January 02, 2008 by sharky
P2P Programs that don’t connect (and other things to avoid)
In our unabated drive to find P2P networks that people are using to share files (old and new, big or small), we’ve searched high and low for every and all networks that people could possibly be using to swap files. Many of our sources for these P2P programs, and the working ones, came from the SourceForge website. We conducted searches for “file sharing” and “P2P” software - and shoveled through the massive list of 620 different results. From these results we tossed out all the ’source code only’ queries (we’re not about to start compiling code, and likely neither are you - so we only tested things that contained an executable *.EXE file) although we did test some *.JAR/class files under Java.
It should be noted that these aren’t bad P2P programs - they simply don’t connect to a viable network or people using them (as is). We tried our best to get these apps to connect through various tweaked settings and system requirements, but to no avail. We even resorted to search engines to try and find users/forums that lay out special instructions, database files of users, or IP network addresses to import. Perhaps we’re wrong about some of them - there’s a chance they’ve turned into elusive darknets that we couldn’t circumvent. However you slice it, these are time-wasters for most general filesharers! (most links are included if you want to have a go for yourself).
Here’s the list of P2P stuff that we couldn’t connect to:
Epicea v0.15s - We wanted Epicea to work - it supports a total of 6 P2P networks including giFT, FastTrack, Overnet, eDonkey, Gnutella and even BitTorrent - but it just wouldn’t connect. We’d have thought it’d be able to at least connect to Gnutella.
Freewire/FreewireP2P - Small ‘installer’ program never connects to download the larger executables - perhaps the program has been discontinued. The last update of the Freewire website was way back in 2002.
Gloster P2P - We weren’t able to connect to the ‘test’ node or any other Gloster users (not that we could find any, anyways.) Apparently it’s a F2F network. Also, we couldn’t connect to the supplied IRC channel, either.
GNucleus (the program) (latest build 2.2.0.0 - development halted July 2005) - It installed fine, but won’t connect to the two offered networks (G1/G2). However, the GNucleus source code has successfully been used by other P2P programs, notably TruxShare.
Hornet P2P - Hornet P2P is a derivative of the ANts P2P protocol. After a successful installation of Hornet, this program will never connect to any peers.
Hydranode v0.3.0 - After a successful installation, this program will never connect to the lone network it runs on (eDonkey2000).
Mammoth - We tried two different client programs, but neither would connect to the network (FastTrack). Not that you want to be connecting to FastTrack, anyways!
Musicom - Installs nicely, but never connects.
NapShare v2.2.4 - Installs fine, but never connects.
NetShare v2.0.0.2 - Installs nicely, but doesn’t connect to either network (G1 or G2).
Nova P2P v1.7/1.8 - Neither version will connect to the lone network: Gnutella.
Phosphor v1.2.2 - Neither could we connect, nor could we find any servers to add to the program.
SUMI Anonymous P2P - We weren’t able to get SUMI to connect.
Torrent Searcher v8.0 - Will never connect to any of the offered networks.
Other Discontinued P2P Clients
Other things to avoid.
Just a grab-bag of tips and miscellaneous programs to avoid.
Perfect Dark is a next-gen Japanese P2P application. Like Winny, we were unable to circumvent the settings. We found an ‘ad-hoc’ English translation service for it, but it was rudimentary at best.
There is a webpage that does a pretty good job of explaining how to work this baby - in English. Check out the link here.
TorrenTopia had an innovative idea: To create a BitTorrent program with an integrated *.torrent search engine! (One flaw though - the search doesn’t work!!). We tried a search for ‘movie’ on ThePirateBay and it came back with ZERO results. Worse, the BitTorrent side of it contains all the features of mashed potatoes. Now if only the search worked, we might be able to overlook the other shortcomings.
Avoid software that offers to “speed up”, “turbo” or “accelerate” your existing programs, whether it’s BitComet, Limewire, Azureus, BitTorrent, or anything else. Many of these programs will not do anything to help your download speed that you can’t find mentioned on this site or any other. They will, however, separate you from your dollars, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to get any refund considering the nature of what these programs do in the first place. Want to really increase your speeds? Download files from the most users on Limewire, download torrents that have the most seeds/peers, and shell out for faster Internet. There’s absolutely nothing these addons can do if you’re downloading from just 2 users or 2 seeds, anyways.
Never “pay” for any P2P/BitTorrent software. There’s bound to always be sites that prey upon a small percentage of unsuspecting and unknowledgeable consumers, and it must work to some degree - these little “Ads” are everywhere! Especially since many programs are open-source; it’s too easy to tweak some tiny GUI aspect to the program and repackage it as new (albeit with a less-than-free price, too). But don’t let this entirely dissuade you from upgrading to a “PRO” version of reputable stuff like Limewire, etc. Although these “PRO” versions can be found FREE through a search from within various P2P programs, they’ll almost never be found for free by doing a search in a web browser.
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