VPN (VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK) VPN is viewed as a good way to ensure privacy while using BitTorrent as found out by many BitTorrent users. You can route all your traffic through VPN servers, hide your IP address from the public by paying just a few dollars a month. While there are some VPNs that also offer a free plan. Some use specialized torrent proxies and VPNs like BTGuard, but there are many other VPN providers including PrivateInternetAccess. Unfortunately, however, not all VPNs are very BitTorrent friendly.
Therefore, you might think that choosing a VPN with the highest server is the best decision you can make. The answer is – yes and no. Before you set out to find the perfect VPN, make sure to have a whole picture in your mind. You can easily find VPNs with 2,000 to 4,000+ servers that cover the entire world.
I’ve been getting many questions about using a Virtual Private Network or VPN when watching video online. Today, I’m going to explain why I recommend NordVPN to remain anonymous when utilizing peer to peer torrent software like BitTorrent. Be forewarned that while torrenting is technically legal, downloading and distributing copyrighted material is not. This is similar to the rationale I explained in my article titled: Is It Illegal to JailBreak a FireStick.
Best VPN For Torrents
As I explained in my article why you should use a VPN, there are many considerations to account for when deciding on a VPN. Below are the major considerations when choosing a VPN to use for torrenting and how NordVPN meets those requirements.
Bypass Torrent Connection Blocking
Many ISPs, DNS servers, and corporations have taken measures to disallow torrent connections on their networks. Before you can even think about the security and anonymity questions surrounding torrenting, you need the ability to make a peer to peer torrent connection.
Not only does NordVPN allows P2P connections on their network but they have specific VPN servers all over the globe that are optimized for P2P torrent connections.
To find the servers optimized for torrenting is simple. First, open up the available server list from your NordVPN client.
Next, simply filter on P2P to get a listing of the best P2P VPN servers. Below shows UK server, but there are plenty available all over the world once you scroll down. It has one of the largest set of VPN services optimized for torrenting in the U.S.
Hide Your IP Address
A VPN using a technique called IP Tunneling to make your computer or device part of another network through the internet. In doing so, your true IP address is hidden and replaced with an IP address of the VPN you’ve joined. NordVPN not only accomplishes this but has a strict no logging policy. This means none of your internet traffic will be monitored or logged at any time.
Security and Encryption
Not only is your true IP address hidden, but your data is encrypted and secure. Not even your ISP can see what you are doing. They will just see a bunch of indecipherable gibberish being transmitted back and forth.
NordVPN uses security encryption protocols like IKEv2/IPsec and OpenVPN with AES-256-CBC encryption with a 2048-bit DH key. These are encryption AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 256 bit-keys protocols used by NSA and other high-level security specific U.S. government agencies.
Protect your Identity
While all the benefits of a VPN can keep your identity hidden, people do make mistakes. Majority of the time a person’s anonymity is compromised because of the VPN not being turned on, or the VPN connection dropping while online.
NordVPN offers two great options to avoid these issues. First, they allow you to configure NordVPN to start on boot. Next, they allow you to set a kill switch that closes applications (like your torrenting client) to shut down as soon as the VPN connection is lost.
In addition, NordVPN also provides the ability to use a double VPN. This allows your first VPN connection to connect to another VPN server providing encryption and an IP address twice removed from your actual IP address. This adds the following additional benefits.
- the online traffic is encrypted not once but twice;
- the second VPN server will not be aware of your real IP address since it was changed by the first server;
- the final destination on the web will remain unknown, even though your ISP will recognize that you are using a VPN service;
- the connections are mixed between UDP and TCP, which also increases the security level when you are browsing the web;
- an extra layer of additional security is created.
Double VPN servers can be found by filtering on “double VPN” as I explained above in the section on finding P2P optimized VPN servers for torrenting.
Other Benefits of NordVPN
- Offers CyberSec Feature which blocks pop-up and autoplay advertisements. Furthermore, CyberSec blocks dangerous websites and protects you from botnet attacks.
- NordVPN has 4189 servers in 62 different countries. This opens up online video streaming content from all over the globe.
- It is one of the fastest VPNs we have tested.
- They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee which I tested by signing up for 2 accounts. They refunded my money immediately.
Setting Up NordVPN
Another reason I recommend NordVPN is ease of use. It’s simply a matter of signing up for the service, downloading the NordVPN to your device and turning on the VPN. While there isn’t a free trial, you can get the VPN as cheap as $2.75 per month using this special deal. Otherwise, you can check out their standard pricing here. Rember there is a 30-day money back guarantee. I have tested this myself and NordVPN quickly refunded my money upon asking.
