Advice Request Legit reviews sites for VPNs

[oldschool]

ending up about as realistic as Harry Potter being around.,

Nicely framed!

 

[HarborFront]

Mullvad seems to be good but expensive too. VyprVPN seems to be audited too, have already heard about it?

Our Commitment | VyprVPN

Browse the Internet, Don’t Let the Internet Browse You. Our VPN service is committed to protecting user privacy, and offering access to a free and open internet.

www.vyprvpn.com

I'm using VyprVPN

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

@ Umbra - Been a bit of a fan of Mullvad for a while now, why do you feel IVPN is an improvement? I'm inclined to give it a try... it was mentioned on another thread which I cant find -- I'm just interested

Just because Mullvad is cheaper and offer payment by cash for total anonymity.

IVPN is twice the price in normal season. But their overall privacy/security is slightly better and they are a bit more professional.

 

[Cortex]

Just because Mullvad is cheaper and offer payment by cash for total anonymity.

IVPN is twice the price in normal season. But their overall privacy/security is slightly better and they are a bit more professional.

OK - Thanks for that

 

[RKRN3]

What do you all think about Windscribe? Not a single legit or fake site has said anything about it.

 

[Protomartyr]

@Umbra and @ForgottenSeer 58943 recently mentioned Windscribe in another thread.

As I often said here, Mullvad or IVPN, for the privacy-concerned looking for serious providers.
I will shift to IVPN when they will offer their Black Friday deal.

For the casual users, Express or Windscribe is good enough.

This is absolutely perfect advice. I am of the same opinion. Windscribe is cheap, and good for casual use, non-high security work, etc. But if you want some serious privacy and anonymity you'd better roll with Mullvad or IVPN.

Of course, I too am waiting for Black Friday IVPN deals...

 

[oldschool]

What do you all think about Windscribe? Not a single legit or fake site has said anything about it.

I rarely use any but I’m using free Windscribe while traveling for a few days. It looks good for casual use as others have said.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

It is like everything, in security or privacy, it is not different, just evaluate your REAL needs (not follow the others) and select a product that fits them.

 

[RKRN3]

I asked about it because I am using it for free but with 50GB/month (from the giveaway post some months ago).

 

[jetman]

PCPro magazine in the UK (January 2020 edition) did a review of several VPNs. I could post a scan but I'd probably be breaching copyright and would get people here in trouble ! You can buy digital editions if you really want to.

They liked Nord, Express, Surfshark and Cyberghost when tested from the UK. They placed less emphasis on privacy and more on speed/number of servers, the range of supported devices (eg iOS, Firestick etc) and their ability to unblock geo-restricted content. I think this is what the everyday user is probably most interested in.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

They liked Nord, Express, Surfshark and Cyberghost when tested from the UK. They placed less emphasis on privacy and more on speed/number

You mean they put emphasize on those heavily marketed and willing to pay for more...which those 4 are .

 

[Back3]

What do you all think about Windscribe? Not a single legit or fake site has said anything about it.

You can check this site:

Tom Spark Reviews

The VPN Tier List made by Tom Spark Reviews, rating all VPNs objectively.

vpntierlist.com

 

[jetman]

You mean they put emphasize on those heavily marketed and willing to pay for more...which those 4 are .

Its a fair point- but PCPro needs to maintain a reputation for being impartial, so I'd be surprised if they allowed their reviews to be influenced by advertisers.

I know that you value privacy and anonymity very highly- and will therefore seek out the most technically competent VPN services for privacy. However, I think the average member of the public is more concerned about things like speed and having the ability to stream USA Netflix on their Amazon Firestick, even though they live in Europe.

I know Nord and Express do that very well, even though I have never used them myself. But perhaps if the FBI were after you then you might want to use a more specialist VPN.

 

[Cortex]

As above there are differences between those who want to unlock Netflix etc. & those who with to use a VPN on PC's, tables & phones & have no need for streaming unblocking - I use Windscribe for Netflix & works lawlessly but use a different VPN on my iPad, PC's & phones - I'm finding the more secure VPN's in the main don't unlock Netflix? - There are exceptions though.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

v8
Its a fair point- but PCPro needs to maintain a reputation for being impartial, so I'd be surprised if they allowed their reviews to be influenced by advertisers.

Let say they aren't influenced so they basically review only the popular ones.

I know that you value privacy and anonymity very highly- and will therefore seek out the most technically competent VPN services for privacy. However, I think the average member of the public is more concerned about things like speed and having the ability to stream USA Netflix on their Amazon Firestick, even though they live in Europe.

It is not that I value privacy or anonymity so much, if I was a privacy freak, I won't use Google serviced or Windows but when I pay for a service pushing privacy as their main selling argument , I expect they do it well.

I know Nord and Express do that very well, even though I have never used them myself. But perhaps if the FBI were after you then you might want to use a more specialist VPN.

