It's official.

[cornerstone]

Don't patch it!!!!! If it's too late, it's no great stress - but that whole patching thing is rubbish because the limit is new connections per second.

The answer to your problem is at the WiFi router (which isn't yours) - you need to open the port there I would say. The router's HTTP port is already open, but presumably your random bittorrent port is closed.

[bwhitesox]

Yip, If you're leaching someone elses bandwidth then you have no say on what ports are or are not open.

If you have just a cable modem then it should be straight out to the internet from your pc...Check which port bit torrent is trying to connect through and change it to something else as the standard port of 6881 is normally blocked by ISP's.

Also check that your windows firewall is open for the new port...Normally when you reopen your bittorrent client windows firewall will ask if you want to let it connect and this will open the port.

Good luck.

[SportsterRider]

TV detector vans? Can someone educate an ignorant American as to what this is all about??

SR

[Victoria]

Good luck.

Bwhite and Cornerstone -- first thanks for the help.

To recap: I have or had two problems. One was the laptop, one was on the Dell computer with new HD. I had been using the laptop with my cable modem connection (yellow cable), downloading torrents without any problems.

Then I got the desktop back, I disconnected the cable modem, and the laptop didn't "read" any Wifi connections around me (usually in my condo, there are two pages worth, some unlocked). I read that I had to "Function Key"/F2 to reactivate the Wifi, and it worked!

After another monumental effort of reading online for tips, I placed back the cable modem connector into the laptop -- it worked too. I can download torrents again! Yeehaw! That's two problems solved in one fell swoop.

However, and this is the weird part. I put in the self-same yellow ethernet cable into the "new" Dell, and it just will not allow me to download anything. I tried BitComet, Azureus, and Deluge as well. Nada.

I slavishly copied all the settings from Windows Firewall and McAfee into the desktop from the laptop, including opening the required ports. Nothing.

I tried rebooting a dozen times, and unplugging the cable into the NIC to get another dynamically assigned IP. Again, nothing.

Clearly this cannot be an ISP throttle, though every sign points to it on the desktop. But then why would the laptop which used the cable, be able to download torrents and not the desktop?

Well, this is beyond boring for the poor souls reading this. I'll stop now. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

I can hardly call my ISP geeks, and ask, "Hey I'm trying to download Top Gear on Bittorent, but you guys are preventing me. Any workarounds?".

UPDATE in case anyone cares : Basically, the torrent trackers are blocking my IP address on the desktop. I'll have to unplug it for 24hrs to get a new one. I noticed the difference in the IP addies when I checked the Advanced options in the Network Connections.

It starts 2xx.something when plugged into the desktop. But it's 7x.something when it's on the laptop. I don't know how IPs are assigned, but that seems queer to me.

And yes, Andrew, I said queer just for you.

[Victoria]

TV detector vans? Can someone educate an ignorant American as to what this is all about??

SR, in Britain anyone who uses a television set needs to pay the BBC a yearly licence fee -- per household, not per set, mind. This is more or less a tax imposed on users which allow it to run their excellent programming (well, they used to have excellent programming. Now it's nearly rubbish). It's guaranteed money, like taxes tend to be, so it's a huge bureaucracy in all but name.

Hence the need for detector vans to go around, "catching" people who skip on paying the fee.

I just Wiki'ed because I had heard that the fee had been reduced recently. BLIMEY! Much more than I remember it.

"

[SportsterRider]

I know, I know. Americans are reading this completely FLUMMOXED by this news. One of my ex-boyfriends once said, "Are you nuts?! I gotta pay to watch TV in England?? TV should be as free as water!".

Needless-to-say, he never did donate to PBS during their telethons or buy Perrier.

BTW, licence fees are common around the world. But it IS one of those things which separate Americans and Europeans culturally, irrevocably.

EDIT before Posting - More Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence

Interesting. And no, I'm not "flummoxed". Well, okay.. a TV tax seems weird to me, but I'm quite sure that there are taxes and other systems of revenue gathering here in the states that seem just as odd to European folks. In the end, we ALL would probably like to pay less to "the man". However, I would like to know how the detector knows whether or not you have a color tv versus a black and white? lol

Thanks for the 411!

SR

[Victoria]

Interesting. And no, I'm not "flummoxed". Well, okay.. a TV tax seems weird to me, but I'm quite sure that there are taxes and other systems of revenue gathering here in the states that seem just as odd to European folks.

Yeah, I'm guessing that concealed weapons permit fee probably has a few Euros shaking their noggins.

Seriously, though, the idea of the BBC is one which would never fly in the US. A quasi-State run television station? Eek. Nono. Never mind a full State-run station like in many countries!

E.G.: The Board of Governors of the BBC were in essence appointed by the government of the day. They in turn chose the Director-General, who THEORETICALLY was supposed to be independent of politics.

Didn't work out that way, and in fact, they often tried to undermine the previous appointees or boost the government's policies in power at the time.

Can YOU IMAGINE the same thing happening in the United States; especially shall we say, given the opposition to the current administration? My God, it would be bedlam.

I grew up appreciating the BBC. I find British television the best in the world, overall. But I am so happy I am in a private-sector driven country like the USA. I can ignore advertising. I can't ignore an imposed mandatory tax.

