There are many VPN providers out there, all claiming to be the best. Indeed, there are a few VPN services that are actually trusted and effective in protecting your online privacy and encrypting your online activities. One of them is IPVanish. In this article we will discuss and research the features and capabilities of this VPN provider related to torrenting.
Essential VPN Features for Torrenting
Almost all VPN services provide a myriad of features and security controls to protect your online privacy. However, the following are essential features to look for when selecting a provider specifically for using peer-to-peer torrent networks:
- No speed limitations
- Unlimited bandwidth
- No-logs policy
- Fast links
- Many servers and locations to choose from
- Socks5 proxy
- Kill-switch to prevent IP leaks
Does IPVanish support the above essential VPN features?
The quick answer is YES. Although IPVanish does not “shout” about it, all of its servers support P2P torrenting. Moreover, their support for SOCKS5 proxy provides another advantage for using this VPN service for P2P torrent downloading as shown from their website below:
Have a look at their website for all of the great specs they have as one of the top VPN companies online.
IPVanish in more detail
IPVanish is one of the most credible VPN providers in the industry. The special thing about this VPN is that it offers plenty of exclusive features, which make it ideal for torrent users. Here are some of the key features that make IPVanish suitable for torrenting:
Copyright – Zero Logs Policy
The problem with many VPNs is that they limit the usage of peer-to-peer networks because of the privacy and security threats associated with these connections.
Moreover, it’s not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to coerce VPN providers into giving up the logs of their users. This means that if you’re downloading copyrighted content, law enforcement agencies can trace you and penalize you with fines and even jail time.
For this reason, you need a VPN provider that offers a zero logs policy, so that you remain safe from anyone probing for copyright infringement. IPVanish makes sure that it keeps zero logs of your identity or your activities. Therefore, even if someone monitors your activity, your original IP address will remain hidden.
Privacy
Another problem with torrenting is that your IP address is publicly visible to other torrent seeders and leechers. However, IPVanish allows you to hide your original IP address by masking it with the IP address of one of its servers. Moreover, it also has an additional feature that allows IPVanish to change your IP address randomly at given time intervals.
The VPN provider also equips you with military-grade encryption during your internet activity. This encryption algorithm is known as a 256-bit AES encryption and is used worldwide as a way of distributing confidential information.
Moreover, the kill-switch mechanism will immediately stop the connection if it detects that VPN went down for some reason. This means that your real IP address will never be leaked.
Endless Servers and Reach
IPVanish has dedicated servers in over 75 locations (more than 1300 servers), which helps your connections to be as fast as possible.
It not only offers access to various countries but also allows you to use IPs from diverse regions from a pool of over 40,000 shared IPs.
For instance, you can access countries from regions such as the Middle East and North Africa, a place that most VPN providers ignore.
Furthermore, Most VPN providers don’t provide more than a couple of hundred servers. IPVanish, however, offers more than 1300 servers and over 40,000 unique IPS you can use during torrenting.
Another thing I like about them is that all of their servers are owned by them. They don’t rent server infrastructure like many other services.
Unlimited Bandwidth
Users often use torrent connections to download excessively large files from the internet. Some VPN providers realize this and place restrictions on how much data you can use on a P2P network. They do it because they have to spend vast amounts of data downloading content from their end and then relaying it back to you.
However, IPVanish does not impose any bandwidth limit on torrent activity. Therefore, you can utilize hundreds of GBs and still never reach a limit on your data.
SOCKS5 Proxy, Kill Switch, and More
SOCKS5 proxy is a special feature, which is helpful specifically for torrenting. You can easily configure your torrent client (such as utorrent, bitorrent etc) with Socks5 and enjoy very fast downloads.
IPVanish offers the SOCKS5 proxy feature free. Furthermore, the VPN provides you with an additional layer of security which is DNS and IPv6 leak protection, something that others claim and don’t live up to.
On the other hand, a kill switch immediately kills your internet connection in the event the VPN connection drops. This helps hide your actual IP address in this moment of vulnerability.
Some thoughts about Torrenting
Torrenting is one of the most efficient methods to share extremely large files over an internet connection.
The process supports a peer-to-peer connection, which means every device downloading a file also hosts that file for others. As a result, while you download content, you also help other people to download the content they want.
This system is excellent because it makes it extremely easy to share large files without putting a strain on a single source. However, it also exposes torrent users to a number of risks. For instance, it’s possible that the content you’re downloading from other torrent users is affected by malware.
Furthermore, there’s an additional risk of getting caught in copyright infringement. Since a large number of files are not shared with the consent of the creator, many people deem torrenting illegal.
While torrenting itself is legal (in most countries), downloading copyrighted content is not. Since you are also hosting the files you have downloaded, you’re also a party in distributing content illegally.
For this and various other reasons, security experts recommend torrent users to use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to stay away from trouble. A VPN not only allows you to torrent files safely but also makes your connection secure.
Having said that, we don’t agree with downloading copyrighted content and we don’t promote this at all. We are just showing you which methods are available online to protect your privacy for any reason you deem necessary.
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