Is torrenting your lifetime dream activity anonymously online? Then learn how to use the torrent proxy and configure it to guarantee the best results.
Torrenting is one of the activities that is growing among people around the world. However, many people are becoming cautious because of the security risks and many other reasons, as we will share in the article.
Various things are also invented with improved technology, as are torrent proxies. Therefore, if you ever want to download torrents anonymously instead of using the VPNs, there is a lightweight alternative; torrent proxy. However, for the proxy to work, you must manually configure them on your device under the torrent client's settings.
In this guide, I will share with you multiple advantages of using torrent proxies, how to configure them under different torrent clients, and many more. Hence, keep reading and enjoying until the end.
Why Use a Proxy for Your Torrenting?
First of all, torrenting exposes your information to potential hackers. This is because the process exposes your local Ip address to the people in the torrent swamp. Anyone downloading the torrent can see your local IP address while torrenting.
As you are aware, this is risky, and anyone can use the IP address in tracing the ISP as well as your location. The result is cyber attacks, if not online identity theft cases. Therefore, torrent proxies are vital. This section has collected some benefits of using proxies while torrenting.
1: Masks your Local IP address
This is the primary purpose of the proxies for online activities. Therefore, most people use proxies to mask their local IP address by acting as an intermediary linking them with the target server or internet.
Hence, instead of the peer accessing the actual Ip address, they will be able to access the proxy IP address. While it keeps you anonymous, it also makes the peer have difficulty tracing you while you torrent.
2: Ensures No User Logs and Traces
We all agree that when torrenting that seed or downloading a torrent, the user becomes connected to the swarm, a bunch of people torrenting. Without being keen, all the people can also see your public IP address.
Therefore, another way to access the IP address is through logs and traces you leave on the platform. But when you use proxies, no one can access your logs and trace you other than the proxy server provider. According to my experience, most of the proxies do not store the user logs.
Therefore, we recommend using secure and premium proxies while choosing the proxy server. This one, you will be sure that your logs are not kept or shared with a third party when you torrent. Be warned that free proxies are risky since most sell the logs to make a profit to pay off their servers.
3: Improve Connection Speed and Torrent Transfer
While VPN encrypts your internet traffic, proxies do not do that. Proxies only work to hide your local IP address. However, due to a lack of encryption, proxies are prone to attack as opposed to the VPN. But the good thing is that proxies bring about improved torrenting download speed.
4: Socks5 Proxy Supports Torrent Traffic
It is always a good move to ensure that no IP address will be leaked. Therefore, with relevant proxies and proper configuration, rest assured that all the internet traffic routes via the remote server.
Again, to ensure you are safe, and all the torrent traffic is routed through the server, go for the Socks5 proxies and not HTTP. Let us go into details about this in the next section concerning the best proxy type for torrenting.
What Type of Proxy Is Best for Torrenting?
As we mentioned, not all proxies are perfect for torrenting or guaranteeing high anonymity. When you surf online, you will realize that there are different proxies for handling particular tasks. However, the often-used proxies are not only HTTP but also SOCKS5. When you compare the two types, SOCKS5 is more effective and perfect for torrenting than HTTP.
This is because HTTP is only a high-level proxy meant to transfer data, which is perfect for typical online browsing. But when it comes to the SOCKS5 proxies, they are excellent for any task, compatible with any protocols, and support any traffic on the go.
While researching online, we realized that there are multiple benefits of using SOCKS5 proxies while torrenting. First, SOCKS5 is lightweight and sits at layer 5 on the OSI model. With this point, socks5 proxies can support protocols from HTTP to HTTPS, and SMTP to POP3, making it the best option for any online task.
This ranges from file transfer, web browsing, and P2P sharing. Secondly, SOCKS5 has a faster download speed since they tend to transfer the data in smaller packets which is good for torrenting. Then lastly, socks have optional authentication making them only accessible by authorized people alone.
