uTorrent 1.9: Getting Around Throttling

Yesterday we were wondering if there will really be a war between BitTorrent and VoIP and we reported about the role uTorrent plays in this scheme. Today we present you uTorrent 1.9 (still in “kindergarten”) which includes uTP, a variant of UDP (billed as UDP torrenting or micro transport protocol). uTP makes all the difference as it completely distinguishes itself as protocol (transport layer) from TCP through that is being nearly impossible to throttle.

FileShareFreak says in a post: “uTP, simply stated, lays BitTorrent over UDP and has been in the works for some time. Its development was not directly designed to prevent sandvining or TCP RST packet attacks; however, it turns out to be a successful side effect – even if unintentional.”

What exactly will bring uTP to uTorrent v1.9? Although implementing uTP might not yet prove very successful – because connectivity depends on multiple users who have embraced it as well (that is, other µTorrent v1.9 users, or users who have made adjustments and enabled it manually in v1.8.1 and BitTorrent 6.1.x) this still translates as a solution with great potential that has demonstrated its abilities by effectively circumventing Bell’s throttling.

The same post further details:

Interestingly, Bell (Sympatico) users may have the most to gain from uTP – at least here in Canada. Bell employs "TCP congestion control" in order to provide a "best effort service" for all users of the network; which simply put means aggressive throttling. Bell even blocks secure VPNs, tunneled traffic, encrypted traffic or anything else they aren’t able to easily identify. Why? Because it’s easier to block all unknown traffic (or, looking at it another way – traffic that a user can hide by tunneling), than it is to allow the few legitimate applications. Obviously, the use of VPNs to hide P2P traffic is not pervasive anywhere, but new subscribers to Sympatico who think they can outwit Bell by signing up to StrongVPN or VPNGates are in for a rude awakening when their torrents stay at 0:0 – they simply can’t connect. Additionally, those who opt for a different DSL ISP are also out-of-luck as these are likely third-party CLECs, whereby the "sold" bandwidth is already similarly throttled before it even reaches them.

The uTorrent forum reads – This build is NOT suitable for general use. Here is a quick look at what this version brings forward (and what it doesn’t):

What is not in 1.9:
UDP hole punching (yet?)
UDP tracker

What is in 1.9:
uTP, the micro transport protocol. This UDP-based reliable transport is designed to minimize latency, but still maximize bandwidth when the latency is not excessive. We use this for communication between peers instead of TCP, if both sides support it. In addition, we use information from this transport, if active, to control the transfer rate of TCP connections. This means uTorrent, when using uTP, should not kill your net connection – even if you do not set any rate limits.

What was in 1.8.1:
uTP, but connection attempts were not initiated by default, and there was no control over TCP as described above. You can enable it, but likely you will see the uTP connections not transfering much data, because they are pushed out of the way by TCP.

What this means for rate control:
You are still free to set rate limits and use external limiters. The "Automatic upload rate" control is flawed enough for most people that it will likely be removed once uTP is well tested and deployed, since it entirely supercedes that feature.

How to enable and disable it:
Preferences > Advanced, set bt.transp_disposition to:
255 – both TCP and uTP (default)
10 – uTP only
5 – TCP only

If you are experiencing slow upload or download performance please try 13560, which should generate "socket.log" and "utp.log". You don't need to run it for more than a minute or so once the transfer rates stabilize. Post both log files for us to look at. http://download.utorrent.com/beta/utorr … 60.upx.exe

Download here: http://download.utorrent.com/beta/utorrent-1.9-alpha-13559.upx.exe