Very slow torrenting since renewing membership

banco

Hello All,

I had a PIA membership that lasted about two months and expired in March. In the past two weeks, I have renewed my membership only to find that my torrenting speeds (averaging .5 kb, with bursts to 30kb) are terribly slow and frequently stop temporarily.  I have tried every open port configuration on my router I can think of, including setting up my PC in a DMZ, fully open without firewall restriction. I've also tried the canadian PIA servers, as well as US East. 

Nothing has changed on my PC since the last time my membership expired, all I did was enter my new username and password and upgrade my PIA client.  Before utorrent worked perfectly with speeds in the 300-600kb range.  Did something change since my last membership or am I overlooking something somewhere?

Thanks for the help.

banco

Thanks for the reply.

I don't currently and haven't used the proxy before. I also have tried different servers and torrents to no effect.  I believe something else is the cause of my issue.

DeathStalker

I've made the same complaint - including the fact that PF isn't working (something I don't see how could be on my or my router's end - if someone thinks differently, please advise with details).

I think PIA has completely dropped the ball with respect to service, speeds, and quality.  I'm only keeping it because I've already pad my renewal, so I'm not getting any money back, but I WILL switch to another provider (regardless of the cost) as soon as I find one that I consider acceptable (right now AirVPN is looking pretty good).

I'd like to see a list compiled of all the "ZERO LOG" VPNs (not just the ones who claim it, but actually log "a little") - even TorrentFreak doesn't have that.  AFAIK, PIA is still the only one to claim "zero" logging - not even for troubleshooting.  Personally I'm starting to consider that a little far-fetched.

catcher749

I'd like to see a list compiled of all the "ZERO LOG" VPNs (not just the ones who claim it, but actually log "a little") - even TorrentFreak doesn't have that.  AFAIK, PIA is still the only one to claim "zero" logging - not even for troubleshooting.  Personally I'm starting to consider that a little far-fetched.

https://i.imgur.com/5QQXHXn.png

The only other one that I've found that can match PIA in terms of no-logging is Mullvad.

banco

As an update,

I have tried installing the PIA client and Utorrent on a different machine running Windows 7, as opposed to Windows XP.  I have the Settings mirrored between the two machines and I have the same issue on the Windows 7 machine with one exception.  Whenever the torrent starts, the speed spikes for a few seconds to nearly 100kb/sec and then drops back down to under 30kb/sec, averaging less than 1kb/sec.

Unfortunately, my router is wired with coax cable so I can't try another one or I would do that.  I would like to think my ISP isn't the issue since I don't have any trouble with speeds using the PIA client for web browsing and downloading from websites.  Theoretically, they should not be able to tell if I'm torrenting anyhow.

I suppose I could try the openvpn client instead but I'm still leaning towards the belief that something changed with PIA since my last membership expired.  However, I am more than willing to investigate anything I can on my end.  Any further ideas are appreciated.

OmniNegro

As an update,

I have tried installing the PIA client and Utorrent on a different machine running Windows 7, as opposed to Windows XP.  I have the Settings mirrored between the two machines and I have the same issue on the Windows 7 machine with one exception.  Whenever the torrent starts, the speed spikes for a few seconds to nearly 100kb/sec and then drops back down to under 30kb/sec, averaging less than 1kb/sec.

Unfortunately, my router is wired with coax cable so I can't try another one or I would do that.  I would like to think my ISP isn't the issue since I don't have any trouble with speeds using the PIA client for web browsing and downloading from websites.  Theoretically, they should not be able to tell if I'm torrenting anyhow.

I suppose I could try the openvpn client instead but I'm still leaning towards the belief that something changed with PIA since my last membership expired.  However, I am more than willing to investigate anything I can on my end.  Any further ideas are appreciated.

You mention the router here, and despite mentioning the PIA client above, I have to ask which is doing the encryption? If the router is the one doing the encryption then you can be assured that it is the reason things are so terribly slow.

But since you mention trying OpenVPN here, I tend to presume you are doing the work on your PC. And it is a bit puzzling why it would be so very slow. The torrents you are trying are well seeded?

banco

The encryption is set to the default in the PIA client, no encryption is being done on the router, strictly through the client.

The torrents are well seeded and I've tried several of them.  I'm quite puzzled myself as I didn't have any issues before.

rainmakerraw

Are you with VM in the UK? Put the superhub into modem only mode and try again with a wired connection to the PC. The SHs are a PoS and my first recommendation is to disable them into modem only mode and build a pfSense or IPFire router (or at least buy a decent Asus box). Just a thought.

Also try a Linux live CD (eg Mint, Ubuntu) and see if the issue persists.

DeathStalker

I never USED to have issue with PF, not until the last release .....

And NordVPN appears to stack up pretty good, at least on that comparison image.

lina

Hey, got the same issue. I wasn't renewing, I'm a new customer, but same behavior. Good on first connection, in a couple minutes it goes slow, 0 to 40kbs. Exit and reconnect, same same, good then bad. Windows 8 with PIA installer. Speed test good, just torrents bad.

I added port forwarding and switched to Toronto gateway (in cali) but it didn't fix it.

Used to be on Strong VPN which had its own issues but not this.

Any ideas?

banco

Hopefully someone from support will chime in soon.

I should note that I am in the US.  I'm going to try torrenting a linux distro with the vpn disconnected and see how that works.

meno

Hello all,

We dig some digging around and found that this gateway is running extremely over capacity. We just put in a large expedited order for this gateway so we can expect to see increased speeds sooner than later. Thank you so much for your patience, feedback, and business.

Best,

banco

Hey thanks for the response.  Which gateway is being upgraded exactly?

meno

In response to the PF feedback, we are bulking up our count in Ca-Toronto. Is there a certain gateway that you would like to see upgrades in? If so, please pm.

Thank you,

chumpy

I've been experiencing the same slow down on my end I have had PIA for well over a year and never had an issue before the past month. I've spent hours with tech support and determined the issue is a windows 8.1 issue. If I try to download via my computer I get speeds of around 5kbs or LESS. When I attempt the same download via my android tablet which also utilizes PIA, my speeds are flying. So I'd like to know how you guys are solving that issue. It's not a server/gateway issue and I guarantee if you ask anyone else who is experiencing this slow down they will tell you they too are on windows 8.1...

lina

Cool thanks! In California, so Toronto looks closest, but Vancouver would be even better. Looks like North York is right next to Toronto but I'd never heard of it.