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How important is port forwarding, actually? (lemmy.one)

submitted 2 years ago by AVeryCleverName@lemmy.one to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I've been putting off renewing my mullvad membership because of the port forwarding thing. I only want to use it for torrenting. Is it really crucial to find a VPN that supports port forwarding? If so, what's the go to option now that it's becoming increasingly uncommon?

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[-] rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee 36 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I think you should try to find a VPN that supports it, but you can live without it if you have to.

If you don't have a listening port other clients can't request a connection. You can still limp along without accepting incoming connection requests and it may not even make a big difference. Still it's a lot better to have it. You'll connect to more peers.

BTW, It's not always necessary to use port forwarding to enable a listening port, but commonly it is. Machines with a public facing IP don't need to use port forwarding, but most people are either on a private network or VPN where it's required.