How to Download a Torrent on Mac with uTorrent. A Torrent (simply put) is a file shared between peers--there is no server involved. Files are transferred from distributors (known as seeders) to requesting clients (known as leechers.
You probably already know the answer to that question if you found this tutorial in google. In 2011, 15% of bittorrent users were using an anonymization tool to keep their torrents private. 5 years later, than percentage has likely tripled. The one weakness of the bittorrent protocol (and p2p networks in general) is that every torrent peer can see your ip address and location. What you'll learn: By following this guide, you will be able prevent all peers from seeing your real IP address (and show them an untraceable IP instead). You will also be able to encrypt your internet connection so snoopers or middlemen (like your internet provider) won't be able to view your web history or download histoyr.
This is the easiest setup option. You download the custom VPN software provided by the VPN service you choose. It will encrypt your entire internet connection and route all data through their VPN servers (which hides your real IP address from torrent peers). The VPN software will also include useful security features like a kill-switch (prevent IP leaks if the VPN disconnects) and easy server switching (choose from 20-100 different servers). A VPN doesn't require any manual configuration inside your torrent client/software. You just connect to a server and you're anonymous. It's really that easy.
A proxy is like a single-use VPN (minus the encryption). It routes the traffic for 1 program through the proxy server (hiding your IP address). The advantage of a proxy is it is usually faster than a VPN (no encryption) and allows your web browser IP address to be different than your torrent IP address. You can also run your torrent client through the proxy, inside a VPN tunnel for a double IP address change, separate IP addresses (browser and torrent client) and good speeds. We'll show you how to do that later in the article.
For more information read: And don't worry, you can use both together without having to subscribe to 2 separate services. There are with every VPN plan! But we'll show you how that works later in this tutorial. These VPN providers are hand-picked based on the following critical criteria:. Zero log & torrent-friendly (They store no information about your connection history. Very important!).
Fast Speeds & Uncrowded servers. Inexpensive (all under $10 monthly, some ) You don't have to choose any of the providers listed below (though we do consider them the best options) but make sure that whichever VPN you do choose any. Anonymity is priority #1 Without further delay, here are our top picks. We also have links to in-depth reviews for each (with speedtests). Is easily the top choice for Mac users if you plan on downloading torrents frequently.
They're already consistently among the, but they've also added a ton of torrent-specific features in the past 2 years. Here are the highlights:. True Zero-Log privacy policy (maximum privacy).
Socks5 Proxy service included (brand new feature!). IPVanish has an excellent The Socks5 proxy is a major breakthru, as it was the only advantage that PIA (up next) had over IPVanish.
A Socks5 proxy can be configured inside your favorite torrent client (with or without a VPN) to easily change your torrent IP without affecting the rest of your internet connection. If you want to learn more about how a proxy is useful, checkout our setup guides for:,. Using a VPN is the simplest option, and it's incredibly easy to get setup. Once you install your chosen VPN's software, you can connect to a and your torrents will be fully anonymized. Tip: There is no additional setup required inside your torrent client. Just connect to the VPN.
The VPN software does all the work. It will change encrypt your entire internet connection and change your torrent IP address so peers only see the VPN server's IP (instead of your own). There is one additional step that you may want to take, however, for added security. Activate your VPN kill-switch. Running your torrents through a is completely optional.
Using a non-logging VPN will already completely anonymize your torrents by itself. Some people like proxying their torrents because it allows your torrent client and web browser to have separate IP addresses. You can also run the proxy with (or without) the VPN active.
If you use it with the VPN, your will have 2 layers of IP address changes (and strong VPN encryption). If you run the the proxy by itself, speeds will be faster than using a VPN, and your torrent IP address will be changed, but your connection won't be encrypted. Most major torrent clients have built-in Socks5 proxy support. The 1 notable exception (unfortunately) is Transmission, the popular Mac torrent client. We'll show you how to setup the proxy inside uTorrent below. If you use a different torrent client than uTorrent, we have other setup guides for:.
Don't worry that the above guides are done using the PC version of the software. The steps are identical on mac.
Once you've got everything configured, you may want to check your torrent IP address to verify that everything is working properly. We'll do that using a. If you're able to locate peers and download torrents, then your proxy setup is likely correct.
If the settings were wrong (like you had the wrong address, port# or password) then uTorrent wouldn't be able to access the internet. Tip: A nice feature of using a Socks5 proxy is that it functions like a. If the connection drops, uTorrent will instantly lose internet access because all connections must go through the proxy tunnel. Anonymous Mac Torrents: Final Tips. I hope you enjoyed our Mac Torrent Guide. It should give you everything you need to know in order to hide your IP address while torrenting and keep your torrent downloads completely anonymous. If you skipped ahead to the end, here are the main points:.
Use a 'Zero-Log' VPN and/or Proxy:, and are good choices. Activate your VPN kill-switch while torrenting. Socks5 proxy setup is optional: but it allows you to have a different location/ip for your torrent client and web browser. It's also a 2nd layer of security if you run it inside your VPN tunnel. If you run into any problems during setup, or you want help configuring your mac VPN/proxy with a different torrent client, make sure to check out our in-depth guides below: Happy torrenting!
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