Using a VPN with P2P is a straightforward way to conceal your IP address, and ensure your privacy. The best VPNs are those have policies that allow P2P transfers on their servers. Listed below are VPNs that allow P2P and put an emphasis on keeping your online activities private. I also have full reviews of these VPNs in my article The Best Anonymous VPNs Of 2013.

The Best VPN For P2P (Based In the U.S.)

Private Internet Access has supports P2P transfers. They provide very solid VPN connections, and put a lot of emphasis on privacy. The cost of the service is $6.95 per month (or $3.33 per month for yearly plans).

The Best VPN For P2P (Based In the Canada)

BTGuard specializes in P2P traffic. The price for the BTGuard VPN service is $9.95 per month, or $6.95 a month for their Bittorrent Proxy service. You are only allowed to connect to their servers from one household at a time, but you can connect to their servers from unlimited computers simultaneously inside that one household.

The Best VPN For P2P (Based In Asia)

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1. Use Sneakernet with SD Memory Cards

This method works for: Linux, Mac, Windows, Android devices and Windows Phones. Not for iPad/iPhone.

Use the Sneakernet! Here’s how to do it — you copy files onto a memory card, sneak over to your mobile device, and insert the memory card into your device. It’s the fastest way I know to copy a 10GB HD movie to a tablet computer, for example. You can buy 64GB micro cards and 256GB regular SD cards, if you need transfer space (see my article Storing Large Video and Music Files On Android for more details).

Unfortunately, iPhones and iPads don’t read memory cards, so there’s no sneakernet there.

If you are lucky enough to have new computer with a built-in SD card reader or USB 3.0, your sneakernet will be faster.

2. Use Dropbox together with DropSync

This method works on Linux, Mac, Windows, Android devices, and Windows Phones. iPad and iPhone support is not complete.

Most of you know about Dropbox already. It’s very reliable, and it copies files between devices fairly seamlessly. Dropbox is also smart, because if your devices are the same local network, it will do a local file copy instead making you wait for your files to be transferred to the cloud.

On Android, you can make Dropbox work like the desktop version (i.e. will full folding sync capabilities) by installing the DropSync application.

3. For Private File Transfers: TrueCrypt with Dropbox

This method works for Android, iPhone/iPad, Linux, Mac, Windows, Windows RT.

Dropbox does have one flaw — it doesn’t encrypt your files before they leave your computer. This means your files are insecurely stored on Dropbox’s servers. However, if you need private file transfers, you can roll your own encryption using TrueCrypt. This freeware application can be used to create an encrypted volume on Dropbox. On Android, you can open Truecrypt containers using an app called EDS. You will have to use a particular type of format to get the EDS to open your containers. Here are the container settings you must use:

• Encryption algorithm: AES 256
• Hash algorithm: SHA-512
• File system: FAT

I also tested BoxCryptor, which attempts encrypt files inside Dropbox, but right now has too many bugs for me to recommend. Applications like SpiderOak and Bitcasa are folder synchronization apps with encryption built-in, but they are not available for all platforms and tend to be unreliable. Likewise, Bittorrent Sync looks very promising, but it is only available for newer Macs and Windows.

And here’s a bonus method:

Local Media Streaming

Works for: Linux, Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone/iPad, Windows Phones

Perhaps you just want to stream videos and music across your devices, then consider Plex which does a pretty cool job of that. See my previous article for more details.

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Now that Android tablets accept large-capacity Micro Secure Disk memory cards, it’s possible to carry your entire media collection in your pocket. Currently, you can buy a 64 GB (gigabtye) Micro Secure Disk (microSD), and use it in most of the newer Android tablets and phones. These memory cards can store about 177 full albums in FLAC format, or about 80 hours of video in MP4 format. Don’t forget that you can carry around multiple 64 GB cards, and, for example, store your music and TV shows on one card, and your movie collection on another card. Currently, the price for a good quality Sandisk Ultra 64GB micro card is about $55. I can fit all my music and videos on two of these cards easily, plus there’s room for my photos and documents.

