Believe it or not, torrenting is still going strong in the sense that it’s still the number one method for sharing and downloading files. It’s also true that many people frown upon torrenting sites. Internet service providers and law enforcement authorities have a hard time accepting that millions of people are still using torrenting sites to share and download files.
Despite all the powerful security measures taken against torrenting sites, the practice of P2P file-sharing is as popular as ever. So far, torrenting sites have managed to stay at least one step ahead of the authorities. Some have been forcefully shut down.
Others have done so on their own either because they can’t handle all the lawsuits coming their way or the site’s administration has decided to move on to another project. Regardless of the reason, historically speaking, new torrent sites regularly pop up to take the place of the ones that have shut down.
Speaking of sites that have shut down, the original Torrentz2 went offline in 2016. Luckily, a clone of the site, which is more of a meta search engine than a true torrent site, is currently operational. This is the one we’ll be focusing on in this article.
Table of Contents
What is Torrentz2?
The current Torrentz2 site rose from the ashes of Torrentz2eu which was voluntarily shut down in 2016 but still uses the same Torrentz2.eu domain name. No one knows the exact reason why Torrentz2eu was taken offline, but some believe that it was done to avoid legal trouble as it shut down shortly after Kickass Torrents was taken down and its admin was arrested.
Due to the fact that torrent sites exist in a sort of legal grey area, it usually isn’t a big surprise when one is shut down. That being said, the takedown of Torrent2eu left a significant void in the torrenting world because it was so widely used and allowed users to search many sites at once.
Since Torrentz2 had the advantage of having an existing user base leftover from Torrentz.eu, it didn’t have to work too hard to build popularity in the torrenting community and acts as a suitable replacement for its predecessor. Additionally, they were able to build more of an audience by launching Extra Torrentz2, which is specifically for movie torrents.
The Difference Between Torrentz2 and Other Torrent Sites
When you go to a regular torrent site, you get access to a huge database of files containing movies, software, music or games. Each file has a link from which you can download it to your computer. The Torrentz2 search engine has none of that because, as mentioned before, it’s a meta search engine.
In the simplest terms, Torrentz2 is the Google of torrent files and functions similarly to regular search engines. Instead of returning links to websites, the site returns links to individual files.
When you go to the website, you’ll see that all you need to do to make contact with the content you’re looking for is enter the appropriate search terms. It uses a powerful algorithm that has made indexing files a breeze and because of the indexing method, it’s better able to serve its users.
Why Is It Blocked?
The site was shut down pretty quickly in developed countries. When users would attempt to use its search function it wouldn’t return any file links. As we discussed earlier, such domains are always in trouble when they reach a certain level of popularity.
Torrent search engines often have particularly short lives because of the impact they have on the torrent community. They provide users with access to a truly massive range of copyrighted material that others have taken the time to upload, which catches the attention of law enforcement authorities.
Most countries consider sites like Torrentz2 and what users do on such domains as online piracy. The majority of developed countries have implemented laws to punish those who take part in such activities.
What sets Torrent2 apart from other torrent sites is that it never featured a database of copyrighted material. The search engine simply located the queried files which were already present on other sites. This is the reason why so many people in the torrenting community were surprised when the site was shut down.
Is It Safe to Download Torrents From Torrentz2?
The short answer is no. Torrent sites can never guarantee that the file you’re downloading is legitimate or free of malicious software. It certainly isn’t rare to find criminals in the online world infecting files with malware and then posting these files on multiple torrent sites.
Once you accidentally download one of these fraudulent files, your computer will be infected and you and your personal information will be at risk.
You should also understand that Torrentz2 only retrieves information about the files that the user has searched for. More precisely, it uses keywords that the user types into the search bar to find files. Therefore, hackers can see which keywords are the most popular and then hide their viruses in the files that are connected to those search terms.
The other thing we can’t ignore is that there’s no way to tell if the link you’re using is legitimate until you open it. You may download copyrighted content and not even know about it. Doing so, even unintentionally, can land you in serious legal trouble. This is especially true if you’ve not taken the proper steps to protect yourself, which is vital when using torrent sites.
