TheRebelMind
MIS
Routers that Ive tried with no difference...
Linksys WRT54Gv3 Wireless G broadband router (latest official firmware)
Netgear WGR614v5 Wireless G broadband router (latest official firmware)
FYI
Netgear WG111v5 USB Wireless G NIC (latest driver)
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I know that many have had this problem and theres probably a thread addressing this...but I couldnt find one...and its handicapping me completely from realizing my wireless dreams (although the same issue happens when PC is wired via Cat5 also, not just wireless),
This is the main thing keeping me from being able to set up my little wireless lan the way I need it to be...I absolutely cant function without my BitSpirit BitTorrent client...
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Here's what happens...
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NOTE...the same exact thing happens on both routers mentioned above...so anything I describe about what I tried, what failed and what worked goes for both routers unless I say otherwise.
NOTE...For both routers, all other internet apps that I have tried work flawlessly...at the same exact speeds wirelessly or wired...I hit the internet doing every bit of my 5Mbps, wireless or wired, just like when not using a router and going straight through cable modem. To be fair, I havent tested many other server-related internet apps like standard P2P (edonkey, gnutella 1 or 2, FastTrack, etc), mIRC, or online games...but both routers have preset port forwarding settings for most or all of these, so I will assume that they'd work fine
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anyway...
When I use my BT client withOUT a router (PC wired directly to cable modem), it reaches DL speeds of up to 500KBPS...thats right, I said KBytes not Kbits...my total bandwidth only reaches about 600KBytesPS downstream...and thats to a geographically closeby FTP speed test page some guy set up which is residing on my own segment of my ISP's network. This great speed that my BT client reaches happens assuming that I am running a few downloads which have plenty of seeds and peers (sources sharing the file that I am downloading)
the problem arrises when I go through a router...wired or wireless makes no difference...linksys or netgear makes no difference...
if I run the BT client without any port-forwarding, port-triggering, or DMZ setup on the router (firewall on or off seems to make no difference), my client's speeds max out at about 10%, or 30-50KBytePerSecond, of what I got a few minutes before when testing the same download list without a router and hitting 400-500KBytesPerSecond.
When I configure port-forwarding or triggering (to the best of my abilities, which may be flawed), there is absolutely zero noticable increase in speed
when I place my PC in a DMZ, only then is there a seemingly noticable increase in speed...but even then, Im lucky if I hit 100-200 KBytesPerSecond...less than half of the speed I get if I immediately kill my BT client, unhook the router, reconnect the cable modem direct to my PC, and restart my BT client with the same downloads and the same amount of available sources sharing the files.
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What Ive tried...
On both routers, I have reconfigured in every way possible short of changing to 3rd party firmware...Ive systematically tweaked each setting, factory reset many times...etc...
Ive also systematically tweaked every relevant setting in my BT client (BitSpirit).
although I admit that these two areas (incorrect configuration of router or BT client or both) is where the problem probably lies.
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I have even tried UPNP..since both routers as well as my BT client, BitSpirit, are UPNP enabled...
this is interesting, because the BT client tells me that there are no UPNP enabled hardware found...this happens with both routers...
therefore, maybe its a flaw in the BT client's ability to find UPNP hardware...or maybe its an erronious setting in BT client (although there arent really any UPNP settings to tweak other than enabling/disabling UPNP and searching for UPNP devices...so theres not much to get wrong)
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I called Linksys and Netgear support...who were less than zero help.
Netgear wouldnt even help me at all...they refused to even discuss BitTorrent or other internet apps once they verified that my Netgear NIC was able to see my Netgear router, wired and wirelessly, and that I can go out to the internet with a browser...thereby fulfilling basic functionality of the hardware. This attitude by them was not after several months or a year of ownership...this was the same week I had purchased the NIC/Router combo, back in January of this year (3 months ago). However, since I had purchased online, I could only return for a replacement of the same package or a refund by taking a hit of a 15% restocking fee...not to mention 1-way shipping costs which I am responsible for.
Linksys tech support was only a TINY bit nicer...but just as useless. They at least HEARD of BT and listened to my problem...but the guy's accent was so incredibly thick (both Netgear and Linksys outsource their tech support to India to cut costs, but do not pass those savings to the customer) that I could only understand 1/10'th of what he was saying...the part that I did grasp was him telling me that the decreased speed was just the nature of the router's built-in firewall and its overhead in processing all those packets from all those simultaneous sources...and that it couldnt be avoided. I guess that he didnt hear me or understand me when I had repeatedly told him that I had not only disabled all firewall functions completely, but even put my PC in a DMZ...which, to my admittedly limited understanding, should bypass the firewall completely, even if it is enabled...which it wasnt.
Anyway, after talking with both companies I could see that I was on my own, and I googled and came upon this site which has already been helpful in answering a few questions just by me reading the problems of others which were similar to mine...but I didnt see anything for this problem...
so here we are.
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I need to fix this, cuz having Bittorrent available and performing well is more important than the reason I even purchased the router, which is to share my ISP connection with my XBox for XBox Live.
This BT issue is the main reason why I am not up and running and my XBox Live 1-year subscription is wasting away since January when I started it...I guess I shouldve made sure I could get my little wireless LAN running problem-free before starting my one year subscription, but I really didnt expect so many damned problems with something that should be so simple.
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I really appreciate any and all suggestions any of you can give me...
you can help me by going over the settings that I should have in my router management (either for the Linksys WRT54G v3 or the Netgear WGR614 v5)...and anyone who is familiar with BT client settings for routers can be really really helpful, ESPECIALLY settings specific to MY client...which is BitSpirit...since I really do not wanna switch