Reintroducing ExtraTorrent:
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know how prized ExtraTorrent, aka ET was for compulsive torenteers. Launched in 2006, the site was an aggregator of online content ranging from software to movies to music. It basically allowed users to browse, download, and also upload torrent files and magnet links, facilitating peer-to-peer file sharing. ET was one of the most well-designed torrent sites backed by an impressive and easy to use interface. Just last year, ET was ranked as the world’s 2nd largest website for torrents, second only to The Pirate Bay.
The Bitter Truth:
Unfortunately, the site came to a complete halt earlier this year. Shortly after that, hundreds of articles flooded the internet suggesting that ExtraTorrent had been revived and is back with a different domain name, i.e. extratorrents.cd. This new site has the same content links as its predecessor and claims to have been created by former staffers and community. As much as we’d like to believe this piece of news, its hardly true. Fact remains that all the sites currently functioning in the skin of ET have nothing to do with the original website.
So How Did the Real ET Go Down?
While several torrent sites were facing the wrath of copyright infringement forces, ET too got into some major trouble. In 2015, the site was deprived of three of its domain names which were being used for mirrors. Nevertheless, the operators quickly recovered them by switching to new domains. But obviously, this wasn’t going to last for too long. ET was costing millions of dollars to the entertainment industry. The MPAA and RIAA left no stone unturned in their attempt to crackdown torrent sites. Finally, in March 2017, ExtraTorrent was taken down by its domain name registrar, leaving zillions of torrenteers shocked.
Proxy and Mirror Sites – What are Those?
In case you’re unaware, mirror sites refer to those websites which contain content/links from another site (in this case, ExtraTorrents). Recently, many mirror sites have been blocked or banned in certain regions by the ISP. That’s when Proxy sites come to the rescue. These sites provide an access to the main mirror site (in this case, extratorrents.cd) by using a different domain name and server. Aside from thanking the torrent community for its unending support, makers of the original ET also left a warning which said, “Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones”. But the message fell on deaf ears and diehard fans of ET developed the mirror site as mentioned above. Other fans and users were too used to the whole ExtraTorrent experience to let go off the opportunity to use a site that was astonishingly identical. Fun fact: the main mirror site was reported to have clocked about 9 million visitors right after ET shut down.
The Best ExtraTorrent Proxy & Mirror Sites Currently Available:
You’ll find hundreds of results upon searching ExtraTorrents proxy/mirror sites online. However, only a selected few are of superior quality. Many of them are either bogus, offline, or contain malicious content. Here’s a list of the ones that are said to be incredibly fast, regularly updated, and work smoothly: (Note- Always enter complete URL including https otherwise you may get site blocked error at your end). If these don’t work for you (although we doubt they won’t), check out the following sites, which function at a normal speed:
Important Tips on Using ExtraTorrent Proxy/Mirror Sites:
We understand that using torrent sites becomes your only option of accessing entertainment media when certain content is not available/released in your country. Also, a lot of us have stringent budget as far as entertainment goes so this is the only way to get our hands on movies and TV series. However, downloading torrent files or even surfing a torrent sites comes with its own risks.
Firstly, some of the proxy sites mentioned above may contain malware which can prove to be acutely harmful for our devices. Even if the site itself isn’t malicious, the pop-up ads displayed on them could be. For this, you must be careful in choosing the site and also install an Anti-Virus/Malware software such as Bitfender Antivirus Plus or Kaspersky Internet Security. A few sites even warn you before opening up the page. In such a case, its best to avoid going ahead with the site and check out another one instead.
Secondly, and perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the authorities in your region can easily trace you using your IP address. We have to do our bit to protect our identity and privacy. So how do you do that? Simply by downloading and installing a VPN service. VPN or Virtual Private Network works like a shielded channel that connects your device to other regions through a separate server. In simple words, it turns you into an anonymous individual, hiding your IP address. VPN services can be either free or paid but we’d recommend you to use the paid ones since they are far more reliable, with better features. Some of the most reputed ones are IP Vanish, NordVPN, PureVPN, and ExpressVPN.
Worthy Alternatives to ExtraTorrent:
If all the above sounds a tad bit complicated to you (it’s actually not), you could always turn to other popular torrent sites which are still online. Few of the most notable ET alternatives include sites like RARBG, YTG.ag, isoHunt, 1337x, Torlock, and LimeTorrents. These sites don’t work as mirror or proxy sites, but in fact are original sources of torrent, indexing links from the internet, similar to the original ET site. However, using any of the aforementioned sites would also require you to be subscribed to a VPN service.
To Conclude:
Torrents enables entertainment seekers to access content such as movies, TV shows, music, games, and applications. While this is a great boon, it can quickly turn into a bane when not used correctly. That said, we’ve provided links to as many proxy/mirror sites for ExtraTorrents as possible so all you have to do is click on them to see which of them works in your country. Enjoy and stay secure!
