OptimizeDownload

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Introduction and Overview

The most frequent question regarding Shareaza or any other P2P Clients is about downloading. Everyone always believes they have to unlock some hidden feature to make their downloads fast. The reality? No option like that exists!

The truth is that downloading is subjective. You can only download as fast as other users can upload to you. If you try to download a file, and it only has a few users (sources), chances are it won't be too fast. Therefore, The more sources a file has, theoretically the faster it will be.

Note: Don't let the units fool you; there's a difference between 1 Kb ( kilobits ) and 1 KB ( kilobytes )

1 Kilobyte = 8 Kilobits
1 KB/s     = 8 Kb/s

For more information about Bits and Bytes and how to change the way Shareaza displays them, see Troubleshoot.BytesBits.

Search the network for something really popular, some small file that has at least 50-100 sources - a popular song for example. Download it, and if it doesn't download at all or is going very slowly, then you may have a problem. An example would be to download Shareaza itself using the Magnet link, as the Shareaza installers files are the most popular files shared among Shareaza users - therefore the download speed should be high.

If this is not the case however, you can try to fix it by following the instructions below. Note that if you're downloading a rare file (low sourced) and the speeds aren't up to par, that's most probably not Shareaza's fault, it's simply normal.

Well, some of you probably stop here, claiming that your download has tons of sources, but isn't going anywhere. This is most probably the fault of the eDonkey2000 network, a network designed for large files and consistent, but slower, transfer rates. However, its logic doesn't always mean high speeds for high sourced files. If the same amount of sources were available on Gnutella2, the download would be screaming. This is you will need to know what to expect from the different networks before you should continue fixing a problem that might not even be there.

So: What to Expect?

From Gnutella2: Gnutella2 (G2) is Shareaza's premier network. The network is small compared to larger networks like eDonkey2000, for example, but it is powerful, with many features and great efficiency. You should expect smaller queues on Shareaza (1-25 is the norm) and nice speeds. For music, it is excellent, but it might offer only average speeds on larger files. The only thing hurting speeds on the big files, however, is the low number of users. This means as the network grows each day, speeds for large files get better and better just the same.

Gnutella2 is optimal for both large and small files.

From gnutella: A network of mostly small files, good for music. It is much like Gnutella2 in the way that it acts in a similar structure, but it lacks the efficiency and features. It also has short queues, like Gnutella2.

Gnutella is best for smaller files (~ 4-10 MB).

From eDonkey2000: eDonkey is a network of long queues and large files. Don't be surprised if you try to download something on eDonkey and you're waiting in queues the size of your state's population. But, the network has pretty much everything, if you wait long enough (say, leave your download going overnight or longer). You'll be able to get most files eventually. Keyword: Eventually. The download is going to be slow, much slower than most other networks. This is why the network is suited for broadband users, who can leave their connections active all the time and wait through the queues and the slow download. However, there is a credit system involved - the more you upload to a user, the faster you go through their queues, helping you download faster. The longer you leave it on, the faster your download will be - to a point, of course.

eDonkey is best for larger files (20 MB +).

From BitTorrent: BitTorrent has a reverse strategy of many P2P networks. It is not searchable, but uses web based "Trackers". The "Tracker" indexes the users that are downloading or uploading the file, and when you begin downloading it, you receive this source list. Because of this, you will have no trouble finding sources, but if the tracker goes down, then so does your download. BitTorrent has a strategy - "The faster you upload, the faster you download". The downloads, therefore, are very fast, since most users apportion a large amount of their bandwidth to sharing the file they are downloading. However, people won't be downloading the file forever, so a download might last a week or so, but often not much longer than that. There are no queues in BitTorrent, nor do you need to connect to anything other than the tracker when you are not downloading, much unlike Shareaza's other three P2P networks.

BitTorrent is optimal for both large and small files.

The most important thing when working with Shareaza

The most important thing when working with Shareaza is that you pass the connection test. If you don't, your downloads will ever be limited, as you can only connect to around ~60% of all network users, which will also limit your download speed to a maximum of 60% of the possible speed it could have.

Read the Shareaza Connection Test page for more information before you continue to follow this guide.

Use High Sourced/Verified Files

This part is so crucial, I decided it deserves its own section. This is, by far, one of the most important thing you can do to get good download speeds (besides passing the Shareaza Connection Test, of course).

