Cost, ease of use, speed, other good features, etc.
Mullvad or Proton
Note that Mullvad no longer allows port forwarding, which can make it harder to torrent effectively
Is it really that bad? I haven't had any issues torrenting stuff with Mullvad, although I usually don't torrent files above like 20GB
It reduces your available peers. You can't connect to other people with closed ports, one side needs to be open.
It isn't a huge deal with popular torrents, but it can cause problems with unpopular/old stuff.
It's non issue, even with +80 gb files.
The size of the file doesn't matter. Without port forwarding you won't be able to use things like private trackers without running the risk of getting banned. There's no reason to use a VPN without it if your goal is torrenting.
I haven't got any private trackers and I want a cheap setup. The only thing I'm paying for is the vpn.
Is the difference really that big and worth it?
I use AirVPN and it's cheap with port forwarding. Without it, trackers will show you as unconnectable and nobody will be able to download from you unless they've set up port forwarding.
Thanks, I'll take a look once mine expires.
I am seeding 70 torrents on a private tracker, most of it some niche stuff. It's getting downloaded, but I have 0.00 seeded across all 70 torrents. I have no port forwarding.
1 + 1 = you need proton / airvpn.
At least one side needs an open port in able to connect. So if your ports are closed, you can only connect to seeds/peers who have an open port. Opening your port ensures you can connect to anyone.
Then, Proton it is
Mullvad or Proton.
IVPN is also good.
Another user already said this, but just in case, Mullvad got rid of their port forwarding.
I forget about port forwarding because I never get to seed because of my abysmal upload speed.
Why does everyone talk about port forwarding when it comes to Mullvad and seeding? When I tried out Mullvad and torrenting last month I was able to seed just fine. Is there something I'm missing?
You can seed, but you're depending on other people opening their ports to seed and download.
I understand completely. I believe my speed is 175/10, so although the download is great, the upload is rather pitiful. Even with PF, I still get maybe a total upload of anywhere from 500 KiB/s–1 MiB/s according to qBittorrent.
Mullvad got rid of their port forwarding.
So did IVPN. Use Proton VPN now.
I have been for years.
Can still seed with upnp forwarding
Not only is UPnP a security risk, it'll work only if a user has an IP that can expose ports. IPv4 addresses are becoming rarer on home networks and CGNAT connections can't expose ports even if one turns on UPnP.
UPnP is widely considered to be a significant security risk, just FYI. Because it allows any random device on your network to poke holes in your firewall whenever they want. You should go disable it on your router.
Plus UPnP doesn’t work in a lot of configurations. CGNAT, for instance, blocks UPnP.
I lnow. But its the only way to get port forwarding with mullvad
what is upnp forwarding?
Something you shouldn't use. UPnP means programs can open ports automatically without your input which is a big security risk.
ProtonVPN for port forwarding, Mullvad for easy usage (Wireguard on Linux).
I use vopono on Linux too.
ProtonVPN works great via Wiregurd on Linux as well just not through the GUI; you can download the configs and connect through terminal or other Wireguard client
ProtonVPN also provides Wireguard config files if you don't want to use their shitty python based GUI. Supports port forwarding aswell, althought it sucks to set up and requires to manually disable ipv6 support
I created a simple script to automatically request a port to ProtonVPN servers and assign it to qbittorrent:
Thank you, luckily arch-qbittorrentvpn already does those things, so I don't have to
Thanks for sharing!
I still need the script because I already have a tunnel on a Mikrotik OS vm router to route all my containers through the vpn.
Another benefit of using network namespaces is that I can just disable IPv6 in the network namespace itself.
I'll admit, I have no idea what the benefit of port forwarding is. I use Mullvad in a Gluten container.
It's when you open a publicly facing port and map (forward) it to a local port your machine. In this case, it's opened at the vpn provider's public gateway. Otherwise, it would typically be opened in your router instead.
You can then configure your torrent client to listen on that local port that the public port is forwarded to. I think generally the public and the local port are the same number when using VPN.
If you do that, then others have the ability to initiate a connection to you instead of only you being able to initiate the connection to somebody else.
