After the Mullvad fiasco I decided to stop using VPNs all together, since port forwarding is always going to be a problem on all of them, if you read the reasons why Mullvad had to shut down that service.

There is a better way using i2p which conceals your IP and makes it impossible for anyone to know what or if you’re downloading at all! No DMCA notices, no problem.

I wrote this small guide to another comment and figured I’d share it in its own post since I’m seeing so many people ask for VPN recommendations.

So there are 2 main implementations of i2p. First is the main Dev’s Java client here https://geti2p.net/en/download

The other is i2pd, which is C++.

I use the Java one personally but both would work. Someone posted back on reddit a guide on /r/i2p for qbittorrent, which is what I use now for this too. The guide was shared as a public torrent you can download with this info hash: 3f1d51095f9b116739172c1bced149acf2b10692

Use that hash with any of the various public trackers and you should be able to download that guide.

But if you just want a basic setup, that Java client comes with i2psnark, which is a Bittorrent client already setup.

The only other thing you want to do is go and search the biggest tracker for stuff, which is called PaTracker, Postman’s tracker. http://tracker2.postman.i2p, only accessible from i2p itself, which you’ll need to have setup and running first to view.

This tracker needs more seeders and uploaders in general, and by improving those things service for everyone is better. So the more the merrier.

Thanks! Feel free to ask any questions, there also might be other people who use i2p now for torrenting. I’m sure they’ll help too.

    • karce@wizanons.devOP
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      1 year ago

      Mullvad disabled port forwarding due to bad people abusing it. It would happen to anyone honestly.

      • Bistro@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        If thats what the poster is calling a “fiasco”, thats a bit much. I was curious what Port forwarding was when that announcement first happened and Mullvad themselves said if you didn’t know what Port forwarding was before their announcement, nothing was changing for you in regards to their services. This is only a fiasco (to my understanding) if you’re someone who file-shares/torrent. Not saying the poster is spreading bad faith or whatever of course.

        • karce@wizanons.devOP
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          1 year ago

          Lots of people were looking for new VPNs because of it and Mullvad was officially taken off the list of recommended VPNs (on /r/vpntorrenting) because of this change. I always seed a lot because I have unlimited data so this change forced me to stop using Mullvad.

          • Bistro@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Yeah I realized my dumbness when I reread the post again a third time and used logic. I just simply didn’t read hence why I deleted my comment like 10 minutes after I posted it. My fault on that one.

      • goinroguein10@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Does this have any serious implications for the average VPN user? Like would any torrenting reveal your IP without port forwarding?

        • karce@wizanons.devOP
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          1 year ago

          Nope. Disabling port forwarding protects Mullvad from legal liability with respect to illegal content being hosted through their service. Your IP wouldn’t be revealed with or without port forwarding.

      • 4am@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Can’t say i blame them if it was basically becoming the “clearnet CP site” solution.

      • ReCursing@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Bah! And i have about three quarters of a year paid up with them! Oh well, so long as I can still torrents some I’m sure I’ll be okay