Will a vpn protect me from downloading torrents

I could download a MB torrent in just 45 seconds and a 5GB file in just 8 minutes. These high speeds also mean ExpressVPN is a great choice for streaming on Netflix US , playing online games, and browsing online without lag or interruptions.

ExpressVPN maintained reliably fast speeds even when I connected to distant servers. These fast speeds are due in part to its proprietary Lightway protocol, designed to provide high-level security without slowing your connection. I configured ExpressVPN with my torrent client, so I could download torrents anonymously and browse the web locally at the same time.

Not only is it good for multitasking, but encrypting part of your connection may give you a speed boost, too. Best of all, I had the money back in just 5 days. This is a limited offer so be sure to grab it now before it's gone.

See more information on this offer here. If you decide to cancel your subscription, you can easily get a full refund. With its optimized torrenting servers, CyberGhost guarantees a secure, reliable connection every time you want to download. I was a bit disappointed that the ad-blocker only removed ads suspected of containing malware, and left legitimate ones on my screen.

That said, I loved having the extra protection against malicious files while torrenting. Better yet, CyberGhost is based in privacy-friendly Romania, which has no electronic surveillance laws. CyberGhost also has an App Rules feature, which I found useful for torrenting anonymously.

This way, I could download files worry-free, without having to start the VPN and finding the right server manually. However, if your internet is slower, your torrenting time could increase significantly if you use a faraway server. I tested the money-back process, and it was easy, taking less than 5 minutes through live chat. I had my money back in less than a week. Torrent anonymously with CyberGhost. This is a limited offer so grab it now before it's gone. Hotspot Shield gives free users 15GB of data per month for torrenting and other online activities.

I was pleased to find Hotspot Shield provides the same high-level security for free users as it does for premium customers. This single server is linked to an IP address in the US, so bear this in mind when torrenting. This speed drop happened because Hotspot Shield throttles speeds for free users to encourage them to switch to the high-speed paid plan. When I checked the privacy policy, I was also concerned to find that Hotspot Shield logs a substantial amount of user data. The logs include your general geographic location, device information, non-identifiable data from the domains you visit, and VPN timestamps.

Fortunately, Hotspot Shield requires no sign-up information to use the service. Torrent anonymously with Hotspot Shield. This range of servers makes it easy to find a local connection, minimizing speed loss and keeping torrent times as short as possible.

I found TunnelBear had reasonably fast download speeds on its global servers. This is normal, as distance always causes some slowdown. I ran tests on multiple TunnelBear servers and found my data was secure with every connection.

TunnelBear also has a TCP Override feature, which creates a more stable connection if your internet is unreliable. This function can stabilize your connection while torrenting, to ensure your files download without interruptions.

You may be concerned that TunnelBear is based in Canada — a 5-Eyes alliance member. That said, TunnelBear has been independently audited multiple times to verify it never logs user data — it would have no records to share with authorities in the first place.

Unfortunately, TunnelBear only provides MB of data per month for free users. This is a tiny amount of data — running a single speed test used almost MB of data alone. The process is easy, and took me less than 5 minutes to set up and get connected. Torrent anonymously with TunnelBear. I was surprised to find hide. Its military-grade AES bit encryption, bit RSA keys, and leak protection are always active when connected, creating a secure tunnel for torrent activity. I ran multiple leak tests and found my data was private and secure.

Since hide. I configured hide. I was happy to see that hide. Impressively, hide. As hide. This is because the physical distance increases the time it takes for data to be sent and received, slowing your speed. The only downside is that hide. The subscription lasts for 30 days at a time, but you can renew as many times as you want, so hide. Torrent anonymously with hide. Here is a list of the criteria I used to test over 50 free VPNs and rank them based on how well they performed:.

Based on extensive testing, ExpressVPN is the top choice for anonymous torrenting overall. It has no data caps or server restrictions, plus its entire global network supports P2P file-sharing, so you can torrent anonymously wherever you are. These are safe, reliable free VPNs that are actually limited versions of high-quality premium providers. Freemium VPNs are like trial versions of the paid products , supported by paying customers to try and entice you to upgrade.

