BitTorrent now does not provide the same level of protection that it once did. Today, everybody is looking for ways to control your internet activity, to eavesdrop on what you are downloading, or even to send you advertisements. If you are using BitTorrent, you definitely need to take safety measures to protect your identity. Here is how you can do that with the help of a simple proxy.
How To Easily Set Up the Private Internet Access Proxy?
It is actually quite easy to set up a proxy, all you need to do is to sign up for a service and check some boxes in the BitTorrent client that you use. For this guide, we’ll be using uTorrent for Windows as the BitTorrent client and Private Internet Access as the proxy. I’m sure that you can quite easily alter it to match your own setup.
Step One: Signing Up for Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access is basically a VPN provider. What is really helpful here is the SOCKS5 proxy that accompanies their VPN service. You can visit the Private Internet Access’ web site start using their VPN service. We suggest starting with one of their monthly plans first to check whether it really suits you. and then, later on, go for a full year plan. Once you are done, Private Internet Access will send your username and password in an email. You can, of course, change your password later.
Step Two: Generating a Proxy Password
Your account username and password only help in managing your account; a new set of credentials will be needed for the Proxy service. You’ll have to click “Generate Password” button under “PPTP/L2TP/SOCKS Password” in the client control panel. This is how the BitTorrent client will be configured. Once you have safely stored the info, you can move on to the next step.
Step Three: Configuring Your BitTorrent Client
Now in uTorrent, you need to go to Options > Preferences > Connection. Choose Socks5 as the “Type” under Proxy Server.
Then you need to enter the information below
- Type in Proxy Type: Socks5
- Check Proxy Host: proxy-nl.privateinternetaccess.com
- Proxy Port: 1080
- Username: The Username that you stored in step two from “Your Private Internet Access Proxy.”
- Password: The Password that you stored in step two from “Your Private Internet Access Proxy.”
All of the other boxes under “Proxy” and “Proxy Privacy” need to be selected.
Step Four: Test If It is Working
To make sure that it is set up properly, you can visit Torguard’s IP Checker. This site tells you your IP address, which you can match with the IP address of your torrent client. This will confirm whether your proxy is functioning as it should. To assess it, click “Generate Torrent” button, and open a torrent in uTorrent. Furthermore, reopen your browser and under the “Check IP” tab, next click on the “refresh” icon. It should show a different IP address (which would most probably be in the Netherlands). This means that Private Internet Access is effectively redirecting all your internet traffic and you can download torrents safely.