I know this seems like a dumb question for someone who has been doing this successfully for so long but… how do I know my ISP can’t see what files I’m downloading? I’m still not sure how I got this all s/u as it’s not exactly novice-friendly. All I know is I spent a LOT of time many years ago and as such most of what I did has long since left my memory banks.
I think I recall something about a port 567 or SSL or something like that but I don’t recall if it was sab or my indexer or what. All I know is that I got emails form my ISP back in the day that were scary and I made some changes to something or another and it’s been fine ever since.
I’m changing to a new ISP and I just want to make sure that I’m not going to have any issues with the new ISP whenever I change providers. I also am getting ready to move my programs/automations from my PC to a NAS and would like a better understanding of this topic to help me make sure I’m taking the proper steps whenever I migrate things over to a new machine/OS.
Finally and related, whenever I used Deezer (I think it’s Deemix now?) I also didn’t have issues w/my ISP so is my solution more than just something in my SAB/Indexer the way I’m thinking it is above?
Thanks for the help.
SSL is your friend. It encrypts the data you’re downloading. Your ISP can see you’re downloading, but not the details.
Yas! This is what I have. I remember it being SSL but I wasn’t sure that was it since, typically, SSL has more to do with security licenses for websites as far as I know. Did I do it with my indexer or SAB? Indexer, right?
Your indexers will already be using SSL. I don’t know of any that don’t.
Your servers are what needs SSL enabled. That’s as easy as looking up your Usenet provider (server) and see which port they offer for SSL connections, then inputting that SSL port under you servers settings in sab.
Edit:
You probably also have to check a box for SSL
SSL (actually TLS, SSL hasn’t been a thing for years but the name stuck) is the same for both websites and Usenet.
What it does is create an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the remote server. There’s other checks built into it, like is the hostname of the remote server the same as the one in the certificate and is the certificate signed by a signer your computer trusts and sometimes even is the certificate signed by the right authority for that domain name. (operating systems come with a relatively regularly updated list of signing certificate authorities to trust)
Once that tunnel is established the actual network traffic (http for websites, nntp for Usenet) can go over that tunnel but no one outside it, like your isp, can see what the actual traffic is.
Obviously your isp will see a lot of traffic going from you to a Usenet provider so will know what you’re probably doing, but they won’t know for sure.
Set it in SABnzbd. Once for every server.
The connections to indexers will be encrypted if the URL you enter starts with https and unencrypted if it starts with http, unless the software automatically tries to upgrade http to https for you.
Yes! That’s exactly what I have. So when I change my ISP out this will continue working fine as setup years ago.
Related: How are my Deezer/Deemix downloads not seen by my ISP? Is that something that is risky or do those apps/programs provide encryption/masking to prevent ISPs from knowing or does it matter?
Got it. Does Deezer/Deemix use similar tunnels or would my ISP know the specific files I’m downloading whenever I use those? I never got a happy gram from my current ISP so I assume something is being done or do they simply not care as much as movies? I assume more the former than the latter but ??
Yeah, I think this is what I did.
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Deemix will use SSL, your ISP has no idea whether you’re downloading music for storage, or streaming the music for a one time listen.
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Downloading from Deezer is a main function of Deezer. The only part that is “unethical” is unencrypting the files once they’re on your system. (At least this is how I assume it works)
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Your ISP won’t care. Unless they receive a copyright complaint that is meant for you, then they don’t care. They are not monitoring everyone’s traffic, seeing who is and who is not possibly downloading something they shouldn’t be. Trust me, I worked for one, they don’t have the manpower nor reason to care about what you’re doing. Unless they’re forced to.
The only reason torrents get users “in trouble” is because companies will monitor all of the IP’s connecting to the file they own the rights to, and send DMCA complaints to whoever is leasing out that IP. Your ISP will then check to see who was using that IP at that time, then forward to DMCA to that person.
When you’re making a direct connection to a server with SSL, there isn’t someone who could be watching exactly what file you’re downloading, besides the server you’re downloading FROM. Your ISP will see the amount of data, and that you’re connecting to them, but they don’t know WHAT exactly you’re doing. And unless your ISP or the Server you’re connecting to receives a DMCA complaint, or the authorities tell them to care, they won’t care.
I don’t know Deezer, but it almost certainly goes over HTTPS It’s incredibly rare for sites and services to not use TLS these days, and for things in the HTTP space (websites, web services, most apps) things will actively start shouting if they don’t.
That’s the info I was looking for. Thanks for the quick replies!