Seedbox vs VPN – What Are The Differences?

Seedbox vs VPN - What Are The Differences

Have you ever worried about your privacy online? If you want an extra layer of security when browsing the internet there are a number of ways you can go about achieving this.

In today’s article, we will look at two heavyweight solutions of the internet privacy world: seedbox vs VPN. These two pieces of software offer solutions to different privacy problems you may have when using the internet.

What is a Seedbox?

A seedbox is a cloud-based server used for downloading torrent files. If you download torrents to your computer on a regular basis, you may be worried that eventually, someone will see that you are downloading these files and send you a warning or a fine.

A seedbox reduces the risk of this by first downloading the file to the seedbox server. This means that anyone who is checking who is downloading files will only see the IP address of the seedbox, not the IP address of your computer.

Once your torrents have downloaded, you can them simply download them from the seedbox to your computer.

As well as this, using a seedbox means that you can free up your bandwidth as none of the downloading will be taking place on your network.

Of course, this extra step means that downloading torrents using a Seedbox does become a bit more of a hassle and it could take a lot longer than simply downloading the file directly to your computer.

Pros and Cons of a Seedbox

Pros
  • Reduce the risk of someone seeing your IP address when downloading torrents
  • Fast download speeds.
  • Doesn’t use your bandwidth to download the torrent. Only when you transfer from the Seedbox to your computer.
Cons
  • Only useful with private torrent trackers.
  • Have to download everything twice. To the seedbox, then to your computer.
  • Doesn’t have any other uses besides downloading torrents

What is a VPN?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. In this case, it is basically a program that you download to your computer that allows you to divert all your traffic through a different network.

However, it is also possible to install VPN clients on routers, if the router has firmware that accepts this. For example, routers installed with DD-WRT.

Pros and Cons of a VPN

Pros
  • Encrypting your traffic.
  • Hiding your IP address.
  • Making it seem as if your traffic is coming from another location.
Cons
  • Some VPNs don’t allow you to use them to download with torrents.
  • Redirecting traffic through another network can slow your internet down.

Next, we’ll take a look at why each of these features is actually useful.

Encrypting Your Traffic

A VPN encrypts all traffic between your computer and the VPN destination. This makes it much harder for anyone to see what you are doing on the internet. Even if they manage to access your network, all they will see is a load of traffic that they can’t read.

You may now be thinking “But my network is safe! Why would I need encryption?” Of course, this may be true, however, how often do you log onto networks outside of your home? Even more importantly, how often do you log into networks that don’t require a password?

Every time you use an unsecured network, there is a chance that a hacker will be monitoring it for passwords or important details. However, a VPN’s encryption feature can stop anyone from seeing traffic, even on an “open” network.

Hiding Your IP Address

As your traffic is redirected through a private network, any websites you visit will see the IP address of the VPN destination, not your own IP address. This has obvious benefits for privacy, mainly that people snooping on your web browsing won’t be able to know what you are looking at.

Make It Seem As If Your Traffic Is Coming From Another Location

The fact that a VPN routes your traffic through a second network means that websites will think your traffic is coming from that location. This can be useful if you want to make it seem like you are browsing from another country.

Examples where this can be useful include: seeing different versions of certain websites, accessing websites that are blocked, accessing location specific content.

Seedbox vs VPN: Conclusion

In the battle of Seedbox vs VPN, the winner really just depends on what you after from a security perspective.

If you want the most safety when downloading torrents, then using a Seedbox can be a good idea. Having said that, the best idea would probably be using a Seedbox and a VPN for extra security. You should just make sure that your VPN doesn’t have any limits for downloads and that it works with torrents.

A VPN on the other hand has many different uses and can be used even for general internet browsing if you want an extra layer of security. The encryption a VPN offers, plus the fact that it hides your IP address from the websites you visit means you will generally be more security when using a VPN.

5 VPN Services Worth Checking Out:

Please note that we never advocate using torrents to download.

Downloading files via VPN or Seedbox is solely your risk and responsibility.

Hopefully this article has cleared up some of your questions about what VPNs and Seedboxes are. Please leave a comment if you have any questions.

Post Comment