 50. Nothing. 35. Nothing. At 20, I finally started getting uploads.

While I realize they may be sharing monster-sized programs, they may only be sharing 20 mp3s. I upped it this morning back to 35, but am tempted to clear all files and set it to 50 for 24 hours just to see how many can get in. I share 428 files at the moment, anc could add more, but some of mine are older and may not be as popular. I don't think a setting of 50 is unreasonable, I think someone sharing only 20 files ... :confused:

Anyway, the freeloaders settings definitely still work in my version. :)

It wasn't working before version 3.8.x, but I don't know about 3.5.x . But as etvoila said, you can't really tell if someone is freeloading, since someone who is being filtered out because of the freeloader filter might just have reinitialized their HD and have 0 files to share. How would LW know that they are freeloaders or not? It's not a mind reading application. If you don't give them a chance to get some files to share then the network will suffer.
And about BitTorrent: it's a waaaaaay different app than LW. It wasn't concieved for the same purpose.

If they have just reinitialized their HD, and have 0 files to share, what are they doing on Limewire, a P2P sharing network?

What are the coincidences that all of those freeloaders could all have magically wiped out all data on their HDs?

I gave them a chance. Today I set it to all they had to provide was 20 files for sharing. I got maybe 10 uploads all day (they download from me, I upload to them). That means the rest are hitting and running. Each file had a ton of hits on it, and a lot of "Transfer Interrupted" etc., but all of that

The only time I get a lot of uploads is when I allow freeloaders and they have to share 0 files. I would not call that a healthy network. I would call that a network that is suffering: people hitting and running. I'll keep mine set where they have to share in order to receive. I think, in the long-term, that promotes the healthiest network.

I am aware of that. I know BitTorrent's swarm effect.

Sad, though, that even though Limewire is conceived differently, you can end up with multiple users downloading partial file shares from each other, thus making the whole thing faster -- *if* people aren't stingy and selfish.

Of course, this only works if they have partial file sharing available, and are ... gasp ... actually sharing files!

So What is the Truth about freeloader settings?
 

Exactly what part of the freeloader filter doesn't work? Is this only the 'Allow freeloaders' setting? What about the 'Files you must share to Not be a Freeloader' setting? The latter seems to work for me. I noticed a considerable difference between when I upped the minimum from about 5 to 10 & then to 20, 25, 30 & then to 50 over the past 4 mths I've been using LW 4. Also a difference in the files that were being requested. It's up to everybody's opinion, but I'd agree with sonnet here. I previously used another p2p app where people would 'pull' their files as soon as people started dwnlding from them & I knew somebody who did that using kazaa. I think it's just those miserly attitudes that make me feel they should be genuine sharers. Although it'd be hard to combat the latter example. I have no comments about anything else in this thread!

There are millions of people using P2P apps. Some are new users. Some are old. Some may have decided to do an HD format after the HD became so full of bugs and viruses that it became impossible or extremely frustrating to use the computer. Result=0 files to share->filtered out.
I agree that people must share, not be hit-and-runners. It's P2P. P2P. It wouldn't be named thus if it didn't involve doing your share by allowing others to get files from you. And I'm not saying that all of those filtered out by your freeloader filter aren't freeloaders. I just am willing to look at the other side too. And I don't mean that I support freeloaders. Not in a million years (add a couple of eternities too).
Just think about it this way: when you got your comp, you heard about LW and went and installed it. So, you're all excited about all this and enter the keywords to look for a song. No results. You were filtered out. Too bad.
How is Limewire supposed to discern those in that case from genuine freeloaders?
This could also be the reason some people share trash: afraid of being filtered out by the freeloader filters, they rename their files to include this huge amount of popular keywords to make them appear in searches more often. Or maybe they just duplicate the files the have so that they look as if they are sharing more files than they actually are.
See? That's a rather interesting conversation if you ask me.
I think an adequate filter would store the number of uploads an IP adress does but that would use up a lot of HD space in the long run. Maybe the best way is BitTorrent's way: unless you hack the code, you are "forced" to share.

Even though I've been signed up with LW 4.8.1 for awhile, I'm just now learning about it. How do I know if I'm sharing my files? Can I share my files if I'm not logged in to LW? How do I know if my hard drive is being shared? I'm running G3, 600Mhz, 512 RAM OS X 10.2. with Limewire's 4.8.1. One last thing, I knew it was slow but after I read other KBPs speed I knew my 1-3 KBPs was bad. Why am I so SLOW! I can also only get dial up and it's real hard to stay connected to the internet for any length of time.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me,

Feeling Stupid :p

Hi Nahaz.
System details - help us to help you Please.

Cut n paste these Questions,put your answers in bold text Thank You.

Recently there's been a problem with people not providing enough details about their setup - despite being asked again & again.
So let's make it easy for everyone...the details that we need if we're going to be able to help with complex problems are:

1. what OS version? (eg: Windows 98, XP,OSX, Vista)
2. What firewalls you have ?
3. How much ram ?
4. Hard Disk space available ?
5. Connection type (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.) ?
6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers ?
7. Where are you trying to connect from (house, appartment complex, school, student accomodation, work, etc.) ?
8. What version,LimeWire & Java,Go to L/W's Help/About L/W, THIS show both LW & Java version.?
9. Who is your ISP provider (Internet Service Provider) ?
10. Do this test click here: http://www3.limewire.com:6346/ should say 'Your test worked!. What happens ?
11. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? If yes, please give details of set up.
12. Is this your 1st try at LW, or is this a new problem with an experienced user.?
13. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface ?
14. Have you given full permisions for LimeWire to pass through your Firewall ?
15. XP users, Please state XP firewall on or off.?

These are all contained within the sticky Connection problems? Check here first!
but possibly some people are getting a bit confused or lost when we direct them to this sticky & ask them to provide their details.

This information can be vital
For instance, some ISPs are known for blocking p2p/throttling bandwidth,
some connection devices are known for being unreliable in certain situations.

So please, help us to help you & provide as much info as you can.
If you're new to LW or new to computers & aren't sure how to answer some questions,
or don't know what an ISP or router is - just say so. Nobody's going to yell at you:wink:
Even if you can't answer all the questions in one go...don't worry. Do the best you can & we'll take it from there.
__________________
Peace.

> 1. what OS version? (eg: Windows 98, XP,OSX, Vista) Mac OS X. 10.2.
> 2. What firewalls you have ? I don't know how to find out.
> 3. How much ram ? 512.
> 4. Hard Disk space available ? 9 Gigs.
> 5. Connection type (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.) ? I can only get dial up.
> 6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers ? All I know is it's internal.
> 7. Where are you trying to connect from (house, appartment complex, school, student accomodation, work, etc.) ? Single Wide Trailer.
> 8. What version,LimeWire & Java,Go to L/W's Help/About L/W, THIS show both LW & Java version.? 4.8.1. / 1.4.1_01.
> 9. Who is your ISP provider (Internet Service Provider) AT&T.
> 10. Do this test click here: http://www3.limewire.com:6346/ should say 'Your test worked!. What happens ? It worked.
> 11. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? If yes, please give details of set up. No.
> 12. Is this your 1st try at LW, or is this a new problem with an experienced user.? I've had it awhile but am just know learning it.
> 13. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface ? Where's the interface? Not anywhere I can see.
> 14. Have you given full permisions for LimeWire to pass through your Firewall ? I don't know.
> 15. XP users, Please state XP firewall on or off.?