You may need to format your card with the exFat format (a successor to the Window Fat Format), if you will copying large video files from your computer to the card.

If you go above 32 GB, remember that 64 GB cards use a standard called SDXC, which some older devices don’t support. Older Android tablets generally accept 16 and 32 GB cards — you can check out the exact memory card capabilities for most Android tablets on this page.

By using the large capacities cards, you can download a lot of media to an Android device. You’ll just have to set your downloads to go directly your external memory card.

If your Android device supports the larger, standard SD cards (for example the Asus Transformer does when docked), you can now get 128 GB SD cards, and even 256 GB cards (these are pricey though)!

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My pick for the best video player for Android is the rather strangely named BS. Player. Most video players on Android are plagued by video stuttering. However, this app incorporates hardware accelerated video playback. This is feature is essential if you want to be able to play HD videos on your device. Importantly, BS. Player supports a wide range range of video and audio formats, namely: avi, divx, flv, mkv, mov, mpg, mts, mp4, m4v, rmvb, wmv, 3gp, mp3. It only can also stream content via http and rtsp.

There is a Pro version of the player that costs $30 per year (this seems a bit steep). The features include being able download Youtube video in HD, and a networking buffering where the entire movie is loaded into RAM.

Link: BS. Player

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PlayerPro is my top rated music player for Android. This app is a fully-featured music player, with features such as automatic album art downloading, customizable music organization, gesture support, and a variety of widgets for your home or lock screen. Most importantly though, it is less prone to skipping than similar players for Android. To really prevent skipping, it does help to set the Audio Buffer to “very large” and the audio priority to “maximum”. To adjust these settings, you’ll need to download a “DSP Pack” app, and follow these instructions:

From PlayerPro, go to Settings > Audio > Download DSP pack

1. Once installed, activate the audio pack via Settings > Audio > Activate DSP pack option
2. Restart PlayerPro for the changes to take effect
3. The equalizer settings are available via the option menu and on the default player screen
4. Adjust the audio buffer if you experience playback skipping (old/less powerful devices): Settings > Audio > Audio buffer.

You can get a free trial version of the player — the paid version costs $4.95.

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The Best VPN Providers For Android

The VPN Providers listed below have the best Android support. You can read my full reviews of these VPN providers in my article The Best VPNs of 2013.

• Private Internet Access: Has a dedicated app for Android, provides very solid VPN connections, puts a lot of emphasis on privacy, costs only $6.95 per month ($3.33 per month for yearly plans)
• PureVPN: Has a dedicated Android app, reliable, costs $9.95 per month
• IPVanish: Has detailed instructions for setting up on Android, many servers available worldwide, costs $10 per month

Using A VPN On Android

Setting up a VPN on an Android device is fairly straightforward. You can go to your device’s Settings menu, and you’ll find the VPN settings under “Wireless and Networks”. Here you can enter the VPN host, username and password. For VPN protocols, we the recommend L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) or OpenVPN. These are more secure than the PPTP (Point-To-Point Tunneling Protocol). I recommend using OpenVPN where possible, due to its speed and reliability.To run OpenVPN on Android, you’ll want to use the FeatVPN app or OpenVPN Connect. Some VPN providers (such as Private Internet Access) also have their own dedicated app that will run OpenVPN for you.

Best Torrent App On Android

The best torrent application on Android is uTorrent. The Android app contains all the features of uTorrent on the desktop, including RSS support, the ability to play back media as you download, and the ability to set upload and download limits.

The Best Usenet App For Android

If you are looking for Usenet app for Android, I recommend PowerNZB. This app works well, and it has a built in Usenet search feature. It will also unpack Usenet files automatically.

See my article The Best Usenet Providers Of 2013 for recommendations on choosing a provider.

