Not every VPN has what takes to download torrent files quickly and securely, but with Surfshark‘s great price and popularity, it’s worth looking into how good this VPN truly is for torrenting.
So, does Surshark make the cut?
The short answer is: Absolutely! Surfshark is fast, secure, private, and has P2P-enabled servers, making it a solid choice for torrent clients.
This article has the scoop on all of the great features Surshark offers for torrent downloads, and the information you need on how to do so privately and securely.
If you are like most torrent users, you’re going to want to check Surfshark as a torrenting VPN before you commit to a long contract, and Surfhark has you covered with its 30-day money-back guarantee, so you have absolutely no reason to hold back!
In a Hurry? Here’s a Quick Overview of Surfshark for Torrenting
Here’s How to Torrent Safely with Surfshark
Torrenting safely and privately isn’t just a matter of enabling your VPN, though that’s the most important first step!
Here are all the steps you need to take to ensure the utmost security and privacy while torrenting with Surfshark.
- Purchase a subscription to Surfshark and download the VPN app to your torrenting device.
- Important: Enable the Kill Switch under the preferences menu on macOS or the connectivity settings on Windows and Android.
- Select the OpenVPN UDP protocol.
- Select a VPN server. For the fastest speeds, select a server closest to your physical location, and be sure you select one of the P2P-enabled servers. (Just search for P2P in the server menu.)
- Confirm that there are no IP leaks. You can do this using IPleak.net.
- Download and install your torrent client. Surfshark works with QBittorrent, BitTorrent, uTorrent Deluge, and Vuze.
- Open your torrenting client.
- Download your files.
- Close your torrent client, and then you can safely disconnect from your VPN server.
It’s as simple as that!
Is Surfshark Good for Torrenting?
In short: Yes!
Surfshark has all the safety and privacy features that you could want in a torrenting VPN.
Its notable safety features include AES-256-bit encryption, a Kill Switch, Double VPN, and obfuscation. It also supports torrenting on all of its servers.
Surfshark also has the privacy protection users want for torrenting, maintaining a strict no-logs policy, and it is based in the privacy-friendly British Virgin Islands, which is not a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes Information-Sharing Alliance.
Download speeds with Surfshark are good, and all of the servers are P2P optimized.
The most appealing feature for many users, though, is that this VPN is incredibly well-priced.
If you are looking for a VPN that supports port forwarding, though, Surfshark doesn’t make the cut.
Does Surfshark Provide Good Speed for Torrenting?
Overall, Surfshark offers good speed for torrenting, especially if you choose the right torrent client and VPN protocol.
Here are some examples of speeds with a Surfshark torrent:
When using BitTorrent, speeds were tested using the Surfshark Wireguard Protocol as compared to OpenVPN, and despite its reputation for being the fastest, Wireguard proved to be slower than OpenVPN when using Surfshark VPN for torrenting.
During Surfshark torrenting speed tests, It took 43 seconds to download a 9.82 MB file with an average download speed of 243 MB/s without a VPN. Using Wireguard with Surfshark, the same file downloaded in 1 minute and 37 seconds with an average download speed of 107 MB/s as compared to an OpenVPN download of the same file, which took 65 seconds with an average download speed of 159 MB/s.
Download speed also varies by torrenting client. For example, according to speed tests using qBittorrent, it took 112 seconds to download a 3.11 GB file with an average speed of 222.14 MB/s without a VPN. It took 145 seconds with an average download speed of 171.58 MB/s on a local Surfshark server, and 148 seconds with an average download speed of 157.46 MB/s when connected to a long-distance Surfshark server.
Download speeds were less impressive when using uTorrent‘s free client interface with Surfshark. Without using a VPN server, it took 153 seconds to download a 3.11 GB file, with an average download speed of 162.61 MB/s. When connected to a local Surfshark VPN server, the download took 14 minutes 53 seconds, the average download speed was 27.86 MB/s. Speeds weren’t much different when connected to a long-distance VPN server, with the download taking a whopping 14 minutes and 43 seconds with an average download speed of 28.17 MB/s.
Slower download speeds when using a VPN are expected since it takes time to encrypt all of the data going through the VPN tunnel, but when using Surfshark for torrenting, the overall speed is good.
Surfshark (Torrent) Main Features
In addition to its great price and unlimited simultaneous connections, Surshark offers lots of great features.
Here are some of the features Surshark provides:
Kill Switch
If your VPN connection drops for any reason, the Surfshark Kill Switch will automatically disconnect you from the Internet, making sure there is no leak of data or your actual IP address. Just make sure to enable the Kill Switch in your VPN settings so you can torrent safely!
Leak Protection
DNS requests can create security vulnerabilities to your Internet connection even when using VPN servers.
It’s possible to accidentally reveal your IP address when there is a DNS request, which compromises your online security and privacy and opens you up to DDoS attacks.
Surfshark VPN provides reliable IP and DNS leak protection, confirmed using the ipleak.net, where testing indicated that the user’s real IP address remained hidden and DNS requests were not revealed.
Zero Logs
Rest assured your data and IP address will remain private when you torrent with Surfshark. Surfshark maintains a strict no-logs policy and is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is outside the jurisdiction of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.