In the end, we ALL would probably like to pay less to "the man". However, I would like to know how the detector knows whether or not you have a color tv versus a black and white? lol

Well, when you buy a set you have to pay the fee upfront. It's whatever you are on record for buying -- hmm, interesting rip-off possibilities I hadn't thought of actually. Trust an American to ask the obvious question.

[Pugwash]

I grew up appreciating the BBC. I find British television the best in the world, overall. But I am so happy I am in a private-sector driven country like the USA. I can ignore advertising. I can't ignore an imposed mandatory tax.

You can ignore advertising? That's what they want you to think.

For those who don't know the BBC, there are no adverts. Programmes are shown from beginning to end without interruptions. There are also some of the best documentaries, educational and children's shows simply because the BBC doesn't need to make commercially attractive reality TV. If you ever wonder why the BBC churns out high-quality ground-breaking TV, it's because they don't have to convince Procter and Gamble or Nestl

[Pugwash]

However, I would like to know how the detector knows whether or not you have a color tv versus a black and white? lol

Amazingly easy. They work off resonated frequencies and colour TVs simply have more EMF noise.

[Victoria]

You can ignore advertising? That's what they want you to think.

Sure I can. It's called a skip-button on TiVo.

(Snip stuff I totally agree with)

Yes, TV Licenses are a tax, but that's life.

Funny how life spawns two things you can't avoid. And one of them is taxes.

[Pugwash]

(Snip stuff I totally agree with)

So, you're happy that one country has a license and therefore a BBC, but you'd rather it wasn't the one you live in.

[Victoria]

So, you're happy that one country has a license and therefore a BBC, but you'd rather it wasn't the one you live in.

Absolutely. It would be awful if all countries were the same. That's why monochromatic, forced Communism failed, and splendiforous, messy Capitalism is alive and well.

Nature loves differences, and so do I.

[r11co]

Anyway, back on topic....

Hooray - Blu-Ray won the battle with HD-DVD, but it has already lost the war with (SD) DVD.

It isn't a big enough capacity jump over DVD-R to justify expensive upgrading (from a data storage point of view), and with the competition gone Sony will have no incentive to drop the prices to anything below premium-market levels, so we are now faced with a two-tier market with the overwhelming majority of people choosing to stay on the lower tier.

Blu-Ray will go the same way as SACD, and increased broadband speeds and VOD content, increased capacity and reduced footprint of hard-drives, and ever-reducing solid-state memory costs will eventually conspire to render (SD and HD) discs obsolete (except in the short term for the quality 'conscious' niche market snobs).

[jkerouac]

Just in case there are any US types on the board who still use "rabbit ears" or other old-fashioned antennas, the government is sending out coupons that will help you pay for a converter:

TV Converter Box Coupon

[Victoria]

TV Converter Box Coupon

Great tip.

Don't you find it puzzling how certain things never get media coverage or evoke outrage in activists?

I can hear it now -- "this affects poor people the most!". "Stop government and the corporations taking away our free television!" (they always assign nefarious reasons to government or business).

Maybe it's yet to come, the closer it gets to January...

[jkerouac]

Great tip.

Don't you find it puzzling how certain things never get media coverage or evoke outrage in activists?

I can hear it now -- "this affects poor people the most!". "Stop government and the corporations taking away our free television!" (they always assign nefarious reasons to government or business).

Maybe it's yet to come, the closer it gets to January...

This program was instituted primary to address the concerns that you describe with such empathy.

I actually read about this program several times in newspapers, and I am fairly certain I heard it mentioned on the national news as well. But then, one would have to be a newspaper reader or even a watcher of nightly news programs to learn about this program -- a big problem if the news are on at the same time as Wheel of Fortune. Decisions, decisions.....

[Victoria]

This is for sure some kind of throttling from my ISP -- not only does PeerGuardian not update, but the d/ls reverse (they go from 3k of info, back to 0k). I've disabled the Firewalls (temporarily, I'm not insane...). Sucks. I might have to go back to Blockbuster.

I fixed it.

I know probably few people care, but just in case it happens to you, do this:

1- Uninstall uTorrent (check Documents and Settings, go to C: drive or similar, then Owner or similar, then Application Data which defaults to hidden -- you'll have to change that in the folder options, then finally delete all the uTorrent files); then reinstall

2- Uninstall PeerGuardian2 (the folder in Programme Files does not fully delete, so manually do so); do not reinstall yet

3- Unplug your cable modem/router for 24 hours

4- If you STILL don't have a dynamically assigned new IP do this:

a. Go to Start, Run, cmd, ipconfig/release

b. Disconnect the plug both from the electrical outlet and ethernet cable from the computer

c. Reconnect it

d. Allow it to bring up a new IP

e. Check it under Start, All Programmes, Control Panel, Network Connections, Local Area Connection or similar, Enable or Repair if needed

You should obviously add port exceptions for uT and PG2 to Windows Firewall or any other firewall you have. I have McAfee and Windows running simultaneously, which is not recommended, but I've never had any conflicts.

5- Lastly, if you're using PeerGuardian2, when reinstalling the programming disable "Edu/Educational" from your allowed lists. There apparently is a conflict, as read via Wikipedia. You can add it later but not BEFORE installation.

You are good to go.

Pugwash, I'm coming after your job, watch yer back!

Oh. What am I downloading now? Why Mythbusters: The MacGuyver Edition, of course!