How to Optimize Surfshark VPN for qBittorrent in 2024

In the world of torrenting, the balance between speed and security is a tightrope walk. As a qBittorrent user, you are probably looking for ways to increase your anonymity and security without sacrificing speed or spending a fortune. A fast, cheap, secure VPN is what you need. But with so many VPN options out there, the search for the right VPN for qBittorrent can be overwhelming.

Enter Surfshark, a VPN that promises to deliver everything you are looking for. But can the Surfshark VPN deliver? And does it actually work with qBittorrent? Let’s find out.

Key Takeaways for using Surfshark with qBittorrent

• Using Surfshark and qBittorrent together for torrenting gives you even greater privacy and security than qBittorrent alone, without compromising on speed or costing you a fortune.

• Surfshark’s privacy and security features include an audited no-log policy, support for the very fast and very secure WireGuard VPN protocol, CleanWeb ad and malware blocking, and an auto-kill switch.

• For the best performance, always torrent through a Surfshark P2P server in a “safe” country near you.
• To get the lowest price available, check out this Surfshark VPN coupon.

Surfshark VPN Could be Your Ideal qBittorrent VPN

Surfshark, known for its high speed, unlimited simultaneous connections, and user-friendly applications, is one of the best torrenting VPNs. Using qBittorrent with Surfshark results in better security and privacy while torrenting, with little or no impact on performance.

Below you can see we are testing out a Linux download using qBittorrent and Surfshark VPN connected to a server in Panama. Everything performed well. The Surfshark VPN server in Panama offered consistently fast speeds and our IP address and location remained hidden at all times.

While simply using Surfshark and qBittorrent together offers real benefits, a little extra work will maximize those benefits. We'll show you how to do all that in a bit. Now we need to talk about downloading and installing Surfshark for torrenting.

Note: Surfshark has many other uses than torrenting, and many other capabilities beyond those we will discuss here. You can get the full story on this flexible and popular VPN service in our complete Surfshark VPN review.

To give you a quick idea of what Surfshark can do, here are some of the lists that Surfshark appears in, based on its performance in our testing:

• Best VPNs with WireGuard support
• Best VPNs for Netflix
• Best VPNs for Gaming
• Best VPNs for China
• Best VPNs for Canada
• Best VPNs with Dedicated IP

See what I mean? This is an excellent all-around VPN service. Since download speed is such an important factor in torrenting, you should know that Surfshark is also one of the fastest VPN services we have ever seen. Here is a recent speed test result recorded in our North American lab:

This result is only slightly slower than the best NordVPN speed test result. As you will see if you check out our NordVPN vs Surfshark VPN comparison, Surfshark can definitely compete with the best when it comes to raw speed. Amazingly, even with all its capabilities, Surfshark´s price is incredibly low, landing it on our list of the best cheap VPN services.

But let's get back to talking about torrenting and qBittorrent.

I will walk you through the steps for downloading and installing Surfshark now. You can simply read along to see what's involved, or you can get that Surfshark subscription now (click the button below) and follow along to have Surfshark up and running in the next few minutes. And of course, if you already have Surfshark installed and running, feel free to skip ahead.

Downloading and Installing Surfshark VPN

Surfshark offers subscriptions with various durations. The company offers a variety of packages, with monthly, yearly, and 2-year plans. They also offer different levels of plans (Surfshark Starter, Surfshark One, and Surfshark One+), with the higher priced plans including related security and privacy features.

But the Surfshark Starter plan works just fine with qBittorrent. All Surfshark plans benefit from the fact that this is one of the best no-logs VPNs available, with confirmation of that status through external audits. A 30-day money-back guarantee plus 24/7 live chat support is standard in all Surfshark plans.

With all that out of the way, the process is simple. You should do this before connecting qBittorrent to a torrenting site.

1. Go to surfshark.com and sign up for a subscription (the longer the term of the subscription, the lower the monthly price turns out to be).
2. Download the Surfshark app to the device you will be using for torrenting. If you have any doubts about how to do this, the Surfshark site has detailed instructions.
3. Launch the Surfshark app. It should look something like this:

Before You Start Torrenting with Surfshark

There are a few things you should check before torrenting. You should ensure that Surfshark is set to choose the best VPN protocol automatically, its VPN kill switch is active, and so is CleanWeb.

The VPN protocol controls the encryption and other aspects of how the VPN app on your device communicates with the VPN servers. The best move is to make sure that Surfshark is set to choose the best protocol automatically.

The kill switch ensures that your internet traffic does not get exposed if the connection between your device and a VPN server is broken. You should make sure this is always on.

CleanWeb is Surfshark's ad blocker. It also stops malware and prevents connections to phishing sites and other nasty places on the internet. It is important to use CleanWeb whenever torrenting since torrenting sites are often targets for hackers who want to do bad things to you and your device. Based on our testing, Surfshark with CleanWeb is one of the best VPNs with ad-blocking.

Happily, you can check and adjust all three of these in one place at one time. the whole process will only take a moment or two. Here's how it is done:

1. Launch the Surfshark app and select the Settings icon, circled in red below:

2. On the page that appears, select VPN settings. The VPN settings page appears. Scroll down a bit and you will be able to see the controls for all three options. Make sure they are set properly, like this:

That's it! As I said, it just takes a moment to check those three important settings. It would be good practice to check them whenever you plan on torrenting.