When seeding/leeching to/from someone else, at least one of you needs a port open. So, if you always have one open, you allow yourself to connect to anyone on the network regardless if they have one open or not.
Sorry if I confused you more, I'm not that great at explaining.
Faster downloads (sometimes significantly), easier to connect to seeders.
It isnt the best one, but its cheap, allows port forwarding and its not sketchy as far as we know
Air vpn
You may want to take a look at Italy's recent changes in legislation around VPNs tl;dr Italy's government has an anti-piracy measure called Piracy Shield which is a list that needs to be blocked by ISPs, VPN providers etc but is entirely arbitrary with no governance.
Air has stopped onboarding Italian customers but you may want to consider given they're based in Italy, if this compromises your use case/opsec
+1 for airvpn. I've never had any issues, port forwarding works flawlessly, and you can get some incredible deals if you buy 3 years at a time during a sale.
I've been using it for probably 5+ years and it's been great. I wish I could port forward to incoming 80 in my server so I could run a site while it's up, but at the end of the day I can always run a site elsewhere.
That aside, it's never gone down on me, the speeds are fast, it auto-connects to the best server available, and they run lots of promos.
I'm wondering, is there any anonymous VPN that supports port forwarding to port 80? I'm thinking about self-hosting a website from my server at home under a VPN.
I haven't looked thoroughly because at the end of the day I have like ..another 2 years of airvpn credit and I'm happy enough with them that I could make a separate server for a website....maybe with the rock pi 5a I bought that I haven't touched. My current server is mostly for media and...uhh...sailing, as well as syncing devices (sync thing), running a telegram bot, etc. I could use the pi for more public stuff. And not use a VPN.
If you find a solution though, let me know!
You can port forward to another port without issue, then just route through to it from your server. Domain name lookups support explicit port lists. Although I'd suggest just buying a domain name, setting up dynamic dns through a raspberry pi and forward from your router to port 80. I use porkbun for the latter.
It's based in the EU, and they'd have to comply with legislations accordingly. I'd never use anything not domiciled in sketchy islands.
I use ProtonVPN whenever I download a lot of Linux ISOs.
Several times a week I too download all the Linux ISOs, and I will have a look at ProtonVPN 👍
Just curious, why do you download so many ISOs?
Whatever else does one download with a torrent app? I mean, I hear there are illegal uses but YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR
Something to do on a Saturday night. Sit down with the fam and scroll through the code with a bowl of popcorn to pass around.
It's code.
Mullvad
I'll keep saying it.
When I browse with mullvad I constantly have to verify that I'm not a bot.
That's a good sign
Your account data is about is tangible as a fart in the wind, especially after 30 days. You can pay cash if you want.
When I browse with mullvad I constantly have to verify that I’m not a bot.
That’s a good sign
Isn't that standard for most VPNs?
It just means your IP address is known as being a VPN address because someone else has used it there before (probably for something nefarious) or its in the known range of a set of VPN addresses. I don't think it has any relation to security or privacy.
Only if you have the appropriate level of privacy settings enabled (and extensions installed) in your browser. Your IP address actually has very little to do with ID-ing you, since most trackers will use hundreds of different fingerprinting methods to create "shadow accounts" of you using things like your system information, screen resolution, installed locales, etc.
This doesn't mean a VPN doesn't help, though. Just pointing-out that you probably won't be asked if you're a bot if you go on Google while logged-in to a Google account, regardless of whether your VPN is on or not.
No.
They got rid of port forwarding unfortunately, so good luck seeding.
Do you need port forwarding for seeding?
Not strictly speaking, but it definitely speeds up seeding because without it a lot of potential connections would be closed to you.
One side of the exchange always needs to have a reachable port so by not having one you're limiting the peers you can seed to and also the peers you can download from.
No
/thread
ProtonVPN/Mullvad. This is the post number 288471 talking about this. Can we put it somewhere un wiki?
I pay for Proton Unlimited so I use Proton VPN. Getting port forwarding to work on Linux is a bit of a hassle but they have steps on their website. It's hardly any slower than my internet connection, but that's because I'm on the paid servers. The free servers are rather slow. They have a graphical client for Windows and Linux.
