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Posted August 28, 2013 by TopDog in Articles
 
 

Do you need a VPN for Bittorrent?


These days, more and more Bittorrent users are using VPN’s as an indispensable accessory. Still, there are millions of Bittorrent users who have no idea What a VPN is or why they need a VPN for Bittorrent. In this article we will look at the risks of using Bittorrent and why a VPN is the perfect tool for Bittorrent users.

Article Contents:

Bittorrent Risks and Dangers a VPN can solve

Torrent users face numerous risks that they may not even be aware of. Many of these risks can be alleviated or even completely eliminated through the use of an Anonymous VPN. These risks include:

Bandwidth Throttling

You may not realize it, but your ISP (Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, etc…) is probably throttling your Bittorrent usage, making it much slower than it would be otherwise. Do you ever wonder why your uploads and downloads are significantly slower than your normal internet speeds? Do you have Trouble connecting to peers?

Most major ISP’s throttle or block common bittorrent ports. This means that they restrict the amount of bandwidth that your Bittorrent client can access, resulting in slower speeds and fewer connections.

A VPN can make it impossible for your ISP to throttle Bittorrent usage because your VPN creates an encrypted data tunnel that makes it impossible for your ISP to see what kind of internet traffic is being sent inside the VPN. As a result, they can’t throttle your Bittorrent traffic, meaning your speeds will be faster than ever.

Monitoring and Logging

There are literally hundreds of groups who may be monitoring and recording your internet and torrent usage without your knowledge. The most obvious is your ISP. Internet providers generally keep data on all connections you make and possibly even lists of websites you have visited. ISP’s retain this data for 6 months to 2 years.

If you use a VPN, even your ISP can’t read your internet traffic, so the only data they can record is the fact that you are connecting to a VPN server, and nothing else.

There are numerous other groups that record internet activity, and ESPECIALLY Bittorrent Use. You may not realize that your true IP address is on display to every peer in a bittorrent swarm. If you are uploading or downloading a file, everyone else connected to that file can read and record your IP address, which is a unique identifier for your internet connection.

There are organizations that jump from Bittorrent swarm to Torrent swarm and record the IP addresses of every peer, and keep them in massive databases. University researches found that your IP address may be logged within minutes of downloading a file from popular torrent trackers like The Pirate Bay or Kickass Torrents.

How a VPN can Help stop monitoring…

When using a VPN to secure your internet connection, the IP address that appears in the bittorrent swarm will be the IP assigned to you by your VPN server, not the true IP address of your internet connection. Moreover, if you use an anonymous VPN service, such as Private Internet Access or Torguard VPN, there are no connection logs showing any relationship between your VPN’s IP address and your own computers’.

Hacking Attempts

Nearly all hacking attempts begin with targeting a specific IP address. A disproportionate number of Hackers are frequent Bittorrent users compared to the average internet user. You have no control over the type of person you share a torrent swarm with, and some of them may be hackers with malicious intentions. Some of them may choose to target IP addresses gained from bittorrent swarms, and target your home machine with the intention of stealing files, or worse.

How a VPN can stop hackers

If you use a VPN, the IP  address visible in the bittorrent swarm will be that of your VPN provider, not your own computer. If a hacker decides to target that IP, they will be up against a security savvy corporation, not your own home network, and will likely soon think better of their hacking attack.

Other Advantages of a VPN for Bittorrent

Anonymity

We are not anonymous online. Everywhere we go and every site we visit, tiny records of our passage are kept and saved for long (sometimes very long) periods of time. Our browsers store cookies and servers log IP addresses, type of web browser, operating system used, location, and more. No one likes being tracked without their knowledge, least of all bittorrent users.

a VPN can provide anonymity cheaply and easily. By using a VPN, most of the relevant data that websites log about your connection is actually information about the VPN server you use, not your own internet connection. The result is increased anonymity and privacy online and in bittorrent swarms.

Encryption

Nearly all of us use wireless routers for our home internet connections, and especially when using public networks. On the plus side, wireless routers make it especially easy for multiple users to share the same network, and allows you to easily and cheaply provide internet access to a large area. The downside is that the informationwirelessly  transmitted between your computer and your router can be intercepted by anyone with the right equipment. This includes sensitive personal information like addresses, credit card numbers, and social security numbers.

Even on a password protected network, your data may still transmitted via unsecured methods. Even worse, on public unsecured networks, your data is certainly not encrypted, freely accessible to anyone sharing the same network.

A VPN can provide encrypted data transmission on any network. This means, that even if you are using public wifi networks, all data transmitted between your computer and the router (and internet as a whole) will be wrapped in an encrypted data tunnel that even super computers couldn’t break in real-time. Even your Internet Service Provider won’t be able to see what websites your visiting or programs you are using.

A VPN is the easiest way to keep your sensitive information safe in any network environment.

What are the Best VPN’s for Bittorrent Users?

Any VPN that allows torrents will do in a pinch, but not all VPN’s are created equal, and several have tailored their services specifically to the needs of bittorrent users.

In general, you should look for these features when picking a VPN for bittorrent:

  • The VPN allows Torrents (this may be restricted to Netherlands, Canada, or Luxembourg servers)
  • The VPN keeps no connection logs, or destroys their logs in 7 days or less
  • The VPN offers unlimited bandwidth and reasonably fast speeds

Here are  some of our favorite VPN’s for Bittorrent

Our Favorite Torrent VPN Services: