Airvpn and torrenting privacy (help needed)

airstrea

Long story short, I never thought to use VPN for torrenting for some reason. My ISP has given me 2 warnings (1 over a year ago, thought I was in the clear) for downloading tv shows, movies, etc. I work nights and don't have a DVR so I torrent a lot of tv shows etc. They are threatening to terminate my service if I do so again.

My question is, can my true IP be discovered through torrenting if I am connected to AIR? I've also heard they have multiple "peers" within the network that seed these downloads as well. They have a pretty strict policy when it comes to these types of things.

Therefore, I have 2 issues. Can my ISP discover my downloads while connected to AIR? Can they discover my downloads through peers while connected to AIR? Should I use a magnet link or download the torrent file directly to my PC?

Essentially, I am asking if there is a weak link in the chain I need to worry about. There is no other reliable ISP's around here so termination is not an option.

OS: Windows 7

Browser: Chrome (can use jondofox)

Torrent: uTorrent

Thanks for any help, it will be greatly appreciated.

rainmakerraw

My thoughts:

That **** uTorrent is leaky as hell (for example it doesn't respect proxy settings) and the devs have no ethics. Get the latest version of qBittorrent and stick to it. It's light, open source and has good privacy options.

Disable UPnP and NAT-PMP in the options.

Set maximum peers to 1250 global and 250 per torrent.

Set the download port to one you have forwarded via Air's client area. Do NOT open the port on your router.

If you're paranoid you can also set qBittorrent to anonymous mode which prevents incoming connections and changes the client ID. That could (but might not) limit your speeds somewhat.

Set Eddie (Air's client) to automatically apply network lock, and then once you're connected to an Air server open qBittorrent. Go to advanced in the options and bind qBittorrent to the tun0 interface (might be different in Windows). That will mean only the VPN can be used by qBt. An extra safety net if you will.

You can keep DHT enabled provided you're behind the VPN and running qBittorrent.

You'll be fine after that. Air is safe.

airstrea

Thanks for your help.

I uninstalled utorrent, downloaded qBittorrent

I disabled UPnP and NAT-PMP in options.

Set max peers global and per torrent.

Here I get lost, I am not sure what download port I have forwarded to Air's client? Also, how do I know if the router is open? When installing qBittorrent I unchecked "make a rule exception in windows firewall"

Also, when enabling anonymous mode in qBit it says that DHT will be disabled.

airstrea

Also, should I check the box, "Use proxy for peer connections"... I would assume the answer is yes.

bluesjunior

+1 on qBittorrent. I am with Virgin in the UK who are also bound by these new government rules but haven't had a problem accessing KAT, Pirate Bay etc using qBittorrent for downloads. uTorrent has had some seriously bad press as a quick google will explain better than me. Here's a very good walk through on how to optimize qBittorent for speed from Gizmo's site. http://www.techsupportalert.com/optimizing-qbittorrent-speed

bluesjunior

My thoughts:

That **** uTorrent is leaky as hell (for example it doesn't respect proxy settings) and the devs have no ethics. Get the latest version of qBittorrent and stick to it. It's light, open source and has good privacy options.

Disable UPnP and NAT-PMP in the options.

Set maximum peers to 1250 global and 250 per torrent.

Set the download port to one you have forwarded via Air's client area. Do NOT open the port on your router.

If you're paranoid you can also set qBittorrent to anonymous mode which prevents incoming connections and changes the client ID. That could (but might not) limit your speeds somewhat.

Set Eddie (Air's client) to automatically apply network lock, and then once you're connected to an Air server open qBittorrent.
Go to advanced in the options and bind qBittorrent to the tun0 interface (might be different in Windows). That will mean only the VPN can be used by qBt. An extra safety net if you will.

You can keep DHT enabled provided you're behind the VPN and running qBittorrent.

You'll be fine after that. Air is safe.

I never knew about that. In my Advanced section I have 4 options over the "Any Interface" option. They are Local Area Connection - Local Area Connection 2 - Isatap - Local Area Connection*9 which one would be the best to use for AirVPN?.

rainmakerraw

My thoughts:

That **** uTorrent is leaky as hell (for example it doesn't respect proxy settings) and the devs have no ethics. Get the latest version of qBittorrent and stick to it. It's light, open source and has good privacy options.

Disable UPnP and NAT-PMP in the options.

Set maximum peers to 1250 global and 250 per torrent.

Set the download port to one you have forwarded via Air's client area. Do NOT open the port on your router.

If you're paranoid you can also set qBittorrent to anonymous mode which prevents incoming connections and changes the client ID. That could (but might not) limit your speeds somewhat.

Set Eddie (Air's client) to automatically apply network lock, and then once you're connected to an Air server open qBittorrent.
Go to advanced in the options and bind qBittorrent to the tun0 interface (might be different in Windows). That will mean only the VPN can be used by qBt. An extra safety net if you will.

You can keep DHT enabled provided you're behind the VPN and running qBittorrent.

You'll be fine after that. Air is safe.

I never knew about that. In my Advanced section I have 4 options over the "Any Interface" option. They are Local Area Connection - Local Area Connection 2 - Isatap - Local Area Connection*9 which one would be the best to use for AirVPN?.

In qBittorrent you can go to the View menu (at the top) and then select 'Execution log'. It will open a tab that lets you see stats about the app and network. Your Local Area Connection will likely be your primary ethernet interface. On my machine (when I tested Win 10) Local Area Connection 2 was the TAP for VPN but since you have ISATAP separate I'd try that first. Just select the interface in the list, hit apply and then check the execution log. When you've found the right one (only one is going to be correct) the log will show something like:

"Listening on 10.xx.xx.xx port xxxx"

The 10.xx.xx.xx IP is the Air IP and is the one that confirms you picked the correct adapter. Be warned that this setting does kill active downloads if the selected interface drops (i.e. VPN dies), but it will not be respected after an application restart. So if you have no VPN and start qBittorrent up, the log will simply say 'invalid interface xxxx' and start downloading anyway. I've asked the dev to fix it but I guess it's on a long list.

FromtheWalls

"Here I get lost, I am not sure what download port I have forwarded to Air's client? Also, how do I know if the router is open? When installing qBittorrent I unchecked "make a rule exception in windows firewall"

You should add a rule exception in the firewall. Do NOT enable anonymous mode, that's overkill and counter-productive. To find the correct port go to "client area" on this webiste while you are logged in. Click on "Forwarded Ports" and then click the "Add" button (green plus sign). Take note of the generated port number and add it in "port used for incoming connections" in qBittorrent. Don't open any ports on your router, this will have set you up perfectly with an active connection. Do NOT check the "use proxy for peer connections" box. After all this is done, make sure the circle at the bottom of qbittorrent is green and not yellow (the circle behind the number of DHT nodes). Start a torrent and if the circle turns green your port forwarding works.

I also recommend binding the VPN network interface as described earlier, just make sure you bind it to the corrrect one.

altae

And don't set up any port forwarding in your router. It's useless and only opens a door for potential intruders. You need to set up port forwarding on the website of AirVPN. Also pay attention to the fact that the netlock feature of the AirVPN client only in conjunction with the Windows firewall. It won't work if you use a third party firewall.

My suggestion would be to install a Linux distribution in a virtual machine using Virtualbox. There the netlock feature is much more reliable since it works with iptables on which any gui firewall I know is based. If they really threaten to terminate your contract if they discover more torrent downloads I'd not take the risk of continuing to download content using a torrent client on Windows.

NaDre

...
My suggestion would be to install a Linux distribution in a virtual machine using Virtualbox.
...

If airstrea was not already at the point of despair, I am sure that pushed him to it.

airstrea, I suggest you take a look at this:

https://airvpn.org/topic/9549-traffic-splitting-guide-to-setting-up-vpn-only-for-torrenting-on-windows-thanks-to-nadre/

https://airvpn.org/topic/9491-guide-to-setting-up-vpn-just-for-torrenting-on-windows/

You should be fine with uTorrent. Except, do NOT ever use any "proxy" (which means "SOCKS") settings:

https://airvpn.org/topic/3492-torrent-ip-address-leak/?p=3493

https://blog.torproject.org/blog/bittorrent-over-tor-isnt-good-idea

"The problem is that several popular Bittorrent clients (the authors call out uTorrent in particular, and I think Vuze does it too) just ignore their socks proxy setting in this case."

The links above probably explain the comments earlier about uTorrent being "leaky". Just DO NOT use proxy/SOCKS! With ANY BitTorent client.

airstrea

Another question, otherwise I will use the suggestions above. EDIT 1: (I ended up using the suggestions above, but please read this to further my knowledge there is a question at the end).

During more research yesterday I discovered a guide that allowed me to block qBittorrent UNLESS the VPN is active (public) network. I created inbound/outbound rules in the windows firewall and my qBittorrent WILL NOT connect to anything unless I'm connected to AIR.

I also tested with ipleak torrent check as well as trying to download a torrent and then disconnecting from AIR. Here is my question. When I disconnect from Air using this method, the download EVENTUALLY goes to 0 kb. It very quickly drops to bytes of data being transferred, so will I be leaking in that case if the VPN happened to drop or is it normal that is slows to 0 kb/s over about a minute?

Is the port forwarding etc all necessary since I only want my torrent to cut out if VPN drops? I believe my solution solves the problem, but I am not confident enough in my own knowledge to rely on it.

EDIT 2: In the next post I linked my execution log of the attempted port forwarding and believed it worked. So if anyone could confirm this, I believe I've learned that the port forwarding method is superior to what I just wrote above because the settings in qBittorrent make it IMPOSSIBLE for my own connection to be utilized.

airstrea

I believe I was successful in the setup. Here is the execution log, does it look correct for incoming/outgoing all going through AIR?

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent v3.2.0 started

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Options were saved successfully.

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Encryption support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - PeX support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0

6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Encryption support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - PeX support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0

6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Couldn't download favico for url `http://checkmytorrentip.net/favicon.ico`. Reason: `The remote content was not found at the server (404)`

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - External IP: 199.19.94.62

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is successfully listening on interface 10.50.0.226 port: UDP/3477

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is successfully listening on interface 10.50.0.226 port: TCP/3477

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Options were saved successfully.

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'magnet:?xt=urn:btih:70a6a70499f182fee4cf63eac597e7673f9316f4&dn=ipleak.net%20torrent%20detection&tr=https%3a%2f%2fipleak.net%2fannounce.php%3fh%3d70a6a70499f182fee4cf63eac597e7673f9316f4' added to download list.

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'C:\Users\namehere\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\BT_backup\2fa71a2dbb7d53a39373a9c4e2c9d89aaa7a6db1.torrent' resumed. (fast resume)

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'magnet:?xt=urn:btih:9d5b11ab76eb067a858e65bbb2be0324691f97a4&dn=Eminem%20Discography%201996-2014%20%5bJ91%5d' added to download list.

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Encryption support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - PeX support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - DHT support [ON]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is trying to listen on interface 10.50.0.226 port: 3477

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Peer ID: -qB3200-

So, any weaknesses left?

Thanks for all the continued assistance, I appreciate everyones help.

bluesjunior

I believe I was successful in the setup. Here is the execution log, does it look correct for incoming/outgoing all going through AIR?

6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent v3.2.0 started
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Options were saved successfully.
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Encryption support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - PeX support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0
6/9/2015 2:02:28 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Encryption support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - PeX support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0
6/9/2015 2:02:07 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Couldn't download favico for url `http://checkmytorrentip.net/favicon.ico`. Reason: `The remote content was not found at the server (404)`
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - External IP: 199.19.94.62
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is successfully listening on interface 10.50.0.226 port: UDP/3477
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is successfully listening on interface 10.50.0.226 port: TCP/3477
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Options were saved successfully.
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'magnet:?xt=urn:btih:70a6a70499f182fee4cf63eac597e7673f9316f4&dn=ipleak.net%20torrent%20detection&tr=https%3a%2f%2fipleak.net%2fannounce.php%3fh%3d70a6a70499f182fee4cf63eac597e7673f9316f4' added to download list.
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'C:\Users\namehere\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\BT_backup\2fa71a2dbb7d53a39373a9c4e2c9d89aaa7a6db1.torrent' resumed. (fast resume)
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - 'magnet:?xt=urn:btih:9d5b11ab76eb067a858e65bbb2be0324691f97a4&dn=Eminem%20Discography%201996-2014%20%5bJ91%5d' added to download list.
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Embedded Tracker [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Encryption support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Local Peer Discovery support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - PeX support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - DHT support [ON]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Anonymous mode [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - HTTP user agent is qBittorrent v3.2.0
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - UPnP / NAT-PMP support [OFF]
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - qBittorrent is trying to listen on interface 10.50.0.226 port: 3477
6/9/2015 2:02:02 AM - Peer ID: -qB3200-

