However, unlike the others, Wyzo does not limit itself to existing Firefox users. They try to target a large audience, mostly of people who are new to BitTorrent, or people that don’t need the advanced features most standalone clients offer.

Jon from Wyzo explained to TorrentFreak:

“Our primary target audience is not people who already use BitTorrent, it’s people that don’t. Despite the fact that our FireTorrent extension still contains most of the advanced features that die-hard torrent users would expect to see, but we don’t anticipate they will be swayed from using near perfect applications such as Azureus and uTorrent; instead, our focus to reach out to those users that don’t even know what a BitTorrent is, or a Firefox extension for that matter.”

Personally I think this is a great approach, since it will be nearly impossible to compete with a client like uTorrent. It is also wise to release the Firefox standalone extension, because existing Firefox users are not likely to switch to Wyzo, even though it basically has the same look and feel.

I’ve tried Wyzo and the FireTorrent extension for Firefox with a couple of torrents and it seems to be working quite well. BitTorrent support is seamlessly integrated with the regular download manager of the browser, and doesn’t require any configuration. Wyzo comes with a decent set of configuration options such as bandwidth control, protocol encryption, proxy support, and port randomization.

The engine core is built upon technology provided by P2P Innovative and contains essential features such as uTorrent compatible fast peer exchange, STUNT and uPnP connection integration.

In sum I would say the Wyzo’s BitTorrent extension (FireForrent) is one of the best BitTorrent browser extensions I’ve seen so far, and it could be very useful for people who are new to BitTorrent. Let’s hope they release their Firefox extension soon.

Wyzo can be downloaded here, and the FireTorrent extension over here. The browser is currently only available for Windows and OS X but a Linux version is expected to be released this summer.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

In this early stage of development the configuration options of Firestorm are quite basic, but the most essential features like adjusting the up- and download speed are already in there.

Firestorm is based on the source code from the Official BitTorrent Client, which is modified to be integrated with Firefox. The developers plan to continue the development of the extension after the school project is finished, so they can add more features and keep the extension up-to date.

Frequent TorrentFreak readers probably know that Firestorm is not the first BitTorrent extension for Firefox, FoxTorrent and BitFox are similar projects that work on adding a BitTorrent download manager to Firefox. This is a good thing of course, a little competition will only benefit the users.

More screenshots over here.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The maximum upload speed is by far the most important setting. It might sound strange to some, but you should always cap your upload speed to reach the best download speeds. Your connection is (sort of) like a pipeline (or tube if you prefer), if you max out your upload speed the pipe will be fully used, which means there’s not enough space left for the files you are downloading. The calculator recommends to set it at 80% of your maximum, I agree with that. People with high-speed connections might go a bit higher, and set is at 85% or even 90%.

Some people find that when they are seeding, browsing the web becomes sluggish. This is due to a badly configured upload speed in their BitTorrent client. When you have the correct upload speed entered into your client, browsing the web is noticeably quicker and seeding becomes almost transparent.

How to configure your maximum upload speed?

uTorrent: options > preferences > connection
Azureus: tools > options > transfer
Bitcomet: try this ?

Here at TorrentFreak we also wrote some post about optimizing BitTorrent download speeds, might be worth the read if you want to know more.

Read more on optimizing your BitTorrent Speed.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

1. How to Make a Torrent
Torrents are great, they are the best way to share large files with your friends, or even with people you don’t know at all. But surprisingly enough, not many people create torrents when they need to share something.

2. How to find Torrents
10 Great Torrent Sites + Firefox Search Plugins.

3. How To Encrypt BitTorrent Traffic
More and more ISP’s are limiting and throttling BitTorrent traffic on their networks. By throttling BitTorrent traffic the speed of BitTorrent downloads decreases, and high speed downloads are out of the question.

4. How to Optimize Your BitTorrent Download Speed
BitTorrent can be fun, as long as you get decent speeds. Not satisfied with your current speeds? These suggestions might help yo optimize your download pleasure.

5. How to Speed Up Bitcomet and uTorrent
90% off all people use the default settings on their client, and that’s a problem.

6. How to Protect Your Torrent From Failing Trackers
Nothing is more frustrating than your download getting stuck. The fact that a torrent has stopped downloading can have several reasons.

7. How to Use RSS & BitTorrent to Download TV shows
Are you tired of scanning several BitTorrent sites for the latest episodes of your favorite TV show? You should definitely try using RSS feeds then. RSS and BitTorrent are a perfect match.

8. How to Make a Custom TV Torrent Feed
How to create a personalized TV torrent feed, and have all your favorite TV torrents in one feed.

9. How to Use Gmail to Search Torrents
Gmail is more than a useful email service. In just a few steps you can turn it into your personal torrent search engine. And by using labels and filters you can keep your inbox clean.

10. How to Run uTorrent on a USB Stick
A portable version of uTorrent may come in handy when you’re with friends, at school, or at work. It will fit perfectly on every usb-stick, iPod, mobile phone, or any other device that is recognized a “removable disk”.

11. How to Run uTorrent in Mac OS X
uTorrent is currently only available for Windows. But that doesn’t going to stop us from running it in OS X.

12. How to Use Firefox to Remotely Control uTorrent
The uTorrent WebUI can be used to access uTorrent from an external computer. This Firefox extension will make it even easier.

Have fun!

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

BitTorrent can be fun, as long as you get decent speeds. Not satisfied with your current speeds? These suggestions might help to optimize your download pleasure

2. How to encrypt BitTorrent traffic

More and more ISP’s are limiting throttling BitTorrent traffic on their networks. By throttling BitTorrent traffic the speed of BitTorrent downloads decrease, and high speed downloads are out of the question.

3. How to create a torrent
Torrents are great, they are the best way to share large files with your friends, or even with people you don’t know at all. But surprisingly enough, not many people create torrents when they need to share something.

4. How to make a custom TV-torrent feed

All your favorite TV-torrents in one feed. Let’s create a feed for the latest 24, Lost and Prison Break HDTV episodes.

5. How to Organize your Torrents with uTorrent

Being a TorrentFreak is great of course, but all those downloaded torrents have the habit to make a mess out of your harddrive. Do you still have all your downloaded stuff in a single folder? Take action, organize your torrents.

6. How to Use Gmail to search torrents

Gmail is more than a useful email service. In just a few steps you can turn it into your personal torrent search engine. And by using labels and filters you can keep your inbox clean.

7. How to Speed up Bitcomet and uTorrent

I recently discovered that 90% off all people use the default settings on their client, and that’s a problem.

8. How to talk like a BitTorrent expert

Because I sometimes implicitly assume that everybody is completely familiar with the BitTorrent jargon. I decided to make a little BitTorrent dictionary to explain some of the nerdy stuff. I hope this hope this is useful to some of you.

9. How to find torrents

So Here it is, TorrentFreak’s one and only top torrent sites + firefox search plugins, June 2006. No Login required.

Enjoy

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.