utorrent can cause connection to drop with ZTE W300 Router
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:30 pm
Summary
Using utorrent can cause the internet connection to drop when also using the ZTE W300 router. The cause is the ZTE W300 is unable to handle the large amount of connections that utorrent sometimes defaults to. One solution is to change utorrent settings, in particular global connections. I have mine at 50 now, with no issues. This is probably applicable to other torrent clients as well.
When changing global connections you should always change connections per torrent to be less than global. For example with 50 global do 30 per torrent. Go here for more in depth information about utorrent settings you may want to change: http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?pid=295637
The Problem
I had just switched to Fusion and was having problems with intermittent packet loss and connection drops. I noticed one day that within minutes of starting utorrent my connection dropped. So I stopped using utorrent and it seemed my connection was now flawless.
Symptoms when the Connection Dropped
I'm on windows Vista connected to the router by wire. utorrent is port forwarded. For these tests I would run the following command from a command prompt:209.204.190.64 is an IP address that Sonic.net tech support asked me to use for ping testing. The "-n 5000" sends 5000 consecutive packets. I thought this would be the best way to judge the average quality of my connection. All tests were run multiple times on two different ZTE W300s (Sonic.net sent me a loaner when we were troubleshooting my connection issues).
no utorrent
0-5 packets lost.
utorrent - 400 global connections (default for 768kbps upload speed) / 24 kBps upload limit / no downloads
Usually lose internet connection, large but inconsistent amounts of packet loss, browsing slow, websites timeout.
utorrent - 50 global connections / limit 24 kBps upload / no downloads
0-5 packets lost.
router in bridge mode | utorrent - 400 global connections (default for 768kbps upload speed) / 24 kBps upload limit / no downloads
0-5 packets lost.
About the Results
It's possible my logic is flawed somewhere - let me know! Also if anyone from Sonic.net can give a technical explanation about what was happening I'm curious. In any event:
Considering that with the router in bridge mode I had no problems regardless of utorrent settings, I think means the problem is caused by a limitation of the router and not some other issue. I don't recommend putting your router into bridge mode to fix this problem, I only did it for troubleshooting purposes.
utorrent with 400 global connections didn't always cause the connection to drop. I think possible reasons are other traffic on my network and popularity of torrents may cause more or less stress to the router. At all times however connection quality was poor during this test. I found this to be true for various global connection settings in between 50 and 400, although I tested them less rigorously. Most likely the settings you choose for utorrent should be partially determined by how many computers share the router.
Using utorrent can cause the internet connection to drop when also using the ZTE W300 router. The cause is the ZTE W300 is unable to handle the large amount of connections that utorrent sometimes defaults to. One solution is to change utorrent settings, in particular global connections. I have mine at 50 now, with no issues. This is probably applicable to other torrent clients as well.
When changing global connections you should always change connections per torrent to be less than global. For example with 50 global do 30 per torrent. Go here for more in depth information about utorrent settings you may want to change: http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?pid=295637
The Problem
I had just switched to Fusion and was having problems with intermittent packet loss and connection drops. I noticed one day that within minutes of starting utorrent my connection dropped. So I stopped using utorrent and it seemed my connection was now flawless.
Symptoms when the Connection Dropped
- Someone on the network was using utorrent.
- The DSL light on the router would remain solid.
- Diagnostic Test (in router web interface) would show:
Code: Select all
>> Testing Ethernet LAN connection ... PASS >> Testing ADSL Synchronization . PASS >> Testing ATM OAM segment ping ... PASS >> Testing ATM OAM end to end ping ... PASS >> Ping Primary Domain Name Server . FAIL
- System Log (in router web interface) would have the following entry:
Code: Select all
dhcpClientARpCheck failifp = 8047f824
- Router would need to be restarted to restore connection.
I'm on windows Vista connected to the router by wire. utorrent is port forwarded. For these tests I would run the following command from a command prompt:
Code: Select all
ping -n 5000 209.204.190.64
no utorrent
0-5 packets lost.
utorrent - 400 global connections (default for 768kbps upload speed) / 24 kBps upload limit / no downloads
Usually lose internet connection, large but inconsistent amounts of packet loss, browsing slow, websites timeout.
utorrent - 50 global connections / limit 24 kBps upload / no downloads
0-5 packets lost.
router in bridge mode | utorrent - 400 global connections (default for 768kbps upload speed) / 24 kBps upload limit / no downloads
0-5 packets lost.
About the Results
It's possible my logic is flawed somewhere - let me know! Also if anyone from Sonic.net can give a technical explanation about what was happening I'm curious. In any event:
Considering that with the router in bridge mode I had no problems regardless of utorrent settings, I think means the problem is caused by a limitation of the router and not some other issue. I don't recommend putting your router into bridge mode to fix this problem, I only did it for troubleshooting purposes.
utorrent with 400 global connections didn't always cause the connection to drop. I think possible reasons are other traffic on my network and popularity of torrents may cause more or less stress to the router. At all times however connection quality was poor during this test. I found this to be true for various global connection settings in between 50 and 400, although I tested them less rigorously. Most likely the settings you choose for utorrent should be partially determined by how many computers share the router.