So, any weaknesses left?

Thanks for all the continued assistance, I appreciate everyones help.

I just checked with my install and other than the obviously different server and forwarded port numbers they are exactly the same, so unless someone points out something i have missed it looks to me that you're good to go.

bluesjunior

My thoughts:

That **** uTorrent is leaky as hell (for example it doesn't respect proxy settings) and the devs have no ethics. Get the latest version of qBittorrent and stick to it. It's light, open source and has good privacy options.

Disable UPnP and NAT-PMP in the options.

Set maximum peers to 1250 global and 250 per torrent.

Set the download port to one you have forwarded via Air's client area. Do NOT open the port on your router.

If you're paranoid you can also set qBittorrent to anonymous mode which prevents incoming connections and changes the client ID. That could (but might not) limit your speeds somewhat.

Set Eddie (Air's client) to automatically apply network lock, and then once you're connected to an Air server open qBittorrent.

Go to advanced in the options and bind qBittorrent to the tun0 interface (might be different in Windows). That will mean only the VPN can be used by qBt. An extra safety net if you will.

You can keep DHT enabled provided you're behind the VPN and running qBittorrent.

You'll be fine after that. Air is safe.
I never knew about that. In my Advanced section I have 4 options over the "Any Interface" option. They are Local Area Connection - Local Area Connection 2 - Isatap - Local Area Connection*9 which one would be the best to use for AirVPN?.
In qBittorrent you can go to the View menu (at the top) and then select 'Execution log'. It will open a tab that lets you see stats about the app and network. Your Local Area Connection will likely be your primary ethernet interface. On my machine (when I tested Win 10) Local Area Connection 2 was the TAP for VPN but since you have ISATAP separate I'd try that first. Just select the interface in the list, hit apply and then check the execution log. When you've found the right one (only one is going to be correct) the log will show something like:

"Listening on 10.xx.xx.xx port xxxx"

The 10.xx.xx.xx IP is the Air IP and is the one that confirms you picked the correct adapter. Be warned that this setting does kill active downloads if the selected interface drops (i.e. VPN dies), but it will not be respected after an application restart. So if you have no VPN and start qBittorrent up, the log will simply say 'invalid interface xxxx' and start downloading anyway. I've asked the dev to fix it but I guess it's on a long list.

Thanks again I never knew about that so I went and tested them, found that Local Area Connection was the one I needed. I tried that Isatap one but didn't get the proper info like I did with the LAC2 connection which in fact is the one that my Windows 7 64bit OS uses for AirVPN and then switches to LAC1 if I switch AirVPN off and go bareback.

FromtheWalls

airstrea: Your setup looks perfect now, both secure and effective. Enjoy Air, you should have no more whining from your ISP

bluesjunior: I think that's common in Windows, that it uses LAC2, it has always been the exact same with me. Another way to check which connection uses the TAP driver is to hover the mouse over your internet connection icon in the toolbar, right click, left click on "open network and sharing center" and then left click on "change network card settings" or whatever it says in english (my OS isn't in english but it should be something like that). There you should get a nice view of your TAP driver and what connection it uses.

produs

Use Vuze and bind your IP from your TAP-Windows Adapter V9. If your VPN goes down it will cut off anything you are downloaing or uploading.

rainmakerraw

Use Vuze and bind your IP from your TAP-Windows Adapter V9. If your VPN goes down it will cut off anything you are downloaing or uploading.

