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by michaelmrose 1118 days ago
You don't need port forwarded to use bittorrent. Clients connected to the network exchange information with each other. Magnet links or torrent files provide the information needed to get in touch with peers to make the initial connection.
1 comments
wkat4242 1118 days ago
They do, but you will only be able to connect to peers that do have a public port open on their IP, unless you have one open yourself, then everyone can connect to you. But this latter option is now going away.

Which is not a lot because in most countries exposing your IP on the torrent leads to legal threats.

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michaelmrose 1118 days ago
Actually you have no problem initiating the connection with port forwarding. Brief reading suggests it would work better/faster with it enabled as some peers may not be able to initiate with you.
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wkat4242 1118 days ago
Initiating no, but if your chosen peer is also behind NAT, you will not be able to connect to them.

For this reason, your selection of peers will be limited. As all other peers behind NAT without port forward will be disregarded.

If you do have a port forward, other peers can connect to you, thus having all peers available.

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