Once you sign up, you will receive an email on how to download your NordVPN client. After that, it’s simply a matter of starting the client, logging in, and clicking a button to turn on your VPN.
NordVPN is supported on Android devices, Windows, MacOS, iOS, iPhone, and iPad. They also offer browser extensions for Chrome and FireFox.
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One of the biggest selling points of VPN providers is their server network. When choosing the one you’d like to use, you pay attention to which parts of the world you can connect. This is important because certain countries do a better job of protecting digital data than others. On the other hand, there are countries willing to go against VPN providers and their servers. So, let’s take a look at what’s the best country to connect to using VPN?
As you can probably imagine, there are different ways to answer this question. After all, the answer depends on your planned activities, targeted Web speed, and more. Therefore, we’ll first give you a list of countries with the best record of preserving (or simply not invading) your privacy, and then we’ll look at additional considerations.
What’s the Best Country to Connect to Using VPN?
There was a lot of talk about online privacy in the last couple of months. Europe’s new GDPR rules are changing the way online data is being handled in the European Union. In the USA, a group of senators has proposed a new legislation to protect online privacy following the recent Facebook data breach. Furthermore, Netflix has simplified its privacy policy and on the other side of the world, a Japanese ISP was sued for violating the privacy of its users. It’s no wonder why the usage of VPN is on the rise.
Which Country Set Vpn To Download Torrent Free
Here are five countries that rank the highest in terms of data privacy, data collection, and exchange of sensitive information with other countries.
1. Switzerland
There are numerous reasons why Switzerland is often referred to as the safest country in our digital realm. First of all, you need to know that Switzerland is not in the European Union and it’s not part of the Five Eyes alliance. Differently said, this country does not respond to other countries or international alliances when asked to hand over sensitive data.
In case you didn’t know, Switzerland has one of the world’s strongest economies. Their entire system was built on financial institutions that adhere to their ‘banking secrets’. Swiss banks are known for preserving information about their customers and that has transferred to the digital realm. Back in 2011, this country came under the spotlight when their officials said that unauthorized file sharing is actually not a bit problem and that it allows for downloading copyrighted content for personal use. Therefore, this is one of the safest countries if you plan on downloading torrents.
2. Romania
If you do a bit of research, you’ll see that Romania is a member country of the European Union. Therefore, how can this country protect its citizens since it has to comply with its EU obligations? Well, you need to take another look since Romania is not like other EU countries.
Even though this country has complied with the EU’s 2006 Data Retention Directive, the Constitutional Court of Romania nulled those laws in 2009. According to the Court, these laws were violating Romanian citizens’ rights to privacy. Even though a new set of laws were introduced in 2012, these were once again repealed in 2014. Therefore, this is the only country in the EU to have had its Data Retention Laws repealed by the highest courts.
It’s also interesting to mention that copyright infringement is widespread throughout the country. That’s because copyright infringement is a low priority for Romanian persecutors and it still is looked at as a victimless crime.
3. Iceland
In many ways, Iceland is one of the last safe places in the digital realm. Even though there are a few problematic laws, you should know that the authorities of this country have demonstrated fair play and unwillingness to join international intelligence alliances.
In 2015, Iceland came up with the Equal Access to the Internet laws, similar to the recently repealed Net Neutrality in the USA. This set of laws says that ‘data service providers’ must ensure unrestricted and unbiased access to all Icelandic citizens. The country’s Data Protection Act is also in favor of protecting the citizens.
Still, Iceland has also implemented data retention laws that force telecommunication companies to keep records for up to six months. Nonetheless, this law is used only in matters of public safety and criminal cases. Therefore, VPN users have nothing to worry about.
4. Malaysia
You might be surprised to see Malaysia on this list. However, we have to acknowledge the fact that this country has strict data privacy laws. The Personal Data Protection Act was introduced in 2010 and revised several times since then. It contains seven key points that protect personal data and keep it away from third-parties. In this manner, the PDPA protects personal information from being misused.
In terms of VPN, you might be wondering if the PDPA still applies even if the VPN company is just renting servers in this country? You’ll be happy to know that the PDPA does not apply only to companies established in Malaysia – but to those using equipment in this country to process personal data as well. This means that even if your personal details somehow get to a server located in this country, you can still count on the country’s laws to protect you.
