Bittorrent: How to bypass ISP torrent throttling

If you use Bittorrent and find that you are having trouble with slow downloads or connecting to peers, you are probably being throttled. P2P file sharing takes up lots of bandwidth, so your internet provider is probably doing his best to limit your download speeds. Comcast, Time Warner, ETC would much rather have 5 customers who just check email than 20 customers sharing files with bittorrent.

How to tell if you're being throttled:

If you're upload/download speeds using your bittorrent client are less than half the speed of your internet connection, you are being throttled.

How to avoid being throttled:

There are a couple ways to bypass bittorrent throttling. The easiest and most effective way to avoid being throttled when using bittorrent is to sign up for a VPN service like BTGuard or TorentPrivacy.

The VPN service creates an encrypted private connection that is routed through a super high bandwidth remote server. All of your internet traffic including bittorrent will be routed through this VPN (virtual private network). Your data is then put in an encrypted tunnel before going back to your computer through your ISP. Because the data is encrypted, your ISP can see you are connecting to a VPN, but cannot see any of the data or tell where it is coming from, and therefor cannot throttle you.

What are the advantages of a VPN?

• Bypass throttling for maximum/upload and download speeds
• Remain anonymous (your torrent activity can't be traced to your real IP address)
• All of your internet traffic is encrypted which helps protect you from other threats like identity theft.

What is a good VPN service for bittorrent?

There are a number of VPN services designed specifically for bittorrent users. They feature easy 1-click connection, and most of them offer a free custom version of a popular bittorrent client that is already set up for connection to the VPN.

Three of the best VPN services for bittorrent are:

• Private Internet Access
• Torguard
• IBVPN
• BTguard

Also, Torguard and IBVPN both offer free trial periods with no payment info required. All these VPN's have a moneyback guarantee between 7-30 days (except BTGuard)

How much does a bittorrent VPN connection cost?

Almost all of the best VPN services for bittorrent are priced around $4-10 per month. The benefits of a VPN are tremendous if you are going to use file sharing software like bittorrent. It would be hard to find a better way to spend 10 bucks.

How do I know which VPN to choose for bittorrent?
The Best Bittorrent VPN Guide has reviews and ratings on many of the best anonymous VPN and proxy services for use with bittorrent.