Tor network used a little bit of my relay bandwidth. Why?

1. How much bandwidth does a Tor relay use?
2. Why does Tor use 3 relays?
3. How does Tor choose relays?
4. How many relays are in a Tor circuit?

How much bandwidth does a Tor relay use?

It is recommended that a relay have at least 16 Mbit/s (Mbps) upload bandwidth and 16 Mbit/s (Mbps) download bandwidth available for Tor. More is better. The minimum requirements for a relay are 10 Mbit/s (Mbps). If you have less than 10 Mbit/s but at least 1 Mbit/s we recommend you run a bridge with obfs4 support.

Why does Tor use 3 relays?

Tor uses only three relays by default because that's the bare minimum you need for safety. You can always use more…at a price. One would be pointless, since whoever operates that node you chose will see everything. Two is dangerous, because the entry and exit nodes would then be directly connected.

How does Tor choose relays?

Tor chooses an exit relay which actually allows you to exit the Tor network. Some only allow web traffic (port 80) which is not useful when someone wants to send emails. The exit relay has to have available capacities. Tor tries to choose such exits which have enough ressources available.

How many relays are in a Tor circuit?

A Tor circuit is made of three relays: The first relay or entry guard. If you configured Tor bridges, one of your bridges is the first relay. The second relay or middle node.