10 Tips and Tricks for Private BitTorrent Sites
The first thing to notice when you join a private BitTorrent site is the eye-popping quality of the torrents. Each one is carefully culled, hand-picked through a strict moderation process. However, before you start hammering away on that download link - here are a few things you need to know.
On private torrent sites, everything revolves around ratios. A 1:1 ratio (or 1.0) means that you’ve downloaded exactly the same amount of data as you’ve uploaded. Thus a 0.80 ratio indicates that you’ve uploaded less than you’ve downloaded, which is hurtful to the health of the torrent. Inversely, a 3.0 ratio means you’ve uploaded 3 times more data than you’ve downloaded. Strive to achieve at least a 1.0 ratio - each site will have specific consequences for members who maintain a ratio of less than this. Attain a ratio over 1.0 and the rewards shall follow you into the P2P afterlife.
If you’re brand-new to a private site, it will be difficult in the beginning to acquire a 1.0 ratio. Luckily, users are given a ‘grace’ period to achieve this. Since there are so many more seeds than leechers (a total flip-flop from public BT sites), it becomes harder to upload to others - due to the fact that there are fewer people to share with.
So why go through all the trouble to keep an honest ratio? Because deep down, you’re an upstanding denizen of file-sharing society! Aside from that shameless pat-on-the-back, good ratios offer many perks, including an upgraded account on the tracker (i.e. VIP status), higher download speeds, free “invites” for your friends, and no waiting periods associated with accounts in arrears.
Here are Ten Tips to get your ratio in top-shape as fast as possible:
1. Start out with Smaller Files
Initially, opt for smaller (i.e. under 1 GB) files for downloading. This gives you a greater chance of someone coming along after you and downloading the same torrent (and you’ll be able to upload to them). Obviously a 700MB movie file will be more appealing to other site members than a 30GB ‘Blu-Ray’ rip.
2. Jump on the ‘Newly Released’ torrents
This is a great tip for increasing your ratio in a hurry. Camp out in your favorite private BT site, and refresh the torrent listings frequently. Newly added entries will have many more leechers than seeds, so you’ll be able to share (upload) more data. To maximize this tip, select smaller files - the “TV Episode” category works great for this.
3. Select Files that have a High ‘L’ or upload number
This is important. When selecting torrents, base your initial selections on a high number of leechers (the more, the better). This will ensure you have many avenues to upload to during (and after) the transfer. When starting out on a new private BT site, we would even go so far as to say that you should download torrents that you don’t want - just start grabbing torrents that have lots of leechers. Once your ratio get over the 1:1 (1.0) mark, delete them.
TIP: If one of your seeding torrents remains popular, leave it running in µtorrent permanently. This will always help to boost your upload ratio.
4. Avoid ‘Zero-Leech’ torrents
When you’re new to a private site, steer clear of the ‘zero-leech’ torrents - it is impossible to increase your share ratio when there are no other downloaders. When viewing a list of torrents, look for the “Leecher” column (or just “L”) and avoid anything that has a zero ( “0″ ) in it. After your account ratio has become relatively stable, now is the time to snag whatever you want.
5. Leave some tasks running in uTorrent
After the completed download of a torrent, leave the task running (as a seed) in µtorrent to increase your upload statistics. Don’t delete (or move) the files of a running task! You can, however, extract (unRAR) the files, or copy the files from one place to the next. In the event of a movie/video file - you’ll be able to “burn” or “extract” the *.avi file (or even play it on the PC) without affecting the seeding torrent.
TIP: Always keep a few things running as ’seeds’ in your BT client. If you notice that they aren’t uploading, replace them with newer ones.
6. Go for the ‘Freebie’ downloads
Many private sites will offer “free” torrents that won’t count against your download statistics (thus, your ratio will remain unchanged). Grab these freebies - especially when searching for torrents on a new account.
7. Use ‘Credits’ to purchase…
A popular feature among superior private BitTorrent sites is the addition of a ‘credits’ feature for account holders. Credits can be used to ‘purchase’ VIP status, increased sharing ratios and other perks. Not all sites are the same, but some credits can be acquired just from staying active in their IRC channel, or from just having the torrents available for download in your BT client.
8. Do NOT try to ‘cheat’ the Private Trackers
There are a variety of ratio cheating tips available out there, but don’t be tempted. Trackers are fairly sophisticated and ever-evolving. If you get caught cheating, you won’t even be warned - it’s a permanent ban for you and bye-bye for good.
9. Set a proper Upload Limit
Setting a proper upload limit in the BT client makes all the difference! You’ll want to supply a high enough limit to maximize uploading, but not have it eat into your download bandwidth. The general rule is to set it at 80 - 85% of your upload limit. To figure this out, visit www.speedtest.net and conduct the simple test. Results are shown in kilobits, so divide the result by 1/8 and then multiply that by 0.85. This will give you the proper number in KB/s (KiloBytes).
