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BTGuard vs VPNs


western32

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I don't know if this is the right forum to ask, but there seem to be some knowledgeable people here, so I thought it could be worth the try. There is already another thread on the subject, but this one has for problematic the comparison between different methods of encryption and privacy over the bittorrent protocol:

BTGuard: http://btguard.com/

tutorial: http://btguard.com/utorrent.php

Relakks: https://www.relakks.com/

Torrent Freedom: http://www.torrentfreedom.com/

I've felt over two different kinds of solutions:

- first to overcome ISP throttling over the bittorrent protocol (protocol encryption not being efficacious);

- second to protect the privacy of the actions of the user (which in nature obey moral legitimacy).

The questions would be:

1) BTGuard features 256-bit AES encryption between oneself and the server. Does that mean it's possible for a SOCKS5 proxy to provide encryption?

2) So the VPNs from the 2nd set of solutions offer some benefits over BTGuard, for example by providing encryption. Discussion to be developed?

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Well, a SOCKS proxy by itself is not encrypted. You need something on top of that to provide encryption. For example, an SSH tunnel would provide strong encryption, but the tunnel itself would be presented to your applications through a local SOCKS proxy.

So I guess BTGuard isn't equivalent to a VPN. I didn't read that it was just a SOCKS proxy. It will provide a degree of anonymity, but technically, anyone snooping your traffic would be able to read it.

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Hi,

A question about relakks if i may, as i have just signed up for the trial period.

Once connected to the relakks vpn, is there anything i need to do to get utorrent to route traffic through it, or do i just load up utorrent and it will use the vpn automatically rather than my normal cable providers ip?

What if utorrent is already running when i load up the relakks vpn, would i need to exit and restart utorrent for it to automatically switch to the vpn ip?

Internet explorer certainly seems to be utilizing the relakks ip as a google for 'whats my ip' shows a relakks ip address based in sweden.

Thanks.

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It is automatic. The one problem I saw with the VPN method of masking your real IP is that if the tunnel goes down uTorrent just keeps on connecting to the trackers and peers directly and you are caught out in the open, naked for all to see. :(

My internet connection is not 100% stable so I caught it doing this when I was testing Relakks. I wonder if the kindly uTorrent gods can give us some kind of option to only allow uTorrent to work when a VPN is working? :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Firon said: "Well, a SOCKS proxy by itself is not encrypted. You need something on top of that to provide encryption. For example, an SSH tunnel would provide strong encryption, but the tunnel itself would be presented to your applications through a local SOCKS proxy."

I've just found out that BTGuard in fact does support encryption! It does it via an SSH tunnel (PuTTY): http://btguard.com/install.php

That way, and only by using encryption, I can bypass ISP throttling and download over whatever the imposed limit was.

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In the other thread (which you can access from the first post), Firon said he's "pretty sure DHT is not proxied... So if you don't wanna leak your IP, you have to disable it." My question is, does he think that by following the instructions in the BTGuard page (particularly step #5), one then doesn't really need to disable DHT? Or else maybe are the BTGuard instructions a little bit flawed? Just some curiosity.

Firon - Firon - Firon -- and I really sound like a cheerleader!

P.S.: good work Firon. I don't know the guys behind uTorrent's coding, but I'm not afraid to say I'm sure as hell liking it. :)

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  • 2 months later...

One, maybe stupid, idea on VPN-stability and leak: What about some firewall profile that blocks all communication except that of the VPN? That should stop communication if the VPN goes down?

Crude, yes - but might it work?

I imagine a scenario where one leaves the pc by itself, go for a walk, whilst Utorrent does it stuff so the block should therefore not be a difficulty.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

You forgot about a few things.

1. Disable IPv6 if it is on your system by default. (Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852

2. This:

Firon said: "Well, a SOCKS proxy by itself is not encrypted. You need something on top of that to provide encryption. For example, an SSH tunnel would provide strong encryption, but the tunnel itself would be presented to your applications through a local SOCKS proxy."

I've just found out that BTGuard in fact does support encryption! It does it via an SSH tunnel (PuTTY): http://btguard.com/install.php

That way, and only by using encryption, I can bypass ISP throttling and download over whatever the imposed limit was.

BTGuard actually sounds like a perfect service and I'm actually considering heading on over to their page to sign up!

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