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6 Ways to Download Torrents with your Web-Browser

torrentfreak.com — Wouldn’t it be easier if people can download .torrent files with their web-browser? This is a question BitTorrent novices often the ask. Last year Opera was the first browser to add BitTorrent support, soon followed by BitFox, FireStorm, FoxTorrent, AllPeers, and Wyzo/FireTorrent. Here’s a overview of these applications and extensions.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 17, 2007

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  • brasso, on 10/11/2007, -4/+91There is software called µTorrent that allows you to close your web browser but the torrents will still be running! Amazing I tell you.
  • Wilson, on 10/11/2007, -3/+46I agree. Torrents were not made to be downloaded and seeded with your web browser. A web browser is meant to be a client for viewing web pages, and throwing torrents into the mix is not efficient compared to using a dedicated torrent client.
    It makes it easier for a person to get their first torrent downloaded, but somebody who has trouble getting and setting up a separate client will hardly benefit from easy-point-and-click, as they probably wont understand why it always starts at 0KB/s before slowly gaining speed every time they start their browser (or they cancel the torrent because they think it's not working).

    The best thing that can be done for beginners is to add an "Easy" option to torrent clients that does this:
    - Explains how torrents work on first open (slow to start, you need to get ones with enough seeds, etc).
    - Enables UPnP, waits and checks for incoming connections. If none, shows a dialogue that'll tell them that they're going to be directed to an instructional page for port forwarding so they can properly set up their router (open portforward.com's page for that client). Integrating torrenting abilities into a web browser wont fix port forwarding issues anyhow.
    - Runs a bandwidth and connection test to determine best settings.
    - Associates itself automatically with .torrent files and shows a wizard when one is opened (Download which files/all? Save them where? Bandwidth limit? Share for how long?).

    Aside from that, those who are computer illiterate and interested in torrenting should do some research first or have a friend explain it to them.
  • SomeManbeapig, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25yeah it's so much easier to run µTorrent.

    1- It takes 10 seconds to download.
    2- Memory footprint way less than a web browser
  • sishgupta, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15the webui in utorrent is so poorly implemented
    i love utorrent but i wish they would open the source
  • crazybrit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14Speaking of which, uTorrent needs to go open source already.
  • rudy23, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10i can download .torrent files with my browser. problems is the part after that ;) . . . kidding azuereus ftw
  • miyamotofreak, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Don't forget a webui.
  • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I found Azureus to be a resource hog, I'd certainly notice games slowing down with it running

    Give uTorrent a try, you'll be supprised
  • FatalTragedy316, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8http://www.bootstrike.com/Articles/BitTorrentGuide/index.html
    This guide is the best not only for teaching beginners but also giving advanced tips for better speeds and such.
  • Gullop, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I like my programs separate :/
  • Renton, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7@gravis86

    My DSL is 3mb/s but torrents usually run around 50kb/s. The really popular ones max out around 200kb/s
    (and yes, I set up my router correctly) DSL speed tests show 3mb/s but Verizon is just a bitch with torrents.
  • chogie, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4@renton
    I'm on the Verizon DSL 768/128 plan and with torrents I always get 90kb/s down and 16kb/s up. (full upload is 26kb/s even though modem is set at 160 Kbits/s) and never has verizon ever given me problems with torrents.
  • darkamster07, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3"Wouldn ’t it be easier if people can download .torrent files with their web-browser?"
    answer: no

    web browsers aren't designed to work in the same way as a proper bit torrent client. I am a big Opera fan, and I never use it for bit torrent, instead I use Transmission, even though it is an extremely simple client, it still has more features and is easier to use than BT on Opera. Trying to cram a ***** of functionality into something just results in all of it's features being lame.

    using bit torrent to get stuff is not like clicking "download" on a web page, get over it.
  • jull1234, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This used to happen to me with my local cable provider when I'd use such programs as Download Accelerator. Haven't ever had a problem with this kind of thing recently, however.
  • KChaseR, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1There needs to be more torrent clients developed for the mac. Azureus is a resource hog, Transmission isn't feature-complete (I need selective downloading and encryption), BitRocket is unstable, and the rest haven't been updated in ages. I have a friend who is in the early stages of creating a cross-platflorm client that is private-tracker friendly and minimal-resource.

