maybe everyone else is on an older version of core or does that even matter?
It doesn't matter, you can connect to node with different Bitcoin Core version or even those who don't use Bitcoin Core.
thanks to everyone, i have 0.20.1 installed!
my only problem now is that it is taking forever to sync...or 10 weeks to be exact
Never had this problem before, my port 8333 is verified open, my internet connection is fast - peer connection number goes up to about 15 at times but there doesn't seem to be any data coming through
maybe everyone else is on an older version of core or does that even matter?
Doesn't matter. Having a fast internet connection doesn't necessarily means that the synchronization will be fast. Try looking at your task manager for signs of disc usage as well as CPU usage. The verification will be slowed significantly once it's goes pass the recent assumevalid threshold which means it'll validate all the subsequent blocks thoroughly and it will take quite some time.my only problem now is that it is taking forever to sync...or 10 weeks to be exact
Never had this problem before, my port 8333 is verified open, my internet connection is fast - peer connection number goes up to about 15 at times but there doesn't seem to be any data coming through
maybe everyone else is on an older version of core or does that even matter?
IMO 10 weeks is still too long, unless OP uses hardware from more than a decade ago. OP, try open debug.log (located on directory where blockchain files is stored) and see if there are any error related with internet connection or connecting to node.