Downloads don't seem to go faster than 1.3MB/s.

[bassamanator]

I'm on a 75Mbps connection so a little over 9MB/s is my download speed. I max it out all the time.

On my RPi4 though, torrents don't ever seem to download over ~1.3MB/s. There are no download limits set in the settings. Running speedtest-cli tells me I can download close to my theoretical limit.

Don't bother responding unless you're able to download torrents at over 9MB/s. Also don't try to explain to me how torrents work.

I'm at a loss for explanation. I wonder if the arm cpu is holding me back.

[W. H. Heydt]

I'm on a 75Mbps connection so a little over 9MB/s is my download speed. I max it out all the time.

On my RPi4 though, torrents don't ever seem to download over ~1.3MB/s. There are no download limits set in the settings. Running speedtest-cli tells me I can download close to my theoretical limit.

Don't bother responding unless you're able to download torrents at over 9MB/s. Also don't try to explain to me how torrents work.

I'm at a loss for explanation. I wonder if the arm cpu is holding me back.

I can think of reasons why the results could be what you're seeing, but since my explanation would--of necessity--include how torrents work, which you don't want, so I can't within your strictures.

[fruitoftheloom]

I'm on a 75Mbps connection so a little over 9MB/s is my download speed. I max it out all the time.

On my RPi4 though, torrents don't ever seem to download over ~1.3MB/s. There are no download limits set in the settings. Running speedtest-cli tells me I can download close to my theoretical limit.

Don't bother responding unless you're able to download torrents at over 9MB/s. Also don't try to explain to me how torrents work.

I'm at a loss for explanation. I wonder if the arm cpu is holding me back.

What Torrent Software ?

Maybe try a different Torrent Software ?

[LTolledo]

for 2 concurrent downloads I can get about 8.5MB/s
depending on the:
1. no of seeds
2. file type
3. storage interface

on one SBC that I used for torrent download test,
after 3 months of continuous use the USB degraded from USB2.0 to USB1.1, and I got ridiculously low rates in kbps range.
changing the SBC with the same type but brand new, and using the same microSD card from the defective SBC, the download speed went up to max allowable.

[cleverca22]

check `iostat -x 30` and its util% column, that shows if the disk cant keep up
check `top` and see if your cpu bound or IO bound

[bassamanator]

check `iostat -x 30` and its util% column, that shows if the disk cant keep up
check `top` and see if your cpu bound or IO bound

This is the what I was looking for. Thanks! My downloads have completed unfortunately but I'll find a fast torrent and do some data gathering with this command.

for 2 concurrent downloads I can get about 8.5MB/s
depending on the:
1. no of seeds
2. file type
3. storage interface

on one SBC that I used for torrent download test,
after 3 months of continuous use the USB degraded from USB2.0 to USB1.1, and I got ridiculously low rates in kbps range.
changing the SBC with the same type but brand new, and using the same microSD card from the defective SBC, the download speed went up to max allowable.

So 3 months of continuous usage degraded the SBC itself? You kept the same USB after you replaced the SBC?

[LTolledo]

So 3 months of continuous usage degraded the SBC itself? You kept the same USB after you replaced the SBC?

same microSD, same USB HDD drive, new SBC. new PSU (cause of USB deterioration was underpowering)

this problem I did not encounter with my RPi boards, as all of those are properly powered.

[bassamanator]

So I wasn't able to learn from the iostat command which makes sense because the issue was my vpn service. I need to check the openvpn configuration file or generate a new one.

Thanks for the input all.