Blizzard Updates Via BitTorrent Only
Blizzard used to attempt BitTorrent first, and if that failed, they would do direct download. As of their newer updates, the only method to download updates is now via BitTorrent. If you happen to be using my draconian torrent filter here, then your WoW users can no longer download updates! I’ve created a little exception that can be placed before the block rules to allow your updates to go through.
I first did a packet capture to see what the files being requested look like:
Oh wire shark...how I love thee.
Here’s the exact text:
1 | GET /wow-pod-retail/NA/12911.streaming/wow-13329-4C85CAC41ABFB84BD78371122F2090A9.torrent HTTP/1.1\\r\\n |
Using this I just added an L7 that matches a get request containing wow.
1 | /ip firewall layer7-protocol add comment="" name=torrent-wwws-exclusion regexp="^.*(get|GET).*(wow).*\$" |
I then create a filter rule that accepts get requests using the above L7.
1 | /ip firewall filter add action=accept chain=forward comment="torrent wwws exclusion" disabled=no dst-port=80 layer7-protocol=torrent-wwws-exclusion protocol=tcp |
Don’t believe the lies, they have not gone Bittorrent only, you can disable Peer to Peer, and it will use HTTP to download the patch (granted, at a much slower pace).
http://cactiusers.org/temp/wow-patch.png
@Jimbo
That’s lame that you have to disable P2P to get it to fall back.
Actually now that you mention it, the torrent download also includes the HTTP stream as a peer (it pops up once you go below a certain threshold I think). I just have it disabled because my connection is slow enough already without having everyone else leeching off of me too (rate limited on combined up/down stream).
I’ve had several complaints until I put in the bypass. It only happened once you were up on the latest version. Older versions worked just fine. Who knows, perhaps it only affected a single patch revision? I was able to duplicate the issue in house.