Many people look for a VPN with the primary goal of running Bittorrent. Sadly nearly equally many people have no idea what's important there and recommend a random popular VPN without port-forwarding. They know no better. These misguided 'recommendations' are all over this sub and r/piracy too.

Explanation

> But it has been running fine without any port-forwarding for me!

If you are OK with your downloads failing in 10% of cases then continue as usual. If you don't want to miss a chance, here's a short explanation:

Bittorrent relies on your connection working both ways: to accept incoming and outgoing connections. Without port-forwarding: you ~~may~~ will see slower speeds, slower speed ramp up and if a torrent has very few online seeders you may run into a situation where you cannot connect to anybody at all - no download!

Normally consumers cannot accept incoming connections due to NAT. This is always the case for proxies and VPNs, but some VPNs allow the assignment of a port that will always lead to your computer (and connect to your client). Making outgoing connections is always technically possible but then you rely on the seed/peer to have their ports open! At least one side must be. There's no way around.

A detailed explanation would be too long but you can ask in comments.

Is it safe (privacy-wise)? Decide for yourself, discussions also in comments

How to

Pick a VPN provider that supports port-forwarding. Here's a list I compiled last month.
Pick a client and force it to only ever use the VPN connection in settings (see screenshots). This is called IP/interface binding
In client settings set the "incoming port" to match the forwarded port from your VPN provider (also referred to as "local port")
1. Disable UPnP and other automatic configuration unless your VPN provider explicitly only works with UPnP.
You are set. Bon voyage at the calm seas!

Sometimes you also need to allow incoming connections to the client application in your firewall.

EDIT: Examples

Explicit examples where port-forwarding will help establishing a connection:

Downloader, closed port <--- ---> Seeder, closed port: Tough luck!
Downloader, closed port ---> Seeder, open port: Instant!
Downloader, open port ---> Seeder, closed port: Bummer. Need to wait until Seed sees and connects back to you. Usually up to 30min (or tracker refresh time)
Downloader, open port <---> Seeder, open port: Instant! in either direction

I am writing these posts to form a complete guide for people to follow and set up everything. Next time I see someone recommending a trashy VPN, I'll send them here.

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