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I've been using a Seedbox since December 2014. Best 15$/month I pay. You can even pay with Bitcoin, tho I just use PayPal. 2 TB of storage, very fast speed wi
by sn_master 6y ago
I've been using a Seedbox since December 2014.
Best 15$/month I pay. You can even pay with Bitcoin, tho I just use PayPal.
2 TB of storage, very fast speed with caching (i.e. some torrents finish immediately if someone else has it downloaded). An uncached Blu-ray ~4 GB movie gets finished in 15-30 mins.
They also have auto-delete feature. If they get a legal complaint they just delete the offending torrent and keep my account the same, no "strikes" or anything like that.
I then download the actual content either from FTP or HTTPS. If its a movie, I just download the single .mp4 file from the portal itself (and skip the subtitle/cover files) with HTTPS straight from Chrome, or even stream it directly through VLC! I only use the FTP if there is a large number of files (e.g. series or non-ISO-packaged software).
They have servers in US, Netherlands and Singapore. I always use the Netherlands server. I doubt anyone uses the US ones.
Even better? I can use the 2 TB for whatever I want, not just for the torrents. That's cheaper than most cloud storage plans for just dummy storage without any torrenting features!
Only problem I have with torrents are unpopular movies/series usually have no seeds, but there is nothing that can be done about that. Only older clients like LimeWire/eMule didn't have that problem, but those had endless malware issues because the content wasn't verified.
Pro-tip: Do not download the actual .torrent file. Many websites are setup to redirect you into an endless loop of shady .exe downloads. Always, always just copy the magnet link to your clipboard. This also makes you safe from any network monitoring that checks for .torrent downloads. No one can prove anything if you just copy a magnet link to your clipboard then paste it to a seedbox since they don't/can't monitor clipboards. Just browsing the page which has the link is perfectly file and doesn't prove intent, vs actually downloading a .torrent file.
VPNs in comparison are quite dodgy. They have slower speeds, no torrent-caching, its possible (and happens more than it should) that the software has a bad config and skips the VPN and uses your actual connection.
Also, I can never trust that the VPN company won't share my details if they get a legal request, specially when most of them are in the US.
VPNs are useful for bypassing censored networks in a university campus or corporate network, but for torrenting they're infinitely inferior to seedboxes.
- demadog 6y agoWhich seed box?
- sn_master 6y agoWhatbox. The 15/month plan I have is the legacy one, but the new plans are only very slightly more expensive (22$) and have more storage and speed.
- 1980phipsi 6y agoThanks for posting about this. I hear about seed boxes, but never thought it was affordable to rent one. One question: after downloading the files, how easy is it to get them back on a home computer?
- sn_master 6y ago1) Open Whatbox from Chrome, or any other browser on your home PC/Phone/Tablet. Its all HTTPS, your ISP can't know what you're doing. It is just like any regular website, not an "app" or anything at all special about it. 2) Find the torrent in the list of files. 3) Right-click on the file you like (e.g. the big .mp4 file) -> Download. Chrome will download it like any other file and save it anywhere you like. 4) Profit! If there is a large number of files (e.g. full TV season), use an FTP client. Instead of right click -> Download on a file, do right click -> Download on the entire folder, or drag drop to where you like it on your PC. Can also work just as fine on any FTP client for Android/iPhone.
- 1980phipsi 6y agoThanks!
- qntty 6y agoThe "US" servers are actually in Canada. I use them and the performance for streaming is slightly better. Although I wouldn't really be worried either way as I don't use public torrent sites.
- alashow 6y agoCheck out https://www.premiumize.me/ref/971622042 https://www.premiumize.me/ref/971622042, been using it for 3 years.
- chimeracoder 6y ago> Even better? I can use the 2 TB for whatever I want, not just for the torrents. That's cheaper than most cloud storage plans for just dummy storage without any torrenting features! To be clear: you're presumably not paying for redundancy there (which you usually are with cloud providers), so you're trading price for an increased risk of data loss, which may or may not matter to you.
- sn_master 6y agoI understand. I have a paid Dropbox and GDrive accounts which I use for important data. Having a 2 TB storage that I can use to share whatever I want with others or even across my devices is pretty useful for those cases. I have downloaded data there since I created my account that still is safe and available after almost 5 years.
- crtasm 6y agoGP's point is that it's not safe, without redundancy when the drive on your seedbox eventually dies - everything on it is lost.
- sn_master 6y agoSure, that's why I only use it for temporary situations (e.g. sharing a file with another device/person) and not for long-term data storage solution.
- pier25 6y ago> I then download the actual content either from FTP or HTTPS. If its a movie, I just download the single .mp4 file from the portal itself (and skip the subtitle/cover files) with HTTPS straight from Chrome, or even stream it directly through VLC! Since you mentioned you're using Whatbox in another comment, why not simply use Plex to catalog and stream the files?
- sn_master 6y agoBecause I haven't heard about it before this comment? I am taking a look now, it looks interesting. I usually like to download the whole files anyway and keep them on my external big drive to make sure I have them when a movie stops being popular and becomes harder to find on torrents. Also, I have an external projector that can play movies from a USB and having the full file available for me to copy onto the USB in few minutes is very useful for my use case.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- pier25 6y agoIf you want to use Plex you will need something to run the player on (the library and server would live in your seedbox). Years ago people used to build PCs for that (HTPCs). These days you can get 4K HDR with the Plex player running on a smart TV or one of those set-top-boxes (Nvidia Shield TV, Apple TV, etc). It's like your own private Netflix.
