10 Reasons why you need a seedbox

[Wilhelm]

So, you’ve come to your senses and decided to give mininova the slip and get yourself a private BitTorrent account. Good! How about a really great private account? Even better. If you’ve managed to squeeze yourself into an über-elite private BT tracker (such as SCC, BitMeTV or TL), the first thing you’re gonna notice is an almost complete lack of ability to upload. Why is that? Well, you have a handicap: You don’t have a seedbox. Unfortunately, it also means your days on that tracker are likely numbered. Without a good sharing ratio, the account will get pruned. The solution? Set up a seedbox.

A seedbox is BitTorrent jargon for a dedicated high-speed server used explicitly for torrent transfers; more specifically - for uploading (seeding) at high rates. With a seedbox you’ll be able to manage your torrents through a browser from anywhere, anytime. Here’s 10 reasons for the advantages of using a seedbox over conventional home-based BitTorrent transfers:

 

1. Speed.

Most seedbox accounts are set up on 100Mbit lines, or faster - this is fast; really fast! Unquestionably faster than your home Internet access. That is, unless you live in Japan or Sweden. Even with an el-cheapo VPN seedbox account, burst speeds can easily surpass 30MBit a second - that’s a whopping 3,750 KB/s! To put it in perspective, that’s like being able to download an average-sized MP3 in just one second.

 

2. Downloading.

Sit back, relax and watch in amazement at how fast the torrents finish downloading. 700MB DVDRiPs come through in as little as 3 minutes; full DVD-Rs in just 15. What can beat that? Well, for starters, the upload speed is the same rate…

 

3. Uploading.

Serious torrenters are less concerned about the downloading, and more about the seeding. Good ratios are crucial to a healthy membership - without them, the account will wither away and die. With a seedbox, your ratio will be 1:1 on the torrent within minutes, not days. 10:1 ratios are not uncommon within the first hour for popular torrents. No more do you have to seed the torrent for weeks just to stay in the good graces of your private tracker. You’ll be free to delete & pause torrents, and replace them with fresher ones. Unlike home Internet accounts that typically have much slower upload rates than down, seedboxes don’t suffer from upload limitations and can ‘max out’ the transfer rate in both directions equally. Uploading is the real reason users set up a seedbox.

 

4. Competition.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, private tracker members are competitive, and a seedbox gives members a powerful edge. Without one, it doesn’t matter how many torrents you have seeding, or how you’ve managed to tweak the BitTorrent client’s settings, there’s just no competing with the uploading power of a seedbox. Truth be told - as it is nowadays with many elite private trackers - a seedbox is not just recommended; it’s mandatory for account longevity. More and more people are using them all the time, and this puts a stranglehold on non-seedbox members. Get a seedbox, or get left behind.

 

5. Your home Internet is untouched.

This frees up your home connection for…well, more torrents, online gaming, youtube, whatever! You’ll be able to safely turn off your computer at night without worrying about seeding. Your seedbox will still be happily uploading 24/7.

 

6. Does your ISP limit the monthly throughput on your account?

Get over it with a seedbox! Your seedbox traffic is not counted towards your ISP account stats, so it’s great for anyone who suffers from ISP ‘capping’. The only time it becomes ‘your’ traffic is when you choose to download the files from a finished torrent to your home PC, and uploading torrent traffic will never eat into your cap.

 

7. Good ratios breed great perks.

Watch your upload stats soar, and fast! You’ll become a power user or VIP on the tracker in no time at all, and “invites” will be plentiful. Use your invites to trade for even better sites. Most seedbox users have multiple private BitTorrent accounts and have no problem keeping them all in great shape by rotating the torrents from each.

 

8. Got a bad ISP that shaped your P2P traffic?

Big deal. It won’t matter with a seedbox. Your ISP is none-the-wiser to your seedbox, and the traffic is not affected. You’ll be able to quickly download your finished seedbox files to your home computer via HTTP or FTP, without the ISP ‘throttling’ headaches.

 

9. Greater file selection.

Once you’ve established a respectable ratio, feel free to download the files that YOU want to download. No longer do you have to jump on the most recent torrents to get into a big swarm, or download popular torrents that you don’t even want. Seedboxes are high-priority in the uploading queue, regardless of what you choose to seed.

 

10. They’re Safe & Secure.

With a seedbox, you don’t even need to use a BitTorrent client on your home computer - your worries about the RIAA or MPAA are over. No more DMCA notices or warning letters from your ISP - and more importantly, no lawsuit letters will be coming, either. College/University students, take note.

So, go out and get yourself a seedbox. They’re fun, hip and great to brag about to your buddy whose never heard of them. And don’t forget to pick up two or three spindles of blank DVDRs.