[Ham-Computers] Routers, port forwarding and "BitTorrent", questions

[Philip Atchley]

Hi All,
A couple questions here.  I've been downloading some very large "BitTorrent" 
files (some >800MB) of "Old Time Radio", using the "ABC" client.

Following the BitTorrent faq, I've disabled the local "DHCP Server" in my 
Linksys router AND forwarded the Ports that BitTorrent uses (you need to 
disable the DHCP to allow "Port Forwarding").

All works well, EXCEPT. . .

When I disable the DHCP Server my wife's machine on the same router is no 
longer able to connect to the Internet or check her mail (POP account using 
O.E).  I have to re-enable the server to get her back on line, at which time 
my BitTorrent downloads drop to less than 1KB/s and NO BitTorrent uploads 
takes place, presumably due to no Port Forwarding.

1.  Is there a way to allow BOTH machines to connect to the Internet when I 
have DHCP disabled, or is that what is actually used to tie the two machines 
together?

2.  Am I opening my machine up to "attacks" by using the "Port Forwarding" 
feature of the LinkSys router and forwarding the ports used by BitTorrent 
(Zone Alarm is still scanning the files as I see the activity indicator in 
the task bar lighting up)?  Just to be safe I also intend to scan EVERY file 
with the Zone Alarm scanner before opening them after the download.

By the way, BitTorrent is VERY SLOW (< 1KB/s to a max of about 18 KB/s) 
compared to regular downloads from Internet servers (I'm on DSL).  My 
BitTorrent Upload speeds are usually MUCH faster.  I suspect that this is 
due to slow connections that many of the "peers" have (BitTorrent is a Peer 
to Peer file sharer and a user can set maximum download/upload speeds, I 
have no limits set on mine).  The advantage is that it can download very 
large files from many different sources simultaneously and as the number of 
"connections" (peers and/or seeds) goes up my download speed goes up.

73 de Phil,  KO6BB
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