Thread: How to buy a Seedbox

Before I begin, this is 100% my own material (excluding where noted)

HOW TO BUY A SEEDBOX:
WHICH SEEDBOX IS RIGHT FOR ME?

Buying a seedbox could be a daunting process. Which one is the best? How much is it? Where do I start?

The aim of this tutorial is to hopefully aid you in selecting the seedbox which is right for you. What this is not intended for "seedbox reviews" or "which seedbox is the best". The correct answer is it depends on you.


WHERE TO START
So you want to get a seedbox. Here are some things you should ask yourself before you actually search for the perfect one.

1) Your budget: just how much you're willing to spend?

If you have no money to spend, go HERE and request a seedbox.

2) Are you actually going to use the downloaded content? or are you just buffering accounts?

This choice is, in my humble opinion, the most important one. While searching for seedboxes, you may notice that the $20 service you found only has 10 gb of download space! Those services are used to buffer your ratio on SEVERAL trackers and delete your downloaded content. If you buy a seedbox with small harddrive space and hope to use your downloaded content, you'll have a difficult time.

Also, if you are rotating through a number of trackers, you may want a package with a bigger harddrive space.

Keep in mind the size of the content you may be downloading, and what purpose you are downloading it for!

3) What client am I allowed to use?

Many trackers only allow specific clients. Run through the RULES and FAQs on your trackers and write see what clients are allowed or suggested. You may have to make your purchase based around this fact. If you are unsure EMAIL OR PM YOUR TRACKER STAFF. Don't be afraid to ask them a question, they are there for that reason.


FINDING ONE YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH

Luckily, you people have a jump start with this. A quick run through the Seedbox's / Hosting section could get you quick information on the kinds of seedboxes you're looking for. Remember before you post, search! If you can't find what you are looking for GOOGLE IT! If you are still stuck, come back here and make a cohesive thread on specifically what you are trying to find.

Take your time finding one that suits your needs because it's your money. You'll be stuck with it for a month's time.

SUGGESTIONS

First off, these are some simple suggestions that I feel are important to look out for when making your purchases.

1) CHECK THE FEATURES

I don't think there is one seedbox service that are the same. With each price, look at what you are getting:

-disk space (10gb,20gb,100gb,1TB, depends on you)
-speed (100mbps or better always)
-bandwidth (stay away from ones that limit this)
-amount of torrents downloading (try to get ones with unlimited)
-operating system (linux preferred)
-client (if linux, rtorrent/torrentflux preferred; windows - utorrent)
-kind of server it's on (specifications - processor, RAM, etc)
-FTP access (very important if you need it for content)
-IP address (stay away from ones that are shared generally)
-special features (http proxy, encryption, support)
-fees (setup fee and cancellation fees - WATCH OUT)
-server location (is the server IP in a country that is banned by your tracker?)
-deals (event deals or packages)

2) STAY AWAY FROM

Don't limit yourself to just one package. Many good services have more than one type of seedbox each with their own features. Stay away from services that:

-limit the amount of torrents you can run.
-use banned clients
-limit your monthly upload download of any kind
-use shared IP addresses (you may need to check with your tracker how to note you are on a shared IP)

BUYING WITHOUT PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARDS

Now the purchase, the final step.
If you don't have a paypal account nor access to a credit card, there is one suggestion that I can give: VISA pre paid card. I'm not 100% sure if all services will take it, but I have used VISA pre paid cards to buy online things in the past and these should not be an exception.



Lastly, if you didn't bother to read anything above, just remember this, take your time. Ask your tracker questions, ask the seedbox service questions, ask us questions. If it's too good to be true, it just might be.


I'm not held responsible for anything you have failed to do, with your money, or what you make of this tutorial!

Wow thanks for this I think this is a great tutorial and i think it will help out a lot of people that have an idea of what a seedbox is, but want to know more and where to start!

This is a really good tutorial and it should help a lot of people. U didnt miss one thing and its complete to the tee. I myself look at all the specs first when buying my Server's and then work my way down. Thats what alot of people dont realize these days. They see a cheap price and auto think its awesome, but dont realize its a low-grade server with bad specs. U definitely need to do homework when buying a seedbox. Thanks again for your hard work, well done.

Much appreciated. This was very thorough and informative to anyone who has asked themselves which seedbox to get. This coupled with the seedbox reviews section should pretty much make the mind up for anyone looking have the power of the gods in their hands when it comes to torrenting.

With the way OVH has gone, its gonna be hard to find a seedbox that doesnt limit bandwidth while still giving you good speeds at a decent price.

Originally Posted by jb123

With the way OVH has gone, its gonna be hard to find a seedbox that doesnt limit bandwidth while still giving you good speeds at a decent price.

I'm not exactly sure what OVH hosting is about, this just pertains to any hosting service really.

Originally Posted by jb123

With the way OVH has gone, its gonna be hard to find a seedbox that doesnt limit bandwidth while still giving you good speeds at a decent price.

There still are many seedbox providers who buy unmetered servers

nicely presented tutorial

but ovh boxes are still worth as most of the data transfers are internally

You can also receive via Western Union.