    I've tried uTorrent in Parallels, and I can easily say that it is the best choice out there.
  • gravis86, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3@renton

    Then there was something wrong with your service. Mine was also through Verizon and I was always able to max it out. I now have 15mbps FiOS, on which I have to run a few of them at the same time to max it out, but that has to do with the speed of the uploaders.

    you must also remember that kbps and kBps are different. Some torrent clients report in kBps.
  • rudy23, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2i think the future is really going to be NAS devices with built in torrent clients which you just open in your browser and download to a central location. there are already many nas solutions wwhich eople have hacked to install torrent clients and it works like a charm.
  • masskurec, on 03/03/2009, -0/+0there are more than 20 ways to do it

    http://xptweak.net
  • aznwild0, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I don't know what the big deal is with the GPLing or open-sourcing everything. Just as I don't expect a server at Mortons to wait for free, I don't expect MIT graduates to write programs for their living only to have other people take it over and share the credit for ideas that were originally theirs. If anything, they don't want the masses messing with their vision of how the program could be better.

    The world is sorry the open-source community cannot program something better than µTorrent or whatever other programs you think need to go open-source. Many of you who use the term probably do not work in the software industry, nor ever did any serious coursework in programming at a recognizable engineering college. And thus, whether a piece of software is open-source or not doesn't matter to you.
  • superyounan1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1oh my gosh, its about time. I got tired of conveniently managing my torrents in superior clients and their dizzying array of options and features.
  • Zarxrax, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4I don't see why a torrent client built into a browser is a good thing. In order for torrents to work, people have to seed after downloading. I don't know about anyone else, but I close my browser whenever I'm not looking at web pages, because its rather pointless to have it wasting space on my taskbar if I'm not using it. Closed browser = no seeding.
  • rockrapdude, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2They can't. They are watched by MPAA/RIAA(can't remember which). No looking at the spying codes mate.
  • h0dg3s, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Yes, because this is exactly what web browsers were designed for.
    /sarcasm
  • JackSpratts, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1be great if the parent seeder was the web site you're visiting, like getting files off download.com or something. as it is most seeds are upped by private individuals and are then scattered throughout the community putting down loaders at the mercy of circumstance.

    i use opera for surfing and frankly it's the best out there for me but in spite of this i use µtorrent for swarming. for one thing it's just better that way and for another sites like oink simply won't allow browser clients, for now.

    - js.
  • mike23w, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I agree. I won't use my browser as a bittorrent client.

    My wireless router is the bittorrent client. And it downloads bittorrents to an external usb drive directly connected to it. Since the wireless router is doing the download, I can turn my computer off and save electricity.

    Check out the wl-500g premium wireless router and oleg's firmware.
  • crossers, on 07/19/2008, -0/+0it's so much easier to run µTorrent. only 10-12 and installing completed.
    http://www.shpe-sac.org
    http://www.ocflex.com/
    http://www.trgovinca.org
    http://www.chasr.org/
  • 1SupermanFan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0So Heres my problem, My ISP Cox, shuts my service down when ever they notice a spike in my bandwidth usage. Every time I try to down load a torrent file my connection goes and I have to reset my router and modem. What can I do to get around this?
  • expresspotato, on 05/31/2008, -0/+0Probably the best one isn't on this list... It requires absolutely no client on your computer.

    It doesn't require any of the following:
    - NO Firefox extension needed
    - NO JavaScript needed
    - NO Java Applet needed
    - NO installation of software needed

    Try http://TorRelay.com its quick (sorta) and runs on ANY WEB BROWSER!!
  • blacklilyninja, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1why......?

    i mean sure its possible but ... why?
  • rhatid, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0the only issue with torrents is that you are at the mercy of some clowns seeding off their grandmas dial up account.. i prefer the usenet route.. many files you find on torrent networks can be found on usenet anyway.

    subscribe to giganews, search through the various nzb search engines, and pull down a 4gig movie in under 2 hours.

    it takes all day, if not more, to grab the same file using torrent.

