@IncubusAZ
If you have a plan that gives you 30Mb down you normally get 10Mb up. I accept that the up speed you achieve does depend on how fast the downloader at the other end is able to pull the data. Obviously there has to be someone downloading at all. I have a similar plan. On a reasonably well leeched torrent I routinely get 1 - 1.5 Mb and occasionally as much as 5Mb.

So 500Kbs seems a little low to me. ISPs do throttle P2P traffic once the system spots the pattern, some quicker than others. This they do via the port you use which is why you should always set your torrent client to select a random port on start-up - and restart the client program from time to time.

Thanks for your reply. Am surprised to hear that 500kb is low. I use Utorrent and 500kb is midrange on the upload menu. 1000kbs is the max before you select "unlimited". I even have 2 DSL lines coming into my home. My ISP is CenturyLink which is our major provider here in the Southwest USA. Maybe I should look into switching? Still.... I'm very happy for all the advice here. My upload speed used to be 100kbs or less. Now that I have a better VPN and have my ports forwarded, my upload speed is the most it's ever been since I've been bit torrenting. As far as port selection: I set Utorrent to the port that I'm supposed to use for my VPN that is port forwarded. I wonder if I'm being throttled because I've been given several DMCA Copyright notices over the years. Yet my download speeds are often higher than the 30mb I'm paying for. Should I consider encrypting my torrents? Not sure how much of a load my hot CPU can handle.

So 500Kbs seems a little low to me. ISPs do throttle P2P traffic once the system spots the pattern, some quicker than others. This they do via the port you use which is why you should always set your torrent client to select a random port on start-up - and restart the client program from time to time.

My ports are forwarded properly now using the tips on portforward.com. My upload speeds are as high as can be I think, which is about 500kb/s and my download speeds have exceeded the 30mb of my ISP plan.

Am so glad I asked the question here. And kept trying to understand the answers. Thanks again all of you that helped me.

IncubusAZ

+ What is connection guard on the PrivateVPN client?
Connection guard closes down select applications in the event of a VPN disconnection. After the VPN connection is reestablished, all the activities that were shut down come back to life. (only available for Windows version)

ExpressVPN has an App for Linux, as well as others like MAC computers: When your ExpressVPN loses it's connection, it automatically stops any uploads and downloads (connections). Once Express re-establishes itself, it will then allow data to be transmitted again. My OS is Linux Mint Cinnamon, started with Ubuntu, but it bloated up, so switched around 8 years ago to Linux Mint Cinnamon & never looked back, LoL.

@raphjd This is correct..... PIA is something different. They're based in the United States if I recall correctly which can be considered a red flag. Now.... That being said, they do support port forwarding, however they will randomize the port on each connection, so every time you connect, you must change the port settings in your torrent client.

PrivateVPN on the other hand from https://privatevpn.com/ will do the same on all servers, however for some servers, they support port forwarding for ALL ports, so you don't have to keep changing settings in your torrent client every time you connect.

As for ExpressVPN, they do support port forwarding, however in order to take advantage of this, you must install the VPN service on your router and setup the port forwarding within the router. Not all routers support this option, and by the same token, not all routers that support a VPN connection support ExpressVPN. This potentially makes it more expensive by having to upgrade your home network equipment and get into way more complicated setup to get it going.

Thank you for taking the time to give me some sound advice regarding this. I'm so glad i asked about it. Maybe the above would serve others as a pinned thread somewhere here.

Also, thank you for helping me to decide upon PrivateVPN. I closed my subscription with NordVPN already. Although I don't really understand port forwarding (I did try to but is just way over my head), I accept that it's important for P2P sharing. My Utorrent seems to indicate that I'm forwarded already but I doubt it. What torrent software do you use?

I would likely go mad having to change port settings everytime I connect with PIA. May I assume that I won't have to do anything too technical in getting setup with PrivateVPN?

Am signing up with them now. Thank you so much for not making me feel stupid in asking so many questions. You are very kind.
IncubusAZ

PrivateVPN on the other hand from https://privatevpn.com/ will do the same on all servers, however for some servers, they support port forwarding for ALL ports, so you don't have to keep changing settings in your torrent client every time you connect.

As for ExpressVPN, they do support port forwarding, however in order to take advantage of this, you must install the VPN service on your router and setup the port forwarding within the router. Not all routers support this option, and by the same token, not all routers that support a VPN connection support ExpressVPN. This potentially makes it more expensive by having to upgrade your home network equipment and get into way more complicated setup to get it going.

I'm sure @MrMazda is referring to PrivateVPN, not PIA.

https://privatevpn.com

thoughts??? is it better to have a company based in USA since I'm there too??? What about tunneling and all that other stuff???
Thanks!

If you're looking for a better VPN, I might be inclined to recommend the one I use, which is PrivateVPN. They support port forwarding for ONE port on ALL servers, then also have a list of servers which will forward ALL ports through the VPN to your computer. As well, PrivateVPN does not log anything, so in the event that a copyright troll should look into the peer pool and start cherry picking IP addresses to try to trace, PrivateVPN will not be able to give them any information on you as the subscriber or your real IP address, as none of this information is ever logged in the first place.

Hello Mr Mazda: Is this the VPN you are referring to? Thanks. I might try it. Have cancelled my Nord account today due to the good advice I'm being given here. Much appreciated.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

Thoughts???

https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/torrenting-vpn-torrents

If you're looking for a better VPN, I might be inclined to recommend the one I use, which is PrivateVPN. They support port forwarding for ONE port on ALL servers, then also have a list of servers which will forward ALL ports through the VPN to your computer. As well, PrivateVPN does not log anything, so in the event that a copyright troll should look into the peer pool and start cherry picking IP addresses to try to trace, PrivateVPN will not be able to give them any information on you as the subscriber or your real IP address, as none of this information is ever logged in the first place.

Hello Mr. Mazda: I am taking your advice to heart and am cancelling my NordVPN subscription today by not renewing.

You obviously have much more knowledge than me about VPN. Would you be kind enough to compare this ExpressVPN link (specifically the Advanced Features) to the Private VPN you recommend?

https://www.expressvpn.com/features

Please tell me if Express VPN is any better or the same as the Private VPN that you suggest? It looks very similar and I'm left wondering if features are the same. There's also cost to consider between the two.

If it helps, I'm in the USA and use mostly public torrent servers, except for a few private gay ones, and sometimes Demonoid.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to reply. I really do appreciate your sound advice and am taking it today.
Regards,
IncubusAZ
PS: Thanks to everyone else who gave advice too on this matter.

I asked about VPN here because I'm very afraid of downloading something underage. I always stay away from anything "twink" or with "boi/boy" in the title/description. Because my best friend here got raided for supposed "underage porn" and took his life rather than be listed as a sex offender.

It didn't seem to matter to local law enforcement whether or not a studio had proof of legal age. His collection of porn was far too extensive for his court appointed lawyer to deal with. She just wanted him to plead guilty to lesser charges but he would still have been listed as a sex offender here.

In many courtrooms what's considered "indecent" is a matter left up to a community of local people. We're in a conservative state here and it did not bode well for him.

If he had had a good VPN they might not have caught him. Again, thanks for your reply. It is not lost on me that NordVPN isn't the best choice for me anymore. Maybe it never was....

NordVPN seems like the best service to use when viewing stuff from other countries.

Surf Shark is supposed to be pretty secure, but whenever I try using it to watch Amazon Prime in the US, they know I'm using a VPN and block me. Same with NetFlix and Disney+.