Imagine you are getting ready for a movie night. You have your snacks ready, your favorite spot on the couch, and you turn on Stremio, ready to immerse yourself in a world of endless movies and TV shows. With my article on using Stremio and Torrentioover 50,000 of you (according to Medium stats) have unlocked a treasure trove of content, seamlessly streaming from torrents directly to your screen.
Now, with Real-Debrid in the mix, you're in streaming heaven with high-quality links and faster downloads. But as you navigate this vast sea of โโdigital content, a question arises: Should you use a VPN?
That's the question I've been asked in the comments, on reddit and also in real life. I have experienced all the scenarios personally and that is what I will share with you now. Let's have a brief discussion so you can make your own choice.
A VPN encrypts your Internet traffic, hiding your online activity from prying eyes, which is crucial when accessing content from torrent sources.
Torrentio and similar add-ons for Stremio get their content from torrents, which wade into the murky waters of piracy. Streaming pirated content is illegal in many countries and using a VPN can provide a layer of anonymity and security.
- Privacy and security of the ISP and other users: A VPN protects your online identity by masking your IP address. This is particularly important when using Torrentio with Stremio, as downloading torrents can expose your IP address to all members of the swarm (the network of people downloading and uploading a torrent). Your ISP can also send you a notice for copyright infringement, as they can see what you are doing very clearly.
- Bypass ISP throttling: ISPs (Internet Service Providers) may throttle (intentionally slow down) your Internet speed when they detect heavy streaming or torrenting. A VPN helps avoid this by hiding the nature of your internet traffic and ensuring consistent speeds.
These are the reasons to recommend a VPN and consider its costs about $4 a monthThere is little reason not to protect yourself.
- Cost: For some, the cost of a reliable VPN service can be a deterrent. However, considering the benefits, this investment is often considered worth it.
- Potential impact on speed: While modern VPNs are designed to minimize speed loss, encrypting and redirecting traffic can sometimes impact stream buffering. You will never notice that if you choose a payment High quality VPN service.
So far it has been very simple. In my research, most people use a VPN to stream on smart TVs, especially Nvidia Shield and any Google TV compatible TV. It's just another app if you have a VPN that supports it, like I use the Northern VPN app on both my Shield and Google TV. The difficult question comes next.
This is where it gets a little difficult to choose. Having a Real Debrid Account in your settings It means you are accessing cached content and not torrents. In this case not need a VPN at all. There are no advantages.
But, when you use this setup long enough and are a streaming addict like me, you will find that you will need to use Torrentio without Real Debrid from time to time for some rare content that is not cached. That's when you'll have to make the same decision that the people in the last section made. Or you can cache it manually in Real Debrid, but the ease of it all is why we chose this setup, so you should weigh your options carefully.
There is no point in using free VPNs. Been there, done that. VPNs block torrents completely or slow them down enough to remind you of the 80s.
Now, to use real paid VPNs, I started with Windscribe years ago, then used Cyberghost, Surfshark, and a couple others. I had many different types of problems with all of them, although not always transmission related.
The VPN I use and know works perfectly with this setup is Northern VPN. A simple reason why I use it and I think you will too is that reminds me of the ease of using Stremio, Torrentio and Real Debrid. It worked with a few clicks for me! Here's everything where I use it to stream without any problems:
I won't go into too many details about this since it's neither a VPN advertisement nor a comparison post. You have the right to try as many VPNs as you want and decide on the one you want. To be honest, I also opted for Northern VPN since it is very cheap (reminds me of royal debt ), and still comes with all the apps + proxy support I really needed for my Sonarr and Radarr setups. This made it an all-rounder for me.
Whether to protect yourself from legal repercussions, avoid ISP throttling, or simply to put your mind at ease, the pros and cons of using a VPN are clear. However, the final decision lies with you, the user.
Would you navigate the high seas of streaming without the protective cover of a VPN?
