>The basic requirement for running a server is to "have at least 20 >kilobytes/s each way" and minimal packet loss, so everything above that >could be considered good. Tor isnt really meant for bittorrent or large >file transfers. >Web browsing is slowed down by Tor itself and then various applications >like Privoxy (filtering the website etc). >/Thomas
Well, maths has never really been my strong point, but isn't 20 Kbytes/s equal to 160 Kbits/s? There is a huge difference between bytes and bits, and it is confusing to see the Tor server req. as 20 KBytes/s. when all ISPs advertise the KBit or MBit speeds. My employers network has access to the internet at 10 MBytes/s LAN speed and when downloading files, I usually see a speed of anywhere between 100 KBits/s and 300 KBits/s depending on the remote server speed. When using Tor, I get 35 Kbits/s to the same servers that moments ago were running at 100 KBits/s without Tor.
This is not a Privoxy issue as I tested Privoxy without Tor and there was an almost imperceptible slowdown--nothing in comparison to the Tor slowdown.
If the minimum Tor server requirement is 160 KBits/s for all volunteer servers then 35 KBits/s is still quite slow. Even if there are many hops between the entry and exit points, I would not have expected there to be such a big difference between that and normal router paths that may require several hops to a destination IP under normal circumstances without Tor. Plus, I am assuming that Tor is not yet saturated by mainstream users.
The reason for posting this question was to try to figure out if I can do some re-configuration to speed things up like specifying the entry point or something, for a server nearer to my location. The second reason was to get some solid facts about the speed capability of the network, and to try to deduce if there is something that could be optimised.
I do realise the purpose of Tor is to protect privacy during web browsing, or chat sessions, or whilst using other network clients that can leak private information. I realise that transferring files via FTP or otherwise does not really fit the bill for Tor usage as very little private info is leaked other than the IP, but it is not likely that an FTP/Bittorrent (what made you assume I was using bittorrent?) site will harvest this data for marketing purposes, so using FTP with Tor doesn't seem to deliver much benefit in my eyes, unless the user is more paranoid than usual and does not want any IP info leaked whatsoever, but I gave this file transfer example to demonstrate the speed issue, as I do not have tools to monitor the speed of web browsing.
-- Andrew
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