Since having more sources usually results in a bigger download speed, you have to find the highest sourced files to improve your download rate. There are two ways to do this - finding them by searching, or using the recommended way - downloading off Indexing Sites (AKA Verified Files or Release Sites):

Searching - When searching, sort by the number of sources. Then, look for the file you want from the top to bottom. That way, when see the file you want, you will get the one with the most sources. The more sources, the better chance of a fast download. Searching is recommended only if you want single files, or can't find what you need on release sites. Watch out for fakes though, as they can be popular. To protect yourself from this, be sure that the file size seems realistic and the file type is what you're looking for. Make also sure your Security Filters are up-to-date. Note also that you should prefer downloads that have sources in multiple networks above downloads that have sources in one single network, as this increases the chance of finding more sources at a later time.
Release Sites - Certain sites provide links to files that have been found by users and usually have to be of a certain standard. This means there are no bad quality or fake files around these sites. They also give you the added bonus to discuss the file and view lots more useful information about the download. Since this is a central source to hundreds of users, many people download these files, making them extremely high sourced. These sites are far superior to searching. For BitTorrent, this is literally the only way to use it.

*** PAGE HAS BEEN VERIFIED UNTIL THIS PLACE. EVERYTHING ABOVE IS OK, THE REST HAS NOT YET BEEN CHECKED OR VALIDATED ***

Primary Tweaks

These "option tweaks" should be the first you try to increase your download speed. They are quick, easy, and are often fix a configuration problem.

Update Shareaza

Shareaza is constantly updated with bug fixes, UI improvements, performance enhancements and new features. Find the latest release at the Shareaza Download Page. Many versions of Shareaza will occasionally check shareaza.sourceforge.net automatically, to see if an update is available. This is the single best "tweak" or change you can make to Shareaza.

Firewall and Router Configuration

If you have a firewall or router, be sure it is configured. You need to forward UDP and TCP packets through a port and configure Shareaza to use that port. See the Firewall/Router Configuration Page if you need help with this. This is a very close second in terms of the most effective tweaks to follow.

Fix Windows SP2

Windows SP2 contains new "features" which are designed to impede the spread of worms and other malware. However, this limitation directly impacts p2p programs, causing it to either severely limit Shareaza's performance or block it alltogether. Recent versions of Shareaza include workarounds to this limitation, however repairing the situation by installing a third-party patch is the best solution. See the SP2 Troubleshooting page for more information.

Alternate Tweaks

These are things that will help after reading the primary tweak section, and help you to get more out of your p2p experience with Shareaza.

Modify the Number of Download Connections

Firstly, it's best to check the number of concurrent connections your network hardware can support.

If you connect to the Internet via a modem attached directly to your PC (eg via USB), then you should be able to virtually have an unlimited number of connections.
If you use a dedicated router to connect to the internet, the number of concurrent connections will be limited by the capability of the router. Due to the limited amount of memory (RAM) used in such devices, the number of concurrent connections is relatively small for P2P. All Linksys (wired or wireless) routers support a maximum total of 253 concurrent connections. This limitation applies to all internet activity, so don't tell Shareaza to use all of them; allow some spare connections for web browsing and emails etc.
If you use PC as a dedicated router (with a modem attached directly to it), then you should be able to virtually have an unlimited number of connections.

Unfortunetly there's no test for this, so I suggest contacting the router manufacturer for information. If you just can't, or don't want to, you'll have to guess (255 is a good estimate).

Once you've learnt the number of connections your hardware can handle, you now know what you can set the options to.

Shareaza Settings > Internet > Downloads - Set Maximum Transfers to 40% of the maximum concurrent connections supported by your network hardware (or use the maximum value if you can have an unlimited number of connections). Set Transfers per File to half of the Maximum Transfers value. Increasing these values helps to properly utilize your bandwidth - this allows you to optimize your "swarm" or "multi source" downloads. In other words - tweaking this setting is strongly recommended.
Shareaza Settings > Networks > eDonkey2000 - Set Client Link Connections to 40% of the maximum concurrent connections supported by your network hardware (or use the maximum value if you can have an unlimited number of connections). Increasing the number of client link connections is the key to the eDonkey network, allowing you to stay in more queues and take advantage of your bandwidth.

Configuration Tip: Maximum Transfers - The Maximum Transfers setting tells Shareaza how many transfers it can use to contact sources, and the more people it can contact, the faster it can start a download. The configuration of this setting depends on your bandwidth. Increase the setting until your bandwidth is allocated. The absolute maximum value for this setting is 200 - unless you have a very high bandwidth connection (fewer than 1% of Shareaza users). If you want to get the most out of your connection, try starting the number at 40-60, and raising the number in increments of 10-20 and seeing which gives you the best performance. It is BAD for the network to increase this setting too high, so be sure you don't set it to an unreasonable amount. Having too many connections can also impede your network equipment (such as a router or DSL modem), or your computer.

Windows 9x Users: Do not increase the Maximum Transfers too high or you could crash your system! See the The Lockups Page for more information.

Configuration Tip: Transfers Per File The ‘Transfers per File’ is how many sources Shareaza can download from at once. The configuration of this setting also depends on your bandwidth. For a very high bandwidth connection, try 50. For a DSL connection of about 512 kb/s Download, try around 15. The more bandwidth you have, the more the setting should be increased.

