I’m posting here because I assume a lot of you use vpns and this sub seems to have the most users to ask.
I was thinking about getting a VPN but was wondering about port forwarding.
I’m a Linux head so I would be downloading distros via torrent. If the VPN does not support port forwarding is it still possible to use for Linux torrents? I’m not going to be “seeding” media and extreme amounts of data, but the device would always be on and torrenting. In this case does port forwarding matter?
I guess I don’t really understand dynamic and static port forwarding.
For my use case would mullvad or protonvon work even though they both use dynamic port forwarding? Or do I have to find one with static ports…?
This VPN would be used on a server with docker…
The other one I was looking at was airvpn, which is static, but I also read it might become more popular for people that use it for… Whatever… since mullvad stopped static ports.
Are there work around for dynamic ports? In case I ever want to host a website in the future?
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Behold! I have the answer, at least if you’re willing to use Qbittorrent and the PIA app: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/81n70q/help_with_port_forwarding_on_qbittorrent/jr2mptg/
This is an AutoHotKey script that runs at boot. It basically babysits the Qbittorrent port for you, making sure it matches your randomly assigned PIA forwarded port. I’m guessing this is also possible using a different VPN or torrent client, but you’d have to find your own script for that. Also, make sure to bind Qbittorrent to your VPN interface: https://www.reddit.com/r/VPNTorrents/comments/ssy8vv/guide_bind_vpn_network_interface_to_torrent/
P.S. I should point out that port forwarding on your VPN isn’t TOTALLY necessary…but if you don’t forward ports, your download speeds will be slower and you’ll barely be able to seed at all (this is known as a “dick move” and it will get you banned from private trackers).
P.P.S. I should ALSO point out that your forwarded port does not change very often if you keep your VPN connected! So you don’t actually NEED this little script, you could just check the port once a week and make sure that Qbittorrent matches it. For example, I’ve been on the same port in PIA for at least a month now, and I’ve definitely rebooted my PC a couple times for updates. So it seems that the PIA app often just reconnects to the same server and uses the same port, but YMMV.
Thanks for the info!
I use AirVPN with a static port. Works great, way better than other VPNs I tried, especially for seeding
Seconded AirVPN. It’s been my VPN for a few months and it’s awesome.
I don’t understand it either as all the support pages indicate that you would need port forwarding in order to torrent but I’ve found this not to be the case. For reference I’m on Linux too using Proton VPN without port forwarding.
One person in the torrenting connection has to have port forwarding in order for the connection to occur. When you aren’t forwarding a port, you’re downloading from / uploading to only people who are. If someone has something you want but neither of you are port forwarding, you won’t be able to connect to them.
I’m not convinced very many people really understand how to properly setup and use port forwarding. I gave up on it. The more I read about this the more contradictions and dead ends I found. If you truly understand it try a day subscription to AirVPN and see how it goes, otherwise good luck figuring this out - it’s a real jungle out there.
If the VPN does not support port forwarding is it still possible to use for Linux torrents?
Yes with caveats. Torrent swarms need at least 1 connectable (port forwarded) peer for the swarm to exchange data. If all the peers are firewalled (not port forwarded) then all the swarm peers can see each other but cannot exchange torrent data so there will be no uploading/downloading in that swarm.
Generally speaking you won’t notice much difference in large torrent swarms since those swarms usually have some/many connectable peers. But in smaller torrent swarms you may have trouble since your odds are worse that you’ll find connectable peers in those swarms.
PS - Yes you are still seeding/uploading while firewalled (not port forwarded) just not very effectively. While firewalled your best connections will be with connectable peers in the torrent swarms. Not much to think about with public torrents but it’ll kill your ratio at private trackers for sure.
