Step-by-Step eMule Setup

[Nasuada]

I think it will not work, because a Port is like a door and if the port will be routed not to the right door (Port forwarding), it will directed to the wrong door and never to the right one.

But I wonder me a bit what Nord VPN have to do with that, because it's usually a setting on the router who need to allow Port Forwarding or let set it up.

[Night457]

While setting up the emule, is port forwarding important?
I have nord vpn and its does not support that.

Port forwarding is not required but it can be helpful.

Port forwarding is necessary for many people to get HighID in eMule. Having HighID makes is easier to for your client to recognize other users and share with them, both getting FROM them and sending TO them. Two LowID users rarely connect. HighID and LowID users can easily connect with each other, and two HighID user connect even more easily. Still, MANY people who eMule are "stuck" on LowID and they seem to do alright.

Some users can do port forwarding through their router, but that is dependent on their ISP. My old ISP allowed it, so I set up port forwarding in my router. I later went to another ISP (much faster!) that did not allow it, so I had to use a port forwarding VPN instead. (In my case, AirVPN.) Fewer and fewer VPNs are offering port forwarding, apparently because it is leading to legal hassles for them.

What you should do is set up a basic eMule without any special "bells and whistles" and see what you get. Some people are so darn lucky and they are gifted from the heavens with HighID without doing anything special! If that is NOT you, then you can look into whether your ISP will allow port forwarding through your router settings. Or you may find LowID is good enough for you.

Regardless of what you do, you still have to choose and set your TCP/UDP client ports when you setup eMule, but THAT is different than "port forwarding".

This is the least technical explanation I can give: it helps that my technical knowledge is rather limited compared to others here!

[chitchat17]

It seems I am not lucky as usual and I have a lowID and I cannot setup port forwarding as nordVPN does not support it. Any other options cause I am not able to download properly.

[Night457]

It seems I am not lucky as usual and I have a lowID and I cannot setup port forwarding as nordVPN does not support it. Any other options cause I am not able to download properly.

You should be able to download from HighID users if you have it otherwise set up properly. If you are trying to get a file that is only shared by a fellow LowID user then you have to wait, likely until a HighID is also sharing it. I am still unclear on what "magic" is necessary for two LowID users to "find" each other, of if that is even possible at all.

You should also check out the steps at the beginning of this long thread for adjusting your router settings for port forwarding. If you are willing to call your ISP, you can ASK them if port forwarding is even possible with changed router settings. They may tell you that it is not available from them. I know that ISP choices are limited, so for many people that is the end of the discussion and trying another ISP is not an option.

If router manipulation will not work, then you can look into a port-forwarding VPN for when your nordVPN contract expires. (I hope you did not pick a 3-year contract!) Some of the formerly-cooperative VPNs (like Mullvad) have dropped their port-forwarding support, so the only one *I* know of right now is AirVPN. I have not actually LOOKED for others, however.

[chitchat17]

Thanks for your reply. A quick question, why don't to you guys use torrent for p2p or normal file sharing sites like mega or bunkr?

[Night457]

Thanks for your reply. A quick question, why don't to you guys use torrent for p2p or normal file sharing sites like mega or bunkr?

If only there were a "quick" answer. This REALLY needs an answer by someone who has been here longer than I have. (Myself, less than 4 years.) I can only make a few points. Of course, ANYONE is perfectly free to search the 19 years of posts here to read what has been said about it in the past. They do not even need to log in. If there is not a FAQ topic on the subject, too bad. I have no interest in making that search myself, nor in maintaining in my memory the same old arguments from years past. Once I made the initial effort to get eMule working (which can be substantial for some people, I admit) I found it easy to continue using.

Bunkr: what the heck is that? Is it free, or Premium? A major problem with free file-sharing sites is that files get taken down readily or sharing space is limited. If someone wants a file again then it has to be fully reuploaded with new links before they can start downloading. With eMule, a file is available as soon as someone puts it in their shared folder. With some file-sharing sites an interrupted download can NOT be resumed. (This is less a problem these days with the use of certain downloaders.) With P2P / eMule, no one needs to maintain a continuous connection and downloads are easily resumed. It is a matter of chance with sources and peers being online at the same time: this is simultaneously both an advantage and a disadvantage, obviously. Patience is often required.

MEGA used to be good as a file-sharing site but it has recently tightened its restrictions, so that larger files sit behind a Premium paywall. It is all too easy for different users around the world to pick and choose their own Premium file sharing site, while eMule is free. File-sharing sites that used to be fairly reliable have disappeared entirely with all their files.

As for the other big p2p method, torrenting, its use has certainly grown as eMule's has waned. Resharing torrent files to an existing "historical" torrent is a little more difficult than simply putting it in a shared foler, but it is not impossible: even *I* figured it out on my own. When FLM began, eMule was more common than it is now and torrenting was just another method. However, torrenting is still largely dependent on centralized servers maintaining the .torrent hashes rather than literally being Peer-to-Peer. An eMule file reshared on eMule always automatically rehashes out the same and is identified as the same, while creating a new torrent always creates a new hash.

The attitude to other sharing methods at FLM has changed over the years. It seems that formerly they were treated with some antagonism. Currently, direct-download and torrents ARE allowed here and what alternate methods are chosen are user-dependent, but with the expectation that out of courtesy they should be free. However, to make a file a RELease it has to be shared on eMule. If it is only shared by other means then it remains a "Request", which is now simply a matter of semantics. Many members also routinely provide other sharing methods in addition to eMule, and some are unable to eMule entirely. I have yet to see a single person who provided as a source a torrent file that they have created new or reseeded from no sources after years lying dormant. Perhaps someone did so secretly and simply pretended that they found it currently live. (I myself have re-added myself as a seeder to a torrent that was not technically dead, so that does not count.)

If any oldtimer here cares to provide a (shorter?) pro-eMule response other than "FLM tradition" then that is up to them.

[pillowbaker]

It seems I am not lucky as usual and I have a lowID and I cannot setup port forwarding as nordVPN does not support it. Any other options cause I am not able to download properly.

Unsure if you've already tried this, but if you're potentially willing to attempt connecting to emule while disconnected from your VPN, that may be worth a try. Some some reason, messing with my router settings was unnecessary to achieve "highID" and I currently no longer use a VPN. Used to, though.

[mimzy]

It seems I am not lucky as usual and I have a lowID and I cannot setup port forwarding as nordVPN does not support it. Any other options cause I am not able to download properly.

Downloading problems are more likely caused by a file having not enough sources than lowID. Even with lowID, you should be able to download many FLM releases. Try, for example, some of the latest ghost's releases (which should be well shared) before taking extreme measures.

eMule is not fundamentally different from torrent, so if you can use torrent with your setup, eMule should work too.

[chitchat17]

I am able to download some of the movies but the speeds are not great.

[GhostFace]

failed connection and downloading is not running