September 23, 2008 by sharky
For Comcast and other major ISP subscribers, BitTorrent is not exactly a user-friendly protocol. Sandvining and other throttling techniques employed to block, limit or shape BT traffic are more commonplace than ever before. Comcast in particular is increasingly becoming more efficient at sandvining, and almost all BitTorrent clients are now non- or low-resistant to this scheme. Fortunately there’s an arsenal of services that can efficiently used to promote torrenting, such as paid VPN services and remote seedboxes.
For those who are tight for cash, here’s one free solution that has had moderate success with Comcast subscribers in particular. It’s called OpenDNS - and it works through computers (on a variety of OSes), routers, and even through existing DNS services.
While there are no comprehensive tests available for Comcast-sandvined customers who use OpenDNS, it’s been widely reported that using the OpenDNS server instead of Comcast’s DNS has effectively unthrottled BitTorrent traffic, at least for some. Either way it’s definitely something that’s worth looking into.
Installing OpenDNS is so simple that even your mom can do it. Simply click on the Computer or Router option, and follow the on-screen instructions.
We recommend the option of setting up a free account. You’ll get a "Dashboard" whereby the DNS settings can be configured and fine-tuned to suit your needs.
Testing Your ISP:
Comcast (and other) Internet subscribers who use a home BT client are probably already aware of whether they’re sandvined or not. The nature of sandvining may possibly allow for uploading when the torrent is actively downloading; but upon 100% completion, all seeding halts. If you’d like to test if your ISP is manipulating BitTorrent, run the Glasnost test at Max Planck Institute. Before running the test, be sure to close any applications that use Internet bandwidth, including BT clients. Here’s an example of a test result that ‘possibly’ confirms that the ISP does limit (but doesn’t outright block) BitTorrent uploading (notably marked in red text):
Other Notes:
Up until about the middle of June 2008, it appeared that Deluge - a new, and very impressive cross-platform BitTorrent client - found a way to resist Comcast’s troublesome sandvine implementation. Meanwhile, other clients including µTorrent and Azureus (both 2.5 and Vuze 3+) were ineffective against the sandvining, and seeding torrents within these clients (on Comcast) was near impossible. Both clients eventually adopted Deluge’s approach, but this method is no longer effective in preventing sandvining.
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