Peers are participants who don't have the complete file, like you. Seeders do.

I'm not sure what the number in () means, I use a different BT client. Try poking around in your client's options/settings, on download and upload rates maybe. Sorry, can't tell you what to look for, I'm not familiar with the program you're using. Hopefully, others are.

It shouldn't matter where you got the *.bit******* file if it's the same file and points to the same tracker. How large is the file? How far along is your download? Generally, BT downloads start slow, then progressively get faster, then tapers off again bago matapos.