A lot of users think that using BitTorrent technology is illegal but this is not true. And it is quite natural to think so because this technology has been used for media privacy a lot. So, people who haven’t ever used BitTorrent think that this is the only use and aren’t able to separate individual use from the purpose of the BitTorrent technology.
However, a BitTorrent is only a file-sharing protocol that saves the files on the users’ computers. Later, when someone wishes to download a file, they receive the pieces of the files from all these other computers via a peer-to-peer network. And when the bits are being put together by your computer build a copy of this file, the bits of the file are further passed on to other computers.
Finally, when you have the file completely downloaded on your computer, it starts sending bits of the files to other users who are downloading and this process is called seeding. At all times, there needs to be one seed on the network for a file for the reconstruction of the file on a different computer.
What is the Use of Torrents?
One important point to keep in mind is that BitTorrent has a lot of legitimate uses. A lot of companies use this file-sharing protocol to distribute the data among their clients and save additional high costs. Apart from that, it is also widely used in sharing DRM-free software and open-source software with a mass user base.
BitTorrent is a great way to distribute data with masses without having to purchase a separate server or bandwidth to make this possible. As a result, you don’t need central hosting for sharing information with a large audience which makes technology perfect for small businesses and non-profit companies.
How to Use Torrents
One of the most conventional methods of using this technology is to download a torrent on your local PC. For this, you need to install a torrent client on your PC and the torrent file that you wish to download. Once your torrent client is installed and ready, you just need to open the torrent file with it and your download will instantly commence.
Most people still use this method of torrenting but there are a lot of reasons why you should not directly torrent. Instead, you should use a Seedbox for torrenting.
What is a Seedbox and How is it Better?
A seedbox is a remote computer server located in a high-speed data center and is used for downloading and uploading files. As a result, it is widely used for torrenting purposes. When you have successfully downloaded the torrent file on your seedbox, you can download it to your local computer using a file-sharing protocol other than BitTorrent.
But why should you use a seedbox?
Well, there are several reasons for using a seedbox while torrenting. Primarily, a seedbox is helpful in avoiding penalties or warnings from your ISP when you use torrents. Since BitTorrent is widely associated with piracy and uses a lot of internet bandwidth, a few ISPs often reduce the BitTorrent traffic and make them useless.
Another advantage of using a seedbox is that since it is located in high-speed data centers, it offers better speed and bandwidth for downloading torrent files.
Finally, the best thing about the seedbox is that it doesn’t use your local bandwidth. This is really important because sometimes you might have an asymmetrical connection that could lead to slower upload speed and can harm your upload ratio.
A seedbox is an efficient way to get higher speeds when torrenting by seeding files at a high upload ratio. This technology ensures that it offers more bandwidth to generous seeders that use the same tracker.
How to Get a Seedbox and Access It
Well, getting a seedbox is quite simple and is as easy as subscribing to an online service. There are several free seedbox services out there but you should avoid getting those as they cannot be used and display annoying advertisements. You don’t have to purchase an expensive seedbox for torrenting, you can easily find a seedbox service that costs 10 USD or less.
So, choose a good seedbox for yourself in your budget and once you have signed up, you will receive an email with your seedbox account details. This will include information like the URL to access your seedbox, your username, password, and the SFTP access details.
Note down this information as you will need it whenever you are using your seedbox.
How to Access your Seedbox and Download Torrents
After creating your seedbox account, you can follow these steps to access it and start using it for downloading torrent files:
- In the welcome email, click on the URL mentioned to access the seedbox account.
- You will be asked for your username and password. Enter the details that you have earlier received in your email.
- Once you are logged in, you will see the web interface of your seedbox account. Now, click on the torrent web client that is pre-installed on your seedbox, it could be ruTorrent, deluge, or Transmission.
- Now your torrent client is open and ready to be used on your seedbox so, you need to search for a torrent file that you wish to download.
- You will need to navigate to the torrent websites to find the torrent file for your software or application. Once you have found the torrent file, click on the torrent file link and wait for the download to complete.
- Next, drag your recently downloaded torrent file from your download location to the seedbox torrent client and your download will start instantaneously.
- Generally, it would take a couple of minutes for the torrent file to be completely downloaded. Once it is downloaded, you can leave it for a while for seeding or you can right-click on the file and select the ‘Stop’ option to stop the seeding process.
Your torrent file is now successfully downloaded on your seedbox and can be downloaded to your local PC now.
How to Download Files on your PC Using WinSCP
Although you can download your seedbox files on your local PC using the direct Web browser method, this is not advisable. This type of file transfers isn’t secure and can be interrupted in the middle of the download which will result in you having to put the file for download again.
One of the best methods for transferring files from seedbox to your local PC is via SFTP connection. For this, you would need an SFTP client like WinSCP to connect your seedbox to your local PC and transfer the files securely using an encrypted file transfer protocol. So, when you are downloading your files to your local computer, no one will know what it is that you are downloading and you will be able to enjoy the full high speed on these connections as ISPs don’t see normal file transfers as a threat.
If you wish to use WinSCP to download your files on seedbox to your local PC too, then just follow these steps:
- Head to the official WinSCP website at https://winscp.net/ to download the application for your computer.
- Next, click on the ‘Download’ menu tab and you will be taken to the download page for WinSCP.
- Here, click on the ‘Download’ button to start WinSCP download. After the download is complete, double-click on the installation file to begin the installation process.
- Follow the installation instructions and let the software get installed on your PC. Once it is successfully installed, launch the application.
When you launch WinSCP on your computer, you will see the login screen where you will need to add a new site connection. Follow the below steps to connect to your Seedbox account and begin file transfers:
- Get the SFTP details from the email that you received or your Seedbox’s client area.
- Now, enter the following details for the New Site connection: File Protocol – SFTP
Host Name – Your Seedbox URL
Username – SFTP username from your seedbox
Password – SFTP password from your seedbox
Port Number – Leave it blank
- After entering these details, click on the ‘Save’ button so that WinSCP remembers these credentials for the next session. Next, click on the ‘OK’ button and then click on the ‘Login’ button to log in to your seedbox via SFTP connection.
- You might receive a warning about the URL that you are accessing but you can ignore it. Also, if you hadn’t saved your password in the last step, then you will be prompted to enter your password now after that you will be logged in.
- You will now see the seedbox folders on the right-hand side and the local folders on the left-hand side. Now, select the file that you wish to download to your computer and right click on it. Select Download – Download in Background option.
- Choose the local folder to start the transfer and you will notice your downloading starting now.
Now, you can sit back and relax while your files get safely download to your local computer via a fast, anonymous, and secure connection.