Configuration Tip: Client Link Connections This setting determines how many eDonkey sources it can stay it contact with, and the more people you can download from, the better. It is related more to your computer than bandwidth – if your computer is slower, than don’t push it too high. For a newer computer and pretty fast broadband, 800 – 1000 would not be out of the question.

Windows 9x Users: Do not increase the Client Link Connections too high or you could crash your system! See the The Lockups Page for more information.

You will have to restart Shareaza for these changes to take effect.

Update your eDonkey Serverlist

Shareaza gets lists of eDonkey servers which it can search from a 'server.met', which is hosted by various websites. You can set Shareaza to automatically download these lists.

Click some of the links below to automatically add 'server.met's to Shareaza.

[shareaza:meturl:http://www.gruk.org/server.met gruk.org/]
[shareaza:meturl:http%3a%2f%2fpeerates.net/servers.php peerates.net]

Connect to Additional Networks

Shareaza Settings > Networks > Gnutella - Check “Connect to Gnutella2 today’. Check “Connect to Gnutella Today/Always, if you choose).
Shareaza Settings > Networks > eDonkey2000 - Check Auto-Connect/Connect to eDonkey, if you wish.

Configuration Tips :

Gnutella2: Connecting to G2 is very strongly recommended no matter what you download, since it will has a large range of file types and pretty good speeds. It is growing by the day, and takes advantage of all Shareaza’s Advanced Features. Gnutella1: Only connect to G1 for music and other small files. It offers poor performance on larger files, so you won’t find much other than audio here. eDonkey2000: Connect to eDonkey for larger files, such as Movies, Software and Games. eDonkey has more users than the Gnutella networks combined, but, due to how the network is designed, offers very poor performance on smaller files. The eDonkey network actually discourages sharing lots of small files, due to its design. BitTorrent: To download BitTorrent files, you are not required to connect to anything when you are not downloading.

Set your Connection Speed Correctly

Shareaza Settings > Internet > Connection - Set the 'Inbound Address' to a number slightly below your rated download bandwidth. Do the same for the 'Outbound Address', setting it just below your upload bandwidth.

Configuration Tips:

If you do not know your rated line speed, check out The Speed Test Page or ask your Internet service provider.
Set the connection speeds to about 80% of your rated numbers, otherwise Shareaza will suck up all of your bandwidth.
Even if you don't plan to use your connection other than downloading, don't set the speeds to more than 80% of your bandwidth. Establishing connections would get slowed down if there is little bandwidth left and time out, resulting in a lower number of active sources.

Change Maximum Queue Length

Sometimes you will find that your download sources are filled with edonkey connections with long queues. To make room for more G1/G2 sources and thus speed up your downloads you may want to change the max queue length to something more like 1500 or 1000, but no lower then that. This setting can be changed by going to

Tools > Shareaza Settings > Downloads > Limits > Maximum Queue Length

and manually typing in a lower number. Shareaza may show a warning but it should allow you to make the change.

Practical Suggestions

If you have gone through all the above tweaks, and your download speed still is not satisfactory, then the following tips should do the trick. These are things that you do over time and don't take affect for a little while. However, these techniques are the ones that all the P2P experts use to get the most performance out of Shareaza and its incorporated networks.

Leave Shareaza Running

Leave Shareaza active for a couple days. If you are downloading from the eDonkey network, it will take time to get to the end of the line in your queue spot. You will see your best download performance after leaving Shareaza on for an extended period of time. Don't judge speed in the first few minutes, because the speed is often much faster towards the middle of a download than at the start.

Tweak your DSL/Cable (Broadband) connection

Sometimes a misconfiguration outside of Shareaza can affect the download speeds. Broadband Reports is a great resource for tweaking and learning more about broadband in general. The site will try and help make your internet connection more efficient. If you do not have broadband, getting it would also be an excellent speed tweak.

Conclusion

Please remember that these are extra tweaks and suggestions to help improve your downloading experience. They may work, but then again, they may not. Don't feel that you are guaranteed speed by reading this, but it will probably enhance your Shareaza experience one way or another.

Every single user has a unique situation, and it isn't possible to give each and every one of the users the optimal settings and suggestions. Your best bet is to read carefully and try to figure out the mild science behind all this. It's actually just simple math. It has become common practice now to post forum threads, asking for more tweaks or "personal settings" and neglecting to read this guide. Please do not do this! The same question is asked over and over, and users do their best to respond to these questions. However, a small mistake in judgement on a settings, and you lose all possible performance with Shareaza. Plus, there are so many of these threads that they clutter up the forum, and many people just ignore them anyway.

This guide is not perfect, and probably never will be. However, if you have something you'd really like to add, feel free to send a message to any Moderator or Alpha Team Member, and they can help out. Whether it be telling friends about Shareaza, adding to this guide, participating in the forums, or just raising your upload bandwidth, help the network grow. Keep sharing. Every bit counts.