Question about VPNs

[Nathan Drake]

Okay, to start, I would like to get my torrenting going on again after having stopped for several years. I mostly stopped as I was no longer living with my parents (I had a service with a dynamic IP then) and became slightly paranoid about potentially screwing others over. Then when I got to school, I had to be really careful, as getting caught pirating on the network was grounds for losing internet access completely. At that point, I certainly valued my internet access over some free 1080p TV shows and movies.

These days, I live with some roommates, and as I don't own the internet access or even a majority share of the bill, that means I still need to be careful so that I don't end up being the cause of receiving a notice (I just don't trust Comcast). Reading around, I found information on two things:

- VPNs
- Seedboxes

Based on what I saw, a reliable VPN from the likes of PIA would likely be the best option for making sure a lovely notice doesn't arrive that says "stop torrenting". I just don't know if a VPN would actually work worth a damn, or if I should just throw in the towel on torrents and find a decent newsgroup instead.

Any advice?

And yes, I know I'm probably being overly paranoid and you can likely regale me with tales of all the torrenting you've done with nary a notice to be seen, but I would rather err on the side of caution until the day I'm paying my own internet bill.

 

[dicamarques]

its true that you can get caught, but if you only download a few movies and series theres not much of a deal.
And yes if you use a realiable VPN with good speeds you wont even notice the diference, and its more secure.

 

[FAST6191]

If the VPN or seedbox has an endpoint and billing in a country that does not care so much then for simple torrenting it should be fine. I would not go up against a proper law enforcement agency with such a setup but torrents should be good.

Mind you if you already paying then what is the reluctance to go usenet instead?

PIA look to be a slightly different type of VPN, though it should do as they appear to be playing up the more "legitimate" uses of such a service. Being paranoid I would go with something else, something more torrent oriented, or indeed just go with usenet.

 

[Flame]

the thing about torrenting in the states it just doesn’t makes sense.

you(Americans) get the TV shows for free and you get it before anyone else.

as for movies, its a good way to socialize with people by going to the cinema.

for music. just use Spotify/Google all music access which is very cheap for all most every music they is.



but saying that. PIA is maybe one of the best VPN you can get.

don’t use usernames for torrent website if you can, if you have to use different user name for different websites.

 

[FAST6191]

the thing about torrenting in the states it just doesn’t makes sense.

you(Americans) get the TV shows for free and you get it before anyone else.

as for movies, its a good way to socialize with people by going to the cinema.

for music. just use Spotify/Google all music access which is very cheap for all most every music they is.



but saying that. PIA is maybe one of the best VPN you can get.

don’t use usernames for torrent website if you can, if you have to use different user name for different websites.

TV shows, assuming you mainly care about US TV and most of the rest of the world does do some good stuff, that you are probably thinking of tend to get shuttered behind paywalls.
For a crash course I suggest


The cinema, the sooner such an arrangement dies the death of unprofitability the better. However it is a rather expensive game, especially relative to usenet or some kind of paid torrents. Likewise what gets shown at various cinemas, both in general and if you find yourself in the middle of nowhere (the US is noted for being rather big, though Oregon is a better place to be than most).

Music. Now I do actually enjoy seeing actual music stations of a reasonable variety, however tastes and stations do not align and if you are going more off beat, like comedy sketch shows, radio dramas and more... well time to figure out how to get radio stations from elsewhere in the world or take up podcasts.

Of course this says nothing about software, books and whatever else you can download these days.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Get the TV shows for free? Do you know how expensive TV service is? Not every show on TV is conveniently hosted online for free by the broadcasting company for a week after the episode shows or something like that. Not every TV show is easily found in a desirable quality on illicit streaming sites. Sometimes it's nice to know you're getting something high quality, commercial free, with no strings attached.

For movies? Once again, do you know how expensive going to the cinema is? At least $8 per movie, upwards of $11 to $12 for a 3D flick if you're so inclined. They aren't socialite places either. You sit in a dark room, preferably as far away from other people in the theater as possible, and stare at a large screen for between 1.5 and 2.5 hours. It's an expensive habit that the majority only indulge in whenever a movie comes out that they feel they need to see (think: Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, etc.).

Music? Music services hardly have everything, and much less for free in a desirable state. I can use Pandora for basically an ad free playlist since adblock stops their ads, but Spotify? $5 a month and really touch and go depending on what music rights they can procure. If you like popular stuff though, you're set with streaming services like that. Ultimately, once again, it's nice to have something that is guaranteed high quality, no internet or 3G/4G access needed.

Back to my topic though: I've been toying around with the idea of Usenet for awhile. For the longest time I didn't bother because it cost money while torrents were free, but if I'm considering spending cash anyways, it might be beneficial to go with a newsgroup. The only thing is, I tried a newsgroup free trial before, and for the life of me, I could not understand how to use it.

 

[elmoemo]

Use private trackers as well