Torrenting slow on one computer only

thecoolred303

Hi everyone. I contacted support about this 2 days ago but never heard back, so I will just post it here. It's a bit of a read but I need all the help since I can't seem to fix this.

I have been having significantly slower speeds while downloading torrents on my Desktop (main computer) which is connected via ethernet to the router/modem combo. My actual download speed (udp) according to speedtest.net is about 250 megabits per second. Connected to the VPN, I get about 180-220 megabits per second on speedtest.net, which is still very fast and the speed decrease is expected. But, while I am torrenting using qBittorrent, the speed fluctuates between 1.0 and 2.0 megabytes per second, which is considerably slower than the 20-25 megabytes per second I would get torrenting without the VPN and also not in line with the speed test..

I went through all sorts of troubleshooting and none of it made a difference. I even went as far as reformatting my hard drive to make sure there is absolutely nothing interfering. I settled on using tcp as my protocol, which would speedtest to 50 megabits per second and give me consistent torrent speeds of 4-5 megabits per second, which is still considerably slower than my original download speed

Recently, I decided to test the same torrent on both my Desktop and my Laptop. My laptop is connected via WiFi using a 5 gHz band. Both protocols were set to udp and both had identical qBittorrent and PIA settings and versions, with the same antivirus and operating system. My desktop got the usual (slow) 1.0-2.0 megabytes per second download, but my laptop hit a max of 22 megabytes per second and stayed there. 

I can't possibly think of any other problems. I have reinstalled my desktop's ethernet driver, I have tried different ethernet ports, and as mentioned above I have gone as far as reformatting the desktop. The qBittorrent settings are identical on both the laptop and desktop, so the configuration of the programs could not be the problem. I have scoured other forum posts on PIA's forum's and other resources and tried many different things. I also don't understand why the slower protocol, tcp, is giving me torrent download speeds that are consistent with the speedtest speeds, but udp is not.

Desktop Specs:

CPU: i5-4690k (overclocked to 4.3 gHz)

RAM: 16 GB DDR3-1600 (4x4)

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Build 17134)

GPU: ASUS GTX 970

Mobo: ASUS Z97-A

The laptop is an HP Spectre x360 13.3"

qBittorrent version: 4.1.1

PIA version: v80

If you need more information, please just ask and I will try my best to provide it. 

thecoolred303

Still trying  to find a fix to this every day and no luck. Any help is greatly appreciated!

jbrown0

as nobody has replied, I'll take a guess. Are you accessing a PIA server from the same country with each computer? are they both using the same PIA IP ( servers have multiple IP's) Just keep reconnecting to the same server with the slow pc to see if speed improves with adifferent IP, or try a server in another country/location. I am In ustralia and often use servers overseas when thos in Australia appear overloaded. Check your IP with http://whatismypaddress.com

thecoolred303

jbrown0 said:

as nobody has replied, I'll take a guess. Are you accessing a PIA server from the same country with each computer? are they both using the same PIA IP ( servers have multiple IP's) Just keep reconnecting to the same server with the slow pc to see if speed improves with adifferent IP, or try a server in another country/location. I am In ustralia and often use servers overseas when thos in Australia appear overloaded. Check your IP with http://whatismypaddress.com

Thanks for the reply. The servers don't seem overloaded since the speedtest is reaching close to my actual speeds (with the expected decrease, which is fine) and downloading other files get much speeds between 13-18 megabytes per second. While I'm downloading a torrent, the speed is still stuck between 1.0-2.0 megabytes per second and it fluctuates heavily. I have tried different servers as well as port forwarding enabled servers and still no luck.