I can't understand how DHT (and Peer Exchange) works with KT. I download both private and non-private torrents together. For the private torrents, I wish DHT to be set OFF because it affects the computation of ratios on the tracker, and because the tracker admin say I'll be banned if I keep DHT switched on. For non-private torrents, I want DHT switched ON because it helps me find more peers, and especially since TPB is defunct, some torrents that name TPB as tracker simply go nowhere without DHT being enabled.

KT has the option to set DHT (and Peer exchange) OFF or ON globally, under Settings-> Configure-> BitTorrent. There is also the option to set these individually by right-clicking the torrent and selecting Additional Peer Sources.

The problem is, if I set DHT OFF globally, I can not set it ON on a per-torrent basis for non-private torrents. The options under Additional Peer Sources are grayed-out and unavailable. Conversely, if I set it ON globally, I can not set it OFF on a per-torrent basis for the private torrents. The Additional Peer Sources options are grayed-out and unavailable for private torrents (no matter what the global setting is) but they are checked ON.

Private torrents will therefore use DHT (which I wish to prevent) if the global setting for DHT is ON. If I set it OFF, the private torrents stop using DHT, but so do the non-private torrents which I would like to continue with DHT.

It seems reasonable to expect that with both global settings and individual settings on a per-torrent basis, I should be able to have DHT set to ON for some torrents and OFF for others. But I don't seem to be able to figure out how. Can anyone offer any enlightenment?

Thanks...

DHT is never used for private torrents, doesn't matter if it is on.

George wrote:DHT is never used for private torrents, doesn't matter if it is on.

The 'Peers' tab of the Info Widget plugin shows a column titled 'DHT' which shows a little cross for each peer connected to my private torrents. If I turn ON the DHT feature globally, within a few minutes the number of peers begins to increase, and the new peers all have a little check-mark/tick instead of a cross. If I turn OFF the DHT feature globally and 'kick' the checked/ticked peers, no more new peers return with check-marks.

Also, if I allow the checked peers to remain connected, my stats as maintained on the private tracker quickly go wrong.

So it would appear that something is happening with those private torrents, when I enable DHT globally. Apart from the asthetics (of having the torrent with individual DHT checked ON, despite the fact that it will never be used), it does seem to be having a definite and unwelcome effect.

Given that the admins of the private tracker say they will ban anyone who enables DHT (presumably because of the inaccurate stats that result) I have to do something about it! I'm running two instances of KT, one for non-private torrents with DHT allowed, and another with it turned OFF for private torrents. Since (AFAIK) two instances of KT can't be run simultaneously on the same machine, I have to maintain two separate machines. Not ideal.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

First of all, site admins can't see if you have DHT enabled. Second, just because you don't see crosses in the peers tab, doesn't mean DHT is actually used for that torrent. That just indicates if the peer supports DHT, nothing more.