These have the same high-level security as their premium counterparts but come with limitations, usually to speed and data. Fully free VPNs rely on third-party advertisers for revenue , which means they could be logging your data and online activity to sell for profit. Worse still, some shady free services are loaded with malware designed to steal your information, so you could experience identity theft or fraud. If you know anything at all about torrenting , you know that you need to use a virtual private network unless you like to get hit with copyright notices.

However, you still may find yourself wondering if torrenting really is safe with a VPN. This is regardless of torrent client, too. The big issue when downloading torrents is due to tracking by organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America in the U. These things can rack up quick, too, costing your thousands of dollars. In short, a VPN makes any browsing safe by routing your internet connection through a server independent of your internet service provider and encrypting it at the same time.

This VPN provider is speedy too, with a robust network of over 5, servers in an amazing 90 countries. Not only will this provide an optimized experience, it also adds an extra layer of protection against snooping, malware and other internet nasties.

IPVanish has incredibly fast connection speeds which are perfect for downloading large files in lightning quick time. You can use any of the servers available for P2P downloads, and the strong bit encryption used will keep you safe.

The available network of servers is large, with more than 1, servers in 60 different countries around the world. The first thing to know about torrents is that, despite what many people believe and say, using torrents is not illegal. Torrenting is merely a method of file sharing, like attaching a file to an email. One common legal use of torrents that you will see is the sharing of Linux distributions or open source software.

When software is provided for free, it can be expensive for the person who wrote the code to pay for hosting for the installation files. When you want to download a piece of open source software, you can use a torrent client to download the installation files from other users of the software. This is all perfectly legal.

However, much of the content that is shared through torrents is copyrighted content like movies, TV shows, books, anime , comics, or music.

The sharing of this content for free is illegal as it is against copyright law. So it is the content shared through torrents which may be illegal, not the method of torrenting itself. One reason that copyright holders have been so active in pursuing legal action against torrents users is to do with the way that torrents work. When you use a torrent to download a file, you start downloading that file in small chunks from other users. The chunks that you have already downloaded are then made available to other users to download from you.

Therefore, whenever you use a torrent to download you are technically hosting a file for download too, though in a decentralized way. In general, copyright holders are not too focused on users who download or stream their content — they are much more concerned about the people who upload or host the content.

With torrents, you become a hoster of any file you download, making you a target for copyright holders if you are downloading illegal content. Ok, so you know that many of the content found in torrents is illegal. But how do people get caught using torrents? The reason that so many people get caught and receive legal threats when using torrents as compared to, say, direct downloads is also to do with the way that torrents work.

A direct download is a file hosted on a website that you download like any other file from the web, like a picture, audio file, or even text. Unless your ISP is looking carefully at your internet activity , they are unlikely to notice that you direct downloaded a particular file.

But torrents use a particular method for file transfer, based on the Bittorrent technology. This uses a particular port for traffic — typically the TCP port — which means that torrent traffic is very distinctive and easy for an ISP to spot.

If you use torrents over your regular internet connection, the chances are very good that your ISP will investigate which types of files your are downloading and will take legal action against you if they find you torrenting illegal files. It is easy for ISPs to track the IP addresses of people using torrents, as torrents users share their IP addresses with each other in order to facilitate downloading.

When your ISP can quickly spot that you are using torrent traffic, and then see that your IP address is sharing a particular file illegally, this is a recipe for disaster. We hope this article has served as a guide on how to torrent safely.

Many users are worried about using torrents due to the high number of people who have been caught downloading illegal content and faces some kind of legal consequence. However, there are legitimate ways to use torrents and you can use them safely.

The most important take away for torrent users is to use legal torrents and to only download torrent from trustworthy sites. If you are going to use torrents for other purposes, it is vital that you take steps to protect yourself as otherwise the likelihood of your ISP discovering that you have been torrenting is high.