Routing Bittorrent through a Tor relay...

Question

I am running a non-exit Tor relay on my Windows 10 machine. I have the ORPort as 443, while the SocksPort and ControlPort are 9050 and 9051, respectively. I devote 800 Kbps average, and 950 Kbps to bursts. My DNS settings are set to non-ISP DNS (both my router and my own computer) and they don't log.

I use the Tor Browser Bundle (always updated) for my general onion Internet surfing. I only use the TBB when surfing onion sites, but close the TBB when done. I keep the relay going 24/7.

I know all the controversy regarding BitTorrent over Tor so please spare me the comments against, etc. I actually run the relay partly to defray the load I put on Tor via BitTorrent.

So, since I set my Vuze proxy settings for '127.0.0.1' and 'port: 9050' and 'Socks5' for both tracker and peer to peer, my thinking is that having all this Tor relay traffic co-mingling with the BitTorrent traffic would make any sort of traffic analysis of my Internet much more complicated. Especially analysis of anything I do while using the Tor Browser Bundle. Any comments on this?

Also, when I set my Vuze to use those proxy settings, the SOCKS icon is green in Vuze while the firewall icon turns red (meaning firewalled). I have UPnP in my router and my Vuze. I am able to download files with the Vuze status as such. But I'm not seeding very much, and it's messing up my ratio. Also, I have Vuze set to randomize TCP/UDP listening ports and to use same ports for TCP/UDP. But when I use the 'NAT/Firewall Test' for my Vuze ports, it says the TCP port "timed out" or the connection is "refused," while the UDP port is "OK!" In fact, any port I test will always come back "refused" or "timed out." But once I un-proxy Vuze, the firewall icon turns green almost instantly.

How can I get Vuze to work right with Tor? I'm thinking it's a matter of the half-open connections limit? I have Vuze set to 20 "max simultaneous outbound connection attempts," and 950 "max outstanding outbound connections."

Thank you!

Answer 1

my thinking is that having all this Tor relay traffic co-mingling with the BitTorrent traffic would make any sort of traffic analysis of my Internet much more complicated.

Not in any meaningful way, no.

I am able to download files with the Vuze status as such. But I'm not seeding very much, and it's messing up my ratio.

Seeding involves you publishing to the tracker and saying "I have these parts of the file and you can contact me at this address to get them". You cannot receive inbound connections over Tor from outside of the Tor network, therefor you cannot seed over Tor.

it says the TCP port "timed out" or the connection is "refused,"

You connect out over Tor and tell the testing service "I'm listening on this port" but it sees the Exit asking the question, the Exit is not listening on that port, the test fails. As mentioned above, you cannot receive inbound connections over Tor from outside of the Tor network.

while the UDP port is "OK!"

Tor doesn't handle UDP traffic, this is likely going out over your normal internet connection and leaking. Possibly this is why you see any seeding at all.

How can I get Vuze to work right with Tor?

Bittorrent is generally incompatible with Tor, since half of the protocol involves operations that are not supported on the Tor network (taking inbound connections and serving parts of the file to users). Instead you've just a got a very inefficient method of downloading files which is apparently breaking your anonymity with UDP traffic. There is no "right" way to get Vuze to work with Tor if you're concerned about your "ratio".

You'd have much better luck using a client-server architecture based protocol (http, ftp, rsync, etc.), it would serve you better and it would serve the Tor network better.

There's no magic secret to doing bittorrent over Tor that people aren't telling you because you're one of the uninitiated, it's just not very compatible with Tor as a protocol. It can half work badly and inefficiently. There are likely few, if any, clients that are designed to respect your privacy or even attempt any kind of meaningful anonymity.

I know all the controversy regarding BitTorrent over Tor so please spare me the comments against, etc.

Clearly, you don't or you'd have already answered your own question.

Answer 2

When I started to write a fork of bittorrent to use through Tor, I was thinking that "it will handle almost everything by itself" and it's a simple question. It is NOT. The problem is very complicated and multi-layered:

• No UDP in Tor So, forget your UDP downloads(no problem), DHT(problem, but not a killer) and trackers(epic fail)
• No DHT because you don't have any multi/broad casts and UDP, so - you have only the peers you've received from your tracker. A peer exchange can save your day, especially on LAN/homenet/local-ISP-lan case
• Descriptors know IP addresses only In a direct way or another(via hostnames) torrent library uses IP addresses, which is bad and actually a killer for daarknets, including Tor. Descriptors can also leak your HS IP address(a second killer) - so you have a lot of trouble even if you're manage to physically launch bittorrent over Tor

Wait for my release - I hope it will be soon ;)