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Here are my recommendations for choosing reliable applications:

The App Should Come From A Trusted Source

I recommend doing a little research on each app you use, and make sure it comes from a reliable company with a good track record. Also, make sure you download the app from a reliable source.

I don’t recommend installing hacked software, software from unknown torrent sources — a large percentage of this software contains malware (malicious software).

The App Should Encrypt Your Data Before It Leaves Your Computer

The more encryption, the better. Storing data in the Cloud is fine — as long as your data is encrypted before it leave your computer. This should be normal operating practice, but few applications do this. See my recommended apps page for list of apps that perform adequate encryption.

The App Should Not Monitor You

Many applications “call home” meaning they regularly send usage information back to their parent software company. Obviously, this is not something most users want.

Where Possible, Choose Open Source Software

Open-source software can be audited, and thus is inherently more trustworthy that proprietary products. Also, open source because it does not require licenses and paid updates, it tends to be easier to install and maintain on multiple devices.

The App Should Be Available On Many Devices and Platforms

Look for apps that work on as many devices and operating systems as possible. If you switch operating systems, you won’t have to migrate to a new application.

Keep Your Apps Up-To-Date

Application developers often release security fixes to their software. If you keep your apps up-to-date — it helps to keep hackers out.

Apps That I Recommend

Good examples of app that are secure and fairly universal: LastPass, FireFox, Thunderbird and Pidgin

Here is a the full list of applications I recommend.

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Plex is a very important app in my Portable Hyperfluous Computing System (more about this System in a later article). plex allows you to access your personal media on every device you own. It converts and streams videos and music on-the-fly, to make them optimized for the device you are using. It is similar to the Airplay system for Macs.

Plex system works like this: you install the Plex Server on the computers that house your media collection. The Plex server is available for Linux, Mac, Windows, and a number of NAS (Network Attached Storage) appliances. The Plex player is available for Macs, Windows, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, and a range of smart televisions and streaming players (like Roku). The iOS and Android Plex apps cost $5 each.

In my tests, I found Plex to be a stable app. However, I found the iOS version to reliable than the Android app.

The company has also released a new app called PlexPass (beta software) which allows you to download your content for off-line viewing. For example, you are waiting at a train station, and the train you are about to board has no Wifi.  You download a movie in MKV format. Plex will convert the movie and music to formats playable on the iPhone, and send it to the device. You will then have that media available to play through Plex, while off-line. The price for PlexPass is $4 per month, $30 per year, or $75 for a lifetime membership. You purchase the PlexPass from inside a myPlex web account.

On iOS you’ll need version 5.1 or later (any Apple device after iPhone 3G or iPod Touch, 2nd generation). Plex for Android requires Android 2.2 (Froyo) and up. Plex for PlexPass requires Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) and up.

When I first installed the Plex app on an iPhone it would crash immediately upon launch. Apparently other have this problem too (see here). To get it to work, I had to uninstall the app, and restart the phone.

Unfortunately the player isn’t available for Linux (but the Plex Media server is available for Linux).

On Windows, it’s available for Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 tablets.

The Plex server is available for the Mac running at least Snow Leopard, on Unbuntu 10.04, Fedora 13 and Centos 6. To run the server on Windows you need at least Windows XP with Service Pack 3.

Links: Plex Home Page, Plex Media Server

Links: Plex for PlexPass (Android), Plex for iOS, Plex for Windows 7 Phone, Plex For Windows 8 Tablets.

