How to torrent with PIA [Fast and Safe]
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Key notes
- Torrenting is one of the most frequent reasons why regular PC users turn to VPN services such as Private Internet Access.
- PIA is one of the fastest and safest VPN services you could use in conjunction with your torrenting client.
- Check out our Torrenting Section for more torrenting guides, news, and reviews.
- Visit our VPN Hub to learn more about keeping your privacy safe while you're online.
Torrenting is one of the most frequent reasons why regular PC users turn to VPN services such as Private Internet Access. The fact that torrenting traffic is easy to spot by ISP plays a huge part in this scenario.
But are VPNs such as PIA really crucial to torrenting or they’ve merely become a necessity due to an increasing number of privacy violations?
Is PIA good for torrenting?
It’s possible to engage in P2P activities such as torrenting without using Private Internet Access. It won’t affect the functionality of the torrenting client. In fact, you may even get higher download/upload speeds.
However, without any extra security layers, your traffic is fully exposed. As a result, your ISP, government, or even a malevolent agent such as a hacker can easily see what you’re doing.
A VPN can hide torrenting traffic and is considered one of the best security/privacy tools to be used with torrent clients. One of the best torrenting VPNs in our case is Private Internet Access.
So, just to recap: do you need a VPN for torrenting? No. Should you use a VPN while torrenting? Definitely, you should.
How to torrent with PIA?
1. Launch Private Internet Access
- Purchase a Private Internet Access subscription plan
- Download the PIA installer
- Deploy the VPN on your computer
- Launch PIA and connect to your account
- Select a suitable server (nearby servers are generally faster)
2. Enable PIA’s killswitch
Look around your VPN‘s configuration settings for an option resembling a kill switch. Many VPNs, including PIA, call it just that for your convenience. Now, make sure that the kill switch is enabled, just like in the screenshot below.
What a killswitch does is it automatically interrupts your Internet connection if it’s not VPN-secured. Sometimes, the VPN connection might fail, which is when your PC automatically switches to your default, insecure connection.
While torrenting, this has the potential to reveal your real identity and uncloak your encrypted traffic. PIA’s kill switch prevents that by blocking any incoming/outgoing traffic if the VPN connection is severed.
3. Launch your torrenting client
The last step is simply launching the torrenting client and engaging in P2P activities as you normally would. The client should work almost exactly as it would without PIA.
Torrents not downloading with VPN? Check out our guide and learn how you can fix it.
The only difference you might notice is speed-related. As you probably know, VPNs encrypt your traffic and re-route it, which can take a toll on your connection’s speed. Usually, the farther a server is to your physical location, the slower your connection might get.
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