Bit torrent is quite a bit different from a normal download, and, as such, you can not use the default downloader to download your file.
A normal download would come directly from the site you downloaded from. The problem with this is that the site then has to pay for the huge amount of bandwidth. And because popular files have many downloaders at once, they have to share the limited bandwidth of that site. This all results in a very slow download for you.
The Bittorrent technique doesn't download from one central source. Instead, it downloads from your fellow downloaders. Everyone who is downloading, is actually also sharing (uploading) pieces of the file with other downloaders, until everybody has every piece.
The ".torrent" file you download is not, and does not contain the actual file itself. It only contains a little bit of information, like the filesize of the actual file and the tracker. The tracker is a central server which keeps track of who is downloading. This way, you can connect to other downloaders and exchange pieces of the file with them.
You need a program like uTorrent to share with other downloaders. It is not an 'accelerator', it is the actual download program itself. Without it, you can not download torrents. And yes, you need an Internet connection to download the file.
1. You download a (small) ".torrent" file. This does not contain the actual file.
2. You open it in a bittorrent downloader, like uTorrent.
3. uTorrent downloads the actual file using the bittorrent protocol.
Now.. when you are downloading torrents, there are a few things to take note of:
- A 'peer' simply means another 'downloader'. You have 2 types of peers, a 'leecher' and a 'seeder'.
- A 'leech' is a downloader who does not have all the pieces of the file. He is thus sucking away available bandwidth from other downloaders.
- A 'seed' is a downloader who already has all the pieces of the file. He does not use up bandwidth from others, but instead provides his own upload speed. The more seeds, the faster the download goes.
- When selecting a torrent, select one which has lots of peers (thousands). This means that the download is popular, and can indicate that it is of good quality.
- Also, when selecting a torrent, select one which has a high seed to leech ratio. If you don't have to share the seeds with other leeches, you are more likely to max out your download speed.
Legality of torrents:
The technique of bittorrent is perfectly legal in and of itself. It is often used (legally) by people who can not afford to pay for a download server.
However, because bittorrent is decentralized and a great technique for sharing large files (movies, software etc.) it is also very favored by pirates and for other shady businesses. Be wary of computer viruses inside torrents! Run a good anti-virus at all times!
Downloading pirated software or copyrighted works is of course illegal. Some Internet providers even detect torrent downloads on their networks and take appropriate action.
It is up to your own judgment and personal responsibility to download torrents.