  • docsharp76, on 02/07/2008, -1/+0This is an excellent article about T1 internet service because broadband communications is the future at http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com/T1-Internet-Se ...
  • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -5/+420mb here... 2.5mB/s
    /wonders why the USA doesn't get their act together and sort their internet speeds out
  • gravis86, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3@spudnic

    Um... It has nothing to do with the US. A bit (b) is a single binary integer. A byte (B) is a measurement of storage. Unfortunately, the two get used almost interchangeably by many people who think they are smart and teach other the same fallacy, ever spreading this evil ignorance upon us.
  • staveflyer, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2i use azureus too. Never really had any problems.
    Been thinking about using µTorrent but haven't thought of a good reason to switch.
  • DonkeyBeliever, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1The majority of these were "alpha stage" who gives a flip?
  • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Nah I understand he meant 1mB/s (probably more likely to be 1.2mB/s or so) when he said "at 1mb/s you can't complain :)", but that's still only 10mb, for the school network. That's half the speed I have at home...

    My comment about American broadband wasn't a dig at the USA, I understand it's much harder logistically because the country is so big compared to most, but I'm still surprised the service is as far behind as it is
  • miyamotofreak, on 10/11/2007, -7/+3Dugg down for being a dick.
  • gravis86, on 10/11/2007, -8/+41mbps is nowhere near fast. My DSL I had years ago was 3mbps. Comcast is at 12, I think, and FiOS is becoming mainstream. Say goodbye to your "fast" T1
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1i use µTorrent. Cake.
  • toonerd, on 10/11/2007, -5/+0Quite. 6 times. / Semi-automatic article annoying word repetition summator.
  • xspinkickx, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1/slaps head as to why I didn't do that when I was at school

    and miyamotofreak school isn't using that bandwidth late at night.
  • mablco, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2i prefer Transmission.
  • BalooUriza, on 01/11/2010, -8/+3Opera is behind the curve on this by a few years and lightyears behind in license terms. Konqueror did it first and works with most Linux bittorrent clients right out of the box, no plug-ins or non-GPL software involved.
  • nnnet, on 10/11/2007, -6/+0not interested, unless it has cool feature like bandwidth shaping bypass or privacy stuff or something like that.
  • BigglesPiP, on 10/11/2007, -11/+4Ever head of installing an app. on a portable drive?
  • xabstract, on 10/11/2007, -9/+1am i the only one using bitlord? seems to work awesome for me. and now that flashget has torrent support...
  • obliviousfool, on 10/11/2007, -15/+6I like this conceptually, but I do see one problem. Integrating a torrent client into a browser and making torrents more readily available without helping people properly forward their ports for maximum upload speed may flood the torrent world with a new and annoying source of leeches. Sorry for the run on sentence.
  • mrfreeziexp, on 10/11/2007, -13/+3I really wish there was a website that would let you enter the torrent url(or whatever), then let you download the file from the website. That would sure help me with public computers that I can't install anything on..
  • NerveBand, on 10/11/2007, -15/+3For those of you who just don't get why browser integration is a good thing.

    In my school, we got T1 connections that are EXTREMELY USEFUL for bittorrent purposes. So I SSH in my server, run proxifier on Opera and BAM! I'm stealing T1 speeds (at 1mb/s you can't complain :)

    It just helps to circumvent firewalls and proxies as well as allow you to easily and efficently manage torrents, even if uTorrent is better. (and yes, I do use uTorrent)

    Now for those of you who will say, why not use proxifier on uTorrent? Because for some reason, it doesn't work. o.0
  • actorboy, on 10/11/2007, -27/+2All pirates are leeches.

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