Proton Unlimited is €12.99/month. The VPN has a good number of features and you get the whole Proton suite with it and 500GB of storage. You can pay for just the VPN which is cheaper if you don't want the rest of Proton.
On Linux you can use network namespaces for the same effect (and then a firewall) - this way it doesn't affect other applications running.
I do it with vopono.
I'm using selfhosted wireguard server. Speed about 250 mbps and this VPS costs me about 3$ per month. Super easy to deploy wireguard server using this script
What VPS service?
Yeah, same question. I thought most of them would be super strict about torrreting.
What VPS?
vds6.net
Prices look veeerrrryyy good for the higher end VPS. Hows the UI/UX for managing them? Have you had to deal with their support?
I've never talked to their support team. I suspect that this company just doesn't pay taxes or something like that. I noticed that they accept Russian payment methods (for some users, as stated on their website). I am using the cheapest server and the lscpu command shows the AMD EPYC Milan processor. As far as I can tell, it's a Zen 3 processor, which is pretty cool for the price.
I went the seed box route and I'll never go back. It's faster and I don't even need a stable connection. Start the download from my phone and it's waiting for me when I get home.
I'm using Private Internet Access. It's fast and pretty lightweight compared to the other choices. Snagged a 2 year plan on sale for like 50 bucks.
I was on PIA, but they were bought by Kape a few years ago. Kape, previously known as Crossrider. Crossrider, known primarily for developing adware and PUPs.
I also dropped them after the acquisition
thanks for this info, I was wondering why PIA isn't recommended anymore
In addition to getting acquired by a shady group, Mark Karpeles also works at PIA. I'm all for edemption arc, but that doesn't mean I'm ok with him in charge of some security product. I dropped them for mullvad.
I use PIA as well but I have never seen good upload speeds through them, which is a shame.
I use Mullvad through Tailscale. If you already use Tailscale it’s a no-brainer
No port forwarding though.
I really really wish I could use mullvad but I had to switch to air vpn for port forwarding and then later to proton to get higher speeds (Airvpn maxes at roughly 600Mbit/s while proton can handle 2Gbit/s+) and port forwarding.
Do you really need a VPN? What's your country / context?
Are you aware that if you use a good private tracker (one that keeps their torrents private and has a good reputation) and configure your client to require encryption for all connections you may not need a VPN?
I wasn't. I haven't torrented in almost a decade and even back then was fairly naive.
Would you mind lending me a hand understanding how to do that and remain safe?
Whenever you torrent from public torrent trackers it's easy for anyone to see what torrents your IP is currently downloading / seeding. There's even a website for that https://iknowwhatyoudownload.com/
ISPs and govts may track your torrent downloads on the same way that website does. It essentially boils down to indexing the torrents from those public trackers by listening to the DHT network / PEX exchanges. When you're on a decent private tracker (and there are some free) they will disable DHT/PEX for their torrents making it so nobody can't index and they won't show up on websites like the one above.
Setting your torrent client to require encryption to all connections it will create an extra protection layer because then the ISP / govt won't be able to peek into your bittorrent traffic, they'll only see an encrypted TLS connection like the ones made to any SSL capable website. You may also add a blacklist of known entities that go after pirates so your torrent client won't ever connect to those.
If you live outside the US/Canada/AUS you most likely don't even need those measures, let alone a VPN. That entire thing about sending letters to people saying they're downloading torrents is mostly a US thing because in other countries ISPs can't even legally do it.
I know people in Canada who have gotten letters from their ISP via torrenting.
I’ve been happy with AirVPN for the last year or so
Seconded.
The way they handle port forwarding is particulalry good, as compared with pia, that assigns a random port every time you bring up a connection, so you have to have a script to update your port in your client.
This will be an unpopular answer but I use Nordvpn mainly because during Black Friday sales you can get it essentially for free using a cash back portal. The start of the sale last year, which I missed, was offering over 100% cash back. They’d pay you to use it!
Others are better but if the level of protection you’re looking for is “Comcast stop sending me piracy warnings” this’ll work.
