You can use Private Internet Access with qBittorrent to download your favorite shows, music, and other files by setting up the apps correctly. You can also bind the VPN client to the torrent client for better privacy and security.
More than just a VPN with military-grade encryption for private torrenting, PIA offers P2P servers and features like port forwarding and SOCKS5 for faster downloads.
Follow my guides below to set up Private Internet Access with qBittorrent and help the torrent client reach its full potential!
How to Use PIA With qBittorrent?
Apply these steps to use PIA with qBittorrent:
- Click here to get PIA’s exclusive discount offer.
- Click “Try PIA VPN Now.”
- Select the right plan for you. The longer-term plans offer the best value for money and savings.
- Choose your preferred payment method and complete your order.
- Use your sign-up credentials to log in to your PIA account.
- Download and install the app on your torrenting device.
- Launch your app and go to Settings > Privacy to enable the VPN Kill Switch or Advanced Kill Switch.
- Connect to a VPN server with low latency for fast download speeds.
- Go to the official qBittorrent website to download and install the application.
- Launch qBittorrent and start torrenting.
Now, you can torrent under the radar using a protected connection.
Remember to activate the PIA Kill Switch to ensure complete protection even when your connection drops or the VPN fails.
What Is the Best PIA Protocol for qBittorrent?
The best PIA protocol for qBittorrent using a desktop computer or a laptop is WireGuard.
In my tests, WireGuard was 43% faster on average than OpenVPN.
Here’s a summary of my results connected to three recommended PIA servers:
| Server | OpenVPN | WireGuard |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 46.64 Mbps | 50.49 Mbps |
| Nigeria | 29.45 Mbps | 34.27 Mbps |
| Spain | 31.11 Mbps | 39.79 Mbps |
To connect to WireGuard, simply:
- Launch your app and click the dots in the top right.
- Click “Settings.”
- Click “Protocols,” then toggle to WireGuard.
How to Setup PIA SOCKS5 Proxy for qBittorent?
Setting the PIA SOCKS5 proxy for qBittorrent is straightforward using the Windows app. I’ll walk you through the steps:
- Purchase a Private Internet Access subscription.
- Log in to your PIA web account and download and install the app.
- Launch the app and enable the OpenVPN protocol under “Settings.”
- Connect to a server and note the VPN IP address.
- Click Settings > Multi-Hop and ensure “Multi-hop and Obfuscation” is enabled.
- Click “SOCKS5 Proxy.”
- Enter your server’s VPN IP in the SOCKS5 Proxy Server IP Address window. Click “OK.”
- Note the SOCKS5 Proxy Host.
- Open qBittorrent and click Tools > Options.
- Click “Connection.”
- Change the Proxy Server Type to “SOCKS5.”
- Enter the host IP PIA provided into qBittorrent’s host window and set the port to “1080.”
- Enable or disable proxy usage settings according to your preference.
- Click “OK.”
Can You Seed Torrents on qBittorent With Private Internet Access?
Yes, you can seed torrents on qBittorrent with Private Internet Access!
This is thanks to its port forwarding feature.
Here’s how you can use PIA to seed torrents on qBittorrent:
- Purchase a PIA plan and download the app to your qBittorrent device.
- Launch your app and navigate to the settings menu.
- Click “Network.”
- Enable “Request Port Forwarding.”
- Exit settings and connect to a server.
- Copy the port number found under the VPN server IP.
- Open qBittorrent and cllick Tools > Options.
- Click “Connection.”
- Disable “Use UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding from my router.”
- Enter the copied port number from PIA in the window for “Port used for incoming connections.”
- Click “OK.”
- Go to a trusted torrenting site to download the file you want to seed.
- Once your file has been downloaded, leave it to run.
- Allow the file to seed until the ratio reaches “1” or more. A ratio of 1 indicates you’ve successfully seeded as much as you’ve downloaded.
How to Bind PIA VPN to qBittorent?
Instead of relying on the kill switch alone, you can bind PIA to qBittorrent for a bulletproof connection.
To do this, you must:
- Get a PIA subscription. Get an exclusive deal here.
- Download and install the PIA app on your torrenting device.
- Launch the app and connect to a server.
- Copy the VPN IP address.
- Open qBittorrent and click Tools > Options > Advanced.
- Open the dropdown menu next to “Network interface.” Select the interface referring to PIA. Click Apply > OK.
- Restart qBittorrent.
- To test if the bind is working, disconnect from the VPN and try to download a file. If the bind is successful, the download will stall until you connect to a PIA server.
How to Improve qBittorent Speeds on PIA?
Apart from using a fast protocol like WireGuard – like I mentioned above – there are several other ways to improve qBittorrent speeds on PIA.
Connect to Nearby Servers
PIA makes it easy for users to find the fastest servers by listing them according to the best latency.
These nearby servers offer faster download speeds because your internet traffic now has a shorter physical distance to cover from your device to the server than a connection to a server on the other side of the world.
Disable Local Security Software
Local security software like firewalls can slow a PIA VPN connection by filtering or inspecting the data packets from the service.
However, if you disable the software, you remove the filtering and inspection, and your VPN and torrenting speeds will be enhanced. Of course, this method poses risks.
Alternatively, add the VPN to your firewall/antivirus/security software’s exclusion list.
Enable Port Forwarding
PIA’s port forwarding allows qBittorrent users to connect internal and external networks, thus increasing peer connections and download speeds.
I applied the steps above to connect PIA port forwarding to qBittorrent and saw notable speed differences.
Here, I am downloading a 168.4 MiB copyright-free version of House of the Rising Sun with port forwarding enabled on both VPN and qBittorrent clients.
Here, I am downloading the same file with port forwarding disabled:
The port forwarding setup was significantly faster, and my torrent was completed in 2 minutes compared to the 5 minutes I had to wait with the regular connection.
Proof that port forwarding improves torrenting!
Time to Use PIA With qBittorrent!
My demonstrations show it’s easy to set up Private Internet Access with qBittorrent – and the VPN can be applied in numerous ways.
Get PIA for qBittorrent now to benefit from safer, faster downloads and seeding.
Plus, the VPN can also be used for other clients, like BitTorrent.
