wombatman

Alright, so I want to use Azureus and eMule/Limewire/some p2p program. eMule actually works sometimes, but I can only get downloads at about 2.7 kb/s, and I am allowing stuff to be uploaded (maxed at about 20 or 30 kb/s, I think). Basically, when I do the port test for both eMule and Azureus, they aren't able to listen/connect/do whatever they're doing. I noticed, though, that on the eMule test, which brings up a website that lists the IP address that it's attempting to connect to, that the IP address listed is not the same as the one that shows up when I run ipconfig. I guess this means that wherever the network connection actually goes has been assigned that address.

So,

is there anything that can be done about this? I'm not looking to trade in hundreds of thousands of songs, but if I hear one, or more specifically, want to get some video game music (older Final Fantasy) to listen to while I do homework, I'd like to not have to set eMule up overnight, and pray that it downloads. Appreciate any help on this.

sailor

Sounds like they are doing some major port throttling. Not much you can do about that except go through an external proxy, and Im not sure how that would work with a P2P application.

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wombatman

Well, if you could recommend one, there is a "Use Proxy" option that allows for Socks4, Socks5, and HTTP1.1 proxies.

sailor

Yeah, but Im not sure thats what you are looking for. I was referring more to tunneling, where you set up a box outside the network and pump all traffic to it over port 80 (or something else thats open).

__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

Pragma

I'd guess that they have some kind of Network Address Translation scheme going on, in addition to a packet shaper set up. One solution MAY be to - if your school has a VPN server - attempt to tunnel all of your traffic through the VPN. Most schools set up the packet shaper just on the dormitory portion of the network and let the staff/faculty traffic pass unfiltered.

The other only "real" option is - as was stated - find someone on a fast connection (or set up your own computer at a colocation center, etc.) and tunnel all of your traffic across an unfiltered port to that machine.

Cynthetiq

I tunnel out of the network here at the office.

I'm not trying to be a kill joy but lets say you get around it... and then they discover you and decide to punish or make you pay for the bandwidth.

If you are willing to pay the price if caught more power to you.

I'd just hate to see a thread a few months from now saying,"P2P they caught me.. how fucked up is that..."

while it's inconvenient for you, I'd imaging being in trouble would be more inconvenient but again, your mileage may vary.

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wombatman

You make a good point. As I tried to say above, I have no real desire to cause trouble, so I guess I'll just leave things as they are now. One final question, though...if the eMule test fails, how is it that I can still download things from there, albeit very slowly? And how does it upload small bits of stuff as well? Just curious at this point.

Oh, and is there anything I can do to improve my ratios without tunneling out, etc.? It'd be nice to improve the download rate as much as possible.

Lasereth

All I can say is be careful...if you're caught at the universities around my area using P2P, your Internet is killed for a <I>year</I>. Yes, it's in the contract, and yes, they exercise that right quite often. Good luck!

-Lasereth

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wombatman

Well, here at South Carolina, they've effectively locked down the computer and had a big thing on what all you had to do, and what all you weren't supposed to do. I think they realize that there are/would be a ton of people with P2P, so they just made it unappetizing by locking them down (hence the shitty speeds).

gmoot

When I lived on campus at my university, they had tough blocks on all the major p2p networks just like you described. I'm not a big downloader, like you, and when I had the occasional music that I wanted to download, I had great success just using IRC or once in a while connecting to a DC++ hub. While all the big p2p programs were stopped, these two methods seemed to work relatively well...you just needed to be more patient in finding what you're looking for.

On a slightly humorous side note, when iTunes boomed into popularity on windows, I gave it a try. The university network didn't like it, though, and it literally took the better part of a day to download one legally purchased song. It was faster for me to track down a fileserver on IRC than to go through the music store and pay for it. Turns out that the packetshaping rules hadn't been touched for upwards of 2 years, and the IT department is looking into reconfiguring them now that they are aware of the problem.

bacon

Speaking as an IT professional, why don't you just deal with the restrictions instead of making a nuisance of yourself for the universities IT staff.

Stay below your IT depts radar. Life is better that way.

Pragma

Ultimately, bacon is right. The only reason why I would understand wanting to get through a university's network restrictions is to play video games - and that's something you can talk to the university about. Don't use P2P apps, they're not worth it.

Your life will be a lot harder if you get caught using P2P apps, as I'm sure that your campus has an Acceptable Use Guidelines document that you agreed to in order to use the network - and that document probably prohibits you from using P2P apps.

sailor

Yeah, in the end, bacon is right. Remember, these guys have infinitely more experience than you do, and in the end, they can track you down if they want.

Although I must say I am disturbed by all the people here at universities that straight block P2P applications. Im all for throttling/packet shaping, but completely blocking them? Let the students take responsibility for their own actions--if they are subpoenaed, hand over the logs and move on. Its the way it works here at UNC, and the way I think it should be everywhere. Don't go taking away their ability to use the network, but do make them take responsibility for their actions. End rant.

__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato