**** PLEASE READ ALL YOU CAN BEFORE POSTING PROBLEMS WITH SPEED (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/AMule_is_slow)!!!!!! ****
Complete Step-by-step guides and general information on everything *Mule is available @ aMule wiki (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Main_Page)
Latest Version
Development SVN (http://amule.sourceforge.net/tarballs/tarballs.xml) or GIT (http://repo.or.cz/w/amule.git)
Build guides are available (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Compile)
Stable 2.3.1 (http://www.amule.org/files/files.php?cat=41)
Many Linux Distributions have a good up-to-date version in there repository's. (Stay up-to-date!)
Make sure you always state the version numbers of your wxGTK and Mule when posting a problem.
Maintain up-to-date Server list and/or IP Filter
IP Filter
There are many sources for a IP Filter (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/IPFilter) to use in aMule.
Almost all of them are extremely paranoid in the blocking spectrum and (could) harm the network, especially the KAD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kad_network) network and It's infrastructure.
In my opinion blocking just the known nasty Corporate companies, Bots and Users is sufficient;
I-Blocklist [ FILE (http://list.iblocklist.com/?list=bt_level1&fileformat=p2p&archiveformat=gz) ] [ INFO (http://www.iblocklist.com/list.php?list=bt_level1) ] Mirror of Bluetack's Anti-p2p list. Updated Daily Highly Recommended
Bluetack [ FILE (http://bluetack.co.uk/config/level1.gz) ] [ INFO (http://blocklistpro.com/guides/biss-ip-blocklists-faq/level-1-blocklist.html) ] Main 'Anti-p2p' list. Updated Daily Bluetack servers get nailed daily, please try a mirror link, like the one above.
Servers
KAD (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Kad) is the future of *mule, but Servers (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Server) are still here, unfortunately many rubbish servers (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Fake_servers) exist, so maintaining the list you connect, search and receive sources from is vital.
First familiarize yourself with aMule's Server options (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Usage_Preferences#Server), recommended options are:
All Update options [ unchecked ]
why? Because manually updating the list through a competent source is more logical then allowing any through this feature.
These server-lists are all slightly different and all have different reasons in why certain servers should or should not be on 'their' list.
Peerates [ FILE (http://peerates.net/servers.php) ] [ LIST (http://edk.peerates.net/servers.php) ] Gathers statistics on each server and ranks them accordantly. Updated Hourly Highly Recommended
Gruk [ FILE (http://gruk.org/server.met.gz) ] [ LIST (http://gruk.org/list.php) ] I don't think It's actually being updated any-more
eMule Security [ FILE (http://upd.emule-security.org/server.met) ] [ LIST (http://emule-security.org/serverlist/) ] Also provides nodes.dat (http://upd.emule-security.org/nodes.dat) file for KAD
Updating
aMule provides its own in-build sophisticated update tool, actually its just aMule's command line utility.
Read here (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/AMuleCMD#Configuring_aMuleCMD) on how to grant yourself access to send commands to your running Mule.
Here are simple examples of how you can use crontab (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron) and aMuleCMD (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/AMuleCMD) to check for updates:
# su
# crontab -e -u USER
# EDITOR=YOUR FAVOURITE EDITOR
Then add theres:
IPFilter
@daily ID=ipfilter.check amulecmd -q -c "reload ipfilter net http://list.iblocklist.com/?list=bt_level1&fileformat=p2p&archiveformat=gz" >/dev/null 2>&1
ServerMet
@weekly ID=servermet.check amulecmd -q -c "add ed2k://|serverlist|http://peerates.net/servers.php|/ " >/dev/null 2>&1
Speed Issues
Your Fault
Some routers don't like UDP packets, if your getting firewalled or disconnected try disabling KAD and/or the UDP port altogether.
Remember the most important thing concerning your connection is maintaining a stable HighID (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Get_HighID) to ensure network richness.
Overloading Hardware
Most routers have a problem handling massive bursts of connections, especially through UDP.
To prevent the router causing your system to either stutter or freeze, lowering aMule's usage helps:
200 Max Connections
10 Max New Connecitons in 5 secs
3000 Max Sources at any one time
also...
I've herd reports of certain routers (mine) rebooting/resetting while using the 'UPnP' feature,
fixing this requires you to disable 'UPnP' completely (in your router page) and manually forward the 3 main ports.
Congesting Line
As a rule, it's important that on ADSL neither the uplink nor the downlink be used at 100% capacity.
Usually 90-95% is a good idea taking into account overheads too.
A stable slower upload is far better then maxing out your modem/router , which will cause disconnections and slow downloads/gaming/browsing ect..
Take your 'Real' available upload speed and allocate 75% to Mule, this is a very basic rule of thumb.
for example:
Using speedtest.net (http://speedtest.net/)
367 kb/s / 8 * 0.75 = 34 kB/s rounded down to 30 kB/s, also, slot allocation 2 or 3 kB/s works well.
Make sure the upload in the stats is a constant straight line, indicating some stability.
ISP's Fault
ISP's can limit mass data exchange on lower ports (default aMule ports can be completely blocked), use high ports (above 4000) i.e. 54662, 54672 forward them, and allow through your hardware/software firewalls
Protocol Obfuscation (http://www.emule-project.net/home/perl/help.cgi?l=1&rm=show_topic&topic_id=848) can also help with ISP's that limit P2P traffic, but remember, this does not make you anonymous and ISP's can still limit your connection regardless if your downloading/uploading P2P traffic, or not.
The Networks Fault
Hi (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/AMule_is_slow#The_network.27s_fault)
Info on Firewalls / Port forwarding and Speed
General Firewall Help (http://wiki.amule.org/index.php/Firewall) [aMule Wiki]
......add more here...... boobies.