Although file-sharing technology is completely legal itself, torrents are often equated with product piracy and copyright abuse. The fact is that the question of legal limits over the internet is not always easy to answer. Much of what happens in the file-sharing sector falls in the gray area. Since, in many countries, downloading torrents is banned or restricted, VPN for torrenting is the only option users are left with. This article will discuss all the options in detail.
Why do we need a VPN if we use torrent?
Basically, it can be said that the term torrent is commonly associated with the download of movies, the best music, series, and software. Because this type of content is copyrighted, torrent downloading of such files is prohibited in most of the countries. However, using a suitable VPN will hide and encrypt your IP address and all your online activity so that local authorities cannot get you to the bottom.
Is it legal to use a VPN to download torrent content?
The VPN is a tool that is illegal in most of the countries. Like many other tools, it can be used for illegal activities too. Of course, we do not want to encourage anyone to download copyright content through the torrent network. But if you do, then at least keep your anonymity with a VPN.
Is our download speed influenced by using a VPN?
It depends entirely on the VPN used and how the provider ensures good download speed. Ideally, you should choose a VPN that provides specially designed servers for the torrent and P2P requirements (such as FastestVPN) or offers the option of a static IP address (such as PrivateVPN). This ensures that the servers do not break under the traffic load and the download speed is consistently high.
What Features Make the best VPN for Torrenting?
If you want to get the best VPN for torrenting, ensure that your selected VPN has a clear no-logs policy. With a no-logs policy, your VPN will not record any of your data. It means that your VPN provider has no rights to share your identifiable information with anyone. Moreover, connection speed and data leak protection are also considerable features of the best torrenting VPN.
Can I use a Free VPN for Torrenting?
Free VPNs are not a good torrenting solution. The main reason to avoid free torrenting VPNs is that these VPNs always impose data limits that ultimately restrict your download speed. Hence, only a paid VPN for torrenting is the best way to torrent safely with high connection speeds.
Can I Torrent faster with a VPN?
Using a VPN will certainly impact your torrenting speed to some extent. When torrenting without a VPN, your ISP watches your P2P sharing activities and purposely slows down your connection to save bandwidth. However, your ISP fails to monitor your torrenting or streaming activities and cannot throttle your connection with a VPN. Consequently, your VPN protects your connection and helps you against speed throttling that ultimately gets you a faster torrenting experience.
What can happen if we do not use a VPN during torrent downloads?
The good thing about a VPN, available at the cost of a few dollars a month (FastestVPN being most economical out of all we have seen so far), is that you can surf the Internet anonymously and securely. The penalties for downloading copyrighted content range from internet blocking to fines and jail sentences (in severe cases).
Why risk such punishment if you can browse the Internet anonymously with available VPN and download files over the torrent network?
Get VPN NowHow to select the best VPN for torrenting?
Not all VPNs offer the same scope of services. They all have their strengths but also they contain the areas where there is still some catching up to do. Our goal is to find out which VPNs are best for torrent and P2P fans like for ones finding the best Rutracker Alternatives. To do that, we have to compare different key figures and specifications.
We pay special attention to the following factors:
- Can the VPN ensure your anonymity?
- Download speed
- Does the VPN have dedicated servers for torrent use?
- Security protocols
What Are the Best Torrenting and P2P Traffic Locations?
Many countries are not in favor of P2P sharing. It happens due to content copyright restrictions. Therefore, it’s better not to connect VPN server locations that don’t support torrenting sites. Some of these locations are China, the US, Australia, Portugal, Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, and Italy.
You should always select a VPN server location that is torrent-friendly. These locations are Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, and Poland.
However, if a VPN is trusted and has no logs, robust encryption, and IP leak protection, then you can torrent safely from any of its suggested locations.
The best VPNs for torrenting
If you want to be on the safe side and anonymous while downloading through a torrent site, you should not avoid using a VPN server. It is highly necessary for you to save yourself from any unfavorable situation while downloading your favorite contents through torrents. We tried and tested multiple VPN for torrenting and got the best VPNs for torrenting. Here is a list of them mentioning all the pros and cons.
FastestVPN
FastestVPN providing the best type of security and the feature of the kill switch to its users, FastestVPN tops our list of the best VPN for torrenting. With more than 200 servers worldwide, FastestVPN ensures fast torrent downloading speed for its users. With the benefit of its origin in the Caymans Islands, this VPN is fully secure and better than other VPNs which are obligated to share their users’ data with the authorities under certain circumstances. one of the best VPN for torrenting.
FastestVPN has been becoming the most favorite VPN for its users. The form of anonymity that it offers is beyond the limits. Moreover, the worldwide coverage of its servers allows a user to connect to a server in his own region and enjoy the fastest speed of the internet. Its kill switch protects users from compromising their data if the VPN server breaks. What’s more, it even works for platforms like Acestream that operate using the P2P protocol.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is certainly one of the fastest VPNs in the market. It is perfect for unlocking censored or blocked content. Therefore, the provider is definitely our first choice when it comes to VPN for torrenting. Of course, speed is not the only factor – the security offered also contributes to this perfect VPN. For example, the question arises as to whether the provider can comprehensively encrypt the data even at high speeds? And whether he takes the privacy of users seriously? In addition, support is an important issue: can you really rely on customer service?