I'm also a Nord user since it's super simple and effective. Paid less than $100 CAD for 2 years which I think is decent. I'm open to alternatives for a noob though.
Count me in that group too. Nord just works for everything I want. Geoblocks, doubleVPN, etc. And it's super affordable. Yes, O hope they had a more user friendly way to use it on Linux, but I guess we can't have it all after all.
Something cheap with port forwarding. I personally use Proton VPN but that's because I use my VPN for more than just torrenting.
I have a lifetime subscription for Windscribe, so I've just been using that with no issues for years. I've recommended it to some other friends and they've been fine.
I also pay for Proton services, so I have ProtonVPN, but I've yet to try it for torrenting.
Proton VPN has been working pretty well for me. Includes port forwarding and a lot of servers.
I’m all in on proton. VPN, email, calendar, and cloud storage. Unlimited is $10/mo and while it’s a little deceptive as a name it’s still great. The simple login alias feature if fantastic.
No VPN, just qBittorrent and I2P = anoymous torrents
If I turn off mixed mode in qbittorrent i2p settings, it should only use i2p, right?
If "mixed mode" is enabled I2P torrents are allowed to also get peers from other sources than the tracker, and connect to regular IPs, not providing any anonymization. This may be useful if the user is not interested in the anonymization of I2P, but still wants to be able to connect to I2P peers
So then, with mixed mode disabled, I'll be fully anonymous?
If you use only I2P torrents, yes 👍
does it still require port forwarding for seeding ? (yeah, I know port forwarding isn't required for torrenting)
As in I2P itself or bittorrent? In order for I2P to access the network it needs to be able to access the internet. If you're behind a router, that does mean either enabling universal plug and play (UPnP) or manually opening a port for it that forwards traffic to the port on the I2P machine. UPnP is obviously the easiest (if you're behind a router).
Astrill. It's not cheap, but it's excellent. And works in China and other countries with strong internet blocking capabilities.
I've been using airvpn for the last 4 or 5 years with no issue.
Mullvad or IVPN. Some VPNs like Perfect Privacy do leak your IP via DHT and other torrent features, even when full lockdown mode is on. You can search 'torrent leak test' to verify yours doesn't. I found out with a 2nd DMCA warning from my ISP.
Is a VPN even worth it for that use case? A seedbox won't cost that much more, esp. if you factor in electricity costs from keeping your machine running. And getting to 1.0 seed ratio is also much easier.
Do you have an off prem seed box then? Mine is in my home lab but still needs to be routed through a vpn
RealDebrid and/or Proton VPN
while I do not know anything about torrenting. "mullvad" is a highly recommended vpn providers with a strong emphasis on privacy.
Mullvad recently removed port forwarding from their service, which is sub-optimal for torrenting.
It feels better with no condom. Private trackers have no STI’s.
You could self-host wireguard on a cheap VPS using something like YUNOhost. You would be limited to the one IP address but you could also host other useful stuff on the same server like email, website, Nextcloud etc for no additional cost. On a slight tangent, you could also check out seedboxes or even TorBox.
Thats good but you need to blend with othet people.
I would go for IPVanish, Surfshark or Windscribe.. Mullvad it's a good option too, I would bypass NordVPN.
I believe Surfshark it's the cheapest of these options.
What's the issue with Nord? A buddy just recommended it to me, but I rarely see it mentioned, so I've had a hard time understanding why not to use it.
Their reputation took a hit after a server breach in 2018.
It doesn't sound like a particularly bad breach but they didn't disclose it very quickly, which never works in a company's favor. I use Nord VPN still. I tried Mullvad for a while and it was good, but I found Nord did a better job at getting around geoblocks, and was cheaper. I use Mullvad's browser with it though.
Private Internet Access. Been using it for probably 10 years at this point, never had a single issue. Their "no logging" claim has been tested successfully in court.
Just FYI, they got acquired a few years back and the new parent company is a bit shady.
Mullvad or Proton
Note that Mullvad no longer allows port forwarding, which can make it harder to torrent effectively
Is it really that bad? I haven't had any issues torrenting stuff with Mullvad, although I usually don't torrent files above like 20GB
It reduces your available peers. You can't connect to other people with closed ports, one side needs to be open.
