Downloading torrents safely reddit

However, these groups come with certain rules you have to follow to keep your place. In addition to downloading great quality files, you also need to upload seed torrents to keep the ratio. Unfortunately, torrenting communities work on an invitation-only basis. As each private group has a limited amount of spaces available, it can be difficult to find a free spot. Download ExpressVPN and keep your data safe. It only takes 3 simple steps for you to set up a VPN and start torrenting safely.

Encrypt your traffic with ExpressVPN. I tested over 20 different locations and no matter what server I connected to, my download speeds remained at around 30Mbps — only 0. With such high speeds, I could not only torrent files from the public domain but also stream legal content at the same time.

I could even torrent a copyright-free movie in less than 10 minutes while downloading a music album in the public domain at the same time which only took 1 minute! ExpressVPN has very strict privacy policies aimed at providing fully anonymous access to the internet.

Its TrustedServer technology deletes all of your data from the system every time you turn it off. So if you are travelling there and want to torrent freely, this is the right choice for you. Although these features come with a higher price tag than other VPNs, they are worth it for unlimited and uninterrupted torrenting.

You can try ExpressVPN for yourself before committing to a contract with its day money-back guarantee. Stay safe online with ExpressVPN.

With a vast network of servers optimized just for torrenting, CyberGhost is a great choice for safe and easy P2P file sharing. Optimized servers ensure the fastest download speeds and seamless file sharing. During my tests , I could successfully download a 40GB file in just under 3 hours — an average of an hour less than when I was connected to other VPNs.

Since servers closer to me had higher load more people utilizing it , connecting to them slowed down my speeds. CyberGhost allows you to download files while staying protected for free for 45 days!

PrivateVPN has no bandwidth restrictions, so you can download torrents at unlimited speeds. For my tests, I downloaded multiple files simultaneously and while doing so could still browse the internet without a problem.

When testing these servers , I was pleasantly surprised to see consistently good results, even when I was connected to servers on different continents. Unfortunately, with few servers to choose from, I encountered some connection issues at certain times of day.

The fastest local servers got overcrowded quickly, forcing me to choose one of the slower options — this doubled my file download time. Although I was able to torrent safely, I was annoyed that even small files took over an hour to download. PrivateVPN offers a day money-back guarantee , so you can test its servers for yourself before you purchase a plan. Subscribe to PrivateVPN today. As each of its servers come with multiple IP addresses available, each connected device is given a unique IP address.

This keeps your identity safe and ensures that regardless of how many devices are connected, connection speeds remain the same. While testing the service , my kill switch worked seamlessly every time I disconnected or changed a server connection. As the kill switch is automatically disabled, enable it before you start torrenting to protect your personal information if the connection drops.

This was really frustrating for me as random pop-ups appeared on most torrenting sites I used. You can use IPVanish for free with its day money-back guarantee. Download files with IPVanish today. Luckily, there are many torrenting sites that allow users to share only legal files like open-source software or old movies. Keep in mind that in some countries, like China and Australia, torrenting is completely illegal.

However, less severe measures like sending out warning letters and emails or slowing down your internet connection are usually taken. If legal action is taken against you, you might have to pay a fine to both your ISP and the owner of the copyrighted material.

As torrenting sites always store IP addresses of everyone who downloads and uploads certain files, the authorities simply check who accessed the illegal material. Copyright trolls are individuals or companies whose sole purpose is to locate torrent pirates. Once they locate a person sharing unlawful files, they send a settlement letter with a large fine. Peer-to-Peer P2P file-sharing creates a virtual network that allows connected computers to exchange files between each other.

When you request a file using the P2P system, all the computers communicate in order to upload it to your device.

This means that parts of that file are taken from each computer and put into your torrent client. This constant exchange of data is quicker and easier than downloading files from a single server. Various torrenting sites, like uTorrent , allow you to bind your device to a specific IP address. This practice is called IP binding.

You can use this tactic to bind your device to your favorite VPN server. This way, your data will still be safe if you forget to connect your device.

There are hundreds of free VPNs to choose from, but only a few free providers will let you download torrents. Reputable free providers compromise on their features to offer services for free. When people torrent, they usually pick one of these sites:. However, while torrenting itself is not illegal, downloading copyrighted content is considered piracy, and it can land you in trouble. If you are, make sure to use a VPN to protect yourself online.

Kickass torrents got taken down a few years ago. We verified recently that the 12 torrent sites in this article are still online and will continue to do so on a regular basis and update this list. Regardless of which torrent sites you prefer, your internet service provider might restrict access to some of your favorite torrent sites, or might track your torrenting behavior.

A VPN is your best friend to counter these issues. A VPN will allow you to unblock every torrent site, and also keeps you safe and anonymous when torrenting , by encrypting your data traffic and hiding your IP address and identity. One of our personal favorites is NordVPN. These are the best torrent sites still on the market, and you can access any one of them to find your favorite files.

Download speed is the average speed for downloading torrents from a certain site, through a client. While that information is reliable only as a ballpark reference, keep in mind that this will vary a lot based on the torrent itself, and your internet connection.

