P2P Guide: Bearshare

Making the following changes in the BearShare options menu and shutting it down when you are away from your computer will help prevent wasting bandwidth.

1. Go to the Setup menu and click 'Uploads...'.

   

2. On the Uploads tab of the Setup dialog box, you can change a number of the settings to conserve bandwidth.

   You should only share files you hold the copyright to or that you have explicit permission from the copyright holder to share. Otherwise disable filesharing.

   If you do share files, we highly recommend you set maximum uploads (arrow 1) to 2 or 1. We also recommend leaving uploads per person (arrow 2) set to 1. These settings determine the maximum number of files you can send out at one time. Leaving max uploads set to 80 can utilize very large amounts of bandwidth and can slow your and your neighbor's ability to perform other networking tasks.

   Next, click on the limit bandwidth box (arrow 3) and set the maximum bandwidth to no more than 64 Kbps (arrow 4).

   

3. Next, click on the Downloads tab.

   Here, set concurrent downloads to 1 or 2 to limit the amount of bandwidth that is used by downloading files.

   Select OK to accept the changes and close the Setup dialog box.

   

4. Disabling Uploads and Exiting BearShare

   To disable file uploads, click on the Uploads Tab (arrow 1). Next, uncheck the Share Files (arrow 2) box.

   When you're not actively using it, make sure to quit the application. To exit BearShare, click the 'X' in the upper right corner of the BearShare window (arrow 3).

   

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 10/20/08