What are /r/Bittorrent's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

1. Read > /r/opentrackersdotorg/comments/1y7dq0/how_to_avoid_antipiracycopyright_trollsetc/
2. Enable the VPN kill switch
3. DNS leak protection
4. Check your IP > http://checkmytorrentip.com | https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
5. Disable IPv6 (or use a client that disables it automatically, like the PIA client)

You could try several trics :

1) Change your DNS and use a free one (OpenNIC, Freenom, ...). 2) NEVER use the default port of your BitTorrent client ! Use anyone between 49152 and 65534. 3) Set the use of encryption in your BitTorrent client.

If none works, you will HAVE to use a paid VPN but it have to support port forwarding especialy if you want to have a good ratio on private trackers! Private Internet Access is my favorite.

I would suggest changing to another torrent client. My recommendation goes to qBitTorrent, I've been using it for a while and have nothing but praise for it - it's simple but doesn't really lack any features that anyone could need, especially a new user.

If you don't like qBitTorrent for some reason, Vuze is also really good.

As for VPNs (Virtual private networks)- they're basically programs which protect your anonymity by serving as a proxy, allowing you to access the internet and download torrents using an IP address from another country, making in difficult to track you. This is a really simplified and not 100% correct explanation, but it's basically all you need to know as a completely new user.

I personally use AirVPN and in my opinion, it's great. It's really cheap, and I barely lose any speed while using it (at most 10-15%), it has a large selection of servers in different countries, and it's not based in the US which means that it's not likely to be compromised any time soon.

Hope this helps! :)

I'm using PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN and have been getting great download speeds even from servers on the other side of the continent.

As long as you enable "port forwarding in the advanced settings for PIA, then check the port number used by the server and make sure uTorrent, qBittorrent or what have you is using the same port number.

Very affordable service by the way 39.00 U.S. per year, they don't care if you torrent, keep no logs, use shared IPs and allow 4 or 5 devices connected from your home at the same time. Also have very good speeds.

Still lots to choose from. If you like movies with higher bitrates for video and surround sound you'll have to dig just a bit to find recent releases not from YIFI and his thousands of stereo channel uploads.

Hi blindcant,

Normally with a good vpn provider, you don't have to worry about to set a proxy.. but warning to dns leak.. some vpn provider don't offering this protection and your isp can see your traffic even if you are behind a vpn.

You can test if you have a dns leak on

Private Internet Access is a cheap internet provider that come with a dnsleak protection in their vpn software and if you are crazy on anonymity.. they offering also for free a sock5 proxy free with your subscription.

You can read a review of this company here.

My suggestion... Ignore the warning, but also invest in a decent VPN service. I use Private Internet Access, costs like 30 bucks a year and has good speeds, can be autoconfigured to connect on start-up, won't mess up your local networking, and they anonymize everything, so no worries about any more notices from Comcrap or the MPAA.

This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but your VPN client may have its own alternative option. Private Internet Access, for example, has a setting for stopping internet traffic when VPN disconnects. My guess is that you could enable this when you start up a torrent download and disable later.

As an aside, in light of the sketchy practices of uTorrent, maybe you should use another client. I just switched to qBittorrent and am quite glad I did.

Private Internet Access is your best choice by far.

Please note that that is an affiliate link (I make no money from it).

If you need any more advice, feel free to ask!

1. Bittorrent is a shitty client. Try Transmission

2. AT&T doesn't give two craps if downloaded a damn car, they're required to forward emails from the real people who catch you. NEVER EVER EVER EVER RESPOND TO AN INFRINGEMENT EMAIL.

3. If you want them to stop, you'll need to pay for a good VPN like Private Internet Access.

Dunno, you might need to ask FrootVPN. Most VPN providers provide an application that you simply install & run. It's not too difficult, as long as the VPN app is running you should be connecte to the VPN & not your own IP.

Normally there is no extra configuration involved in the torrent client for using a VPN.

re: socks5, that's not using a VPN, that's using a socks proxy. Yes that would involve some configuration in the torrent client but has nothing to do with VPN. (plus you'd need to ask FrootVPN if they even offer proxy services)

Yes, it will protect you, but BTGuard isn't very good. I've had much better luck with full VPNs on dedicated torrent boxes; BTGuard will just destroy your download speeds, which sucks. As other posters have said, a seedbox is a much better option if you're willing to pay for safety/convenience.

I was looking for something like this too and I appreciate you linking that LH article. I did everything it suggested (I think?) but I'm still seeing an ad after adding the first torrent. Are you still seeing the same problem?

(Also, that link seems to be a 404 for me, found the original via ddg.gg - http://lifehacker.com/disable-ads-in-utorrent-via-settings-826283231)

Also, there's another app called Deluge out there. http://deluge-torrent.org/ is where you can get it. I don't know if it'll support the features you need, but it's worth a look. Good luck to you!

https://cryptostorm.is is a pretty good one when it comes to privacy. The servers I've tested were also quite fast. Setting up was done in a couple of minutes.

