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These are the dangers if you use a torrent client without VPN

Using torrent clients to download files is a very common occurrence. However, the use of Torrents has a bad reputation because it is frequently linked to piracy of copyrighted movies, software, games and other files. On the other hand, it should be noted that the use of Torrents is legal, but it will depend on the specific download that we are doing. To a large extent it will depend on whether what we want to download is copyrighted or not. A good formula so that they do not control what we download and improve our privacy, is by using a VPN or virtual private network. In this article we will talk about the dangers if you use a torrent client without VPN.

Dangers of downloading via P2P without VPN

When we use a Torrent client we connect to a P2P network that refers to a network of peers or peers. In that aspect, its way of functioning consists of a network of computers that works without fixed clients or servers, and that share files as equals. Regarding some of the most used P2P programs to make torrent downloads we have BitTorrent, uTorrent and qBittorrent among many others. When we download torrents from the Internet, basically what we do is enter a P2P operation through the BitTorrent protocol. We find a protocol for transferring files between computers on a peer-to-peer basis, which also works in a decentralized manner.

If we use a torrent client without VPN, anyone interested can find out a lot about us thanks to our public IP. For example, we could know ours here. Also, if we click on Geolocate IP we will get more information. This would be an example using a VPN:

Here you can see country, city and more, using a paid VPN we could even change them. Another important thing is that they would not know our ISP or Internet provider either. In that aspect, using the service of a VPN we could download Torrents hiding the public IP and improving privacy.

How ISPs Act With P2P Downloads

Our ISP or Internet Service Provider, in case you didn’t know, may monitor our web activities using a method known as deep packet inspection. Thanks to this procedure, an ISP can know the type of traffic that comes from our computer. In that regard, they can speed up or slow down and even if they want to completely block certain traffic. On the other hand, according to the legislation of each country, if we download illegal torrents, our ISP could usually block or suspend our Internet connection.

In this regard, a torrent client without a VPN can be dangerous and harmful to our privacy. Therefore, with the use of a VPN, the Torrents traffic will be completely encrypted, your data is as if it were traveling in a tunnel away from prying eyes and our ISP will not be able to track the websites we visit or the downloads.

One important thing is that we could get into legal trouble. In Spain litigation rarely occurs, especially if things are shared without profit motive. However, this situation could change in the future. As for the legal person in charge, it would be the owner of that Internet connection. Therefore, we must be careful how our connection is used and try not to use a Torrent client without VPN.

Are all VPNs worth downloading Torrents?

Then it is time to consider using a VPN to download torrent files. In case you don’t know, there are two types: free and paid. Would both of us be worth it? The answer is no, because in the vast majority of cases the free ones are not going to offer us the speed we need. Therefore, we would have to resort to some paid and quality ones such as Surfshark VPN, PureVPN, HMA VPN, NordVPN or Cyberghost among others.

The main disadvantage of using a VPN is that it will slow down compared to our contracted speed. This happens because we have to encrypt the connection and it will also depend on the capacity of the VPN service contracted. In the free ones, this negative aspect will be increased more since, in addition, it must be taken into account that they do not always respect privacy.

In summary, using a torrent client without a VPN has its risks, but if we have contracted a VPN we will reduce dangers, we can also take advantage of it to navigate with greater anonymity and bypass geo-blocks.

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