PeerBlock — Free IP Blocker for Torrenting on Windows
PeerBlock — Free IP Blocker for Torrenting on WindowsYour torrent client shows your IP to the whole swarm. PeerBlock shuts the door on the creeps watching.
What PeerBlock Actually Does (No BS Version)
Every time you download a torrent, your IP address is visible to every single person in that swarm — uploaders, seeders, leechers, and anyone else connected. That includes copyright trolls, monitoring agencies, research institutions, and whoever else decided to join the party.
PeerBlock is a free, open-source firewall that sits between your computer and the internet. It maintains massive lists of IP addresses belonging to known bad actors — government surveillance, anti-piracy agencies, spyware distributors, ad networks — and blocks them from connecting to your machine. Period.
Think of it as a bouncer for your PC. It checks every incoming and outgoing connection against a blacklist and slams the door on anything sketchy.
It’s not a VPN. It doesn’t encrypt anything. It doesn’t hide your IP. It just prevents known bad IPs from talking to you while you torrent.
💻 How to Set Up PeerBlock on Windows 10 & 11 — Step by Step
Step 1 — Download
Grab it from the official site:
https://www.peerblock.com
Or from FossHub (trusted mirror):
https://www.fosshub.com/PeerBlock.html
It’s free. No trial. No subscription required for basic use.
Step 2 — Install
Run the installer. Standard next-next-finish stuff. Works on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows (Vista through 11).
Step 3 — First Run Wizard
When you launch it the first time, a setup wizard pops up. It’ll ask you what kind of IPs you want to block. Check the ones that matter:
| List | What It Blocks | Should You Enable? |
|---|---|---|
| P2P | Anti-piracy orgs, copyright trolls, monitoring agencies |  Yes — this is the main one |
| Ads | Advertising networks and trackers | Yes — why not |
| Spyware | Known malware distributors | Yes — obvious |
| Education | University and institutional IPs |  Optional — blocks research institutions that monitor P2P |
There’s also a checkbox: “Always Allow HTTP” — this lets web traffic through on ports 80 and 443 even if those IPs are on your blocklist. Keep this checked unless you want PeerBlock to potentially break your normal browsing.
Step 4 — Update Schedule
Set it to update blocklists automatically. The lists come from I-Blocklist (iblocklist.com). Free users get weekly updates. Paid subscribers get daily updates — but weekly is fine for most people.
Step 5 — Let It Run
Click Finish. PeerBlock downloads the latest blocklists and immediately starts blocking. You’ll see a real-time log of every connection being blocked — time, IP, source, destination, protocol. It’s genuinely fascinating (and a little terrifying) to see how many things try to talk to your PC every minute.
Step 6 — Open Your Torrent Client
Fire up uTorrent, BitTorrent, qBittorrent, or whatever you use. Start downloading. PeerBlock runs in the background and filters connections automatically. No extra configuration needed in your torrent client.
That’s it. You’re done.
⚙️ Tweaking PeerBlock — Settings That Actually Matter
Start with Windows: Settings → check “Start with Windows” and “Start minimized.” You want this running every time your PC boots without thinking about it.
Log settings: The real-time log is cool but eats memory over long sessions. If you’re running low on RAM, you can limit log history or disable it.
Custom lists: You can add your own IP ranges to block. If you know a specific IP or range that’s been giving you trouble, go to List Manager → Add → enter the range manually.
Disable/Enable on the fly: One button toggles PeerBlock on and off. Useful when a website won’t load because PeerBlock is being overly aggressive (it happens).
I-Blocklist subscription: The premium lists (daily updates + extra categories) cost a few bucks. Worth it if you torrent heavily. Not necessary for casual use.
📋 Understanding the Blocklists — What's Actually Being Blocked
PeerBlock’s lists come from I-Blocklist (https://www.iblocklist.com). Here’s what the main categories contain:
| List | What’s In It | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 (P2P) | Known anti-P2P companies, copyright enforcement agencies, law firms that send DMCA letters | ~1 billion IPs (combined with others) |
| Ads | Advertising networks, tracking services, analytics companies | Large |
| Spyware | Known malware command-and-control servers, phishing IPs | Large |
| Education | Universities, research institutions that study P2P traffic | Medium |
| Bogon | Invalid/unassigned IP ranges that shouldn’t exist on the public internet | Varies |
The lists are available in standard P2P, DAT, and CIDR formats. They’re also compatible with other torrent clients directly — Vuze, Transmission, uTorrent, and Tixati all support loading I-Blocklist data natively.
Combined, the top 3 lists block over 1 billion IP addresses. That’s roughly 25% of all IPv4 addresses on the planet. Which brings us to…
The Honest Truth — PeerBlock’s Limitations
Here’s where most guides stop and pretend everything is perfect. Not this one.
