Read: 15 Best Legal Torrenting Sites to Download Content Safely
PeerBlock Alternatives
1. BeeThink IP Blocker
BeeThink IP Blocker is a very simple, minimal, and lightweight application that lets you block any and all IP addresses. Along with specific IP addresses, you can also configure the application to block IP ranges. If needed, you can block IP addresses of the entire country too. If you already have an IP address list or programs that actively track problematic IP addresses, you can configure BeeThink IP Blocker to import those lists. Since BeeThink can actively monitor your connections, you can always right-click on any IP addresses or connection and see what data it is sending or receiving. Of course, if the connection is encrypted. i.e. using TLS/SSL, you will see nothing but gibberish. Additionally, you can also lookup IP addresses for its other information like location, ownership, etc. Other features of the application include auto updates to IP address lists, detailed logs, detailed information about ongoing incoming or outgoing connections, ability to exclude IP address, etc. Simply put, you can think of BeeThink as a mini-firewall. If you are looking for a simple yet powerful application that not only lets you block certain IP addresses or IP ranges but also give you detailed additional information regarding various connections, then do try BeeThink IP Blocker. BeeThink IP Blocker is a premium application that costs $69.95. There is a full-featured free 5-day trial for you to try the application. Platform support: Windows only. Download BeeThink IP Blocker
2. Simplewall
Simplewall is a free and open-source application that lets you block IP addresses, IP ranges, and installed or active applications. What makes Simplewall special is its high configurability and ease of use. Just launch the application, select the program you want to block, click on the “Enable filtering” button and you are done. Our of the box, Simplewall blocks several spy, tracking, and not so good IP addresses. Other than that, from the Settings panel, you can add custom IP addresses or IP ranges you want to block. While configuring the IP blocking, you can instruct Simplewall whether it should apply that rule system-wide or for a selected application. As and when needed, you can export application rules and IP block rules with just a couple of clicks. Additionally, you can also configure the app to log dropped packets for debugging purposes. Simplewall also has other features like application specific rules, whitelist and blacklist mode, system rules, highlighting, etc. If you are looking for a full-featured application that lets you create both system-wide and application specific rules, then do try Simplewall. Platform support: Windows only. Download Simplewall (Free)
3. PeerGuardian
PeetGuardian is one of the most popular, free, and open-source PeerBlocker alternative and privacy firewall application. The user interface of the application is very clean and easy to use. By default, as soon as you launch the application, it will list all the active connections and their IP address. From there, you can right-click and select whether to allow or block a connection. One interesting feature of PeerGuardian is that you have the option to allow connection to a particular IP address either temporarily or permanently. This makes it easy to block connections temporarily. PeerGuardian comes with quite a few IP address lists that are known as bad actors or tracking agents. From the configuration panel, you can pick and choose what list to block and what list to allow. Of course, you can add your own IP addresses or IP ranges to the list for greater control. You can also create exceptions so that the IP address or range is not blocked even if it is in the blacklist. Platform support: Linux only. Download PeerGuardian
4. IPlist
IPlist is a free and open-source Linux only command line application to block IP addresses and IP ranges. Being a command line application, it is not that user-friendly and has a learning curve for beginner users who are not comfortable using command line applications. However, it gives you tremendous control over what to block and how to block. The best thing about IPlist is that it works in tandem with IPTables. You can create your own blacklist and whitelist lists and add them to the IPlist. Other features of IPlist include but not limited to detailed logs, configurable allow and blocked lists, IPTables chains, port forwarding, etc. If you want GUI (Graphical User Interface), you can use IPblock. The instructions to how to enable GUI can be found in the IPlist documentation page. If you are looking for a free and lightweight application and don’t mind fiddling around a bit to get things done, then do give IPlist a try. Platform support: Linux only. Download IPlist (free)
5. VPN
Using a VPN is probably the best alternative to Peerblock. Unlike Peerblock which only block bad IPs and doesn’t hide your IP address, VPNs can not only mask your IP address but also encrypt your entire stream. That said, most popular VPNs services do not support torrent, so you need to check before getting one. A simple Google search for ‘VPN that supports Bit Torrent proxy’ should do the trick for you. Some of the popular torrent providers that support Bit Torrent proxies include – ‘Private Intenet Access’, ‘Smart DNS Proxy’ and ‘Tor Guard’ etc. Platform support: Windows, Android, iOS, macOS
6. Seedbox
Another way to anonymize your torrent downloads is by using service like Seedbox. Unlike a VPN which hide your IP address to download torrents, Seedbox is a remote computer with very high-speed internet connection. You rent a seedbox server just like you buy a VPN subscription and later do all your torrenting from that remote machine. In simple words, you download your torrents on your seedbox machine first and then transfer the torrents files from seedbox to your computer over the regular FTP connection. This way your ISP has no way of finding out what you are downloading. In general, Seedbox is expensive than VPN with price starting from $15-$100 per month. We recommend researching Seedbox before you buying them, some of the popular seedboxes we recommend are – Whatbox and Bytesized. Platform support: remote server can be accessed from any FTP client.
Wrapping Up
If you are Windows user and don’t mind paying for advanced features like the ability to monitor connections and see what data is being sent or received, go with BeeThink IP Blocker. Since there is a full-featured free trial, try the application under various scenarios before making a purchase decision. If you don’t want the ability to see data being sent or received over the network, I’d recommend going with Simplewall as it has almost all the features of BeeThink IP Blocker and more for free. For Linux users, if you need a simple to use GUI then go with PeerGuardian. If you don’t mind command line stuff and want extensive control when it comes blacklisting and whitelisting, then go with IPlist. That being said, though the IP blockers work as they should, it is quite easy to bypass the IP blocker protection. If you are looking to avoid detection, tracking, or spying then I’d recommend you go with a good reputable VPN service and an actual firewall or Seedbox. Sure, it costs you a few bucks every month but it gives you much better protection. That is all for now. If you think I missed any of your favorite PeerBlock alternatives, then comment below and share them with me.