It isn't a huge deal with popular torrents, but it can cause problems with unpopular/old stuff.
It's non issue, even with +80 gb files.
The size of the file doesn't matter. Without port forwarding you won't be able to use things like private trackers without running the risk of getting banned. There's no reason to use a VPN without it if your goal is torrenting.
I haven't got any private trackers and I want a cheap setup. The only thing I'm paying for is the vpn.
Is the difference really that big and worth it?
I use AirVPN and it's cheap with port forwarding. Without it, trackers will show you as unconnectable and nobody will be able to download from you unless they've set up port forwarding.
Thanks, I'll take a look once mine expires.
I am seeding 70 torrents on a private tracker, most of it some niche stuff. It's getting downloaded, but I have 0.00 seeded across all 70 torrents. I have no port forwarding. 1 + 1 = you need proton / airvpn.
At least one side needs an open port in able to connect. So if your ports are closed, you can only connect to seeds/peers who have an open port. Opening your port ensures you can connect to anyone.
Then, Proton it is
Mullvad or Proton. IVPN is also good.
Another user already said this, but just in case, Mullvad got rid of their port forwarding.
I forget about port forwarding because I never get to seed because of my abysmal upload speed.
Why does everyone talk about port forwarding when it comes to Mullvad and seeding? When I tried out Mullvad and torrenting last month I was able to seed just fine. Is there something I'm missing?
You can seed, but you're depending on other people opening their ports to seed and download.
I understand completely. I believe my speed is 175/10, so although the download is great, the upload is rather pitiful. Even with PF, I still get maybe a total upload of anywhere from 500 KiB/s–1 MiB/s according to qBittorrent.
So did IVPN. Use Proton VPN now.
I have been for years.
Can still seed with upnp forwarding
Not only is UPnP a security risk, it'll work only if a user has an IP that can expose ports. IPv4 addresses are becoming rarer on home networks and CGNAT connections can't expose ports even if one turns on UPnP.
UPnP is widely considered to be a significant security risk, just FYI. Because it allows any random device on your network to poke holes in your firewall whenever they want. You should go disable it on your router.
Plus UPnP doesn’t work in a lot of configurations. CGNAT, for instance, blocks UPnP.
I lnow. But its the only way to get port forwarding with mullvad
what is upnp forwarding?
Something you shouldn't use. UPnP means programs can open ports automatically without your input which is a big security risk.
Universal plug and play You can enable it in Qbittorrent's settings
ProtonVPN for port forwarding, Mullvad for easy usage (Wireguard on Linux).
I use vopono on Linux too.
ProtonVPN works great via Wiregurd on Linux as well just not through the GUI; you can download the configs and connect through terminal or other Wireguard client
ProtonVPN also provides Wireguard config files if you don't want to use their shitty python based GUI. Supports port forwarding aswell, althought it sucks to set up and requires to manually disable ipv6 support
I created a simple script to automatically request a port to ProtonVPN servers and assign it to qbittorrent:
https://github.com/giu176/ProtonVPN-auto-NATPMP
Thank you, luckily arch-qbittorrentvpn already does those things, so I don't have to
Thanks for sharing! I still need the script because I already have a tunnel on a Mikrotik OS vm router to route all my containers through the vpn.
Another benefit of using network namespaces is that I can just disable IPv6 in the network namespace itself.
I'll admit, I have no idea what the benefit of port forwarding is. I use Mullvad in a Gluten container.
It's when you open a publicly facing port and map (forward) it to a local port your machine. In this case, it's opened at the vpn provider's public gateway. Otherwise, it would typically be opened in your router instead.
You can then configure your torrent client to listen on that local port that the public port is forwarded to. I think generally the public and the local port are the same number when using VPN.
If you do that, then others have the ability to initiate a connection to you instead of only you being able to initiate the connection to somebody else.
When seeding/leeching to/from someone else, at least one of you needs a port open. So, if you always have one open, you allow yourself to connect to anyone on the network regardless if they have one open or not.