In µtorrent, go to OPTIONS > Preferences… > Connection and enter your upload rate. Click “Apply” and then “OK” to save the changes. While your in that same ’settings’ page, make sure to use a port number from the good list (e.g. 49152 - 65535).
10. And if all else fails…donate
Most sites allow for monetary contributions to keep up with the server costs. If you enjoy a particular site immensely but cannot seem to be able to approach a decent sharing ratio (due to turning off your computer at night, going to work, or sharing your computer with your kids, wife, husband or siblings), think about donating. In most cases even a not-so-generous gratuity will robustly affect your account status - plus you’ll feel good about helping out the BitTorrent community.
Other Tips - Follow ‘The Rules’
Yeah, we know: you hate rules! That’s why you probably moved out of your parents’ basement. Rules are probably why some turned to P2P.
Nevertheless, rules are an important aspect to private BT sites - they ensure healthy torrents and blazing-fast download speeds for all. Each site will have their “rules” posted - the link is usually not hard to find. Below are some general rules / tips that pertain to any private BitTorrent site:
Use an ‘Accepted’ BitTorrent client
Not all private trackers are the same - and each one has different rules in regards to which BitTorrent client is on the “allowable” list. Most sites recommend µtorrent, but only specific versions (or builds) of it. If you stick with v1.6.1 or the latest version v1.7.7 (recommended), you can’t go wrong with ANY private site (avoid any versions in between these numbers). And do not use BitComet on private trackers.
Proper BitTorrent client configuration:
Many trackers recommend that you disable DHT and Peer Exchange (PEX) in your BT client’s settings. To do this in µtorrent, go to OPTIONS > Preferences… > and select the BitTorrent tab. Remove the three checkmarks that pertain to DHT and PEX (see image below):
Do not ‘Hit & Run’ a Private BT site:
A ‘Hit & Run’ (or H&R) is when someone joins a private tracker, and downloads as much as they can before making off without uploading to a proper ratio. While this practice is frowned upon even on public sites such as mininova.org, it is deplorable to private sites. This can (and sometimes will) lead to your IP address being banned from the site - forever.
Stick within these guidelines for HAPPY Torrenting!
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Yeah and how many private sites are going to give uploader status to someone on dialup? Oink was the exception to the rule as it had no prerequisits to becoming an uploader. Most sites I can think of wont even consider you for uploader if your upload is under 1mbit. And even then you have to compete with losers that have seedboxes and nothing better to do than sit on a torrent till 100:1 before fucking off and leaving everyone else to need to seed for a week.
[quote comment="317178"]Yeah and how many private sites are going to give uploader status to someone on dialup? Oink was the exception to the rule as it had no prerequisits to becoming an uploader. Most sites I can think of wont even consider you for uploader if your upload is under 1mbit. And even then you have to compete with losers that have seedboxes and nothing better to do than sit on a torrent till 100:1 before fucking off and leaving everyone else to need to seed for a week.[/quote]
I can’t speak for every private tracker, but I had uploader status from day one on the following private trackers with no bandwidth or any other prerequisites or requirements:
Oink
Waffles
What
BitMeTV
BitMe
Karagarga
Goem
IndieTorrents
I’d recommend using Azureus to control Upload and Download when you join a new private site. But that’s just a personal client preference as it’s got more tweakability.
“limit your DOWNLOAD speed to about what you are getting on your upload”
BAD advice.
“Try to seed at least as much as you’ve downloaded.”
GOOD advice.
It may look effectively equal but it isn’t. Think about it.
Bitsoup.org FTW!
[quote]
Thus a 0.80 ratio indicates that you’ve uploaded less than you’ve downloaded, which is hurtful to the health of the torrent. Inversely, a 3.0 ratio means you’ve uploaded 3 times more data than you’ve downloaded. Strive to achieve at least a 1.0 ratio - each site will have specific consequences for members who maintain a ratio of less than this. Attain a ratio over 1.0 and the rewards shall follow you into the P2P afterlife.
[/quote]
I call BS on that!
Why does everyone say that?!
There is NOTHING wrong with a 0.8 ratio! It is logically impossible for everyone to have a ratio >1.0. Having too many people with extremly high ratios hurts the network just as much as the opposite.
This can currently be observed on what.cd! - Its nearly impossible to upload anything there, you’ve got to keep torrents running for MONTHS!
Why doesn’t anyone else understand this?!
LOL
People without any clue what they’re talking about pretend to know it all!
54, logically impossible? Only if you let torrents die.
Anyone got a waffle or what invite? I lost both my accounts when the pig was slaughtered and the demon exorcised… Dimodae@gmail.com
LOL @ the article writer:
While this practice is frowned upon even on public sites such as mininova.org, it is deplorable to private sites. This can (and sometimes will) lead to your IP address being banned from the site - forever.
hahahah ohes noes imma git mai ip b&
This only affects those who have static IPs or can’t figure out how to use TOR or a proxy. I fucking do this all this time and also cheat the trackers and I LOL when they try to ban me. As if there aren’t 9000 more private sights anyways…
private sites = serious business LOL
54: “Why doesn’t anyone else understand this?!”