- 411111111111111 6y agoCheck out emby instead. It's open source and you won't get locked out of your own media if your internet connection is down
- alashow 6y agoor better, jellyfin.org
- 6y ago
- AnonC 6y ago> Only problem I have with torrents are unpopular movies/series usually have no seeds, but there is nothing that can be done about that. > Pro-tip: Do not download the actual .torrent file. Many websites are setup to redirect you into an endless loop of shady .exe downloads. Always, always just copy the magnet link to your clipboard. A better pro-tip for these issues: if you're anyway using a seed box, figure out and switch to private trackers and follow their rules. With the good ones around, you won't have to worry about shady downloads. Some of the unpopular or older content may also be available on those.
- sn_master 6y agoI used to do that (Demonoid...) but gotten lazy over the years. If something is rare and I really want it, I don't mind paying 15-20$ for it on Amazon Video/iTunes. Only thing I don't like is they don't let me download it, and I haven't found ways to download them otherwise.
- errantspark 6y agoThe baseline I can get for $10-30 worth of my time as effort put into piracy is a reasonably encoded `*.mkv` with subs, chapters, multiple audio streams. It's just a far far better experience from a user perspective than anything that's commercially available these days.
- blaser-waffle 6y agoGetting access to private trackers is non-trivial. Hell, I used to be on waffles.fm and lost my invite and getting access since then has been impossible. Usenet and sickbeard have been adequate replacements since then.
- rapfaria 6y agoI'm sad to report that waffles.fm is no more. Agreed, getting on private trackers - and surviving - is non-trivial, and don't think I could do it today (uploading, contributing). But once you do on the really big and important ones, you are set for life.
- balls187 6y agoCurious why pay $15/mo for a seedbox just to securely pirate content. No judgement, just curiosity.
- sn_master 6y agoSome reasons (not necessarily applying to me): Countries like Iran/Cuba/NK do not have any trade with the US. Its impossible to get the content legally. Seedbox paid for with BTC would allow them to download what they like without the government knowing it. These are not "lost" sales. Even Saudi Arabia, despite having ties with the US, doesn't allow the sale of so much US content (e.g. ideological books, NC17/adult movies), and bans VPNs. For citizens there, Seedboxes are the only way to get hold of that content. These are not lost sales either. Someone with a family and many kids who like movies can't and will not spend hundreds of dollars a month on movies/music to satisfy their entertainment desires when they have other things to worry about like putting food on the table. If they don't pirate it, they won't buy it. At best its a single lost sale, out of the dozens they download each month and make their kids happy despite the other difficulties they have in life. These are not lost sales either. Software pricing isn't adjusted for local income levels. Something that costs 100$ means 10 hours at most of work in the US. In other countries, 100$ can be 2-4 weeks worth of salary in the "3rd world" countries (is that term still allowed ?). No one is gonna pay for Windows/Office/Photoshop in those countries anyway. If they can't pirate it, they would use the open source ones. No one will accept to double-triple the price of their new desktop computer because of software when they've already spent many month-year to have enough money to ask the shop around the corner to assemble them a desktop with Walmart-level specs. These are not lost sales either. Fragmentation. If you want all the content, you need to have Netflix, Disney+, HBO, YouTube Premium, iTunes AND physical media from Amazon (do you even have a DVD/Blu-ray player ?). The hope that Netflix becomes a one-stop-shop vanished a long time ago. Netflix is only good if you like them to dictate what you'll watch. If you want the same content as torrents offer, for a movie that you'll watch one time, you might end up having to pay hundreds of dollars per month in subscriptions only to have one movie/series from each channel per month and not use the rest of what the distribution channel offers. The music industry got its s*t together and iTunes/Amazon Music/Google Music/Spotify all offer all the music in the world for a small monthly subscription and there is no need for piracy. The movie/TV industry on the other hand is just moving in the opposite direction making it harder and harder to have a single useful subscription. Each content owner wants to put their own hands in the consumer's pocket. The list goes on and on. Now, you're right. A good amount of those who pirate content can afford it, but without those being involved, the rest who can't obtain the content legally wouldn't be able to get into the party. Its a very complex question, but keep in mind that piracy existed since the very first days of software and music and these companies survived just fine. For the cinema industry its more complex, but at the end of the day most people who visit the cinema do so because of the experience rather than to just watch a movie. No one is gonna say no to going out with their friends to watch a movie because they can get the DVD rip for free from a torrent, or refuse to sit with their family and watch a new episode of a TV show on their cable because their pirated it the night before. You have to broaden your vision my friend and look at piracy from more angles than just the 30 yo male adult making 100k/year who pirates movies instead of paying for Netflix.
- throwaway8941 6y ago> the software has a bad config and skips the VPN and uses your actual connection Just stuff it into a separate network namespace. It's easy to do with firejail, but can also be done manually (firejail automatically configures the IP address, the routing table, and so on.) $ cat /etc/firejail/qbittorrent.local net enp3s0 ip 192.168.100.201 dns 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1
- sn_master 6y agoI am not that good with networks :) I have a dedicated 25$ tiny baby router (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ4S9JK/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ4S9JK/) configured for VPN one-time. I just disconnect from my main router and connect to it whenever I need VPN. Its pretty fool-proof and easier than setting each OS/software individually and undoing it each time.