Encryption (from Internet Service Providers and More)
Surfshark’s military-grade encryption ensures that all of your online traffic is indecipherable, even to your own internet service provider, so you can safely torrent.
There are several secure protocols available, including Wireguard, IKEv2, L2TP, and OpenVPN. While all demonstrated reasonable torrent speeds, the fastest protocol to download torrents with Surfshark was the OpenVPN protocol.
MultiHop Mode
MultiHop mode is Surfshark’s version of double VPN, which provides VPN users with an extra layer of security. When you enable this, your VPN traffic gets routed through two different servers, usually in two different countries.
Keep in mind that using the MultiHop mode will make downloading torrents slower.
Split Tunneling
The Whitelisting feature allows you to identify the torrent client you want and send its traffic through your VPN tunnel while the remainder of your Internet traffic is sent through your ISP.
Clean Web
This is a built-in ad-blocking and malware protection feature that helps shield you from a torrent file with embedded malware.
Camouflage Mode
This feature will obfuscate your traffic, masking your IP address and making it appear that your VPN usage is, in fact, normal HTTPS traffic.
SOCKS5
Surfshark supports the SOCKS5 proxy connection protocol popular within the torrenting community. Users love it for its incredibly fast speeds, but keep in mind it gets those great download speeds by not encrypting your data, so it doesn’t offer the same level of protection.
It is also important to note Surfshark does not support port forwarding.
Surfshark Company Info
Surfshark is a cybersecurity company whose products include VPN, Antivirus, a data leak detection system, a private search tool, and an automated personal data removal system.
Surfshark was named the best VPN of 2020 by CNN, and in 2021, Surfshark was named Best VPN by the Trusted Review Awards.
In 2022 Surfshark, merged with NordVPN, though the two VPN services continue to function independently.
The VPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, so you are safe from the prying eyes of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.
What Do People Say About Surfshark?
Here are a few of the great reviews from Surfshark customers:
“I’ve been using it for the past few months and it works really well for me for both torrenting and Netflix” – Reddit
“Their speeds are very good for me now, too, and I’ve found German servers to work best for torrenting” – Reddit
“Surfshark seems to be the best bang for your buck as far as VPNs go, and they work with some of my favorite content creators, too.” – Twitter
“I must say I’m very happy with their product. Very easy to use. Very good subscription plans” – Twitter
Other Good VPN Services for Torrenting
Here are some other great torrenting VPNs available on the VPN market.
1. ExpressVPN – Widespread VPN Server Network
One of the best VPNs for downloading files quickly and safely is ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN supports P2P sharing across the entire server network, and it is also incredibly fast.
This VPN has a strict no-logs policy, a Kill Switch, leak protection, and military-grade encryption.
ExpressVPN features include split tunneling and Perfect Forward Secrecy for extra security.
You can set up port forwarding on a router running ExpressVPN, and you can download files using any of the common torrenting clients, including qBittorent, uTorrent, and BitTorrent.
2. NordVPN – Secure VPN to Use with your Torrent Client
NordVPN is another reliable VPN for torrenting, with plenty of P2P-supported servers in its server network for easy torrenting with good download speed, unlimited data, and unlimited bandwidth.
The VPN has all the security and privacy features you want for torrenting, including 256-bit encryption, a no-logs policy, a Kill Switch, and leak protection.
Additional features with NordVPN include split tunneling, double encryption, and obfuscated servers.
NordVPN does not offer port forwarding.
3. Private Internet Access (PIA) – Good Port Forwarding VPN
Every server in the PIA network is P2P enabled for torrenting, and PIA offers the port forwarding feature, which many VPNs lack.
It has all the security and privacy that users need for torrenting, including a zero-logs policy, the best encryption, a Kill Switch, and DNS & IP leak protection, and it is fast enough to support torrenting.
The problem with this VPN provider is that it is based in the privacy-unfriendly USA, which is a member of the 5-Eyes Alliance.
4. IPVanish – Whole Network is P2P Servers
IPVanish is a well-priced and reliable service that is designed to work well for torrenting since all of its servers are enabled for P2P file sharing.
It has good speed and doesn’t have any caps on bandwidth or data. It also has good security and privacy protection, including 256-bit encryption, a Kill Switch, DNS and IP leak protection, and a zero-logs policy.
FAQs
Yes! Surfshark declares itself to be a “torrent-friendly VPN that has everything you need.”
You will find P2P servers in every country where torrenting is legal, and if you happen to connect to the wrong one, it will re-route you to torrent-friendly servers, typically either a Canadian server or a server in the Netherlands.
Yes! It’s a good VPN for torrenting.
Surfshark’s P2P servers provide fast torrenting and great security features.
One noticeable feature it does not provide is port forwarding support. Users who don’t forward their BitTorrent port can only share their files with users who forward their ports.
Conclusion
Surfshark is one of the top VPNs on the market that fully supports torrenting.
Surfshark’s servers are P2P-enabled, and there is no Surfshark limit on data or bandwidth, so you can maintain good speed even while downloading large files.
The privacy and security features on Surfhsark VPN are top-of-the-line and include the best encryption available, a Kill Switch, DNS and IP leak protection, and a strict zero-logs policy.
