Explore the speed and security of WireGuard for torrenting: A cutting-edge VPN solution for the privacy-conscious downloader
If you are seeking the perfect balance between speed and privacy for torrenting, WireGuard may be for you. It is a relatively new player in the VPN arena, celebrated for its lean design and impressive performance.
In this blog post, we have a comprehensive look at WireGuard's suitability for torrenting.
WireGuard for Torrenting contents
First, What is WireGuard?
WireGuard is the hottest new VPN protocol, which many think will be the top dog in the years to come.
What makes it good? For starters, at only 4,000 lines, WireGuard’s code is much more compact than OpenVPN’s unwieldly 100,000+ lines.
That makes it both faster and more secure, since there’s both less code to run – and less code to check for security vulnerabilities. That extra speed is nice to have in a lot of situations, like when using WireGuard for torrenting.
And What's the Big Deal with It Anyway?
There’s been a lot of chatter about WireGuard lately, especially after it was added to the official Linux 5.6 kernel back in March of 2020.
In fact, Linux’s creator, Linus Torvald, has high praise for the WireGuard protocol:
“Can I just once again state my love for it and hope it gets merged soon? Maybe the code isn’t perfect, but I’ve skimmed it, and compared to the horrors that are OpenVPN and IPSec, it’s a work of art.”
But is it worth switching to? And more importantly, is it good idea to use WireGuard for torrenting?
For a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, skip down to that part of the post. But for those who want a response with more meat, let’s start by highlighting the two areas where WireGuard has improved on its predecessors.
WireGuard is More Secure
Depending on the specific iteration, OpenVPN uses anywhere from 100,000 to 600,000 lines of code. WireGuard? Around 4,000.
In other words, WireGuard manages to achieve the same thing in a way that’s about 100-times more efficient. No wonder Linus Torvald called it a “work of art”.
But what does this mean for you exactly? After all, the average VPN user isn’t reading through code. They just want a VPN that will protect them while torrenting.
For starters, it makes the code easier to audit. Meaning that any security vulnerabilities are much more likely to be found – and fixed – in WireGuard than in IPSec or OpenVPN. Similarly, the more code there is, the more chance there is for mistakes, i.e. vulnerabilities, to pop up in the code.
In short, not only are mistakes easier to locate in WireGuard’s code, they’re less likely to occur in the first place.
Of course, there’s another reason WireGuard is more secure: its encryption.
While the 256-bit AES encryption utilized by OpenVPN is already incredibly strong, WireGuard goes even further.
We won’t go into all the details here, but those of you looking to nerd out can find the full breakdown on WireGuard’s site.
What matters is, through a combination of more efficient code and state-of-the-art cryptography, WireGuard is more secure than previous protocols.
Does WireGuard Require Logs?
WireGuard has been in development for a couple years and during that time, several sources, including a handful of VPN providers, claimed that there was an inherent problem with the protocol: that it couldn’t be used without keeping logs.
And as we’ve covered time and again here at Cogipas, logs are a big no-no when it comes to VPN security, especially when torrenting.
However, these rumors are simply unfounded. WireGuard doesn’t require logs. And two leading VPNs who’ve already adopted the protocol, Private Internet Access and Mullvad, have taken further steps to ensure that logs are never a problem.
So, Is WireGuard Safe for Torrenting?
For those of you who may be a little less VPN savvy, we'll summarize the last two sections by answering a simple question: is WireGuard safe for torrenting?
And that answer is a resounding 'yes'. WireGuard has strong encryption, open source and efficient code, and it doesn't require logging. This is everything we want to see in a safe torrenting protocol.
While it's still a rather new technology, it's had a few years to prove itself, and is now supported by many of the top VPNs on the market.
WireGuard is Faster
Between efficient code and some other aspects that are unique to WireGuard, like better “handshakes”, it provides another important benefit: it’s faster.
For so long, you’ve had to sacrifice speed for security when using a VPN, but this trade off may be coming to an end with WireGuard.
However, there’s one big ‘but’ that we have to mention here. As of right now, WireGuard is best optimized on Linux. If you’re a Windows or Mac (or mobile) user, you probably won’t see a huge jump in speed right out of the gates.