5. Spain
Even though Spain is part of the European Union, it has the strictest laws surround personal data protection. What’s important to mention here is that Spain protects data supplied by companies established as well as located outside of this country. This means that when you connect to a server in Spain, your data automatically becomes protected by the country’s laws. Also, Spain is one of the rare countries with their own national data protection agency. The main role of this agency is to handle complaints on personal data protection matters.
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It should be also noted that Spanish courts are typically acknowledging the intention of making a profit over breaking copyright laws. This means that you can download torrent files without any fear of copyright infringement – unless there’s a profit intent.
How to Choose the Best VPN Country to Connect To?
Knowing about a few countries with the best data protection laws is just part of this equation. There are additional considerations that you need to know about. So, keep on reading as we’ll discuss how to pick the best country for your VPN.
What Are Your Planned Online Activities?
The truth is that you’ll need to think about the things you want to do online before launching your VPN. For example, do you want to unblock certain websites, stream media, download torrents, or simply browse the Web? Then, you have to think about the services that track your IP address and warn you of fraudulent activities. For example, you might get locked out of your bank account if you access it using an IP associated with a different country. The same goes for some social media networks and even some Google services. Sometimes, this will be a minor annoyance. However, this will sometimes mean that you can’t use those services.
As you can see, you’ll always face a certain compromise. For example, let’s say that you want to access the US version of Netflix. There’s no way around it, you just have to connect to a server in the USA and hope for the best. In other words, geo-unlocking is a one-way street.
Things are better when it comes to torrents. Since these don’t depend on certain servers, you are free to pick a country on your own. Of course, this is where you’ll have to find the best country to connect to using VPN.
What Kind of Speeds You’ll Need?
Choosing a server to connect to also depends on what kind of speeds you’ll need. If you want to stream movies in HD or even 4K, a slow or throttled connection won’t do the job. This is why you need to pay attention to the location of the desired server.
In general, you can achieve almost throttle-free speeds by using a server near your physical location. This means accessing a server in your own country, or a neighboring country (if you live in Europe). This will change your IP address, encrypt your data, and make you safe online. However, sometimes you simply have to connect to a certain server, like a server in the USA if you want to stream Hulu. So, if there a way to ensure fast speeds while using a remote server? Well, it depends on a VPN. To eliminate this problem, VPN providers offer dedicated servers in the US used for streaming.
What Level of Privacy Do You Want?
When thinking about your privacy, you need to have a wide picture in your mind. First, you must know where your VPN provider is located. For example, a provider located in the USA might be obligated to keep records of its users. That’s precisely why numerous providers are actually registered in countries that are out of reach of international intelligence alliances. This is why many of these are called no-logs VPNs since they don’t keep a single file on you.
Choosing a secure VPN (with an optimal origin) is the first step. The second step is connecting to a country with data protection laws. This is how the entire route of your Web traffic can be safe and out of the hands of prying third-parties.
How Important is The VPN Server Count?
So far, in our guide to the best country to connect to using VPN, we’ve talked about five of the best countries including some additional tips. Therefore, you might think that choosing a VPN with the highest server is the best decision you can make. The answer is – yes and no.
Before you set out to find the perfect VPN, make sure to have a whole picture in your mind. You can easily find VPNs with 2,000 to 4,000+ servers that cover the entire world. However, you need to make sure if all of those servers work as advertised. Are all of those servers covered by the toughest encryption protocol, can they truly unblock websites and Web services, and do they collect any personal data? To help you get answers to these questions, here’s our overview of VPNs with the largest number of servers.
Any Recommendations for the Best VPNs?
Before we end this article, we’d like to give you a few pointers. As you’ll see for yourself, finding a VPN that truly cares about your privacy is easier said than done. On top of that, there are plenty of technical terms that you should know about. So, our article on what are VPNs is a good place to start.
Once you’re ready to dive deeper into VPNs, your first stop should be our VPN Buyer’s Guide. This is where you can learn what makes a good VPN and which ones fits your needs in the best way possible. And finally, make sure to take a look at the best VPNs available on the market.
What About Free VPNs?
There is one final question that we want to answer – should you use a free VPN? You can find some free VPNs that offer a sizeable list of server locations. However, all of those come with pretty severe limitations. In most cases, you’ll only have 500 MB of daily bandwidth, which can’t keep you protected at all times.
Therefore, our strong recommendation is to stay away from free VPNs. They can’t protect you properly, nor they can provide unlimited bandwidth. Investing a few dollars in buying a VPN subscription is a much better idea.
Final Thoughts
Dear readers, that would be all when it comes to the best country to connect to using VPN. If there’s something else you want to know, don’t hesitate to post a comment below.
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