How to Fix Slow Torrents

Hey, we’ve all been there: we’re eager to get a particular file downloaded, so we can use it, but it’s downloading… so… slowly. Just come on already!

Fortunately, there are often ways to speed things up. Keep reading to find out how to fix slow torrents.

Most Common Causes of Slow Torrents

First, let’s take a look at some reasons your torrent might be downloading slowly.

• Lack of seeds

• Torrent traffic throttling or blocking

• Non-optimal torrent client settings

• Router issues (port forwarding)

• Firewall settings

How to Fix Slow Torrents

Now that we know what causes slow torrents, let’s work on fixing them. These steps are arranged from the easiest to the most complicated, so hopefully you can improve your torrent download speeds without too much hassle.

1. First, properly calculate your speeds

You see, your internet speeds are typically sold by your ISP as Mbps, megabits per second.

However, torrent speeds are typically shown as MB/s, megabytes per second. Or if you’re using qBittorrent, it may be MiB/s, mebibits per second.

Now, MB/s and MiB/s are almost the exact same, but they are both roughly 8x larger than Mbps.

So, before you get disappointed by your “slow torrent speeds”, take the number displayed as MB/s or MiB/s in your torrent client and multiply it by 8. You can also use this handy calculator. And then compare that to your internet speed.

You may be surprised (relieved?) to find out that it’s actually quite close to your actual internet speed. Crisis averted!

2. Check the number of seeders (and torrents)

Before you go messing with a lot of complicated settings, it’s important to make sure you have a “healthy” torrent first.

That is, check the number of seeders. If that number is low, it’ll cause the torrent to download slowly. And if there are no seeders, it won’t download at all.

If this is your problem, you’ll have to wait for more seeders or find a different torrent. Check our article on How to Download a Dead Torrent for more tips.

Lastly, this may be obvious, but… make sure you’re not downloading too many torrents. The more you’re downloading, the more they’ll compete for your bandwidth and resources, slowing them down.

Anything over, say, 5+ torrents is probably going to be overkill. Remember, you can always pause torrents, then resume them when others have finished downloading.

3. Connect to a VPN

A good torrenting VPN will fix many of the common causes of slow torrenting, including torrent blocking/throttling and port forwarding.

For instance, since a VPN encrypts your traffic, neither your ISP nor other parties (your job, university, etc.) will be able to throttle or block your downloads, since they won’t even know that you’re torrenting.

If you don’t already have a VPN, we’d recommend Private Internet Access. Not only will it help you avoid slow torrents, it’ll keep your torrenting activity safe. It’s quite affordable too.

4. Adjust your settings

If you’ve followed the above steps and your torrents are still slow, then the problem is likely with your settings, whether that’s your torrent client or your computer.

Here are a few things to try:

- Add an exception in your firewall for your torrent client

You’ll often be asked to do this when setting up your torrent client, but if it didn’t set up correctly (or you have a third-party app, like an anti-virus) blocking it, you may need to do it manually.

For the Windows Firewall, simply search for Windows Defender Firewall, look for Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall, click Change Settings, and then click the Private box next to your torrent client. You may always want to select Public, depending on your preferences.

If it’s your antivirus or third-party software, you’ll need to do it within that app.

- Turn off bandwidth limiting

Head to the Speed or Bandwidth tab under Options / Preferences in your torrent client.

You want your upload and download Rate Limits set to infinite (0 in uTorrent).

And you want uTP rate limit turned off (unclick the box).

- Turn on uPnP

If you’re having issues with port forwarding that a VPN didn’t fix, head to the Connection tab in your torrent client’s settings and enable uPnP (Universal Plug and Play).

How to Fix Slow Torrents: Wrap-Up

So, now we’ve looked at the common causes of slow torrents, as well as easy ways to fix them. If these steps didn’t help, your solution may be beyond the scope of this article. For instance, problems with your actual internet.