Bandwidth for Bittorrent downloading

[SledgeVan]

Hi, put aside configuration stuff like capping upload limit, number of tasks, opened listening port and outside factors like number of seeds etc,

does having a higher bandwidth speed up torrents download like http downloads? On which focus, downloading, uploading or both?

That way I will know whether it is worth to upgrade my existing internet bandwidth, especially to the recently hyped optic fibre technology. Im currently on DSL. Thanks.

SledgeVan

[kluelos]

HTTP downloads come from a single server with a large pipe. Bittorrent transfers come from people like you, with connections like yours and computers like yours.

With bittorrent, you must give in order to get. All the time that you are downloading, you are also uploading. Each client uses a "greedy algorithm" to choose the best connections. In actual operation, this means that the best connections (fastest, most reliable) tend to find each other and pair with each other. Each tier tends to find its own level.

If you don't upload at all, after a short time your download speed also drops to zero -- nobody is willing to have anything to do with you.

The question doesn't really have a simple answer. Generally yes, higher bandwidth == faster transfers, but the situation is so very dependent on the exact situation right now for the exact torrent, that this answer is just about meaningless.