[IceEnclosure]

A few weeks ago I set up my new Comcast Cable connection and a Linksys BEFSR41 router. Everything's workin' great, gettin' the full advertised DL speed.. or, I was.

Not sure what the factors are, but my speeds the past few days are about 1/3 what they were a week or so ago. (On various DL speedtests on the net)

So my question is, anyone have a definitive low-down on:

a) what ports should be forwarded for P2P -6881-8000 for BitTorrent, no?

b) should DHCP be enabled? (it is by default, and everything works fine, but BitTorrent HAULED ASS when I disabled it.)

c) iChat AV, what can I do to ensure no problems on my end in a video chat? (ie opening a particular port, etc.)

d) would changing any of these settings cause me to become open to security risks?


I know these questions are geared towards special circumstances (p2p etc), but the speed problem is existing now in regular usage of the internet. (granted, 1000kb/sec isn't so bad, but it is when 3000+kb is what's advertised.

thanks very much to those who respond, and I'll offer any information I may to help find a happy answer.


drew

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

You can leave DHCP on in the router but it would be better to give your Mac a Manual address as you need to for port forwarding.

[IceEnclosure]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
You can leave DHCP on in the router but it would be better to give your Mac a Manual address as you need to for port forwarding.

and I'd need to change that on occasion, right?

[IceEnclosure]

hmmm

[MrForgetable]

Originally posted by IceEnclosure:
A few weeks ago I set up my new Comcast Cable connection and a Linksys BEFSR41 router. Everything's workin' great, gettin' the full advertised DL speed.. or, I was.

Not sure what the factors are, but my speeds the past few days are about 1/3 what they were a week or so ago. (On various DL speedtests on the net)

So my question is, anyone have a definitive low-down on:

a) what ports should be forwarded for P2P -6881-8000 for BitTorrent, no?

b) should DHCP be enabled? (it is by default, and everything works fine, but BitTorrent HAULED ASS when I disabled it.)

c) iChat AV, what can I do to ensure no problems on my end in a video chat? (ie opening a particular port, etc.)

d) would changing any of these settings cause me to become open to security risks?


I know these questions are geared towards special circumstances (p2p etc), but the speed problem is existing now in regular usage of the internet. (granted, 1000kb/sec isn't so bad, but it is when 3000+kb is what's advertised.

thanks very much to those who respond, and I'll offer any information I may to help find a happy answer.


drew

bittorrent should probably be 6881-6999

[ginoledesma]

If you're the sole user on the network having such needs, try using the DMZ feature instead. This way, all incoming/outgoing connections are forwarded to your computer. Using DMZ exposes your computer directly to the Internet, and so your computer bypasses the router's firewall. Then you don't have to worry about port forwarding anymore.

On a side note, just because your ISP advertises a certain speed, it doesn't mean you're guaranteed that speed all the time. That is, you're not guaranteed a sustained speed of that much. It is more common for the advertised speeds to be burst/peak speeds. Check with your service provider regarding the service agreement.

Also, Bittorrent can saturate your existing Internet connection. You can provide a cap as to how much you're uploading or the number of simultaneous connections allowed so that you have enough bandwidth left for yourself. Also, because Bittorrent is P2P, the speed at which you download is heavily dependent on how many people are sharing.