I wonder how upload is allocated between peers in a private tracker. I noticed that I systematically upload much less than most of the other seeding peers (according to the stats available for a given torrent in the private tracker), even if I am among the first to get a torrent. I also noticed that my max upload speed is much less (e.g. 2MB/s) than what I get with speedtest (e.g. 7MB/s), and it often oscillates between low and high values. I was wondering, is there anything I can do to provide a larger share of upload bandwidth? Does the choice of a torrent client matter? Should I change any specific config? How can I diagnose any bottlenecks from my side? Or is it something completely outside my control? Thanks!
When I was using qBittorrent in a container in a Rasperry Pi 4, it was definitely the raw power that’s was throttling my downloads. You may wanna check CPU usage, specially if going through a VPN.
Also try limiting the maximum number of connections and slots for download and upload. You want to connect to less people but still use the same bandwidth, which is basically transmitting more data to those people.
How are you “among the firsts to get a torrent”? In private trackers, people use special software to be the very first, and on top of that seed-boxes with 10, 40 or even 100 symmetrical Gbps. Check “autobrr” to get started. It is not uncommon that you for example reupload a torrent from other tracker to get some sweet ratio and somebody cross-seeds your torrent and starts uploading before you.
I think those seed boxes you mentioned are the main reason OP isn’t using all their bandwidth. In the same way you suggest limiting total connections, those downloading will also have a limited number of connections so of course you’ll prioritise those on a gigabit+ uplink than those on slower links.
It all adds up and it all helps, of course.
While I do agree with you, there’s are a lot of things to still get good ratios OP can do with their home server, that’s why I mentioned the other stuff.
I use autobrr and have a midsize collection with maximum quality settings in Radarr and Sonarr through Recyclarr. Almost all my torrents have +1 ratio, and my upload speed is 54 Mbps (around 6 or 7 MB/s).
If OP actively hunts torrents and may be there before a majority is starting the nore manual and longer waiting method he may be behind autobrr users but before mainstream.
Also noticed that my literal seedbox in some trackers gets morr attention than others with similar seeders per torrent.
Generally people aren’t maxing out their download bandwidths, so if you have peers and are below your upload limit, the bottleneck is either your computer (e.g. disk, CPU), your network (e.g. WiFi, Internet), or the peering between your ISP and theirs (e.g. Deutsche Telekom).
Other people have kind of touched on this already, but clients prioritize connections based on stability and speed so things like seedboxes often get utilized more than your average home client to saturate a downloading connection.
I also noticed that my max upload speed is much less (e.g. 2MB/s) than what I get with speedtest (e.g. 7MB/s)
Again, other people have touched on some bottlenecks that can cause this (y’all are good lol), but clients also have a bit of connection overhead that will ultimately affect your maximum upload speed to peers at a varying degree. Here’s some details, if it helps:
Overhead- Additional data used and required for communication and coordination between sender and receiver that is not part of the payload data actually being transferred.
