Does anyone here use emule behind a router?
I'm using a linksys BEFSR41 and my downloads are weird, they fluctuate between 20% and 60% of my available bandwidth and I can't seem to improve them
What should my max connections and max sources be set to?
I never had any problems with emule without the router I've had nothing BUT problems since installing it
Is there a specific mod which is better with routers?

I'm not behind a router and my dl's are usually at 60% of available bandwidth anyway.

I'm not behind a router and last night with PCA's help he got me to 80-90% of my bandwidth, so if configured properly and with enough sources emule should use most of your bandwidth.

I don't really know about routers, but if the max connections your router will allow is less then you would have set, with a direct connection then what can you do ?

LInux firewall with port forwarding, no problems so far.

What do you use for configs Paul?

I might have just solved my problem (fingers crossed), I need to leave it for a while, but so far things look good although I'll need to tweak a bit later. It looks like it's to do with upload speeds and the number of sources per file

If your not behind a router try using max sources =1000 and max connections 5000 (if not running win98) and just see if it brings your download speeds up, it worked for Paul, and it used to work for me

Yeah, my emule was running sloooooooow

But changed max sources to 1000 & max connections to 5000

and speeds picked up straight away

My problem still isn't solved, I had a fluke download of 47Kbps(!) on one file which was skewing the result

ah, I feel really bad now

Just web served to emule at home and it's currently downloading 25 seperate files going at a steady 102.2k

Thanks alot for the help PCA, and if ya and hope ya get it sorted.

have you tried posting on SR or even the emule forums.

Nowadays more people have modem routers then standard cablt modems, so somebody must know how to configure it optimally.

I've posted on the emule forums, I'll post on SR if no one can help on SR
If worst somes to the worst I'll put a 2nd network card in the emule pc and bridge the connections

Glad to hear you're ok though

i set it up as DMZ to my ip. Still haven't got constant line max though like this, although bit torrent goes like greased lightning

I should have said, I've got a high ID, i've never had emule complain about not being able to access ports, but downloads are up and down like a whore's knickers

I know it doesn't help much for someone to say they don't have problems, but I've had my Linksys WRT54G since February with no problems that I can directly link to the router. I don't know... firmware update... going back through settings on router... resetting it... might help. Hard to make a controlled experiment with emule though, so many things change from day to day if you are a heavy downloader/uploader. Even though emule is a horse it will still freak out if I have too many high source connections and at the same time downloading/uploading at a high rate. I never really notice a problem with my downloads because they usually stay pretty consistent with the particular characteristics of the files I have active. Uploads are usually the first thing to go wacky for me if I'm pushing my resources too much.

Out of interest Karstmobile, what are your max sources and max connections set to?

PC, I used to have 500/1500, everything was great but couldn't get above 45k.

Changed to 1000/5000, now it over rides my FTP downloads it's so strong.=)

Constant 96k when my limit is 100k.=)

Glad to hear it's working well for you

Well I seem to have sorted Paul and Satan's slow emule, but I'm still no closer to a solution for myself
Does no-one here (except me and Karstmobile) use a router??

You had a defective router before, maybe that's the issue again?

Try to exchange it for a new one, but try to upgrade the firmware first.

Tried both, I can see exactly what the problem is, but I don't know what to do in order to fix it (It's NOT a router problem per se)

Home routers are limited to ~250 max connections wheras windows (NT,2000 and XP) can deal with HUGE amounts (hence the recommendation to take yours up to 5000)

Emule is very connection hungry with connections being used for

downloading
Querying clients / finding sources
negotiating uploads etc.etc

therefore by limiting the amount of connections to a level the router can handle you cripple emule

The only thing I can thing of at this moment is to seriously drop the amount of files downloading (say to 5-10) which I'll try tonight, I'm currently downloading ~45 files at a time with the rest paused.

The best results I've got have been achieved by putting sources and max connections to 500, this fluctuates badly (when the emule hits 250-300 sources the router drops a load of sources and downloads drop significantly), but it's the best I can do at the moment.

One big problem is a lack of documentation, even on the emule boards no-one seems to know how to FIX the problem.
I think I'll do a Routers and emule guide if I ever get the bloody thing working to my satisfaction

Not sure if I know what I'm talking about, but would mutliple ports for emule help?
Or running more than 1 instance at a time?

LOL, no not really, in fact it would make things worse
you have a maximum of ~250 outgoing connections emule will fill them all and still want more
running 2 emules will fill them twice as quick.