Bitcoin Core question

[copythat]

Hi,
I'm using Bitcoin Core for my wallet, the only problem so far I've encountered is it takes FOREVER to sync with the block chain, it's upto 24 weeks behind and before it was 3 years last time I remember.
I can see that it doesn't take a lot to work that in the software it's saying there are only 8 connected peers and the connection quality depicted is the lowest (one bar). I'm guessing I'm not doing something right here... do I need to portforward to allow Bitcoin to work properly, configure my firewall or both? Is there something I'm missing here? It would be great to get wallet up and running...

Thanks

[Chemistry1988]

Hi,
I'm using Bitcoin Core for my wallet, the only problem so far I've encountered is it takes FOREVER to sync with the block chain, it's upto 24 weeks behind and before it was 3 years last time I remember.
I can see that it doesn't take a lot to work that in the software it's saying there are only 8 connected peers and the connection quality depicted is the lowest (one bar). I'm guessing I'm not doing something right here... do I need to portforward to allow Bitcoin to work properly, configure my firewall or both? Is there something I'm missing here? It would be great to get wallet up and running...

Thanks

For bitcoin core, you need to have the full blockchain data (about 25GB on my computer) and so it will take some time for the initial syncing (downloading all the blocks way back from 2009) to complete. Since the process is almost finished now (just 24 weeks left), the best option is to wait for the download to complete.

You could have used https://bitcoin.org/bin/blockchain/bootstrap.dat.torrent to download the blocks with a torrent.
You could also use some thin wallet clients (meaning that you don't need to have the full blockchain data) like Electrum and Multibit.

[shorena]

Had a longer reply, got a call all is gone

Anyway. You only sync with 1 node (getpeerinfo from console, look for sync:true) make sure its a fast node with
-listen=0 (dont search for others)
-maxconnections=1 (so you sync with it)
-connect=IP

pick an IP from the fallback node list (google it) or take mine (see link in profile, 100mbit/s) and launch with the above commands (google running bitcoin for help w/ that)

[notlist3d]

It will take a decent amount of time even if you have a fast connection, there is a lot of data to download.

You can use a pool to mine to, or a wallet that does not need chain.

[torusJKL]

If you are new to bitcoin I would recommend you use a lightweight client for your daily bitcoin activity.
I can recommend Electrum because it uses a deterministic wallet and you can use it instantaneous without downloading the blockchain.

If you like to contribute to the bitcoin network download the Bitcoin Core client open port 8333 and leave it on as many hours as possible.