You’re the one who’s to dumb to do it right! LOL
i’m on some private sites which don’t allow overseeding. if you seed to a ratio higher than 3.0 you’ll get a warning. i think this is very importent so everyone can get a good ratio. on the other hand, the speed could be compromised.
IMHO, a closed-network variant of Gnutella makes more sense for private groups than BitTorrent. Especially because spam - Gnutella’s worst (or even only) problem is a non-issue in such an environment. In fact I think for any kind of long-term sharing something like Gnutella is better. BitTorrent is good for initial publishing where you know that lots of people will be interested in something at a certain time. For example the newest episode of some series or whatever else recently released. Keeping large collections - like libraries - alive and seeded is too much of a hassle and overhead.
[quote comment="317210"]LOL
People without any clue what they’re talking about pretend to know it all!
54, logically impossible? Only if you let torrents die.[/quote]
It is logically impossible, because the average ratio over all peers must be 1.0:
amount uploaded overall = amount downloaded overall
=> For everyone with a 2.0 ratio there have to be two other people with a 0.5 ratio (or 10 people with a 0.9 ratio, or whatever, do the math).
If everyone on a torrent had a ratio greater 1.0, there’d be more data uploaded than downloaded on that torrent. Now tell me: How’s that possible? Right, it’s not!
Just think it through before ridiculing other people. Thx.
PS: The same logic aplies private-site-wide! Thats why i never complain about someone having an overall ratio of 0.7 or 0.8. This may be the person that enables me to have a ratio greater than 1.0.
“If everyone on a torrent had a ratio greater 1.0, there’d be more data uploaded than downloaded on that torrent. Now tell me: How’s that possible?”
1. Endgame mode.
2. Buggy software.
@62 - The average of all uploads and downloads with the private tracker must be 1. But, if you download off of another tracker as stated above, your ratio can be higher without “decreasing” the ratios of others.
11) do not allow yourself to be born in a country where unlimited download limits are essentially impossible to get
Without a doubt the lamest “tutorial” i’ve ever read. not once does it even suggest uploading your own stuff to increase your ratio. pathetic
Haha, I fuckin’ leech like fuck. i downloaded 1.5TB from cheggit since Xmas, uploaded less than 50MB. Now they’re bring in ratio/banning but so what? i just change my ip address and let some other sucka waste their time uploading. gimme the fuckin’ WAREZ! I am the LEECHA L33T
This must be the worst tutorial in history.
Made by a n00b most likely.
SCT sucks!
[quote]whats the point of file sharing when its private for some people. i like to share back but not to a selected people, but to the public.[/quote]
Exactly, I don’t want my bandwidth going to help out some elitist private tracker person, I’d rather use it to help everyone. I seed to one person, they give it to someone else, it’s like a chain (though in reality it is more of everyone giving pieces to everyone else, not to just one person, but still).
[quote]AXXO HASNT RELEASED ANYTHING FOR MONTHS AND ANY NEW RELEASES WITH HIS NAME ON ARE FAKES TRY BTRACS FOR A LIST OF PRIVATE SITES OPEN TO SIGN UP[/quote]
http://www.mininova.org/user/aXXo
[quote]@62 - The average of all uploads and downloads with the private tracker must be 1. But, if you download off of another tracker as stated above, your ratio can be higher without “decreasing” the ratios of others.[/quote]
Remember the original uploader though. They didn’t download it, only upload it.
[quote comment="317258"]Haha, I fuckin’ leech like fuck. i downloaded 1.5TB from cheggit since Xmas, uploaded less than 50MB. Now they’re bring in ratio/banning but so what? i just change my ip address and let some other sucka waste their time uploading. gimme the fuckin’ WAREZ! I am the LEECHA L33T[/quote]
Hahahaha Nobody cares. We all just think your a douchebag. Quit bragging and go back to leeching, ya dick.
[quote]Results are shown in kilobits, so divide the result by 1/8 and then multiply that by 0.85. This will give you the proper number in KB/s (KiloBytes).[/quote]
Divide by 1/8? Is that really what you mean? I think you mean “divide by 8″ or “multiply by 1/8.”
W
[quote comment="316971"]I don’t understand why you have to disable the DHT. I’ve never had problems with my ratio because of the DHT. The torrents on private trackers have DHT disabled. In addition, if you want to download an external torrent you might find out that without DHT enabled you won’t be able to connect to some peers.[/quote]
You don’t have to.
NEVER disable DHT or Peer Exchange. If a tracker goes down (and they all do at times) DHT will help you find peers without the need of a tracker. As said above, torrents from most private sites have the DHT disabled anyway. Keeping DHT enabled in your client doesn’t do any harm to private trackers and it will keep other torrents that are DHT enabled alive and able to connect with you. There’s been many a time I’ve been able to complete a long dead, tracker-less file merely because the original torrent file was DHT-enabled so the few peers with it still in their client can find each other.
Aside from the DHT part, the article is a good basic primer for those wishing to try private sites.
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