VPN

azj · 2021-05-14T17:19:35.000Z

I got a deal a while back on Private Internet Access “PIA” when they were running a special for something like $20/year (it’s gone up since then). They have high-speed nodes all over the world so you can look like you are coming from anywhere you want to, and they also support OpenVPN, so if you are semi-savvy, you can follow their instructions with a compatible router (like one with DD-WRT) and just put your entire network (or part of it) behind the vpn.

They don’t keep logs. AFAIK neither does NordVPN. Either would have my vote

dingos899 · 2021-10-15T10:56:11.000Z

Heknour:

I`m using NodrVPN for 2 years and it works well! In my opinion, the best VPN I used.

I like Nord too but it’s getting a bit pricy for me. I looked into a few reviews and I think I am going to go for a different one when my subscription is up. I noticed that SurfShark has very similar features but is a bit cheaper so that’s what I’m leaning towards currently.
This is was one of the more detailed VPN comparisons I found that might be helpful: https://cybernews.com/best-vpn/ :nerd_face:

freeme · 2021-10-15T12:22:08.000Z

Signed up for 2-yr NordVPN plan but i end up requested for refund after 5 days of use. Terrible speed. much worse than ExpressVPN, which ranked much lower than NordVPN.

wle · 2021-10-15T15:44:06.000Z

there are chrome extensions that use a free vpn

i use one from the netherlands—sometimes
VeePN

Scallywag · 2021-10-23T23:15:22.000Z

You may be interested to know that ExpressVPN, as well as several VPN review sites, are owned by what used to be a malware distributor. Link

RichH · 2021-10-23T23:48:31.000Z

Scallywag:

You may be interested to know that ExpressVPN, as well as several VPN review sites, are owned by what used to be a malware distributor. Link

Thanks for the link, cancelled my subs to ExpressVPN.

RichH · 2021-11-08T21:58:27.000Z

Scallywag:

You may be interested to know that ExpressVPN, as well as several VPN review sites, are owned by what used to be a malware distributor. Link

Looking for something other than Express, I’m skimming reviews all over. After reading the article in your link, of course ExpressVPN gets recommended highly

No idea of your level of “Scallywag”, but anything other than a previous malware company supplying my supposed secrecy would be ideal.

What are people using for IOS and OS?

pennzy · 2021-11-08T22:31:05.000Z

I’m using the free version of Proton VPN. No data cap and good reviews.

RichH · 2021-11-09T12:28:15.000Z

pennzy:

I’m using the free version of Proton VPN. No data cap and good reviews.

Thanks, just installed CyberGhost, I’ll give it a try, but good to have another option.

raccoon · 2023-05-29T22:26:17.082Z

Necrobump!

Sad news for those of us who love Mullvad.

Mullvad VPN

Removing the support for forwarded ports - Blog | Mullvad VPN

Today we announce that we no longer support port forwarding. New port forwards will no longer be supported, and existing ports will be removed 2023-07-01.

I’ve been using Mullvad VPN for a little over a month.
I have a few weeks left to choose a new VPN.
I’m thinking about Private Internet Access VPN.
I tried PIA a while ago, and experienced very low upload speeds, but I think I’ll give them another chance.

EDIT:
I now think PIA might have been slow for uploads because Port Forwarding only works OUTSIDE the U.S. for PIA and I was choosing a U.S. server.

wolfgirl42 · 2023-05-30T23:03:07.535Z

I use ProtonVPN at the moment, overall been happy with them. I’ve never used PIA so can’t comment on pricing/performance but as I understand it they’re still dedicated to protecting their users’ privacy. ProtonVPN allow a forwarded port, which is random each time, but I haven’t found any reasonable way to programmatically get what it is, which is a bit of a pain for any automation.

raccoon · 2023-05-30T23:04:36.232Z

Yeah, I don’t know about PIA any more.
I haven’t decided which VPN I’ll switch to yet.

Jeffgoldblum · 2023-05-31T04:24:24.908Z

How legit is the concern that when you’re using a VPN instead of your ISP tracking everything you do instead the VPN provider that all your traffic is going through tracks you instead?