But you shouldn’t see a decrease in speed compared to OpenVPN either. And as development proceeds, we’ll hopefully see some of those greater speed increases reach other operating systems.
Which is awesome news for folks looking to use WireGuard for torrenting.
WireGuard vs OpenVPN at a Glance
We've mentioned OpenVPN a few times in this article, so let's sum up how the two VPN protocols compare head-to-head:
- WireGuard is slightly faster than OpenVPN
- WireGuard has more efficient code than OpenVPN
- WireGuard is just, if not more, secure than OpenVPN
- OpenVPN has a much longer track record than WireGuard
- Neither WireGuard nor OpenVPN require logging
In short, WireGuard is arguably a bit better than OpenVPN in all of the things that matter for torrenting, like security and speed. That being said, it's still a fairly new technology. And OpenVPN is still perfectly capable as a torrenting protocol.
Yes, WireGuard is Good for Torrenting
Okay, with all of that out of the way, let’s get back to the original question: is WireGuard good for torrenting?
Yes.
But again, WireGuard is still in development, so we’d recommend using WireGuard through an established VPN provider. This will make the protocol easier to use, and you can also switch back and forth between it and OpenVPN as desired.
Which VPNs Offer WireGuard?
To make things easy for you, we’ve compiled a list of every VPN provider that currently supports WireGuard, as well as our picks for the best WireGuard VPNs.
Here are the VPN providers who support the WireGuard technology:
Best WireGuard VPN for Torrenting?
Within a few years, the list of VPN providers that support WireGuard has grown from just a few to dozens. So, we decided to separate our pick for the best WireGuard VPN for torrenting from the rest to make it easier to choose one.
And that pick is ...
- Private Internet Access VPN (or "PIA" for short)
PIA VPN was already one of our favorite VPNs, especially for torrenting, so we were pretty psyched when they officially added the WireGuard protocol to their already robust collection of features. Sign up today and give WireGuard a try while torrenting!
How to Choose a WireGuard VPN
Whether you like our pick or want to do your own research, here are the factors we think one should consider when deciding which VPN to use for Wireguard:
- Good network
You’ll obviously need a VPN with WiregGuard servers. But if you want to truly take advantage of its speed, you’ll also want a provider that provides plenty of servers to choose from – and servers that are well-maintained and reliable. - Strong security
Of course, another draw is WiregGuard’s strong, efficient encryption. This alone will greatly improve your data’s security, but you’ll want to pair it with other security features (kill switch, leak protection, etc.) as well for maximum effect. - Easy to use
Last but not least, we know that most VPN users want an app that’s easy to download, install, and use, with connecting and disconnecting as simple a clicking a button.
Does ExpressVPN Support WireGuard?
ExpressVPN is one of the few big name providers that has not added the WireGuard protocol, but that’s because they’ve developed their own protocol just like it, called “Lightway”. It has a bit more security and options, while offering the same speed benefits. Plus, it’s open source.
Of course, many other VPN providers have tweaked WireGuard for their needs, but so far only ExpressVPN has created a separate protocol. So, for that reason, it’s not technically a “WireGuard VPN”, though it’s still a solid VPN overall.
Is There a Free WireGuard VPN?
Two of the WireGuard VPNs we mentioned do have free plans.
However, these plans are extremely limited and won’t actually give you access to the WireGuard servers.
Instead, you’ll be stuck with a very small number of servers using other protocols.
Of course, if you’re broke and just need a VPN for minor usage, they’re worth trying. That being said, you’ll need to upgrade to use WireGuard, and it’s completely worth it in our opinion.
What About the Official WireGuard App?
You don’t actually need another VPN provider to run the WireGuard protocol. It has its own free-to-use app for all platforms. That being said, using the protocol via another VPN is a little easier and provides more options and better security.
For instance, using WireGuard through Private Internet Access VPN lets you connect or change servers in a mouse click, while also providing features like a built-in kill switch. It's a lot more practical for most people to use.
Wrap-Up
So, there you have it, WireGuard is safe for torrenting.
We also provided a complete list of VPN providers that support WireGuard. Since WireGuard has already achieve such wide-ranging support in the VPN industry, we’ll probably seen more providers joining the list soon.
Happy torrenting!