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I’ve been doing some further testing and research on VPN providers. Unfortunately, I had to eliminate a couple of providers from this list due to their poor customer service (namely HMA, Astrill and VyprVPN). Here is my updated list of the best VPNs for 2013:

In A Nutshell

• The Best VPN For Torrenting: Private Internet Access or BTGuard
• The Best VPN For Privacy (based in the U.S.): Private Internet Access
• The Best VPN For Privacy (based in Europe): PrivatVPN
• The Best VPN For Privacy (based in Asia): BolehVPN
• The Best VPNs For Unblocking Hulu, Netflix and Youtube: IPVanish
• The Best VPN For Mobile Devices: IPVanish or StrongVPN
• The Best VPN For Businesses: StrongVPN

The Details

A VPN (virtual private network) is a service encrypts and redirects all the internet connections on your computer. This means all the data leaving your computer is encrypted, which adds a layer of protection against hackers and eavesdroppers. It is also very difficult for your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to monitor you or block your connections. A VPN service will also allow your to computer to appear to be Europe, the USA, or other countries at will. This is helpful if you want to access blocked media like streaming videos.

VPNs differ from web proxies because VPNs encrypt and redirect all of your computer’s outgoing network connections, whereas proxies will only usually only redirect particular protocols within an application.

Note that VPNs may slow down your internet connections to some extent. VPNs won’t really affect direct downloads, but they will affect web browsing and torrenting (basically anything that pulls data in lots of small bursts). Personally, I don’t notice a difference unless I’m connected a very remote server in Japan or Romania (from the US).

I don’t recommend using free VPNs because they are usually run by untrustworthy companies (how do they stay in business?).

When signing up to VPN services, if you need a extra layer of privacy, I suggest using an pseudo-anonymous payment method such as Bitcoin or Liberty Reserve, and do a DNS Leak Test when using a VPN. A VPN can provide you with a good level of privacy when browsing the web. If you are looking for industrial-strength privacy, I recommending using use the Tor Browser or Tails.

The Best VPN For Privacy (based in USA)

Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is a VPN service that is highly regarded by privacy advocates. It remains our top choice for a privacy-oriented VPN remains Private Internet Access due to the reliability of their service. In the online discussions I’ve been monitoring, the comments are almost universally positive.

The company operates out of the United States with gigabit gateways in the USA, Canada, UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. I’ve been testing their VPN service for about 12 months now, and I’ve had no problems. I use it continuously now, and I don’t notice any lag when browsing the web, or downloading files. They are also one of the least expensive private VPNs, with rates at $39.95 year, or $6.95 per month.

In regards to logging user activity, the company says:

We absolutely do not maintain any VPN logs of any kind. We utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it is not possible to match a user to an external IP. These are some of the many solutions we have implemented to enable the strongest levels of anonymity amongst VPN services. Further, we would like to encourage our users to use an anonymous e-mail and pay with Bitcoins to ensure even higher levels of anonymity should it be required. Our core verticals are privacy, quality of service, and prompt customer support. We will not share any information with third parties without a valid court order. With that said, it is impossible to match a user to any activity on our system since we utilize shared IPs and maintain absolutely no logs.

Their VPN service supports all the major platforms: Window, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android. They support the following VPN protocols: PPTP, IPSEC, OpenVPN and L2TP. You can also configure Private Internet Access to work on a DD-WRT router or Tomato router (via SSL/OpenVPN) for constant security.

Their VPN client also has handy features like DNS leakage blocking and an “internet kill switch” (a feature that shuts off your internet connection if your VPN connection goes down).

For payment they accept credit cards, Paypal, Bitcoin, and Liberty Reserve.

The service costs $6.95 per month, or $40 per year.

Link: Private Internet Access

The Best VPN For Privacy (based in Europe)

PrivatVPN

PrivatVPN is a VPN provider based in Sweden, with a solid reputation. The company focuses on user privacy, in a recent interview they stated:

We don’t keep ANY logs that allow us or a 3rd party to match an IP address and a time stamp to a user our service. The only thing we log are e-mails and user names but it’s not possible to bind a activity on the Internet to a user. This applies to all our servers except our U.S. servers. Note: We’re logging IP addresses and time stamp on the incoming connection for our U.S. servers. We offer no anonymity on our U.S. servers.

We operate in Swedish jurisdiction. Since we do not log any IP addresses we have nothing to disclose. Circumstances doesn’t matter in this case, we have no information regarding our customers’ IP addresses and activity on the Internet. Therefore we have no information to share with any 3rd party.