Security Gladiators does not recommend anyone share or download copyrighted material on any site. However, if you choose to do so, we want you to be able to protect yourself, which we’ll show you how to do in the next section.
Best Way to Protect Yourself and Unblock Torrentz2
Needless to say, you don’t need to contact the administrators of the site to unblock it for you. What you need are methods that always work to unblock sites and allow you to protect yourself and your data while you do so. You have two tools at your disposal to protect your privacy and unblock Torrentz2: a VPN service and a proxy service.
VPN services are far better than proxy services when it comes to unblocking sites because they keep you anonymous and protected while unblocking the site. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. They work by encrypting your internet connection and then routing it through a remote server.
They’re able to hide your browsing habits, change your perceived location and protect your data all at once. They’re very easy to use and have advanced security features that act as permanent defenses against malware, hackers, internet service providers and government agencies. We’ve compiled a list of the top ten best VPNs that you can use to find the right one for you.
Proxy services obscure the user’s IP address and can get through firewalls. Geo-restrictions and other censorship techniques will become a thing of the past for you if you know how to properly use a proxy service.
While these are useful features, we recommend staying away from proxy services because they don’t provide any protection. Every person with the right skills and interests can look at your IP address and your activities if you’re only using a proxy service. If you want a secure way to use torrent sites, then a VPN is the best tool to use.
With that said, sometimes you have no other choice but to use a proxy. Here are some proxy links and mirror sites for those who want to use Torrentz2. Be warned, you’ll be accessing these sites at your own risk.
- https://torrentz.unblocked.lc (fast)
- https://torrentz2.is (fast)
- https://torrentz-proxy.com (fast)
Best Alternatives
Kickass Torrents
Kickass Torrents is one of the best known torrenting sites. Its popularity likely has something to do with its name, but it’s most likely the result of the high-quality content it has to offer. Simply put, to find the content you want as quickly as possible, Kickass Torrents is one of the best solutions out there. The site is easy to use and has a fairly diverse content offering.
No matter how diverse and obscure your tastes, you should be able to find what you’re looking for on Kickass Torrents.
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay is the leader of torrent sites in terms of the amount of traffic it receives. The unfortunate thing is that its admins are always having to work to stay ahead of law enforcement authorities. More often than not you’ll find that the site is offline.
That being said, The Pirate Bay has learned a lot from its experience. The people behind the site are resourceful and know the law.
This enables them to bring the site back up every time a copyright troll manages to get it shut it down. Also, due to the popularity of the site, you can usually turn to sites like Twitter to find out when the site will be back after being taken down.
The Pirate Bay is famous for having links to nearly any movie, game, TV show and every other type of content in existence. This is a great resource to turn to if you can’t find what you’re looking for anywhere else.
RARBG
A site that’s nearly as old as the torrenting community itself is RARBG. RARBG, just like the other alternatives on this list has had to fight its fair share of shutdowns and legal notices.
It has managed to survive so far, though. The site hosts a ton of files covering nearly all genres. A great thing about RARBG is that most torrents on the site have user comments. The comments can help you determine if the file is safe or not and if the content is labeled correctly.
EZTV
EZTV is a quality site with a simple, uncluttered user interface. It has movies, documentaries, TV shows and more presented in a way that makes them easy to access. No more time-wasting homepages where you have to perform unnecessary clicks just so that your on-screen time can increase to benefit the website.
LimeTorrents
LimeTorrents is gaining more and more respect in the torrenting community since The Pirate Bay and Torrentz2 regularly struggle to keep themselves afloat amongst their legal troubles.
Regardless, LimeTorrents is an excellent option to use. Once you reach the site, you can see thousands upon thousands of files ready for you. They’re easy to access and can be downloaded quickly once you find the one you’re looking for.
To get a file, simply click on its magnet link and then use a BitTorrent client to download the content. Keep in mind that LimeTorrents is similar to Torrentz2 in that it’s a meta search engine, not a torrenting site. This makes LimeTorrents an especially useful alternative to Torrentz2 because they function in a similar way.