For the above reasons, it remains a fact that HTTP proxies expose you to the potential leakage of torrent data. Still, HTTP, yes, transfers data, but it transfers the entire hypertext data, and this makes the download speed slower. We highly recommend SOCKS5 proxies.
The best proxy providers for torrenting are TorGuard, Private Internet Access, Rapidseebox, etc. Though these proxies are well known for offering reliable VPN service, they also provide effective torrenting SOCKS5 proxies.
How to Setup a Proxy on Popular Torrent Clients?
For BitTorrent and uTorrent
If you wish to learn how to set up the proxy on the utorrent or BitTorrent, then this is the time. Remember that BitTorrent and uTorrent are clients owned by one firm; hence the configuration process is almost the same.
This section will guide you through the configuration process using BitTorrent on your desktop. However, BitTorrent has 3 versions: classic, android, and web. Though the proxy setup can only be done through the classic version, that is, desktop software available for Linux, Windows, and macOS.
The setup process is straightforward. Kindly pay attention to the details and do it practically by following these steps:-
Step 1: Assuming you have downloaded and installed the BitTorrent client on your desktop, click on it to launch.
Step 2: Tap on the option; therefore, choose preferences on the dropdown menu that appears.
Step 3: From there, head to the connections.
Step 4: Under the proxy server section, type in the IP address on your proxy server. Type the port number in the port field. All these data are obtained from the proxy provider you have selected.
Step 5: Then proceed by checking the authentication field. Then make sure you input the proxy username alongside the password you used during the signup process.
Step 6: Ensure you check the ‘Use proxy for hostname lookups‘ and ‘use proxy for peer-to-peer connection.’ This will help you avoid the possibility of IP leakage.
Step 7: Then under the proxy privacy, ensure you check everything.
Step 8: Once you are through, tap on the OK button and finish up by restarting the BitTorrent client software.
But note that you can access the uTorrent using different consoles such as android, remote, desktop classic and pro, and lastly, uTorrent web. However, with the mobile and web Utorrent, you cannot, in any case, modify the proxy settings as opposed to the desktop classic and uTorrent pro.
For qBittorrent
Instead of BitTorrent and uTorrent, you can prefer using qBittorrent. This is because qBittorrent is more compatible with proxy support than the first one. They allow the use of proxy on not only the peer connection but also trackers as they mask your local IP address.
Thus, it is good to grasp the configuration process and take all the steps. Follow along:-
Step 1: The first thing is to download and install the qBittorrent on your desktop. Then launch it
Step 2: To change the proxy settings, head to the tools, click options from the menu, and tap on the connection tab.
Step 3: From there, click on the proxy server section. Note that you can access the proxy settings on the connection tab of the qBittorrent from the bottom.
Step 4: From this port, you can enter the right information that is type in SOCKS5, the hostname of your choice, and enter the port number where the often-used port number is 1080.
Step 5: Check ‘Use proxy for peer connections to ensure that all the connections you send are routed on the proxy tunnel.
Step 6: Also, check ‘Disable Connections not supported by proxies‘ to prevent the software from routing any insecure connection.
Step 7: After that, check the authentication box and enter the username and password the proxy provider provides.
Step 8: Though optional, you can proceed to add the encryption. At this point, you need to be aware that qBittorent has in-built protocol encryption support. This effectively disables the ISP from accessing and blocking or slowing the speed or throttle.
Step 9: Hence, if you want to change the Deluge encryption, click on tools, head to options, and select the BitTorrent tab.
Step 10: Navigate to the single line titled encryption mode; You will see 3 options here: preferred encryption, require encryption, and disable encryption. Otherwise, your qBittorent is set up with the proxy and ready to torrent.
For Deluge
The next torrenting client is Deluge. Like other software, Deluge is a free and open-source Bit-torrent client that supports macOS, linux, and windows desktops. Setting up a proxy on the Deluge is very simple. Here are the steps you need to follow:-
Step 1: Download and install Deluge software on your desktop.