The price for service is 5,7 € ($7.50 USD) per month (3 and 12 months terms are also available). Payment can be via Paypal and credit card.

Link: PrivatVPN

The Best VPN for Privacy (based in Asia)

BolehVPN

BolehVPN was founded 2007 in Malaysia, and it is now one of the largest VPN providers in South East Asia. BolehVPN does not log internet activity and they support P2P transfers. The company is known for their personalized customer support, and they have active community of customers. Aside from VPN services, they also provide game server hosting and Mumble hosting for customers in the South-East Asian region.
The have 25 servers in 9 different countries, including one located in Hong Kong.

For payment they accept Bitcoin, PayPal, Liberty Reserve, WebCash, online banking transfer (Malaysian customers only) or even cash deposits (Malaysian customers only).

he cost of the service is $10.50 per month or $85.90 per year.

Link: BolehVPN

The Best VPN For Torrenting and P2P

Not all VPNs are BitTorrent friendly. In fact, some explicitly prohibit the use of file-sharing software. However, there are some VPNs that welcome torrenting and do not log your online activities, thereby preserving your privacy. If want to torrrent without being bothered, it is essential that the VPN you use does not track your online connections.

BTGuard

BTGuard is Canadian VPN provider, which specializes in creating anonymous internet connections for Bittorrent users. Their service works on Windows, Mac and Linux via a pre-configured client. However, you can also opt to set up your own torrent client to work with BTGuard. You can use any client that supports “Socks V5″ proxies including uTorrent and Vuze. BTGuard also includes encryption tunnel software for security purists.

In regards to logging user activity, the company says:

The jurisdiction is Canada. Since we do not have log files, we have no information to share. We do not communicate with any third parties. The only event we would even communicate with a third party is if we received a court order. We would then be forced to notify them we have no information. This has not happened yet.

On the negative side, I’ve seen some user complaints about BTGuard’s servers being slow, and that their VPN connection occasionally disconnects. We’ve also heard that their email support is somewhat unresponsive.

The price for the BTGuard VPN is $9.95 per month, or $6.95 a month for their Bittorrent Proxy service.

Link: BTGuard

Best VPNs For Unblocking Hulu, Netflix and YouTube

Hulu, the streaming service, requires that your IP address be located U.S., if you want to access their service. So if you are traveling in Europe and want to catch up on your favorite shows, you won’t be able to access them. To solve this problem you’ll want to use a VPN with servers in the U.S. Your internet connections will be rerouted to the U.S., and thus your computer will appear to be there.

For my recommended VPNs for Hulu, I’ve chosen VPNs with fast server connections in the USA and well as servers in a number of other countries:

IPVanish

A newcomer to the VPN scene, IPVanish started operation in 2012, and is headquartered in the USA. They have already earned a good reputation for privacy and fast connection speeds. According to the company there are “no restrictions on any legal use of the VPN”, and P2P services such as BitTorrent are not filtered. The service costs $10 per month or $77 per year. IPVanish has 90 VPN servers located throughout 41 countries giving 2,500+ potential IP addresses. They run their own tier-1 network, and the company claims that they have the fastest VPN connection speeds. IPVanish supports OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP/IPSec protocols.

IPVanish offers a 7 Day Free Trial in the form of a money back guarantee. You will need a credit card to signup, but if you decide that you do not enjoy the service, email the IPVanish Support Team (available 24×7) and they’ll issue a refund.

The cost of the service is $10 per month, or $78 per year.

Link: IPVanish

PureVPN

PureVPN is a reliable VPN service which supports PPTP, L2TP and SSTP protocols, with over 50 servers in 16 different countries. You are allowed to server switches as many times as you need with unrestricted speed across their entire network. The PureVPN Software installs easily, and includes traffic log charting, auto-reconnection and the ability to split select traffic through the VPN and other traffic through your local network, known as Split Tunneling.

