VPN Guide for n00bs

[xtonart]

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[notorious911]

thanks alot for the info

[mustafabakar]

great tutorial, great thanks

[gorilla09]

really appreciate all of the comments regarding my curiosities about VPN's...

[mjp47]

good one th you

[DiRTDOG187]

Awesome information thanks for the tutorial!

[KLQx]

A tip for VPN users: If after you start using a VPN, your emails don't send (SMTP server not working), contact your VPN and have them whitelist your mail server. Took me a little too long to figure that out

[zwarlockz]

This is a good basic tutorial, however at this point it is a bit outdated. Here are a few pointers to consider:

1) VPN's are a great place to start. I recommend a good non-logging VPN like Private Internet Access or Proxy.sh. These two vpn's also have built in VPN kill-switch technology, which will kill your internet connection if the VPN disconnects (user option) You can find a good comparison of these two VPN's here.

2) For many users, an anonymous Proxy service may be a better choice than a VPN because:

a) A proxy will offer faster speeds compared to a VPN running on the same server because of more lightweight (but still safe) encryption

b) A proxy service lets you route your torrent traffic separately from your regular internet traffic. Only the torrent client software runs through the proxy (if you choose), so your IP will show up as normal for regular sites you visit

c) with a proxy service you don't have to worry about disconnects. Because uTorrent, vuze, etc is running through your proxy service, this is the only way it is capable of connecting to the internet. If the proxy server drops the connection, the BitTorrent client software will instantly disconnect as well. It is not capable of connecting through your normal ISP connection without the proxy.

If using a VPN, however, uTorrent would just reconnect through your normal connection if the VPN drops, thus exposing your true IP to the swarm.

3) There are ways to deal with dropped VPN connections as mentioned in the tutorial. Several VPN's offer kill-switch technology. You can also use the VPN netmon software to autoclose specified software if it detects a change in your ip address. That software is a bit outdated, however, and I would recommend VPN Watcher instead.

4) peer block lists are worthless. They create a false sense of security. Don't even bother.

Other Resources:

• Anonymous Bittorrent in 3 Steps (The bittorrent VPN Guide)
• How to Torrent Anonymously (VPN Top Ten)
• VPN Providers that take privacy seriously (TorrentFreak)

[chakara]

I just was forwarded a DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement by my VPN provider, GoldenFrog (aka VyprVPN).

No need to say that I'm leaving them right now.

PIA seems like a good option.

[snake_man83]

Nice guide. Cheers.