Download and Access Torrents When ISP / Network Admin Blocks P2P Traffic

Torrents are most popular way to download Pirate Movies, Music and Software. This led to blocking of Torrent download and sites hosting them. Downloading in traditional way using Torrent client becomes impossible where network admin has blocked P2P traffic.

We already covered How to Access Blocked Websites at Work, School, College, etc. In this article, we will discuss on How to unblock and access Torrent sites or Public trackers and also download Torrents.

How to access Torrent Sites and Search Engines
First thing which ISP did (in India) is blocking major Torrent search engines like Torrentz.eu and many more including ThePiratebay.se It can be unblocked and accessed to search and download torrents using following ways:

1. Change DNS

Switch from ISP default DNS to Google DNS or Open DNS. You have to change Computer Network Connection settings to use their DNS Server addresses instead of default. This instantly unblocks access to all sites which were blocked by Court Orders.

2. Use Proxy

This is popular solution and doesn’t need administrator privileges. Access the desired website to download torrents via Proxy servers. Quick Google Search to find Proxy sites will give you number of results for Proxy sites (HideMyAss.com is my favorite). Go to Proxy site first and enter the URL you want to access i.e. Torrent site (thepiratebay.se).

3. Use VPN

Virtual Private Networks is another solution quite sophisticated than using proxy. Not just accessing Torrent site but also it can be used to actually download Torrent using Torrent client on a network where P2P traffic is blocked. Free VPN are often unreliable and offer less speed. I personally use ibVPN to overcome country specific restrictions.

How to Download via Torrents when P2P Traffic is Blocked

This is a case of elevated restrictions on Torrents often seen in school, college, education institutes, office and at enterprise level. Here, even though you can access Torrent sites but torrent client won’t be able to download torrent when queued up because the Protocol is disabled.

This is the reason I suggested to enable Encryption in uTorrent while discussing uTorrent download speed increasing tips so that ISP couldn’t recognize the P2P traffic. But, there are chances that you are still detected on network and couldn’t download so, here are other ways to bypass this restriction.

1. Web Torrent Client – Bitlet

If you cannot download and install Torrent client or if P2P Torrent Traffic is blocked then use Torrent client Web UI in your web browser without installing anything.

1a. Java Based Web UI

Bitlet.org is a Java based Torrent client on Browser. Just upload .torrent file from local computer or enter URL where it is hosted and download begins.

1b. Browser Plugin

Littleshoot is a P2P plugin which allows you to download bittorrent files right from your browser.

2. Download Torrent via HTTP

When P2P protocol isn’t supported, you can download torrent content to some server (remote computer) and then download that file via HTTP on your computer. You have two options to do that either setup your own seedbox (own server i.e. Virtual Private Server) or use dedicated services.

2a. Setting up Seedbox

You need your own Hosting space with PHP support. There are scripts available to control Torrent downloading via Web UI remotely. For example: TorrentFux, ruTorrent, etc. Learn more about setting up Seedbox on Web Server.

2b. Using Dedicated Services

Torrenthandler is a web service which lets you download torrent content via HTTP. What they actually do is content is first downloaded on their servers and then you can download t via direct HTTP link using download managers.

Both of the above solutions guarantees anonymity, bypasses P2P Torrent restrictions and offers faster download as compared to direct torrent download which is mainly dependent on Seed Peer ratio.

If you are too much worried about Upload ratio only then there are services to increase ratio on torrent trackers without uploading.

I hope these solutions will unblock all P2P and Torrent download restriction on any ISP Network. Were you using something else somewhat more reliable than what I mentioned? Do let us know by commenting below.