Using a proxy is one of the easiest ways to stay safe while torrenting. When torrenting, you are part of what is called a “BitTorrent Swarm”. Basically, you’re part of a network that is sharing and distributing files. It’s “peer to peer” which means as you download a file, someone else is sharing it. In order for this process to work, IP addresses are publicly shown and used. This is great for downloading files, but bad for privacy. If you’ve ever received a letter in the mail, or been threatened, you know how real the risk of torrenting is. So what is the solution?

A VPN is the best solution–but not necessarily the easiest one. The reason being is that you have to remember to start it up. Sure, there are ways to automatically start the VPN on setup, so all you have to do is press connect. But maybe you don’t want to worry about this, or want a VPN running all the time (even though it’s the best way to totally hide P2P activity even from the network level). So what can you do? Well use a proxy.

A proxy is different from a VPN in the sense that it doesn’t encrypt your traffic. Instead, it gives you an anonymous shared IP which makes it so people can’t track you down and isolate you from a BitTorrent swarm. It’s the “lazy yet effective” method of torrenting securely.

A few good VPN providers offer complementary proxy servers / services with their VPN. These VPNs include TorGuard, IPVanish, and Private Internet Access. Down below, you can find a video on how to torrent securely with IPVanish’s proxy.

How to Use IPVanish BitTorrent Proxy Video Guide:

Now if you want to know how to use IPVanish “VPN” with BitTorrent. I’ve also made a video down below:

How to Use IPVanish VPN to Torrent

So which method is better?

Well that’s up to you and how much privacy you want. If you don’t want even your ISP knowing you are using P2P activity, then use VPN. If you just want a decent layer of security and want to avoid annoying copyright emails, then use a proxy.