Idk, I used to care. When I did I had Proton VPN on the router, a Linux OS connected through Tor with a bridge and 100 digit passwords for everything that were encrypted to some key pair stored on some usb somewhere, and that key pair needed to be unencrypted by another key pair on another usb. And honestly idk if any of that even did anything But it did made doing everything way slower so I don’t do it anymore.

Do still use the Linux based OS though.

wolfgirl42 · 2023-05-31T22:20:16.535Z

Jeffgoldblum:

How legit is the concern that when you’re using a VPN instead of your ISP tracking everything you do instead the VPN provider that all your traffic is going through tracks you instead?

Well, it depends who you use, which is why ideally you pick one run by people who ideologically support the right to privacy, and based in a country with good privacy protections, but it is definitely theoretically possible, but IMO all you really need to do is the same diligence you would with a direct ISP connection - make sure sensitive info isn’t transmitted in plaintext, etc.

L37 · 2023-06-01T00:47:46.980Z

Jeffgoldblum:

How legit is the concern that when you’re using a VPN instead of your ISP tracking everything you do instead the VPN provider that all your traffic is going through tracks you instead?

Very legit. IMO any VPN provider is way, way worse than most ISP.

Primarily because many VPN providers are specifically created to harvest and sell user info, and are on purpose located in jurisdictions where there are basically no laws against it.

ISPs on the other hand are bound by local laws, and in most cases even if they give your data to your government selling it or even harvesting it beyond what’s legally required is much more risky for them.

Unless your are specifically trying to hide something from your government ISP is going to be more secure than random VPN provider.

It is really funny how so many people think VPN protects them from something when in reality most marketing claims are 100% false. Like yeah, it has encryption, but everything is encrypted nowadays anyway and encrypting already encrypted traffic does not do anything useful.

wolfgirl42 · 2023-06-01T01:18:27.828Z

L37:

Primarily because many VPN providers are specifically created to harvest and sell user info, and are on purpose located in jurisdictions where there are basically no laws against it.

I feel like that’s mostly free ones, while bottom-tier VPNs that are still legal companies with an actual product aren’t quite that bad. Just do your research around which ones actually respect their users’ privacy.

L37 · 2023-06-01T03:56:02.691Z

wolfgirl42:

Just do your research around which ones actually respect their users’ privacy.

That’s hard to impossible to do though. They can advertise that they do, but there are exactly zero ways to verify it.

My take on this - do not do sensitive stuff through vpn. Banking and whatnot. Services like this often block DC IPs anyway. ISP will never steal stuff like this and get away with it, while VPN provider easily can.

Everything else does not matter much, so it is fine…

wolfgirl42 · 2023-06-01T04:04:20.025Z

L37:

ISP will never steal stuff like this and get away with it

You’re lucky I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read that or you’d owe me a new keyboard

When it comes to tiers of entities I trust, ISPs are down there with large social media platforms, and only above “the government”.

L37 · 2023-06-01T04:26:09.728Z

wolfgirl42:

When it comes to tiers of entities I trust, ISPs are down there with large social media platforms, and only above “the government”.

Trust and what i am talking about are different things though. They absolutely will “collect data” and everything. However they will not directly steal from you or do anything specifically illegal.

Makes sense to use that to you advantage and forward some stuff directly through ISP and some stuff through VPN.

VPN providers are not limited in this way, depending on how lucky your guess whom to trust was they totally can directly steal from you. Also any provider which requires an app/software will steal even stuff unrelated to what’s transferred over their channel and often - utilize your resources to their advantage.

There is also an alternative - buying vps or dedicated server and making private vpn. This still goes through someone’s network, but at least they have somewhat less access and their services are not designed to steal VPN user data specifically.

Jeffgoldblum · 2023-06-01T06:15:01.503Z

L37:

There is also an alternative - buying vps or dedicated server and making private vpn.

Maybe the library. I think that’s all anybody uses libraries for anymore lol

Idk enough about them to have a real opinion, but it did always feel suspicious. especially the whole sales pitch of “no the free ones don’t work only the ones that cost money are good because ours cost money so give us the money” lol.

I just assume they can track you everywhere no matter what you do. Even Tor was started by some branch of the US military and still I think gets most of their funding from them. And was released to the public to “protect free speech” or something. Ya ok… Sure it was