As far as we can tell, ExpressVPN is one of the most trusted providers and protects the privacy of users comprehensively. Although many providers claim not to store log data, one should look carefully whether their statements are correct or wrong. It is impossible for the hackers to hack the servers of ExpressVPN. This is the only VPN optimized for the tor network. Meaning, you benefit from the extremely high privacy protection of it. We believe that ExpressVPN is the best VPN for torrenting available on the internet.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost is a very trusted high-speed VPN where the encryption is done considering the military standards. There are over 3,500 servers available in 60 different countries, including servers optimized for torrents and most of the online video streaming sites.
CyberGhost is characterized by its intuitive apps and easy installation. It’s obvious that the company has a strong focus on functionality and usability. The installation works with a single click. Once you have decided on the VPN and subscribed to the service, you will be guided through a very simple installation process and you will receive the benefit almost immediately of protecting your privacy. The installation is quite easy.
Also, the selection of a server is very simple. This application allows you to automatically connect to the most appropriate server for quick protection. Alternatively, you can manually select a server – for example, when you try to unlock certain content that is geographically blocked. This option will help you in unblocking the contents which are available for a certain country. For example, there are certain websites which are only available to the population of the United States.
CyberGhost is the perfect service for new VPN users and torrent downloaders. The app is customizable: you can choose the VPN protocol you want to use, configure the ports, and create a whitelist with web pages you would like to access with your local IP address. This application is full of features and options for its users.
NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the most widely used names on the market when it comes to VPNs, and is often named as one of the best VPN for torrenting. However, we know that good marketing does not always mean good service. That’s why we decided to test NordVPN extensively to see if the developer keeps what he promises.
This provider, which has its headquarters in Panama, covers everything that is required for a VPN for torrenting. NordVPN has a very large selection of more than 5,400 servers in 61 countries – including special categories for streaming, torrents, and security.
NordVPN offers complete privacy protection with a combination of strong 256-bit encryption and extremely secure VPN protocols (OpenVPN and IKEv2 / IPSec). The main features are that it has 30 days money-back guarantee, it provides support 24/7, and the double data encryption is present.
NordVPN is a reliable service with many benefits. It focuses on the privacy and security of the users. NordVPN will please you with the high-speed of the internet. Besides, it is straightforward in usage on any platforms.
IPVanish
IPVanish is this amazingly popular VPN service provider developed by Golden Frog, a Swiss-based tech company. It has fought hard for its position as a trusted Internet privacy provider. Owing to its success to their reliability, security, and quality of service based on the millions of customer requests they get daily. At IPVanish they believe that they are one of the best VPNs for torrenting regardless of what country you are situated. All they ask is that you subscribe to IPVanish and download any torrent of your choice without worrying about your privacy or irritating pop-up ads. IPVanish comes highly recommended if you are living in a country with geo-restrictions and fines on torrenting.
Nevertheless, the easiest way to bypass the geographic blockage of these popular streaming services is to download or subscribe to any VPN service of your choice, preferably IPVanish! This renowned service provider has worked extensively on its streaming compatibility features, thus allowing access to streaming sites across different parts of the world.
The developers of IPVanish encrypt packet metadata, ensuring that it does not become detectable through Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). All this technical talk may sound complicated but simple put it contributes a significant part to bypassing blockages geographically and to avoid any form of blockages by streaming sites — overall allowing you to watch your favorite movie or TV show in peace.
Dangers in File Sharing and Torrenting
If you are sharing files through peer-to-peer networks, you should protect your privacy. Of course, this is important if you are illegally downloading copyrighted files through torrents.
The risk of getting caught is especially high in torrent applications and websites like BitTorrent, Vuze or eMule. The reason for this is that you have to upload parts of these files yourself. This allows all participants in the network to see your IP address.
Proxy or VPN server?
There are enough reasons for you to take measures to anonymize yourself on the internet. So you have to make sure that your IP address is no longer visible to the third party over the internet. You can achieve this in different ways. You can connect to a proxy server. A proxy server forwards your search queries with its own IP address. The traffic itself remains unencrypted. For that reason alone, we advise against the use of proxy servers if you use P2P applications.
In addition to obscuring the IP address, VPN servers usually offer you numerous other security-related advantages. In addition to traffic encryption, these include useful features such as kill switches, stealth technologies, and cascading your connection across multiple VPN servers.
That’s why VPN servers are much better at protecting your privacy.
Conclusion
We believe that complete privacy over the internet is mandatory if you are downloading or sharing files through torrent. Since the copyright issues are always a problem for torrent lovers, using VPN for torrenting is the only way to save yourself from any unfavorable situation. For this, we recommend you our test winner FastestVPN. We recommend you FastestVPN even if you prefer a cheaper solution. However, if you want to gain an advantage of all the features that a VPN can offer, we would advise you to go with Express VPN, which will be costing more. We highly advise you to always use VPN services while downloading or sharing files through torrent sites.