Download speed slow on new PC

[moiraine]

I just got a new computer - it's got the latest and greatest processor and tons of RAM. On my old Dell (P3 450 Mhz, 256 MB RAM), I used to get download speeds in excess of 100 kbs/sec. I'm currently downloading 2 torrents with lots of seeds and peers. I am lucky if I get a download rate of over 30 kbs/sec. The only difference between the old PC and the new one is the firewall....I was using Zone Alarm on the old one - the new one came with McAfee Security Center, but it's configured to let utorrent have full internet access. Also, when I have utorrent open, any other internet activity slows to a crawl. Can anybody shed any light on this for me??

Thanks in advance for any/all replies,
Mo

[U2Lynne]

You don't appear to be firewalled, so that is good. It could just be that you are on a torrent that doesn't have a lot of seeders and so the speed isn't very high yet.

As for utorrent and the internet activity being slow, you can cap your upload and/or download speeds so that it still allows you to surf the web. My max upload is about 52, so during the day (when the kids and hubby are also online), I cap it at about 30 and don't do any downloading. If I'm downloading also, then I cap my upload at 20 and my downloads at 100 (max for downloading is about 300) and usually no one notices that I'm still running bittorrent.

[moiraine]

Thanks for the info, Lynne. One of the two torrents that I was downloading is complete now (I'm seeding it - upload speed is under 10). The remaining one has these numbers: Seeds: 16(49) Peers: 22(82)

My download limit is unlimited, and my upload limit is 30. My current download speed is fluctuating between 15-21. Shouldn't it be much faster? Maybe I should switch to a different client?

[randytravis]

you should try setting up utorrent as the speed guide suggests:
http://www.utorrent.com/setup_guide.php

[U2Lynne]

^^^ what he said

Sometimes you need to play with your speeds in order to find what is best for you. You might also want to do a speed test (just google it and tons of sites will come up) in order to find out what speeds you are actually getting, not what your ISP told you that you would get.