Sorry if I confused you more, I'm not that great at explaining.
Faster downloads (sometimes significantly), easier to connect to seeders.
I use proton myself
Yeah proton!
It isnt the best one, but its cheap, allows port forwarding and its not sketchy as far as we know
Air vpn
You may want to take a look at Italy's recent changes in legislation around VPNs tl;dr Italy's government has an anti-piracy measure called Piracy Shield which is a list that needs to be blocked by ISPs, VPN providers etc but is entirely arbitrary with no governance.
Air has stopped onboarding Italian customers but you may want to consider given they're based in Italy, if this compromises your use case/opsec
+1 for airvpn. I've never had any issues, port forwarding works flawlessly, and you can get some incredible deals if you buy 3 years at a time during a sale.
I've been using it for probably 5+ years and it's been great. I wish I could port forward to incoming 80 in my server so I could run a site while it's up, but at the end of the day I can always run a site elsewhere.
That aside, it's never gone down on me, the speeds are fast, it auto-connects to the best server available, and they run lots of promos.
I'm wondering, is there any anonymous VPN that supports port forwarding to port 80? I'm thinking about self-hosting a website from my server at home under a VPN.
I haven't looked thoroughly because at the end of the day I have like ..another 2 years of airvpn credit and I'm happy enough with them that I could make a separate server for a website....maybe with the rock pi 5a I bought that I haven't touched. My current server is mostly for media and...uhh...sailing, as well as syncing devices (sync thing), running a telegram bot, etc. I could use the pi for more public stuff. And not use a VPN.
If you find a solution though, let me know!
You can port forward to another port without issue, then just route through to it from your server. Domain name lookups support explicit port lists. Although I'd suggest just buying a domain name, setting up dynamic dns through a raspberry pi and forward from your router to port 80. I use porkbun for the latter.
It's based in the EU, and they'd have to comply with legislations accordingly. I'd never use anything not domiciled in sketchy islands.
I use ProtonVPN whenever I download a lot of Linux ISOs.
Several times a week I too download all the Linux ISOs, and I will have a look at ProtonVPN 👍
Just curious, why do you download so many ISOs?
Whatever else does one download with a torrent app? I mean, I hear there are illegal uses but YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR
Something to do on a Saturday night. Sit down with the fam and scroll through the code with a bowl of popcorn to pass around.
It's code.
Mullvad
I'll keep saying it.
When I browse with mullvad I constantly have to verify that I'm not a bot.
That's a good sign
Your account data is about is tangible as a fart in the wind, especially after 30 days. You can pay cash if you want.
Isn't that standard for most VPNs?
It just means your IP address is known as being a VPN address because someone else has used it there before (probably for something nefarious) or its in the known range of a set of VPN addresses. I don't think it has any relation to security or privacy.
Only if you have the appropriate level of privacy settings enabled (and extensions installed) in your browser. Your IP address actually has very little to do with ID-ing you, since most trackers will use hundreds of different fingerprinting methods to create "shadow accounts" of you using things like your system information, screen resolution, installed locales, etc.
This doesn't mean a VPN doesn't help, though. Just pointing-out that you probably won't be asked if you're a bot if you go on Google while logged-in to a Google account, regardless of whether your VPN is on or not.
No.
They got rid of port forwarding unfortunately, so good luck seeding.
Do you need port forwarding for seeding?
Not strictly speaking, but it definitely speeds up seeding because without it a lot of potential connections would be closed to you.
One side of the exchange always needs to have a reachable port so by not having one you're limiting the peers you can seed to and also the peers you can download from.
No
/thread
ProtonVPN/Mullvad. This is the post number 288471 talking about this. Can we put it somewhere un wiki?
I pay for Proton Unlimited so I use Proton VPN. Getting port forwarding to work on Linux is a bit of a hassle but they have steps on their website. It's hardly any slower than my internet connection, but that's because I'm on the paid servers. The free servers are rather slow. They have a graphical client for Windows and Linux.
Proton Unlimited is €12.99/month. The VPN has a good number of features and you get the whole Proton suite with it and 500GB of storage. You can pay for just the VPN which is cheaper if you don't want the rest of Proton.
