Proper client use on private trackers (e.g. Oink)

[RoJo]

Hi all,

I'm new to the world of private trackers and I'm concerned I'm not doing something right.

My Oink account recently got disabled and in chat I was quickly told "you got caught" and was banned.

I would never consider cheating, nor would I know how. My concern is that I'm a bit naive to bittorrent clients and I may have unknowingly done something that was suspicious or unacceptable. I recently joined other private sites, and I want to be a contributing member and not have this happen again.

Here are a few of my behaviors I question. Please tell me if this would be considered unacceptable on a private site.

1. I use two different computers to upload / download.
2. I have used two different clients (Azureus and uTorrent)
3. I hit "manually update tracker" in uTorrent. Sometimes a lot, like every few minutes. This seemed to increase my transfer speeds. Plus, on some torrents, uTorrent had trouble connecting; manual updates seemed to help.
4. I use two different open / free wirleless connections at home (e.g. linksys). I often get disconnected since the signal is so weak. So, I switch between the two networks and start the torrents going again.

I don't know much about IP, ISP, IRC etc. and I'm concerned some of these factors look bad or put a stress on the private tracker.

I'm so saddened to be shut out of Oink. It was a treasure. I donated money, uploaded about 20 new torrents the last two weeks, reported dozens of duplicate files, and filled several requests. I do not want to get banned from other sites and would appreciate any advice.

Thank you,
RoJo

[lysine]

1. I use two different computers to upload / download.


why two different computers? do you mean one computer at home, and one at work?



3. I hit "manually update tracker" in uTorrent. Sometimes a lot, like every few minutes. This seemed to increase my transfer speeds. Plus, on some torrents, uTorrent had trouble connecting; manual updates seemed to help.

hammering the tracker with announces is not good for anyone. if you're announcing every few minutes, you're most likely going to be banned from alot of places. just open the torrent and let it do it's regularly scheduled updates. updating at intervals not dictated by the tracker can get you flagged for possible cheating.



4. I use two different open / free wirleless connections at home (e.g. linksys). I often get disconnected since the signal is so weak. So, I switch between the two networks and start the torrents going again.


if you're constantly logging in from different IP addresses and starting/stopping torrents often, it looks very suspicious.

[shyheim]

You should be only D/L from one IP address. Otherwise you will get banned from most private trackers. Just use one client Utorrent is great. Make sure you have dht and peer exchange disabled(utorrent). And make sure you read the FAQ when you join private torrent b/c they have different rules. #4 is what probably got you banned.if i am understanding you correctly. This makes it look like you are sharing your account with someone else. And will get you banned.

[RoJo]

It looks like I have some room for improvement here. Thank you for your input.

I use a computer at work (I let uTorrent run in the background). I use my home computer at night (and sometimes overnight).

I guess it is best to choose one network and just stick with it. Unfortunately, my home network is so slow.

One other question: The linksys wireless connection around here is open and free. Is it OK to use it with private trackers? I'm not registered with them or anything.

Uh Oh, I had uTorrent going with default settings, which means dht and peer exchange were enabled. Why is this bad?

[lysine]

you generally only want one IP address related to your account on a private tracker. it's best to ask these questions in the specific tracker's forums, because everywhere has different rules.

[Buggyme]

Since when is there a 1 IP rule?
A lot of people have seedboxes and they don't get banned.

You're fine RoJo, but about the force update thing, it's best not to do it too often. I know sites like BitMeTV don't like it and will ban you if you do it excessively.

[lysine]

Since when is there a 1 IP rule?


I never said there was. that's why I suggested that he check with the specific tracker. if he was using a seedbox, a curious admin could do a quick whois and see that the other address is at a hosting company. if he's connecting through all kinds of ip addresses (one at work, one at home, two different wireless networks), it could look suspicious.

he's already been banned at one tracker and doesn't know why. I wouldn't want to suggest that he continues connecting through multiple IP addresses without checking with the tracker first.

[sert]

You should be only D/L from one IP address. Otherwise you will get banned from most private trackers.

You are sooo wrong. Who told you that?

I download from work & home with different IPs from every tracker (and I have many) for 2 years now and never got banned - not even warned yet.

[RoJo]

I don't have a seedbox. Don't even know what that is.

I think my IP is dynamic. Wouldn't the IP address be different everytime I login to the tracker? Why would it matter where I was logging in from (i.e. two different home wireless connections).

[Melvinmeow]

The multi ips shouldnt really be an issue on most trackers. In most cases its only an issue if the ratio sucks ect...

Did you download your client direct from the clients website or get it off a friend or elsewhere on the net? I would go more with the idea it was the client users or too many announces... but most sites could care less about the announces since we can stop your client from announcing if we wanted to anyways. EX: Like TL and many other sites only let you announce every x minutes. If you try announcing before X minutes it tells you its not accepting it.

[RoJo]

I downloaded the clients from the uTorrent and Azerues websites.

[RoJo]

I was able to contact OiNK staff and describe the situation as well as my own torrenting background. I found the staff member to be considerate and reasonable.

It looks like #4 contributed most to the problem. The repetitive disconnect / reconnect / restart torrent cycle looked like I was "stealth downloading". I.e. it appeared like I was trying to avoid sending download stats. It also appeared that I got disconnected leeching a torrent and reconnected seeding. I don't quit understand the technical aspects of this part. Perhaps using two clients, constantly re-connecting and hitting "manual update torrent" interfered with dl stat reports. Anyway, I was advised that if I have internet problems, to just leave the client alone for about an hour to allow it to be resolved. I will also just use a single client and avoid using manual updates. Thank you for all your input. I hope this may help someone with a similar problem.

[upGrayde]

stop ratio cheating

[RoJo]

stop ratio cheating

I support strong penalties against cheaters. There are, however, some well-intentioned novice users that unknowingly arise suspicion. The point of this thread was to learn about proper torrenting.

[Melvinmeow]

I was able to contact OiNK staff and describe the situation as well as my own torrenting background. I found the staff member to be considerate and reasonable.

It looks like #4 contributed most to the problem. The repetitive disconnect / reconnect / restart torrent cycle looked like I was "stealth downloading". I.e. it appeared like I was trying to avoid sending download stats. It also appeared that I got disconnected leeching a torrent and reconnected seeding. I don't quit understand the technical aspects of this part. Perhaps using two clients, constantly re-connecting and hitting "manual update torrent" interfered with dl stat reports. Anyway, I was advised that if I have internet problems, to just leave the client alone for about an hour to allow it to be resolved. I will also just use a single client and avoid using manual updates. Thank you for all your input. I hope this may help someone with a similar problem.


When you get disconnected from a site for any number of reasons...
The client should technically reconnect on its own periodically provided the server is up. How long depends on the announce time in your client. Most clients range from 15 - 45 minutes. Once your client tries to announce again it should find the site and announce properly.

IN reguards to the from leeching to seeding without announces... thats possible as well. For instance say the site was boggled down with queries and wasnt responding when your client announces for whatever reason. Its highly possible you could have completed your file before the next announce occured. (Again 15 - 45 minutes depending on the client.) Your dl an mp3 file it shouldnt take all that long depending on the amount of peers and the speed in the swarm.