More and more Torrent users are relying on VPN services to help secure their online privacy. As TorrentFreak recently noted the number of Google searches for terms like “BitTorrent VPN” and “BitTorrent proxy” have spiked recently. Torrent users have started looking at ways to help achieve online anonymity. Researching VPN access seems to be a logical choice. Focusing on a few key areas can help you find the best option.
There is a new level of demand for online privacy companies that support P2P / Torrent downloads. While there are literally hundreds of VPN services available, the number that openly support and/or cater to BitTorrent users is much smaller. You can look at some companies like TorGuard, BTGuard and TorrentPrivacy and know their focus based solely on the provider’s name. While often times you have to dig a little deeper.
What makes a VPN service a good match for Torrent downloads? We can think of a few important areas to focus on including speed, reliability and privacy. Let’s take a look at each of these in a little more detail.
- Speed – if you plan to transfer large amounts of data then performance is very important. Not all VPN’s are fast enough to support such usage. We suggest you take a look at independent speed tests along with testing for yourself. Several providers offer free trials or money back guarantees to allow for testing.
- Reliability – the last thing you want to do is drop your VPN connection along the way. At least if a connection drops you need to ensure that your BT client also disconnects automatically. There are a few VPN clients that have built-in features to help with this functionality. Two of which include Hide My Ass and CactusVPN.
- Privacy – it goes without saying that VPN users are looking to increase their online privacy and anonymity. The use of encryption helps that along but what about the company itself? How much information do they gather on you as a customer? What do they keep in terms of logs. Pay close attention to their policies.
There are a number of other important factors to consider when researching VPN. We could go on and on about the technical side. If you want even more privacy there are a few VPN clients like HMA Pro that will let you rotate IP’s on a regular basis. Also take a look at what protocols each provider suppots along with server locations. If you need to protect more than one system you might also consider using a DD-WRT router.