Step 2: Launch the Deluge desktop client
Step 3: when you are using a mac desktop, click Deluge on the menu bar and tap preferences, while for those using a linux and windows machine, then head to the edit icon and from the menu select preferences
Step 4: on the side menu located at the left, choose the proxy
Step 5: then beneath the proxy tab, select socks5 authentication.
Step 6: Then you can start typing in the relevant details. these include username /password, which you get from the proxy provider, enter the server IP address as well as the port number
Step 7: when done, tap apply icon
Step 8: You can also improve the anonymity level when you are using Deluge. Head to the network tab found on the side menu.
Step 9: Then beneath network extras, make sure you disable NAT-PMP and UPnP.
Step 10: After that, tap ok, and you are ready to start torrenting.
For Vuze
Vuze is another torrenting client that offers a very sensitized proxy connection. However, the software does not support the peer connection sent through the HTTP(S) proxy type.
Therefore, for this case, we encourage you to use socks5. Still, it would be best if you kept in mind that Vuze supports UDP tracker, and thus it can allow any outgoing peer connection through the TCP.
That is enough for this case. Therefore, if you want to configure socks5 proxies on your Vuze and start torrenting, here are the steps you need to follow:-
Step 1: Before anything else, put the Vuze in advanced mode to access the proxy setting. Therefore, once you launch the tool, click on the menu and select tools.
Step 2: After that, tap on the mode tab and change to the advanced mode by clicking on the toggle icon on the left of the connection.
Step 3: Then from the dropdown menu, click on the proxy so you can access the proxy setting.
Step 4: There are settings you need a person as well first. The tracker settings. You must enable the proxying of the tracker communication so that any torrent trackers you connect to are sent through a proxy tunnel to keep you anonymous. For this to take effect, you have to restart the Vuze.
Step 5: Then check ‘I have a socks proxy for the tool to understand that you are using socks5 proxies and not HTTP. After that, provide the proxy hostname, port number, where the proxy runs, username, and password. These credentials are provided by the proxy provider you selected.
Step 6: Then check the box' prevent local DNS lookups so that all the DNS requests are sent through the proxy tunnel to evade leakage.
Step 7: Once you have double-checked all the credentials, you entered, click Test socks, so the tool tries connecting on the proxy tunnel. It will then alert you if the configuration is successful or not.
Note that you can proceed to the optional Vuze encryption besides enabling the proxying option on the peer communication on Vuze and selecting the V5 as your proxy version. This is important, though, because the ISP can deliberately throttle or even block your IP address; the Vuze built-in encryption can still be necessary for disguising the torrent file.
Therefore, when you must change the Vuze encryption settings, head to the menu, select the tool, click on options and finish up by toggling the connection.
Once you click on the transport encryption, you will have two options, minimum and required encryption. Select based on your preferences. However, you can only enable the Vuze encryption in two modes of Vuze: forced mode or enabled mode.
How Do You Check If Your Proxy is Working?
We have set up the proxies on the above torrent clients. This is the time to test and determine if the configuration is successful and proxies are working. The whole process of checking is simple and free. This means you keep your tracked torrent running on your clients indefinitely.
This way, you could verify if the IP address is effective immediately after you begin torrenting. Also, in torrent clients, the users can easily access the torrent IP address beneath the tracker tab for a particular torrent data.
Once you realize that your local IP address is different from the IP address displayed on the torrent trackers tab, you can conclude that the proxy is working effectively. But remember that something is wrong when these two Ip addresses are similar. Your proxies are not working since they are not masking your local IP address.
Conclusion
To this far, you are now equipped with the importance of torrent proxies, the type of proxies perfect for torrenting, how to configure the proxies on the torrent clients, and testing if it is effective. Read and grasp the above procedure to start downloading torrents anonymously and safely. Avoid it all by masking your local Ip address and eliminating all the possible leakages while maximizing the torrent download speed.
Last Updated on December 12, 2023