I created a script exactly for that, I'm using it for months now and it's working fine: https://github.com/giu176/ProtonVPN-auto-NATPMP
Yo!! Thanks for sharing. The qbittorrent-nox integration is just what I need!
Whatever you do, maybe sure you network bind the vpn interface
https://protonvpn.com/support/bittorrent-vpn/
On Linux you can use network namespaces for the same effect (and then a firewall) - this way it doesn't affect other applications running.
I do it with vopono.
I'm using selfhosted wireguard server. Speed about 250 mbps and this VPS costs me about 3$ per month. Super easy to deploy wireguard server using this script
What VPS service?
Yeah, same question. I thought most of them would be super strict about torrreting.
What VPS?
vds6.net
Prices look veeerrrryyy good for the higher end VPS. Hows the UI/UX for managing them? Have you had to deal with their support?
I've never talked to their support team. I suspect that this company just doesn't pay taxes or something like that. I noticed that they accept Russian payment methods (for some users, as stated on their website). I am using the cheapest server and the lscpu command shows the AMD EPYC Milan processor. As far as I can tell, it's a Zen 3 processor, which is pretty cool for the price.
I went the seed box route and I'll never go back. It's faster and I don't even need a stable connection. Start the download from my phone and it's waiting for me when I get home.
I'm using Private Internet Access. It's fast and pretty lightweight compared to the other choices. Snagged a 2 year plan on sale for like 50 bucks.
I was on PIA, but they were bought by Kape a few years ago. Kape, previously known as Crossrider. Crossrider, known primarily for developing adware and PUPs.
I also dropped them after the acquisition
thanks for this info, I was wondering why PIA isn't recommended anymore
In addition to getting acquired by a shady group, Mark Karpeles also works at PIA. I'm all for edemption arc, but that doesn't mean I'm ok with him in charge of some security product. I dropped them for mullvad.
I use PIA as well but I have never seen good upload speeds through them, which is a shame.
I use Mullvad through Tailscale. If you already use Tailscale it’s a no-brainer
No port forwarding though.
I really really wish I could use mullvad but I had to switch to air vpn for port forwarding and then later to proton to get higher speeds (Airvpn maxes at roughly 600Mbit/s while proton can handle 2Gbit/s+) and port forwarding.
Do you really need a VPN? What's your country / context?
Are you aware that if you use a good private tracker (one that keeps their torrents private and has a good reputation) and configure your client to require encryption for all connections you may not need a VPN?
I wasn't. I haven't torrented in almost a decade and even back then was fairly naive.
Would you mind lending me a hand understanding how to do that and remain safe?
Whenever you torrent from public torrent trackers it's easy for anyone to see what torrents your IP is currently downloading / seeding. There's even a website for that https://iknowwhatyoudownload.com/
ISPs and govts may track your torrent downloads on the same way that website does. It essentially boils down to indexing the torrents from those public trackers by listening to the DHT network / PEX exchanges. When you're on a decent private tracker (and there are some free) they will disable DHT/PEX for their torrents making it so nobody can't index and they won't show up on websites like the one above.
Setting your torrent client to require encryption to all connections it will create an extra protection layer because then the ISP / govt won't be able to peek into your bittorrent traffic, they'll only see an encrypted TLS connection like the ones made to any SSL capable website. You may also add a blacklist of known entities that go after pirates so your torrent client won't ever connect to those.
If you live outside the US/Canada/AUS you most likely don't even need those measures, let alone a VPN. That entire thing about sending letters to people saying they're downloading torrents is mostly a US thing because in other countries ISPs can't even legally do it.
I know people in Canada who have gotten letters from their ISP via torrenting.
I’ve been happy with AirVPN for the last year or so
Seconded.
The way they handle port forwarding is particulalry good, as compared with pia, that assigns a random port every time you bring up a connection, so you have to have a script to update your port in your client.
This will be an unpopular answer but I use Nordvpn mainly because during Black Friday sales you can get it essentially for free using a cash back portal. The start of the sale last year, which I missed, was offering over 100% cash back. They’d pay you to use it!