Another site that lists a VPN comparison is https://privacytoolsio.github.io/privacytools.io/#vpn

Little Snitch can block items based on Wifi network.

I think Tripmode would also work - just add the work wifi as a blocked network and you can select what programs get through.

I have IPVanish as well but I have a windows system. I'm not knowledgeable about Mac devices but why would there be a limit on what clients the VPN software would encrypt. It should just be a tunnel to the VPN provider encapsulating everything before even transmitting regardless of the source program. Does it not?

NordVPN can solve your problems and at the moment it has a special promotion for $3.29 a month. Check out this article.

You should check out:

This guy has spent countless hours compiling info on just about every VPN available. There's numerous things to look at aside from cost. You want to know if they keep/collect logs, where there servers are located, methods of paying your VPN provider, etc. This guy has the answers.

For $10-$15/month, you can get some excellent, secure service. I pay about $60/year in BTC to Mullvad for several years now, and they've been outstanding in uptime and responsiveness to changes/threats in technology (eg: Heartbleed).

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check out TorrentFreaks's yearly VPN rundown. It's where I learned about Mullvad, but there's a slew of providers there who answer questions torrenters need to know.

Edit to add: VPN's are so competitve nowadays you'll have no trouble at all hooking up once you've picked one. The best providers will ask you for ZERO information about yourself, paying them should absolutely be anonymous, and all it takes to get started is downloading their client and clicking "connect." Some providers will even give you a week or two trial.

Try this guide: The site is down at the moment but this is what I'm using now that IPVanish sucks. This is free which is great and it doesn't slow your download speeds like proxy software does for some people.

Both those sites seem to be just shell reviews for purevpn. Here's a guy who shat on PureVPN, but I haven't checked the site to see whether it's a competitor or a legit reviewer.

Going to chime in if you don't mind. I just got PIA today and set it up with qBitTorrent with Socks5 Proxy. Been doing a lot of reading as im still new to this set up but any recommendations/tips?

Does it matter what location i pick to connect to for downloading torrents? What do you use?

I have qBitTorrent set to only connect when the VPN is switched on.

How long have you had the service and is there any advantage to paying for a different service such as ExpressVPN?

Thanks for the info.

I use Private Internet Access and have been very happy with it.
Haven't gotten an email from my ISP.
$6.99/month or like $40/year.

Just make sure you have the killswitches on in the settings.

Try Private Internet Access. The have very good features for their price point and torrenting isn't an issue for them, as they actually advertise on one torrent site I know of.

Most public proxies block bittorrent traffic. Even if you did find one that works, your speed will be slow to the point of being pointless. If you want to use bittorrent through a proxy, go for a paid service. (BTGuard, TorGuard, PIA)

Can you please help me as well? I'm a complete noob. I just purchased my very first VPN. I got AirVPN. I just clicked on the recommended server they suggested for me to be connected to, but I'm not sure how to turn on the kill switch or DNS leak protection. Can you please help me with that? Also, once I do that I'm all set? I can torrent away? I don't have to worry at all about being caught? I can have piece of mind?

Ok I'll do it that way, unless you think it's possible to run SAB outside the vpn-ed VM. Reason being I'd like my Usenet downloads to get full speed because I tested the VPN vs non-VPN speeds with a few of AirVPN's servers and the difference in speed was 40mbps vs 150mpbs!!! Based on what you said, I think it is possible to run SAB with the minor difference, and as far as security, I heard VPN is not necessary for Usenet like it is for bittorrent (for my news Server, Astraweb, I just use their SSL server). Thoughts?

Noted on the remote backup, that'll take forever. I should be fine even though I'm serving the media in Raid 0, I'm using very reliable drives plus I've got the Drobo backing up everything. Btw do you notice a big difference by using SSDs as the download drive in terms of the unpacking speed on large single downloads like 10-15GB in size? My Mac Mini chokes on it currently, especially if I'm asking it to do a few other things at the same time.

Thanks again!

lol... you can't prevent to be caught except with a good vpn.. I recommend you Private Internet Access and download speed is quite good. Price is 3.33$/month what is not very expensive to download safely...

If IPVanish doesn't have a feature that stops your connection if the VPN drops you should google a way so you don't accidentally continue torrenting once your connection has dropped.

Disable IPv6

Enable DNS leak protection if it has it

I would recommend some good VPNs that you can use for torrent

• IPVanish
• PureVPN
• HMA
• ExpressVPN
• ibVPN

You can go with PIA or any one from this list.

At the router level I have my ISP DNS listed manually, as it is geographically located in the same state as me. At the OS level I have it as automatically obtain, my theory was that when I wasn't using the VPN I could still use my ISP and when I was using the VPN it would change to theirs. This is seemingly working for PIA but not for Torguard. I have changed at the router and OS level (one at a time, not both) to either OpenDNS or Google DNS and of course their DNS servers are shown during the test. I guess I am just curious as to why Torguard, a VPN that says DNS leak fix is on automatically, isn't actually working?

