If you’re a torrent user or a privacy advocate, you probably have heard of VPNs and proxies. If not, it’s a great time to start using VPNs and proxies since they are getting faster, stronger, and easier to use. If you see your IP address below, it might be time to start using a private proxy.
18.190.156.212
VPNs and proxies are becoming increasingly popular due to strict media restrictions around the world and censorship regulations that ban content. And, both VPNs and proxies can help with unleashing the full potential of the internet in most locations like China, Russia, Australia, Egypt or even Iran. Today we are going to examine and answer the question–what is a private proxy?
What is a Private Proxy?
Normally proxies are just referred to as “proxy” not private proxy. But the attached word could be important since a lot of proxies out there are not private at all. To explain, you can either get a paid private proxy or a free proxy. It’s either one or the other.
There are tons of ways to use free proxies if you want to change your IP address quickly, but these methods aren’t private since when you use something for free, you inevitably give something away which is in most cases your private user data. These proxies are also very slow and will negatively affect your browsing and torrenting experience.
Best Private Proxy?
So what is the best private proxy then? Well, there are a few things that define a good private proxy. You need fast speeds and a reliable company behind the proxy that doesn’t seem malicious or too good to be true. In some cases free proxies also don’t work, so if it’s a paid proxy the chances it will work are much better but you can’t always be 100% sure.
My first recommend private proxy to use is TorGuard’s proxy (TorGuard Review). You can get their proxy alone, or included with their VPN package. By definition, it truly is a private proxy since they don’t collect any logs on user data. It’s super fast, easy to install, and it always changes my IP to protect the identity of my computer when doing things online like browsing or torrenting.
How to Use Private Proxy for Torrenting
To set up inside a Bittorrent app, you just navigate to the settings and edit your connection to include SOCKS5 proxy. Enter in your login credentials, and your public IP through torrenting is now invisible!
How to Use Private Proxy for Browsing the Web
The good thing about browsing the web with a private proxy is that none of the websites you visit know your real IP address. You know those annoying ads on ThePirateBay or other websites that know the city you live in?
That’s because every time you visit a site they can see your IP. This isn’t the end of the world per se, but it’s something to consider.
Using a private proxy on the web can be as simple as installing a browser extension and entering in your login credentials if you use TorGuard. Some other VPNs have extensions, but none worth mentioning.
Difference between Private Proxy and VPN
You might be wondering what the difference between a private proxy and a VPN is. A proxy changes your IP address, whereas a VPN changes your IP address in the same manner, but it also encrypts your internet traffic.
Proxies don’t impact your speeds as much, but if you pick a good VPN, you won’t notice much difference. The good thing about my earlier recommendation is that TorGuard (TorGuard Review) also is the best VPN provider. Another good choice is Private Internet Access (Private Internet Access Review) since they are a little bit cheaper (but also not as good as I think).
When your traffic is encrypted, your ISP can’t monitor your activity, and when you are in public Wi-Fi or visiting dangerous sites that might try to steal your data, VPNs can be a lifesaver. VPNs are becoming mandatory in censored countries that don’t like you changing your IP address to access specific content like porn or blocked websites.
How does Private Proxy Protect Torrenting?
If you are looking to make your torrent activity anonymous, a private proxy is the best, fastest, and easiest way to do that. If you want the most secure way to protect your torrenting, use VPN since it encrypts all your traffic. When using a proxy your ISP can still see you are using P2P connections and torrenting but they can’t identify what you are torrenting.
Normally when you BitTorrent you are part of a P2P network, and you can see all of the other IP’s in the torrent swarm of the download you are in. You can find this information quite easily, in the “peers tab” of your BitTorrent client as seen below:
When you use a proxy, you are assigned a new IP address which makes your normal IP address hidden. This way your activity can’t be tracked, and you stay anonymous while torrenting.
How to Use A Private Proxy
