AMule is slow

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aMule is slow

So aMule is slow? This can be:

This is a list of issues which can be the reason for slow download speeds:

A low value in "Preferences"->"Download limit".
A low value in "Preferences"->"Upload limit". Upload limits under 4 kbps limit your download speed to 3 times your upload speed. Upload limits under 10 kbps limit your download speed to 4 times your upload speed. Upload limits above or equal to 10 kbps give you unlimited download speed, limited only by the "Download limit" preference value (read this link to know more about it).
A too high value in "Preferences"->"Upload limit". Your line may get congested! (depends on your line-speed)
A too low value in "Preferences"->"Max Connections". There are not enough connections available.
A too high value in "Preferences"->"Max Connections". Too many connections are congesting your line.
A too low value in "Core Tweaks"->"Max New Connections". It takes very long to aquire sources.
A too high value in "Core Tweaks"->"Max New Connections". Your line gets congested, many new connections produce much overhead-bandwidth.
Having a Low ID.
Some ISPs block or limit connections to the standard eD2k ports. Try changing the port in "Preferences"->"Connections" to some other values.
Your firewall may be blocking some ports/protocols used by aMule and/or you did not forward these ports in your router (again, see Low ID).

We're sorry to tell you that sometimes, the low speeds aren't due to a bad aMule code or a bad configuration, but due to other facts. This is a list:

The eD2k is a slow network. In some other P2P networks you can easily download faster. The eD2k network is one of the fastest P2P networks existing, but its main goal is availability. While on other popular networks you'll be able to download very fast, you'll quickly find out that in the eD2k network there are millions of files you'll be unable to find in any other network.
Credits. If you are running aMule for the first time or if you deleted some files in the ~/.aMule directory, you'll have no credits. Credits grant fast downloads. If you don't know what they are, read this.
The file's availability. Rare files, old files, extremly new files... this kind of files have very few sources, so it takes quite some time for aMule to connect to some other client sharing it.
Long queues: eMule and most of its variants use long queues, the default maximum size being 5.000. While this means that one cannot jump ahead of other clients by rapidly re-asking a source (a problem seen before the time of eMule), it also means that one must be willing to wait in line and that can for a new client with no credits modifiers take a while.
Check the network FAQ.