Problem with Nord is the company "not so clear" affiliation and shady behaviors.
And yes if I was chased by the FBI, I won't use them

 

[turvy]

Hi guys long time lurker. I have decided to get a vpn, None of the sites I checked are mentioned here .
The link to Tom Spark's reviews seems to contradict with almost all other sites in terms of the top ones.
Thatoneprivacy site has a pretty cool table and highlights the important things.
NordVPN seems to get scarier the more I read, especially glancing over the VPNscam website.
A lot of the sites that I was looking at for comparisons with reviews, have all jumped NordVPN up to top spot at the same time as they had a massive year for promoting themselves which I found a little suspicious as I hadn't read a lot of changes made since last year when they weren't top.
VPNtierlist has torguard and airVPN has the two top tier, but on other sites (mentioned here) they are questionable.
Mullvad and Surfshark seem to come close to each other on many sites, but Surfshark doesn't seem to be widely recognised yet as they are one of the newer ones. They appear as 'yellow' for business ethics on thatoneprivacy - Mullvad is 'green' all the other most mentioned are 'red'.
In fact, out of a list of 9 services I was left with after going through so many sites, I finished up on thatoneprivacy and Mullvad and Surfshark are the only two without any red sections at all. Mullvad fairs better with 1 yellow vs Surfshark 4 yellow but didn't seem to be anything major.

So.... I think I have pretty much covered as much as I can in terms of review sites i found myself, and possibly the better/more trustworthy review sites mentioned here. I decided to bring the last two down to a couple of things..
Both have Wireguard coming in early 2020.
Surfshark seems to be outside 14 eyes (British Virgin Islands).
Whereas Mullvad is open source, but they are in Sweden (data retention policies worsening).

Finally, I am down to price.
Surfshark is on 'special offer' at the moment 84% off, Plus Topcashback (UK) will refund 70% off that which works out at roughly €19 for 25 months.
Mullvad don't have any offers, but do offer month to month basis for €5 per month.

I can also get a full refund for Surfshark before 30 days if I don't like it. So I think that is my best option for now.
I didn't intend this post to be so long, but got caught up reading and answering my own questions as I was typing.
Have I made any glaring errors or is there something that I should have done differently? TIA.

 

[RKRN3]

Hi guys long time lurker. I have decided to get a vpn, None of the sites I checked are mentioned here .
The link to Tom Spark's reviews seems to contradict with almost all other sites in terms of the top ones.
Thatoneprivacy site has a pretty cool table and highlights the important things.
NordVPN seems to get scarier the more I read, especially glancing over the VPNscam website.
A lot of the sites that I was looking at for comparisons with reviews, have all jumped NordVPN up to top spot at the same time as they had a massive year for promoting themselves which I found a little suspicious as I hadn't read a lot of changes made since last year when they weren't top.
VPNtierlist has torguard and airVPN has the two top tier, but on other sites (mentioned here) they are questionable.
Mullvad and Surfshark seem to come close to each other on many sites, but Surfshark doesn't seem to be widely recognised yet as they are one of the newer ones. They appear as 'yellow' for business ethics on thatoneprivacy - Mullvad is 'green' all the other most mentioned are 'red'.
In fact, out of a list of 9 services I was left with after going through so many sites, I finished up on thatoneprivacy and Mullvad and Surfshark are the only two without any red sections at all. Mullvad fairs better with 1 yellow vs Surfshark 4 yellow but didn't seem to be anything major.

So.... I think I have pretty much covered as much as I can in terms of review sites i found myself, and possibly the better/more trustworthy review sites mentioned here. I decided to bring the last two down to a couple of things..
Both have Wireguard coming in early 2020.
Surfshark seems to be outside 14 eyes (British Virgin Islands).
Whereas Mullvad is open source, but they are in Sweden (data retention policies worsening).

Finally, I am down to price.
Surfshark is on 'special offer' at the moment 84% off, Plus Topcashback (UK) will refund 70% off that which works out at roughly €19 for 25 months.
Mullvad don't have any offers, but do offer month to month basis for €5 per month.

I can also get a full refund for Surfshark before 30 days if I don't like it. So I think that is my best option for now.
I didn't intend this post to be so long, but got caught up reading and answering my own questions as I was typing.
Have I made any glaring errors or is there something that I should have done differently? TIA.

Your decision is good enough regarding VPNs.

 

[paulderdash]

May also be looking at VPNs shortly - for cord-cutting and streaming (from South Africa), and ExpressVPN seems a popular choice, but without doing any research at this point, I would assume it's a 'poor performer?

I know Mullvad is popular with some 'cognoscenti'. As is IVPN, but I believe it's expensive.

AirVPN was also, where does that sit these days?

Good privacy is of course a major reason / priority for using a VPN, but in my case price and usability are also certainly considerations.

It's a personal choice in the end of course, but comments welcome re 'shortlisting'.

 

[Cortex]

Personally there is a lot to like about AirVPN, the issue I have is the GUI (Eddie) it really needs a bit of an update & for me has problems remembering to connect to the last sever, & can be slow to connect, you may have zero problems - But just looked on their page & there are some good deals, one of the best VPN's there is & very privacy conscious & worth a try!

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

'cognoscenti'

I learned a new word thanks LOL