So does qBittorrent mate, and it's a hell of a lot lighter (by an order of magnitude) than Vuze. Since Vuze is written in Java it's hella heavy, and is very convoluted, whereas qBittorrent is very light and effective. Since the OP has it all set up (including binding) there's no need to change, unless he wanted to for some reason. I always find qBittorrent best for download speeds too (I max my 160Mbps line easily).

seranecks

For what it's worth, never use the ISATAP "adapters". They're made when you connect to networks with a certain IPv6 configuration and are (from my experience and knowledge) completely useless for connecting to anything. Though their function is beyond my networking knowledge, in the scope of this, they won't help you.

If you're binding to a specific connection just use the 10.x.x.x connection you get with AirVPN. Do be careful because certain public Wifi providers and maybe a few home router manufacturers use this IP address range too. Air has a list of what IP to expect depending on what type of connection you make (TCP or UDP port 80, 53, 443, etc) so if you reference https://airvpn.org/specs/ you can better determine which connection is yours.

Linux users have it easy they just have to look for tun0 etc, Windows users aren't so lucky. TAP-V9 adapters are made by OpenVPN which Eddie uses.

Hope this helps someone.

produs

Use Vuze and bind your IP from your TAP-Windows Adapter V9. If your VPN goes down it will cut off anything you are downloaing or uploading.

So does qBittorrent mate, and it's a hell of a lot lighter (by an order of magnitude) than Vuze. Since Vuze is written in Java it's hella heavy, and is very convoluted, whereas qBittorrent is very light and effective. Since the OP has it all set up (including binding) there's no need to change, unless he wanted to for some reason. I always find qBittorrent best for download speeds too (I max my 160Mbps line easily).

Well I will have to give qBittorrent a go then. Thanks for the info!!

OpenSourcerer

qBittorrent can call itself light in the first 30 minutes of runtime. At least on Windows it blows itself up over time, so at the end of a day you may have lost 250 MB of RAM to it. uTorrent doesn't do this.

Still, I'd recommend qBittorrent over uTorrent, just because it's open source software, it doesn't have any sort of advertisements in it and I don't experience any issues I'd have using uTorrent, and if, it'd be a configuration thing.

SnotBoogie

Also, consider using a private torrent tracker instead of a public one.

But personally, I wouldn't continue using torrents in your case.

At the very least I would try to avoid it as much as I can and only use it to download stuff that's not available elsewhere.

For TV shows and movies you definitely dont't need torrents.

There are hundreds if not thousands of free streaming / free download websites out there.

Of course you can probably hide the fact that you continue to use torrents from your ISP.

But wouldn't you feel stupid if they terminate you for torrent use when there were literally hundreds of safer alternatives out there that you could have used?

I don't think it's allowed to post sites like these here, but if you want, shoot me a PM and I'll help you find free HD streams / downloads for all the tv shows and movies you want.

But most of the time, you really just have to use Google or any other search engine.

They index A LOT of these sites.

Anonymousvpnuser1

Also, consider using a private torrent tracker instead of a public one.

But personally, I wouldn't continue using torrents in your case.
At the very least I would try to avoid it as much as I can and only use it to download stuff that's not available elsewhere.

For TV shows and movies you definitely dont't need torrents.
There are hundreds if not thousands of free streaming / free download websites out there.

Of course you can probably hide the fact that you continue to use torrents from your ISP.
But wouldn't you feel stupid if they terminate you for torrent use when there were literally hundreds of safer alternatives out there that you could have used?

I don't think it's allowed to post sites like these here, but if you want, shoot me a PM and I'll help you find free HD streams / downloads for all the tv shows and movies you want.
But most of the time, you really just have to use Google or any other search engine.
They index A LOT of these sites.

Don't see where to send private messages but I sure would be interested in that info as well.

OpenSourcerer

Me, too, by the way. Some private tracker which offers HD movies with german and englisch voice tracks.

(Sent via Tapatalk - this generally means I'm not sitting in front of my PC)

Airvpn and torrenting privacy (help needed)

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