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How to Torrent with Private Internet Access
Overview
Private Internet Access (PIA) is a superb VPN for torrenting, delivering much faster P2P speeds than most other VPNs we tested. To torrent safely with PIA, connect to a nearby VPN server and download your torrent file as usual. The VPN will automatically mask your IP address from the torrent swarm and protect your data from leaks.
Without a Virtual Private Network (VPN), anyone connected to your torrent swarm can see your public IP address and trace it to your location.
Your identity and torrenting activity will be exposed to copyright trolls, copyright holders, and your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
In short, VPNs are essential for torrenting safely. However, VPN services can vary wildly when it comes to security, support, and performance.
Some VPNs will log your traffic or leak your data, while others are simply too slow to torrent large files.
Private Internet Access is a popular VPN known for its transparent, P2P-friendly service.
Despite its reputation, some users have expressed concerns about its ownership and its compatibility with popular torrent clients such as uTorrent and Deluge.
We’ve tested over 60 VPN services in detail and can confidently recommend Private Internet Access (PIA) for downloading torrents safely.
Summary: PIA VPN’s Torrenting Performance
| Torrenting Attribute | Result |
|---|---|
| Average Download Bitrate | 9.6MiB/s (4% loss) |
| Countries with P2P Servers | 91 |
| Logging Policy | No Logs |
| Kill Switch | Yes |
| Port Forwarding | Yes |
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
| VPNs Tested | 60 |
| Total Hours of Testing | 30,000+ |
| Combined Years of Experience | 50+ |
How to Torrent Securely with Private Internet Access
EXPERT ADVICE: It’s critical to set up and turn on your VPN before you start torrenting. This ensures your public IP address is hidden effectively so that you can torrent anonymously.
Torrenting safely with PIA VPN is relatively simple, as long as you remember to activate the optional security features. Here’s a video demonstrating how to do this:
Here are more detailed instructions:
1. Choose a PIA Subscription Plan
Choose your preferred PIA subscription plan. At its cheapest, the service costs $1.33/mo over 26 months. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, too.
2. Download and Install the PIA App
PIA offers native applications for all operating systems and mobile devices that support torrenting, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Download and install the app for your device, then enter your activation key.
3. Turn On the Optional Security Features
Open the Settings menu by clicking on the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the app.
In the Protocols section, make sure the Protocol toggle is set to OpenVPN, the Transport is set to UDP, and choose AES-256 under Data Encryption.
In the Privacy menu, ensure the VPN Kill Switch is set to Always. Activating the kill switch will temporarily block all internet traffic if the connection to the VPN server drops.
4. Turn on Port Forwarding (Optional)
PIA is one of the few VPNs to support port forwarding, which can dramatically improve performance, especially when uploading or “seeding” torrents.
To activate port forwarding go to Settings > Network and check the box labeled Request Port Forwarding. It doesn’t work with the VPN’s US-based servers, though, so you’ll need to connect to a server in another country if you have it enabled.
5. Install A Safe Torrenting Client
Once PIA has connected to a VPN server, you can safely launch your preferred torrent client. Our tests show that qBittorrent is the safest torrenting client, while uTorrent presents some security risks.
Is PIA a Good VPN for Torrenting?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Supports torrenting on all 18,651 servers | Based in the US (Five Eyes jurisdiction) |
| Verified zero-logs privacy policy | Port forwarding unavailable on US servers |
| Fast torrent speeds | |
| Industry-standard AES-256 & ChaCha20 encryption | |
| Automatic kill switch in all applications | |
| Supports port forwarding | |
| SOCKS5 proxy available |
Following years of testing and personal use, we found Private Internet Access to be the best VPN for torrenting.
PIA easily passed all of our torrenting security and performance tests. It has a zero-logs policy, AES-256 encryption, leak prevention, and a kill switch.
Using PIA VPN to torrent on our Windows machine.
In the following section, we’ll explain PIA’s torrenting strengths and weaknesses in detail.
High Level of Privacy
PIA is based in the United States, where torrenting copyrighted material is illegal. It’s also one of the worst possible jurisdictions for a VPN.
For torrenters, this means that state authorities can compel PIA to disclose user activity information if requested by copyright owners or copyright trolls.
However, PIA’s excellent no-logs privacy policy ensures that any such requests will be fruitless. Even if authorities demanded user data, PIA would have nothing to provide, as proven in real court cases.
