Port forwarding

A torrent downloads faster with more peers. You can always connect to other peers, but they can only connect to you if your port is open to them. With an open port you reach peers that are themselves behind closed ports, which matters most for downloads with few people sharing them.

At home: your router

OrbTorrent opens its port on your router by itself, with UPnP or NAT-PMP, which most home routers support.

In Settings › Network › Connection:

Status	Reachable by peers when your port is open, Incoming connections blocked when it isn’t, or Offline.
Listening port	The port OrbTorrent listens on. Random picks a new one.
Open the port on my router automatically (UPnP / NAT-PMP)	On unless you turn it off.

If it says Incoming connections blocked:

• Make sure UPnP or NAT-PMP is turned on in your router’s settings, or forward the listening port to your Mac by hand there.
• Your internet provider may use carrier-grade NAT, which shares one public address between many customers, so no port can be opened. Ask them for a public IP address, or use a VPN that forwards ports.

Downloads still work while incoming connections are blocked. Some peers still reach you through µTP hole punching, and the Peers tab counts them as incoming.

Through a VPN

Your router’s port is no use through a VPN: the VPN has to forward a port to you. While you download only through a VPN, OrbTorrent gets the VPN’s forwarded port, listens on it, and keeps it in step as it changes. It looks, in order:

1. A port you’ve entered. Some VPNs, such as AirVPN and Windscribe, have you reserve a port in your account. Enter it once in Forwarded port, in Settings › Network › VPN.
2. Your VPN’s gateway, over NAT-PMP. Many VPNs forward a port to anyone who asks this way. Some only do once you turn port forwarding on in their app, or connect to a server that allows peer-to-peer traffic, which can need a paid plan.
3. Private Internet Access’s app. Turn on port forwarding in its settings, and OrbTorrent reads the port from it.

While a port is forwarded, your own listening port and the router setting are set aside, and the Connection section shows which port is in use and who forwards it. They come back when you stop downloading through the VPN.

Check it’s working

In Settings › Network › VPN, Incoming connections says:

Port 51234	“Forwarded by …, so peers can connect to you.” It’s working.
Looking for a forwarded port…	OrbTorrent is asking. It takes a few seconds after the VPN connects.
No port forwarded	“Only peers with open ports can connect to you.” The VPN didn’t forward one.

A forwarded port lasts a minute at a time, and OrbTorrent renews it every 45 seconds. If your VPN gives you a new port, after reconnecting or changing server, OrbTorrent moves to it by itself.

If no port is forwarded

• Check your VPN forwards ports at all. Not every VPN does, and some only on certain plans or servers.
• Turn port forwarding on in your VPN’s app, if it has the setting, then reconnect.
• If your VPN reserves a port in your account, enter it in Forwarded port.
• Leave Forwarded port empty for VPNs that hand out ports themselves: it says Automatic.

Downloads still work without a forwarded port. They just reach fewer peers.