PeerBlock is useful. PeerBlock is not a privacy solution. There’s a massive difference, and pretending otherwise will get you in trouble.
🔓 Why PeerBlock Alone Isn't Enough — The Real Talk
Problem 1: It doesn’t hide your IP
PeerBlock blocks OTHER IPs from connecting to YOU. But it does absolutely nothing to hide YOUR IP from everyone else in the torrent swarm. Any peer that’s NOT on the blocklist can see your real IP address. And copyright trolls aren’t stupid — they rotate IPs constantly.
Problem 2: Monitoring agencies can just… change their IP
A copyright enforcement company gets blocked? They rent a new server, get a new IP, and rejoin the swarm. Their entire business model depends on monitoring torrents. One blocklist isn’t going to shut them down. They’ll just use a VPN or VPS to get an IP that isn’t on any list yet.
Problem 3: Your ISP can see everything
PeerBlock cannot block your own Internet Service Provider. All your traffic passes through their servers. If they want to see you’re torrenting — they can. PeerBlock offers zero encryption, so your ISP can use deep packet inspection to see exactly what protocols you’re using and what files you’re downloading.
Problem 4: Blocking too many IPs tanks your speed
When you block 25% of all IP addresses on the internet, you’re also blocking a ton of legitimate peers — normal people sharing the files you want. Fewer peers = slower downloads. Some users report significant speed drops with aggressive blocklists enabled.
Problem 5: It’s Windows-only
No Mac. No Linux. No Android. No iOS. If you torrent on anything other than Windows, PeerBlock doesn’t exist for you.
Problem 6: Updates are slow
PeerBlock hasn’t had a major software update since 2014. The blocklists get updated, but the core application is essentially unmaintained. It still works, but it’s not exactly keeping pace with modern threats.
The Smart Setup — PeerBlock + Other Layers
PeerBlock works best as one layer in a stack, not your only defense. Here’s how to actually protect yourself while torrenting:
🔒 The Full Protection Stack (Free + Paid Options)
| Layer | What It Does | Tool | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. VPN | Hides your real IP, encrypts all traffic, ISP can’t see anything | Mullvad, ProtonVPN, Windscribe | Free–$5/mo |
| 2. PeerBlock | Blocks known bad IPs from connecting to you | PeerBlock | Free |
| 3. Torrent client settings | Encryption, peer exchange, DHT settings | qBittorrent (built-in) | Free |
| 4. Blocklist in client | Load I-Blocklist directly into your torrent client | qBittorrent, Transmission, Vuze | Free |
The ideal setup:
- Connect to a VPN that allows P2P traffic
- Launch PeerBlock with P2P + Spyware lists enabled
- Open your torrent client with protocol encryption forced
- Torrent normally
Now your ISP sees VPN traffic (not torrents), copyright trolls see the VPN’s IP (not yours), and PeerBlock blocks the known bad actors from even connecting. Three layers deep.
If you can only pick ONE: Get a VPN. A VPN does everything PeerBlock does and more. PeerBlock is the cherry on top, not the sundae.
🔧 Using Blocklists Directly in Your Torrent Client (No PeerBlock Needed)
Most modern torrent clients have built-in blocklist support. You don’t even need PeerBlock if you prefer this route:
qBittorrent:
Settings → Connection → IP Filtering → paste this URL:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Naunter/BT_BlockLists/master/bt_blocklists.gz
Check “Automatically update” → done.
Transmission:
Preferences → Peers → Blocklist → paste the same URL → Enable automatic updates
Vuze / uTorrent:
Both support I-Blocklist format natively. Download the .dat or P2P format list from https://www.iblocklist.com and load it in the client’s IP filter settings.
Same protection as PeerBlock, minus the separate app running in the background. Lighter on resources too.
💡 Quick Torrent Safety Checklist
- VPN connected and confirmed (check for IP leaks at https://ipleak.net)
- PeerBlock running with P2P list active (or blocklist loaded in torrent client)
- Torrent client encryption set to “Require” or “Forced”
- DHT and Peer Exchange enabled (for better peer discovery)
- Kill switch enabled on VPN (disconnects internet if VPN drops)
- Bind torrent client to VPN interface (prevents downloads if VPN disconnects)
Don’t torrent without VPN — PeerBlock alone is not enough- Don’t seed for days with your real IP exposed
- Don’t ignore DMCA warnings from your ISP — they’re real
The Bottom Line
PeerBlock is a free, dead-simple tool that adds a layer of protection to your torrenting. Install it, enable the P2P blocklist, and let it run. Takes 2 minutes.
But don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s invisible mode. It blocks known threats — it can’t predict new ones, it can’t hide your IP, and it can’t encrypt your traffic.
PeerBlock = good extra layer. VPN = actual protection. Both together = better than either alone.
!