This is why an audited and verified no-logs policy is a key requirement for a P2P VPN.
Here are some of the real-world cases which prove that you can trust PIA:
- In 2016, the FBI subpoenaed PIA to provide data belonging to a user suspected of making terrorist threats. However, since the company doesn’t collect any user logs, it had no data to provide.
- The same year, Russian authorities seized PIA’s servers but couldn’t find any user activity data or personally identifiable information. PIA responded by removing all its servers located in Russia.
PIA has an excellent real-world track record when it comes to user privacy and security. PIA is a VPN provider you can trust, especially for torrenting.
Owned by Kape Technologies
In November 2019, Private Internet Access was acquired by Kape Technologies — a move that garnered some controversy.
The bulk of this controversy surrounds the company’s past activities when it was known as Crossrider.
Crossrider was the target of serious backlash after it was found bundling a PUP (potentially unwanted program) with other software. Once installed, this PUP would serve unwanted advertisements via user’s web browsers.
Crossider shut its ad platforms in 2016, and re-branded to Kape Technologies in 2018. Since then, it has focused solely on promoting privacy and security software globally.
The company now operates three trustworthy VPN services: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and PIA.
PIA still upholds its industry-leading standards of privacy and security, including its no-logs policy and open-source software. There is no evidence to suggest its ownership poses any threat to user privacy.
Excellent Suite of Security Features
PIA VPN encrypts your P2P traffic through either ChaCha20 or AES-256 encryption and tunnels it via the WireGuard or OpenVPN protocols respectively. These are both secure encryption methods backed by extensive testing.
As such, anyone trying to intercept your torrenting traffic will be unable to read it, including your ISP.
This is important as your real IP address can be exposed in a torrent swarm.
We tested PIA’s built-in IP leak protection and found no leaks on desktop or mobile.
PIA lets you customize your VPN connection in its Windows app.
The kill switch (formerly referred to in-app as the Network Lock) effectively blocks all internet traffic if your connection to the VPN server unexpectedly drops. This is essential for protecting your torrenting activity if there is a service outage or a connection failure.
Fast Torrenting Speeds
When we measure torrenting speeds, we calculate the average download bitrate.
While bitrate is affected by many factors, the most important one is the number of peers you are connected to and the upload speeds of those peers. However, the VPN service you choose can also have an impact on performance.
PIA supports P2P traffic on all its servers, and our tests show that it is one of the fastest VPNs for torrenting.
In our latest torrent VPN tests, our download bitrate dropped from 10.0MiB/s to only 9.6MiB/s. We were therefore able to download a test file almost as quickly as without any VPN connection.
Port Forwarding Specifically for P2P
Port forwarding increases the number of peers you can connect to in a torrent swarm. This potentially improves your torrenting bitrate when both downloading and uploading files.
You can easily enable port forwarding in PIA’s Windows app.
PIA is one of the few VPN services to offer port forwarding. The feature is available on its Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android apps.
Port forwarding is especially important if you want to seed torrents as quickly as possible. Seeding without properly forwarded ports is a lot slower.
That being said, port forwarding on PIA isn’t available when you’re connected to servers in the US.
If you live in the US then you’ll need to make a choice between port forwarding and connecting to a nearby server, as both will affect your upload speeds.
Alternatives to PIA for Torrenting
PIA compares well to ExpressVPN and other top VPNs for P2P file-sharing. In fact, we rate it as the very best torrenting VPN on the market.
It’s a trustworthy VPN for privacy-conscious P2P users: its apps are open-source and regularly audited, it uses a no-logs policy, and we’ve never recorded any leaks.
Here’s how PIA compares to other leading VPNs for torrenting:
Should I Use PIA's SOCKS5 Proxy?
If you’re a PIA subscriber then you have access to the service’s very own SOCKS5 proxy server. SOCKS5 is often recommended as a way to get faster speeds while torrenting.
We don’t recommend you use SOCKS5 for torrenting. It’s just like any other proxy, so it will hide your IP address but leave all of your P2P traffic entirely unencrypted.
This means your ISP will be able to detect and monitor the torrenting files you’re downloading.
When OpenVPN was the go-to protocol used in VPN software, it may have been worthwhile using SOCKS5 for increased torrenting speeds. Now that the faster WireGuard protocol (and ExpressVPN’s Lightway) have taken over the mantle, that benefit is no longer there.