PureVPN offers a fixed IP package and a decided IP package. Note that PureVPN limits your bandwdith to 30 GB per month, and they don’t support OpenVPN.

They accept PayPal, Credit Card, Debit Card, MoneyBookers, AlertPay, Ukash, paysafecard and WebMoney. Western Union and Bank Transfer options are available on orders above $100 USD.

Link: PureVPN

The Best VPN For Mobile Devices

A number of VPNs now support mobile devices like Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPads and Windows phones. On most devices, you’ll be using the PPTP or the L2TP protocol, and you’ll have to enter your VPN connection information manually. We recommend using L2TP where possible, because this protocol is more secure than PPTP. Currently, you can’t use OpenVPN on iPhones and iPads, due to Apple restrictions. You can use the GuizmOVPN app on a jailbroken iPhone or iPad. On Android you can use FeatVPN app, or on a rooted device running Android 4, you can use the OpenVPN Settings app.

Our top picks here are those VPN providers that provide good documentation for setting up mobile devices:

• IPVanish (provides step-by-step instruction for setting up mobile devices)
• StrongVPN (provides their own installer software for iOS, and has extensive documentation on setting up their VPN on mobile devices)

The Best VPN For Businesses

Using a VPN to connect to your business locations makes a lot of sense, security-wise. Here we list VPNs that emphasize security and reliability:

StrongVPN

Launched in 2006, StrongVPN has built a excellent reputation over the years. They have become known for the reliability of their service and they number of servers they offer (350 in 19 countries). They are also one of the few VPN providers that offer 24 hour live help.

The StrongVPN team also manages a web hosting company — Reliant Web Hosting, which has been in business since 2003. Their service costs $55 or $85 per year, depending on your geographic location. They also offer a 3-month plan that costs $21 – $30.

If you are a novice VPN user you should note that StrongVPN doesn’t provide any set-up software — so you must be comfortable with entering the VPN info into your computer manually. This process actually isn’t particularly difficult — but please take note. Also, remember that they have 24 hour chat support. Here’s a review of their support from CNET:

StrongVPNs support service is amazing–a Web-based live “chat” (think: ICQ) with one of its staff who are on 24-hour rotation, who will talk you through any issues. When I used it, I was chatting with a guy named Oleg after waiting for only 1 minute, which is pretty much the best customer support I’ve ever experienced.

StrongVPN is one of the few VPN that offer the new SSTP protocol. SSTP or “Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol” can be used in situations where most VPN connections would be blocked. This includes countries like Belize where the use of VPN software is forbidden. When used with SSL over TCP port 443, SSTP can pass virtually all firewalls and proxy servers. However, it is only currently supported by Ubuntu and Windows Vista 7 & 8.

StrongVPN responds to DCMA copyright requests, so you should look elsewhere if you’ll be torrenting movies or music with your VPN.

The ordering process for StrongVPN is confusing. First you’ll have to decide if you want to the PPTP or OpenVPN protocols, then you must indicate where you want your gateway server to be located, and lastly how many servers you access to. I hope StrongVPN streamlines this process soon.

For payment, StrongVPN accepts Paypal, Credit Cards, Wire Transfers, Google Checkout and Western Union / Checks.

Link: StrongVPN ($7-$30 per month or $55-85 per year)

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Phil Zimmerman, the inventor of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), has released a new system for secure communications, called Silent Circle. For $20 per month, the service is provided through a mobile app for iOS and Android. It allows you to decrypt and encrypt email, voice, text, and VOIP transmissions to and from your device. 

When two Silent Circle users talk to one another all of their communications is fully encrypted, with “absolutely no backdoors.” Zimmerman points out that the encryption keys are always with the user, and never hosted on the company’s servers, which are located in Canada.

A similar app that is completely free is Wickr — see our previous article on Wickr.

Link: Silent Circle

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