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So....my ISP has a data throttling policy between the hours of 3pm and midnight or at high data usage times. This is ruining my torrent download speeds. I'm still a newbie when it comes to Linux so be gentle but I have Googled around and seen that a VPN will mask my IP and should return the speeds to normal as the ISP can not determine location. Is this correct??

Also I only have a single machine and am wondering if it is even possible to set up a VPN with a single machine for free?

Any other suggestions for avoiding throttling are greatly appreciated.

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Are you sure your ISP is purposely throttling your internet speeds? Evenings are generally the busiest times for the internet, maybe everyone in your neighbourhood is just on at the same time?

A VPN is supposed to hide your real IP from whatever remote sites you're connecting to. You need to connect to some remote VPN "server," or you'd still be just connecting from your own IP.

Your ISP probably knows where you live and installed the wire (or provided the wireless / cellular network equipment) you use to connect to the internet, you can't hide from them.

But an encrypted VPN might be able to hide what you're doing on the internet, so your ISP may not be able to instantly see that you're using torrent, or at least not exactly what you're downloading (in case you're worried about getting sued for sharing). The ISP might still throttle any high-bandwidth traffic, whether they recognize the P2P pattern or not.

After reading your comment "I have tried setting up a VM and downloading through it and although it did bypass the throttling it slowed my computer down to nearly unusable speeds" it makes me wonder if the problem is really with your ISP

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  • Well thank you for that explanation. I have no worries around legal issues. I was also pretty mystified as to how exactly you could hide from your own ISP hence the question and you have cleared that up for me nicely. I understand now that the information I had read was explaining hiding your activities from your ISP via an encrypted VPN. After you reposted my comment I've had an epiphany...I used the VM ware before the throttling 'time zones' lol
    – Druid
    Dec 21, 2014 at 20:29
  • This issue simply cant be avoided. I shall create a work-around another way thank you all
    – Druid
    Dec 21, 2014 at 20:30
  • @Druid FYI, How-To geek article on VPN's from 2013 howtogeek.com/133680/htg-explains-what-is-a-vpn
    – Xen2050
    Dec 21, 2014 at 22:51
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  1. A VPN will not mask your IP from your ISP.

  2. One machine is enough for a VPN.

  3. While free options are available, they are not always the best choices speed wise.

PS: Why not torrent when there is no throttling?

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  • Thank you for your answer's. The main reason is that I'm sharing files and downloading files between the hours of 3pm and 12am. I don't want to stay up all night just to get some work done. It also appears I need to research VPN's as it sounds like I have misunderstood them. I have tried setting up a VM and downloading through it and although it did bypass the throttling it slowed my computer down to nearly unusable speeds as I have several graphically heavy programs running and steaming. It may simply be that this is not a fixable issue.
    – Druid
    Dec 21, 2014 at 19:36
  • I also could not figure out how to set up the sharing folder. I got the Virtualbox extras and followed a few youtube videos and check VB wiki but to no avail.
    – Druid
    Dec 21, 2014 at 19:38
  • help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox/SharedFolders
    – przemo
    Dec 21, 2014 at 19:48
  • your ISP will throttle your data and a VPN will not help. You can ask you ISP if they have an alternate plan, probably higher priced, use a machine or VPS for torrents with another ISP provider, or work around peak traffic.
    – Panther
    Dec 21, 2014 at 20:11
  • Thanks everyone for your input. The VPS option sounds quite appealing.
    – Druid
    Dec 21, 2014 at 20:15

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