Getting [k]ubuntu upgrades is about the only thing I've used torrents for seriously - it always takes far far longer than a direct download from one of my nearest mirrors. Like 24hrs instead of 1.
I'm not leeching I get lots of connections it just goes slow as molasses. Guess I'm doing it wrong but just in case others are getting slow downloads via torrent I'd really consider a direct download.
Actually with me it's exactly the opposite, I usually saturate the connection, download the iso and let it seed for a few days or so. Do you encounter the same issue with other torrents? Your connection might be getting throttled or your router is not able to handle all the peers.
I'm only peering with about 30-40 others. Throttling is possible but it's the same now after an ISP (and router) change. Not the forum for it, just thought people may not realise that a slow torrent doesn't necessarily mean that a direct dl would be slow.
Edit: Just tried latest Kubuntu torrent and let it settle for five mins, so far I'm on 1day 20hours remaining after bringing it down from 4days by adding a web seed. o_O . It is working, downloading and uploading, picking up and dropping peers etc..
I'm not leeching I get lots of connections it just goes slow as molasses. Guess I'm doing it wrong but just in case others are getting slow downloads via torrent I'd really consider a direct download.