Choosing the Best VPN Server for Torrenting

The next thing you will need to do is connect the Surfshark app to a Surfshark VPN server. But don't do it yet! We have to talk about a few details before you do this.

Normally, the best VPN server to use is the closest VPN server. Obeying this rule of thumb speeds up your connection by reducing the overall distance your internet traffic has to travel. But the sometimes grey legal status of torrenting adds another variable to the equation.

When torrenting, you want to choose a VPN server in a jurisdiction that is friendly to, or at least not openly hostile to, downloading content using torrents. As of right now, the best locations for VPN servers when torrenting are, in alphabetical order, Iceland, Panama, Romania, and Switzerland.

When it comes to torrenting, the rule of thumb could be to use the closest VPN server that is in a torrenting-friendly jurisdiction. If you are in the United States, your first choice should be a VPN server located in Panama.

To find the server location you need, open the Surfshark app and type p2p into the search box at the top of the app window (see below). That causes Surfshark to display only locations with P2P VPN servers.

Scroll through the list of P2P server locations until you find the country you want to use (Panama in our case). Click the server location and Surfshark will connect you to one of its P2P servers in that location.

Now you are ready to start torrenting with qBittorrent.

The Legality of Torrenting with Surfshark

While a VPN like Surfshark can offer a secure and private torrenting experience, understanding that torrenting legality differs from country to country is vital. In many places, torrenting copyrighted material is considered illegal. Consequently, it’s paramount to download only legal content when using Surfshark for torrenting.

Surfshark allows torrenting, provided you’re not downloading copyright-protected material. Always make sure to use legal torrent sites and refrain from downloading any illegal torrents or torrenting files. This way, you can enjoy a secure and hassle-free torrenting experience with Surfshark and qBittorrent while staying on the right side of the law.

Comparing Surfshark to Other Torrenting VPNs

With an abundance of VPNs available in the market, you might question how Surfshark fares against other torrenting VPNs. While Surfshark is an excellent choice for torrenting, especially with qBittorrent, it’s always good to know how it stacks up against its competitors.

The best way to see exactly how Surfshark compares to other torrenting VPNs is to check out our guide to the best VPNs for torrenting. Surfshark and other leading VPNs for torrenting are profiled in this article, making it easy to do quick comparisons.

If you want more information about how well a specific VPN service handles torrenting, you might like one or more of these highly targeted reviews:

• NordVPN for Torrenting
• Surfshark for Torrenting
• ExpressVPN for Torrenting
• IPVanish for Torrenting

We believe you will find Surfshark to be a fine choice, regardless of the other VPN services you compare it against.

Summary

In conclusion, Surfshark is a strong contender in the realm of torrenting VPNs, especially when paired with qBittorrent. From its strong security features to its P2P-friendly servers, Surfshark provides an all-around package for qBittorrent users.

While you still need to configure a few things (discussed above) to ensure the best results, Surfshark provides a secure, private, speedy, and inexpensive torrenting experience.

You can start reaping the benefits of using qBittorrent and Surfshark together in minutes. Use our discount coupon below for the best price on any of the Surfshark plans. Don't forget that whichever plan you choose, you will receive 24/7 live chat support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Related Torrenting Articles:

• How to Use a VPN for Torrenting Safely & Efficiently
• Best VPNs for uTorrent
• NordVPN for uTorrent
• ExpressVPN for uTorrent
• Surfshark for uTorrent
• How to Optimize NordVPN for qBittorrent

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions about torrenting with qBittorrent and Surfshark VPN.

Can you use qBittorrent with a VPN?

Yes, you can use qBittorrent with Surfshark VPN by following the instructions in this article.

Is Surfshark good for piracy?

Surfshark is a great option for piracy in 2023, offering key features such as MultiHop (double VPN), a Kill Switch, and WireGuard VPN protocol support. It also provides fast and low-cost torrenting and allows access to popular streaming services. We rate it among the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer, and also a great VPN for streaming in general.

Is Surfshark a strong VPN?

Surfshark is one of the best VPNs available, offering advanced VPN protocols with strong encryption, a kill switch, split tunneling, the ability to unblock and stream Netflix, torrenting access, plus a headquarters outside of the Five Eyes alliance. Cybersecurity experts rate it highly for its security, privacy, and great streaming speeds.

What are the benefits of using Surfshark’s P2P servers for torrenting?

Surfshark’s P2P servers give you the fastest torrenting speeds. When you manually select a P2P server location, you can make your torrenting even safer by being sure to select a server in a country where online privacy is respected.

Does Surfshark allow torrenting?

Yes, Surfshark allows torrenting and is a great choice for it. The service includes a large number of P2P-optimized servers, great privacy and security protections, and some of the best download speeds we have ever seen in our test facility speeds. As if that wasn't enough, Surfshark's low, low pricing qualifies it as one of the best cheap VPNs, despite all its premium features.

This guide to using Surfshark with qBittorrent was last updated on April 29, 2024.