EDIT: The DNS address of my ISP being returned is not one I have set manually, but it is from my ISP and it is in a close by state. It looks very suspicious when I am connected to say Europe and a DNS from my country on the other side of the world is coming up ;)

I think PureVPN is a good choice for you because if you buy its yearly plan, it cost you $4.16/month. It did not keep logs and have good speed because i use it personally. While there are various other Canadian VPNs which you can use. Here is the list of best canada vpn. You can choose anyone of to my knowledge all of them fulfill the requirements which you mention in this thread.

> He is confused right? Proxy is one thing, and the VPN is another. So I basically just need to turn on my vpn or login or whatever and then business as usual?

Yes, you are correct. Normally you just need the VPN app to be up & running. There's no extra configuration for proxy & whatnot, that's something completely different from VPN (& less secure, IMO). I don't know about FrootVPN, but most VPN provider's apps do also have an option for a kill switch, definitely enable that if you see the option. (it kills the internet if the VPN app goes 's what you want so you don't accidentally run torrents if the VPN goes down).

You're still going to need to pay for this. Most VPN providers bundle a SOCKS5 proxy along with their VPN so that is an option.

Private Internet Access is your best choice in provider imo.

Please keep in mind that proxies are considered much more flaky than a VPN but will keep the routed traffic hidden from your ISP.

I'd personally recommend running a virtual machine with the VPN on it and just torrent on that. Sure it's a pain but if you have the horsepower for it, it gets the job done.

As usual to get around the problem use a VPN, proxy, Opera Turbo mode or there's even free proxy services complete with browser extensions like friGate or Zenmate to name a couple, Free VPN / proxy services are however usually slow and can't be trusted as being secure, if you are actually seeding / leeching from public trackers I would use a seedbox (only some allow public trackers) or a good paid VPN service that doesn't keep records.

I prefer not to use public trackers at all however, although even private trackers could be blocked soon as 2 have already been blocked in the UK recently. The vast majority are still unblocked however.

I recently got my WorldVPN service going and did the usual visit to see if I have a DNS leak and on their page it says in the last bullet point on the page "If you are connected to a VPN service and ANY of the servers listed above are not provided by the VPN service then you have a DNS leak"

Obviously Google's servers aren't owned by WorldVPN, so do I have a possible DNS leak?

Also I am very new to VPN's, are there any other steps I can do with my service that you experienced users would suggest to make sure I am secure?

I also noticed that when logged onto the VPN, certain server locations don't let me visit sites that require a login like Facebook, etc. For example, I have to disconnect from the VPN to view this r/bittorrent subreddit or submit or reply to a post, but the other areas of Reddit load fine.

Is this normal as well, and I just have to remember which server location will let me log into the sites I want to visit? Or is there something in my VPN settings that will let me fix this? (Without compromising security of course, I can just visit at a different time if it means sacrificing security)

Thank you

I apologize, I may not have worded it correctly. They offer it as a payment option, but don't allow you do use the digital $$ balance in your account as a payment method, but rather require you to pay with an eCheck. Which comes from either your bank account or credit card that is linked to PayPal. I only use the digital balance with my account for buying and selling stuff and don't use the bank account or CC as I had my CC account compromised before.

So for anyone wanting to pay via PayPal balance for PIA rather than an eCheck, they just don't allow it. I checked with a couple different CS reps on the site to see if it could be over-ridden or if they could send me an invoice, but they say it's the only method they accept. Kinda unfortunate since one of the aspects of VPN purchase written right on their site is anonymity and it's not very anonymous to pay for a VPN service with a credit card or bank account in your legal name. lol

As for bitcoin, I just don't have an account with them. For the gift card option, it looks like with that method they place a lower dollar value on the gift card credit, so the same amount of service ends up costing you more via gift card than it would with USD. (IE: $40 a year if paid via PayPal or another USD method, or $50 for one year and one day if you pay with gift card credit)

I went with EarthVPN instead as their PayPal payment options are just like any other site that accepts PayPal. (eBay, etc.)

BTGuard is decent, but why not go full VPN or get a seedbox? Most do both for the same price as BTguard and the files are stored remotely so you can access your files from different locations. On top of that you free up your local bandwidth. Most of the good webclientUI torrent software can even be set up to email you when a transfer is complete.

yes. as far as i know, the only way people actually get letters is when the company that owns the rights to what you are downloading is seeding the torrent. if you are using piratebay or other public torrent sites like those you should definitely have a proxy. if you are using a private site, i wouldnt really worry too much about using a proxy. using a proxy will GREATLY reduce your download speeds.

Here is a review for BTGuard.

I have used Hidemyass VPN service, its one of the top rated ones and I have issues with downloading. My max download without VPN is 5MB/sec using Hidemyass I get about 1MB/sec and usually get disconeceted often while downloading.