problem: I can't download much of anything for some reason... down in Buenos Aires

Hi all.

I'm living in Buenos Aires and can't seem to download much of anything... I use Ares and out of like 50 files I pick I might get one or two... this is all the time. It seems much more iffy than it did in the States, or in Mexico for that matter.

Is there some kind of blockage going on and, if so, can I get around it?

Also, on BitLord if I, say, download an entire CD, almost NONE of the tracks are complete. They skip and end quickly, or have the wrong names...

Do I maybe have a virus problem? I frankly have no idea, so I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks,

Bob

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Originally Posted by haskellbob

I'm living in Buenos Aires

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So am I :)

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and can't seem to download much of anything... I use Ares and out of like 50 files I pick I might get one or two... this is all the time.

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Had the same trouble with Ares recently. I had it open to download a movie I couldn't find elsewhere, and thought I'd also snatch some songs I wanted. Only 1-2 actually went out of "queued" status and downloaded at pitiful speeds. I don't think there are any blocks at the provider level, although they did use to shape P2P years ago. BT and eMule work just fine on the same computer and connection. Maybe Ares is slowly turning into Limewire, which would be a shame.

Anyway, for single tracks, I'd strongly recommend Groovedown (that's what I use) or The Pirate App. Many people also use Soulseek. GD has some artists you won't find due to licensing crap, but it's incredibly easy to use.

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Also, on BitLord if I, say, download an entire CD, almost NONE of the tracks are complete. They skip and end quickly, or have the wrong names...

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Where are you downloading from?

If you also want a recommendation for full albums, Warez-BB + jDownloader does the trick here. :yup:

Try using an IP blocklist if you are not already.

I don't know the current situation, but a common tactic for years on Limewire and Kazaa was for anti-P2Ps to "share" fake files that would never complete.

Also, don't automatically download the files at the top of the search-results list, as these are often spammed fakes. Try a few farther down the search page.

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Originally Posted by zot

fake files that would never complete.

... spammed fakes.

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Sadly, these banes also affect Ares nowadays, although he said it worked fine on other countries so I presumed he'd know about them.

I remember the days when 95% of files were legit :( Had the client open all the time and often used it as a media player.

I remember the days when 95% of Ares chatrooms were in English :P
If I had any problems, I always asked people in the chatrooms for help. That's the best place to start; ask someone there to send a file, note the transfer speed, etc.

It's also possible that the ISP is throttling, either by singling out common P2P ports, or using DPI.

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Originally Posted by zot

It's also possible that the ISP is throttling, either by singling out common P2P ports, or using DPI.

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The fuckers used to do that until sometime around 2009 - your P2P download speed was limited to 10% of the maximum unless you had a top-tier/corporate plan. People used all kinds of weird workarounds, like Hotspot Shield, proxies, and later uTP. But nowadays it's pretty rare to face shaping since "download the stuff you want fast" is a major selling point for broadband providers.

It's interesting the way that the ISPs' throttling of Bittorrent was a de facto promotion of commercial file hosting sites like Rapidshare and Megaupload, which they generally left alone -- maybe fearing a potentially expensive lawsuit from a party that, unlike the typical consumer, actually had the money to put up a decent fight.