Why is torrent over LAN so slow?

TonyBogdanov

Commendable
Apr 2, 2016
3
0
1,510
I have two computers with Windows 10 connected with a gigabit cable. Both are setup with static IP addresses, file sharing is on, firewalls are off. Both can ping and discover each other. Ethernet adapter details show a speed of 1gbit on both.

I can transfer large files via a shared folder with a speed of about 100 mb/s (as in mega-bytes) with no issues.

I have a 120 GB single file RAR archive from which I have created a .torrent file. I'm using BitCometTracker as a private tracker in conjunction with BitComet (on both computers) as a client. Both can seed, both can leech, no problems.

The problem is, that, no matter what I do, the speed of the torrent on either side never goes above 3.5 mb/s.

Given that file sharing works so beautifully I'm thinking it's not a network issue. So, my best guess would be either some weird firewall-style restriction on the ports, or a problem with BitComet? I do want to note that I have a moderately fast internet, so I can download torrents with speeds at least twice as fast from other people.

I can't understand, how come, using the same technology, I can download with 7-8 mb/s over the internet, through a wireless router, but not over a gigabit cable.

Any ideas?
 
Solution
I may be looking at this wrong, and you can correct me if I am, but I looks like he's trying to set them up via torrent so that they will sync to each other. I gathered this from the fact that he already knows that he can transfer over a shared folder, but is looking for an alternative( ie. torrent), because I know from experience that I haven't been able to auto sync my network shared folders. So, it does seem logical that torrents would would if they are both downloading and seeding each other at the same time.
Now, have a few suggestions to try if you'd like:
1. Try GameFirst software, and tell it to prioritize your bitcomet traffic highest. I notice a difference when I do this for my applications that are downloading.
2. Try...
If I understand it correctly: you're uploading over a tracker and download it.
In that case - I might be wrong - you're uploading into the internet and downloading over the internet.
Therefore your speed is limited by your upload rate.
I might have some error in my line of thought there but I think that's what's happening. You're not sending the data directly from one computer to the other but have the first hop of your ISP in between and are therefore using the bandwidth of your internet connection.

A shared folder would be way more efficient.
 

TonyBogdanov

Commendable
Apr 2, 2016
3
0
1,510
To answer the first question, both computers are connected via the cable and only via it. Neither is actually connected to the internet, just to each other. The tracker is running on one of the computers, but as far as I'm aware, no actual torrent data should go through the tracker, just info about the peers.

To answer the second question, I needed a way to transfer the files which is fail-proof against disconnects. So, at the time, I thought torrent would be the easiest solution. Besides, usually both computers are connected to the internet via a router (one of them wireless) and I thought it wouldn't be necessary to connect through a cable, setup a home group and all that hassle. But as you can guess it, it was way too slow. Only, I figured it being slow after about half of it was already transferred (over night) in all kinds of chunks, so it would be overkill to start over again.

Nonetheless I really want to know what the actual issue is, as these kind of things have always bothered me. I had a similar issue in the past, where the firewall was causing all of the slow speeds, so now I always have that in mind.

Thanks.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
A simple shared folder between two devices on the same LAN would be far faster, and more stable, and less likely for any disconnects, than using the torrent protocol.

Why is what you're doing slow?
You'll have to investigate.
Maybe the BitComet is actually trying to talk to the outside world, and those lost packets are slowing things down.

For your own edification, crank up wireshark or similar, and see what is actually going on.

Me, I'd just share a folder and be done with it.
 
Why are you making it overly complicated. You can get 100mbyte/sec transfer speeds with file sharing. That means it takes less than 30 minutes to copy that file. The only way you get faster is to copy it to a high speed flash driver and physically move the file.
 

Landon783

Commendable
Oct 26, 2016
18
0
1,520
I may be looking at this wrong, and you can correct me if I am, but I looks like he's trying to set them up via torrent so that they will sync to each other. I gathered this from the fact that he already knows that he can transfer over a shared folder, but is looking for an alternative( ie. torrent), because I know from experience that I haven't been able to auto sync my network shared folders. So, it does seem logical that torrents would would if they are both downloading and seeding each other at the same time.
Now, have a few suggestions to try if you'd like:
1. Try GameFirst software, and tell it to prioritize your bitcomet traffic highest. I notice a difference when I do this for my applications that are downloading.
2. Try to setup BitTorent Sync on both computers perhaps that will work better.
 
Solution