bittorrent speed way too low, what possible causes?

[stan]

On Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:50:10 +1000
David Timms <dtimms at iinet.net.au> wrote:

> stan wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I used torrent to get the F7 live CD and DVD images.  And then let
> > it run overnight to seed.  I've tested my system with the online
> > speed sites and my upload is ~540 KB/sec.  My service from Cox says
> > 512 - 2MB/sec.
> > 
> > Yet bittorrent-curses maxed out at around 70 KB/sec.  I used the
> > max_upload_rate = 0 to let it go at the maximum rate.  
> 
> Hi, I'm in Australia, and have found the same thing while downloading 
> the fedora 7 dvd iso.
> 
>  From past experience, you do need to be careful that:
> 1. you limit upload rate to about 65-75% of your upload capability.
> This ensures that network packet congestion doesn't cause problems
> with peer requests coming into your machine.
> outbound bandwidth: 512 Kbit/sec
> usable after adsl overhead: 400 Kbit/sec
> usable after adsl overhead:  50 KByte/sec
> set outbound torrent to say: 40 KByte/sec

I was seeding at this point, no inbound.  I tried various rates, no
difference.
> 
> 2. Do you use a domestic NAT router ? If it wasn't designed with 
> peer2peer in mind, in may have a limited session table of 100
> sessions, or problems under high port forwarding condtions. In this
> case you could try a router that is known to be better in the
> peer2peer world.

No router, cable modem into hub to ethernet card.
> 
> 3. I would imagine that dvd releases to the internet can lead to 
> internet bandwidth problems for the ISP. If you are downloading, 
> definitely use your own ISPs mirror if they have it, or in country 
> mirrors. Also it might be possible to limit your peer locations to 
> within your country ? {I don't know how}
> 
Yeah, I think that is why they might be filtering.  And it isn't really
a big deal for me.  This is the first time I've really tried sustained
large uploads.  I assumed it would be what I paid for and they promised.
And I'm curious why it isn't.

> Or I might be right of track in your situation ;)
> 
> DaveT.
>