Cost, ease of use, speed, other good features, etc.
I’ve been using airvpn for the last 4 or 5 years with no issue.
Something cheap with port forwarding. I personally use Proton VPN but that’s because I use my VPN for more than just torrenting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ProtonVPN/Mullvad. This is the post number 288471 talking about this. Can we put it somewhere un wiki?
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.
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
That’s what the description says.
So then, with mixed mode disabled, I’ll be fully anonymous?
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).
I2P?
An alternative to TOR that’s better for P2P.
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?
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.
Whatever else does one download with a torrent app? I mean, I hear there are illegal uses but YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR
Google Fiber.
They don’t give a fuck.
This is a thing that story rpeats :
“Until they do.”.
Whatever you do, maybe sure you network bind the vpn interface
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 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.
thanks for this info, I was wondering why PIA isn’t recommended anymore
I also dropped them after the acquisition
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.
Mullvad
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.
No
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.
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?
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.
/thread
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?
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.