Others are better but if the level of protection you’re looking for is “Comcast stop sending me piracy warnings” this’ll work.
I'm also a Nord user since it's super simple and effective. Paid less than $100 CAD for 2 years which I think is decent. I'm open to alternatives for a noob though.
Count me in that group too. Nord just works for everything I want. Geoblocks, doubleVPN, etc. And it's super affordable. Yes, O hope they had a more user friendly way to use it on Linux, but I guess we can't have it all after all.
Something cheap with port forwarding. I personally use Proton VPN but that's because I use my VPN for more than just torrenting.
Google Fiber.
They don't give a fuck.
This is a thing that story rpeats :
"Until they do.".
I leave this here:
Tldr?
I have a lifetime subscription for Windscribe, so I've just been using that with no issues for years. I've recommended it to some other friends and they've been fine.
I also pay for Proton services, so I have ProtonVPN, but I've yet to try it for torrenting.
Proton VPN has been working pretty well for me. Includes port forwarding and a lot of servers.
I’m all in on proton. VPN, email, calendar, and cloud storage. Unlimited is $10/mo and while it’s a little deceptive as a name it’s still great. The simple login alias feature if fantastic.
No VPN, just qBittorrent and I2P = anoymous torrents
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
I2P?
An alternative to TOR that's better for P2P.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
If I turn off mixed mode in qbittorrent i2p settings, it should only use i2p, right?
That's what the description says.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
So then, with mixed mode disabled, I'll be fully anonymous?
If you use only I2P torrents, yes 👍
does it still require port forwarding for seeding ? (yeah, I know port forwarding isn't required for torrenting)
As in I2P itself or bittorrent? In order for I2P to access the network it needs to be able to access the internet. If you're behind a router, that does mean either enabling universal plug and play (UPnP) or manually opening a port for it that forwards traffic to the port on the I2P machine. UPnP is obviously the easiest (if you're behind a router).
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Astrill. It's not cheap, but it's excellent. And works in China and other countries with strong internet blocking capabilities.
I've been using airvpn for the last 4 or 5 years with no issue.
Mullvad or IVPN. Some VPNs like Perfect Privacy do leak your IP via DHT and other torrent features, even when full lockdown mode is on. You can search 'torrent leak test' to verify yours doesn't. I found out with a 2nd DMCA warning from my ISP.
Is a VPN even worth it for that use case? A seedbox won't cost that much more, esp. if you factor in electricity costs from keeping your machine running. And getting to 1.0 seed ratio is also much easier.
Do you have an off prem seed box then? Mine is in my home lab but still needs to be routed through a vpn
RealDebrid and/or Proton VPN
while I do not know anything about torrenting. "mullvad" is a highly recommended vpn providers with a strong emphasis on privacy.
Mullvad recently removed port forwarding from their service, which is sub-optimal for torrenting.
It feels better with no condom. Private trackers have no STI’s.
You could self-host wireguard on a cheap VPS using something like YUNOhost. You would be limited to the one IP address but you could also host other useful stuff on the same server like email, website, Nextcloud etc for no additional cost. On a slight tangent, you could also check out seedboxes or even TorBox.
Thats good but you need to blend with othet people.
I would go for IPVanish, Surfshark or Windscribe.. Mullvad it's a good option too, I would bypass NordVPN.
I believe Surfshark it's the cheapest of these options.
What's the issue with Nord? A buddy just recommended it to me, but I rarely see it mentioned, so I've had a hard time understanding why not to use it.
Their reputation took a hit after a server breach in 2018.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/21/20925065/nordvpn-server-breach-vpn-traffic-exposed-encryption
It doesn't sound like a particularly bad breach but they didn't disclose it very quickly, which never works in a company's favor. I use Nord VPN still. I tried Mullvad for a while and it was good, but I found Nord did a better job at getting around geoblocks, and was cheaper. I use Mullvad's browser with it though.
Private Internet Access. Been using it for probably 10 years at this point, never had a single issue. Their "no logging" claim has been tested successfully in court.
Just FYI, they got acquired a few years back and the new parent company is a bit shady.