Cost, ease of use, speed, other good features, etc.
No VPN, just qBittorrent and I2P = anoymous torrents
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).
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?
I2P?
An alternative to TOR that’s better for P2P.
Express VPN
I use Windscribe because it’s $1/mo and I don’t care. I don’t use their software, I use the vanilla Wireguard client, and have my qBittorrent connect through that interface only.
i use the free tier for now, i will get the plus version soon but 15 gb/month is enoth for me
Mullvad or Proton
Note that Mullvad no longer allows port forwarding, which can make it harder to torrent effectively
Then, Proton it is
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.
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 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 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’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 use PIA as well but I have never seen good upload speeds through them, which is a shame.
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.
well shit, guess the recommendation I saw was outdated. that sucks
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’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?
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.
What VPS service?
Yeah, same question. I thought most of them would be super strict about torrreting.
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
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’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.
+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 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.
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.
Google Fiber.
They don’t give a fuck.
This is a thing that story rpeats :
“Until they do!”.
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 Proton. IVPN is also good.
Another user already said this, but just in case, Mullvad got rid of their port forwarding.
Can still seed with upnp forwarding
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?
Universal plug and play You can enable it in Qbittorrent’s settings
Something you shouldn’t use. UPnP means programs can open ports automatically without your input which is a big security risk.
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.
I forget about port forwarding because I never get to seed because of my abysmal upload speed.
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.
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.
Mullvad got rid of their port forwarding.
So did IVPN. Use Proton VPN now.
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.
Astrill. It’s not cheap, but it’s excellent. And works in China and other countries with strong internet blocking capabilities.
