bittorrent is killing my rt31p2

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

Hi

When ever I run my bittorrent program, azureus, it just kills my router, all internet programs are constantly disconnecting and reconnecting, and taking for ever just for webpages to download.

Anyone know what I can do about this?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:12 am Post subject:

Yup. Put a better router in front of the Vonage router. I had the same problem with my WRTP54G, and there is unfortunately no way to fix it. The Linksys default is to hold on to active connections for 5 days, and BitTorrent is famous for making gobs of connections and not cleaning up after itself.

Once the connections table is full, the router will refuse to make any new connections to any servers until entries are taken out of the connections table, and it won't turn an "active" connection into an "idle" one until no data has passed through that connection for 5 days.

A lot of routers work for a lot of people. But a number of consumer routers have issues like this. My old cheap consumer-grade NetGear did the same thing. For me, a WRT54GL with some aftermarket firmware magic fixed the problem, AND gave me control of my network. This was after four months of living hell trying to figure out what the problem was.

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/wrt54gl.html

This one comes up often enough that I feel a new article coming on. Wink

Posts: 276 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:05 am Post subject:

NateHoy wrote:

For me, a WRT54GL with some aftermarket firmware magic fixed the problem, AND gave me control of my network. This was after four months of living hell trying to figure out what the problem was.

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/wrt54gl.html

This one comes up often enough that I feel a new article coming on. Wink

Nate, I think you've become the resident guru on the WRT54G(L-S) with HyperWRT firmware. But I'm at least going to take credit for convincing you to go buy the darn thing in the first place and steering you to the right firmware to start! <grin>

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:14 am Post subject:

DallasFlier wrote:

Nate, I think you've become the resident guru on the WRT54G(L-S) with HyperWRT firmware. But I'm at least going to take credit for convincing you to go buy the darn thing in the first place and steering you to the right firmware to start! <grin>

Credit where credit is due. (grin)

Posts: 276 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:27 am Post subject:

NateHoy wrote:

Credit where credit is due. (grin)

OK, I glanced at your signature again, and decided it was time to update, mine was being upstaged! Wink

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

Wow I wish I had asked this here a long time ago. Should I just go ahead and get the one you mention or should I run out and get something newer?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:36 am Post subject:

If you get something newer, PLEASE avoid the newer WRT54G and WRT54GS. Wink

I can't recommend anything else, because I don't have personal experience with anything else. The WRT54GL simply... works. It's not a high-end router, but with the aftermarket firmware it certainly acts like one, within the limitations of its hardware. It's done everything I've asked and far more than I expected in its price range.

But, there are GOBS of routers out there, many far cheaper than the WRT54GL since the price increases on the unit (I paid $50, they now go for ~$75). If you find one that does what you need, hey, go with it.

But, net result - you need a new router. Trust me on that one - I spent months of hell trying to avoid it.

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

I hope you don't mind more questions! I see it says "with Linux". I'm a clueless windows user, will i be able to use it without learning Linux?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:53 am Post subject:

Yes.

Linux is the operating system it runs on, and the reason you can load aftermarket firmware (Linksys released the source code to the development community, which is why aftermarket firmware exists). But all the user screens are just web pages.

With the aftermarket firmware, you CAN get to a Linux command line on the router and get all geeky, but you don't have to.

Actually, the WRTP54G, RTP300, and I think your router are all Linux based, too, so you've probably already seen what a Linux-based router looks like. Smile

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

Searching another thread of yours, I found this link:

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/wrt54gl.html

Will that tell me all I need to know, as a Linux-clueless but reasonably adept Windows user?