Library size will be included for websites whenever possible. Torrent type and variety are also important when choosing which torrent sites to use. Ad Intrusion is also important when deciding what torrent site to use. If you have to go through 8 ads just to browse for a file, it might be time to find a new torrent site. In our research, there were about popular torrent sites that we decided not to include due to the ad intrusion level. Security is very important when downloading torrents.

After all, there are plenty of shady torrenting platforms on the internet which could compromise your online security. Website: Visit a working Pirate Bay Mirror. Attention: The Pirate Bay is blocked in many countries even mirror sites , so you might need a VPN to change your virtual location and unblock the Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay has been a crowd favorite for many years. However, considering the number of mirrors and blocking attempts, that number may be skewed , and million visits a month is perhaps a bit more accurate.

The Pirate Bay is popular for its large community, which ensures at least one seeder on almost any torrent on the site, no matter the age. We tried downloading obscure titles from even over a decade ago, and we found that there were still happy seeders to help out. You can also look at our list of Pirate Bay alternatives for more options. RARBG is a large directory of torrents, famous for a very active community of seeders and high-quality torrents. Its library size is decent, and it gets updated often, meaning that you have a high chance of finding new torrents on the site.

The only difference is that ad intrusion is more annoying on RARBG, so take that into account when choosing one of the two. There are a lot of phishing scams going around with RARBG-looking sites, so make sure you learn about secure browsing.

Website: X website. Some people use it to browse for game torrents as well, but from our research, it does look like both RARBG and The Pirate Bay have more torrents in that category, especially for older titles. A few years ago, X was a bad choice for any torrenting, since it was clunky to navigate and it posed a lot of security risks.

Since then, it went through an entire site revamp , making it seamless to browse and safer. For shows and movies, you also have improved browsing functionalities, like searching by award nomination. Mirrors: x. Website: Torrentz2 website.

While this is not that big of a torrent site — only amassing million users a month, and unable to sport much of a library for general torrents — Torrentz2 is very good for finding music. Not to mention — any type of browsing options, like searching by album, artist or song would be greatly appreciated. Second, ad intrusion is minimal and the interface is beautiful. Lastly, classics are readily available on the platform. If you want high-definition episodes of your favourite shows, EZTV is the place to go.

We searched for older titles like Two and a Half Men, and it had a decent library of options. PeerBlock is a program that blocks the IP addresses of known torrent trackers.

It prevents your computer from being able to connect to these IP addresses, essentially blocking them from taking part in your torrent traffic. This isn't a surefire way to avoid getting caught, and your ISP will still be able to tell that you're transferring torrents. You can download PeerBlock for free from peerblock.

Follow the prompts to install PeerBlock and launch it. It will automatically work in the background and prevent connections to known bad IP addresses.

Use the "P2P" list from Bluetack for basic torrent protection when prompted during initial setup. Consider a VPN service. This will set you back a few dollars a month, but will hide your traffic from any prying eyes.

Your ISP will not be able to tell that you're transferring torrent data, and will not throttle your connection. Organizations that track IP addresses will not be able to see your real IP, and will not be able to send you cease and desist letters. Obviously, they aren't free, so you'll need to balance the cost versus the benefits. Your speed will decrease, as traffic will be sent to the VPN server first and then to you.

Since you'll likely be connecting to a VPN in another country, you could see significant decreases in speed. Finally, VPN services may still keep records that they can give to enforcement agencies, but you can find services that don't keep logs.

Pick and sign up for a VPN service. There are a variety of different VPN services out there, all with different pricing structures and privacy policies. Make sure to read the fine print of the VPNs that you're interested. You'll want to look out for VPN services that keep detailed logs. Also, not all VPN services allow torrent traffic. Some of the more popular VPN services are listed below, but there are countless more that can be found with a quick Google search.

Avoid free VPNs and proxies, as they may be unsafe. Find your VPN connection information. When you sign up for a VPN service, you'll be given information you need in order to connect.

This includes the VPN server address, as well as your username and password. You may need to log into the VPN website in order to find this information.

Open your torrent client. Once you've signed up for a VPN service, you'll need to configure your torrent client to connect to it. Open the Options or Preferences menu. You'll usually find this in the Tools or Options menu at the top of the torrent client. Click the "Connection" tab. This will allow you to adjust your connection settings, including adding your VPN connection information.

Double-check your VPN connection information if you aren't sure. Enter in the VPN address and port. You'll find this connection information when you log into your VPN's website.

Many VPNs offer different servers that you can connect to, which can increase your connection speed. Make sure "Use proxy for peer connections" is checked. Start downloading torrents. Once your VPN service is configured, you'll be able to start downloading torrents more anonymously. I'm downloading a. Is this legal or safe? I don't know the number of seeders or peers. Blake Foster. Most torrenting clients should show you the number of seeders that are in that torrent. Before you download the torrent, check the files that you are downloading.

If any of them have a. But that is up to you to decide. Yes No. Not Helpful 5 Helpful Can you recommend any other clients if my antivirus software removes Utorrent as malware? I've never had that problem, but I've never used anything other than version 2.

A tracker site I use has blacklisted anything newer than 3. If you have anything released after that, you might want to switch. Google "older versions of uTorrent" and you should be able to pull something up. If you still have that problem, you'll probably have it for all torrent clients.