Got a few questions, I'm relatively new to this. I understand the basics of how it works (I'm downloading these files from other peoples networks, their seeding makes my download faster, my seeding makes their download faster, everybody contributes a bit at a time), I'm using a VPN and downloading using Transmission.
My retarded questions:
1. The piracy websites I download from will say big numbers of seeders, but then the app will say small numbers. I'll see a torrent, and it will say something like "309 seeders, 4 leeches" and then I download it and only connect to 1 or 2 peers. What happened to those 309 people? Where did that number come from? Is it something to do with my network?
2. If nobody is seeding, is there anything I can do besides impotently asking in the comments of wherever I found the torrent? Anything besides begging on here on the off chance someone has it?
3. It often says things like "downloading from 1 of 3 peers," why? Why am I downloading from 1 of 3 peers instead of all 3? I want to connect to literally every single peer so I can download it faster. If they're not uploading the file, how are they a peer? Shouldn't it just say "downloading from 1 of 1 peer?"
Please understand I know basically nothing about computers or networking, I am just torrenting for the free entertainment

>>1530112 (OP)
>1. The piracy websites I download from will say big numbers of seeders, but then the app will say small numbers. I'll see a torrent, and it will say something like "309 seeders, 4 leeches" and then I download it and only connect to 1 or 2 peers. What happened to those 309 people? Where did that number come from? Is it something to do with my network?
The piracy website is lying because it's a garbage site. Garbage sites are better than nothing, most good ones are dead and gone. Maybe try
https://nyaa.si/
https://eztvx.to/home
https://www.1337x.to/home/
>2. If nobody is seeding, is there anything I can do besides impotently asking in the comments of wherever I found the torrent? Anything besides begging on here on the off chance someone has it?
Asking will do basically nothing. You can wait. Somebody might pop open their torrent client in a week, then shit might happen
>3. It often says things like "downloading from 1 of 3 peers," why? Why am I downloading from 1 of 3 peers instead of all 3? I want to connect to literally every single peer so I can download it faster. If they're not uploading the file, how are they a peer? Shouldn't it just say "downloading from 1 of 1 peer?"
Not every peer has bandwidth to spare you, and sometimes their correction to you is just shit. Just ignore it and let your torrent client work out what it can as best it can.
>Please understand I know basically nothing about computers or networking, I am just torrenting for the free entertainment
Remember to seed back. At MINIMUM you should seed back as much as you've taken. More is a good idea if you got the file from 1 or 2 peers. If there are actually a thousand plus seeds, maybe don't seed back, put your bandwidth somewhere more valuable

>>1530113
>If there are actually a thousand plus seeds, maybe don't seed back
*maybe don't seed back extra

>>1530112 (OP)
>I'll see a torrent, and it will say something like "309 seeders, 4 leeches" and then I download it and only connect to 1 or 2 peers
You may think of each bitorrented item as a Cloud of users. What you connect to is a set of AVAILABLE users from that cloud and that set of users is your Swarm. If not mamy people are available because their clients are already connected to others up to the limits set in their client, then your Swarm remains small. Or your client has settings that reject non-encrypted users, etcetera.

As for connecting to Seeders, that's if they are available. Let's say a seeder allows four SIMULTANEOUS upload connections for that torrent. It's quite possible that you won't connect to that seeder because other users are holding on tight. So you are dependent on the uploads from those users already connected to that seeder.

Info Source for Bittorrent News
https://torrentfreak.com/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DnNUyrHNSr18&ved=2ahUKEwjB8sHPrf6NAxWPWEEAHQGPNOgQtwJ6BAgNEAI&usg=AOvVaw2sgrB_dcLqXwnF-prIAtB5