Advice Request So which good and safe VPN are left now?

[SpiderWeb]

Lots of very savvy people recommend against using VPNs because they have become the favorite hiding places for criminals, botnets and data and cryptominers if the VPN company isn't doing it itself already!

It’s Time to Stop Paying for a VPN (Published 2021)

Many virtual private network services that were meant to protect your web browsing can no longer be trusted. Here are other ways.

www.nytimes.com

You Probably Don't Need a VPN

Most Americans may be better off not paying for a commercial VPN, according to multiple security experts.

www.vice.com

Don't use VPN services.

Don't use VPN services. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

 

[roger_m]

Every platform with DRM content I can think of has blacklisted literally every VPN server there is because bypassing restrictions is legally a violation of ToS and most definitely illegal in the country of that jurisdiction.

That's not the case at all. Firstly, some streaming services do no check to see if you're using a VPN and therefore will work from any IP address in the country the service operates in. While some services do check to see if you're using a VPN, it takes time to for them to idenitify that a particular IP address is used by a VPN. Until they do, you can access the streaming service from another country. A lot of VPNs have servers which are specifically designed to allow you to use Windscribe and other streaming services. Of course, in order for this to actually keep working, the VPN provided needs to regularly change the IP addresses used, in order to continue to avoid being detected.

As for using a VPN for uses other than avoiding geo restrictions, I will say that most people don't need to use a VPN. That's not to say that I think VPNs are useless. I use a VPN myself. But in my opinion it something people may want to use, rather than needing to use.

 

[SpiderWeb]

That's not the case at all. Firstly, some streaming services do no check to see if you're using a VPN and therefore will work from any IP address in the country the service operates in. While some services do check to see if you're using a VPN, it takes time to for them to idenitify that a particular IP address is used by a VPN. Until they do, you can access the streaming service from another country. A lot of VPNs have servers which are specifically designed to allow you to use Windscribe and other streaming services. Of course, in order for this to actually keep working, the VPN provided needs to regularly change the IP addresses used, in order to continue to avoid being detected.

As for using a VPN for uses other than avoiding geo restrictions, I will say that most people don't need to use a VPN. That's not to say that I think VPNs are useless. I use a VPN myself. But in my opinion it something people may want to use, rather than needing to use.

Quick question. How long have you used VPNs? I have used them since 2015 and it has been a steady decline. There was a time when everything you are saying was true but the crackdown on VPNs has sped up dramatically to the point where they don't offer any tangible benefits to me. For what? Having a different IP? There are so many other ways to ID people other than IP. It's giving the illusion of being masked at an extremely high risk: You have to trust that your VPN provider protects your privacy and there is literally no guarantee for that. Rerouting all of your traffic through a single point of failure is not a wise security decision to me at all, and I stand by that.

 

[roger_m]

Quick question. How long have you used VPNs? I have used them since 2015 and it has been a steady decline. There was a time when everything you are saying was true but the crackdown on VPNs has sped up dramatically to the point where they don't offer any tangible benefits to me.

I've been using VPNs since around 2017. There are still streaming services which do not check for VPN usages. Pandora and Sling TV are two examples. But these days I use Windscribe's ControlD DNS service to access streaming service. It works for many streaming services, including ones which detect VPNs.

 

[franz]

I've been using VPN more than 10 years, and it works today almost like it did when I started. It is just faster and more secure.

 

[n8chavez]

I've been using VPNs for 6 years straight. Windscribe, Mullvad, Cloudflare, iCloud Private Relay. But alright... Give your data away to fearmongering data miners lol.

Right...I'm giving my data away by using a VPN, yet you're the one using iCloud Private Relay. Never trust apple. Ever. Also, neither iCloud Private Relay or Cloudfare's warp are VPNs. And the VPN I use is Mullvad. Is that strike three? You're out (of ethos).

 

[omidomi]

IVPN + Mullvad

 

[omidomi]

Lots of very savvy people recommend against using VPNs because they have become the favorite hiding places for criminals, botnets and data and cryptominers if the VPN company isn't doing it itself already!

It’s Time to Stop Paying for a VPN (Published 2021)

Many virtual private network services that were meant to protect your web browsing can no longer be trusted. Here are other ways.

www.nytimes.com

You Probably Don't Need a VPN

Most Americans may be better off not paying for a commercial VPN, according to multiple security experts.

www.vice.com

Don't use VPN services.

Don't use VPN services. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

You may shutdown your system & internet at all to stay safe

 

[windscribe]

The best would be to switch to RAM-Only servers so that no information can be disclosed, no?

That's right. We're rolling this out. ~5% of all servers in production are testing the new RAM stack right now. We hope to have it rolled out to 100% of all servers by summer time. Expect a detailed article on how it's done, not a marketing blog post that leaves a lot to interpretation.

 

[ProblematicPions]

Another great swedish VPN is OVPN: VPN for Security and Integrity

 

[n8chavez]

Anyone else find it ironic that a vpn called ovpn.com also uses wireguard? No? Just me? K.

 

[Sorrento]

Incidentally I've been trailing OVPN, I bought a month to see how it goes, they do give money back but never been fond of that system - So far it's probably the fastest VPN I've ever used, nice Windows app & put it on my iPhone. No issues in connecting to UK addresses such as BBC weather which can be problematic with some VPN's - A noticeable very fast display of web pages & it's hard to know there is a VPN running - I might hang onto it - Have a slight issue I need to sort where I have to re-input name & password, messed with CCleaner & may have sorted it.

 

[n8chavez]

Incidentally I've been trailing OVPN, I bought a month to see how it goes, they do give money back but never been fond of that system - So far it's probably the fastest VPN I've ever used, nice Windows app & put it on my iPhone. No issues in connecting to UK addresses such as BBC weather which can be problematic with some VPN's - A noticeable very fast display of web pages & it's hard to know there is a VPN running - I might hang onto it - Have a slight issue I need to sort where I have to re-input name & password, messed with CCleaner & may have sorted it.

You should make sure it's functioning correctly. Run tests at ipleak.net and dnsleaktest.com, just to make sure.

 

[Sorrento]

@n8chavez - Thanks for that, yes checked the sites you mention & already have them in my bookmarks among others for privacy - OVPN have a few tests for leaks on their site as well, so added. Added the extension too -

 

[amirr]

I have been dedicated user of ExpressVPN since early 2019 and don't feel a need to go for another VPN.

 

[n8chavez]

I have been dedicated user of ExpressVPN since early 2019 and don't feel a need to go for another VPN.

That's a mistake for sure! Express, PIA, Zenamate...all trash now. We've discuseed this before, but trust is important for a vpn company and Kape is simplu untrustworthy. Mullvad is sooo much better in every way.

 

[Slerion]

I have been dedicated user of ExpressVPN since early 2019 and don't feel a need to go for another VPN.

Express is owned by kape which was before known as crossrider a malware maker , a virus is even named after them.

 

[amirr]

Yes, I watched this video hxxps://youtu.be/s9pEC1ALTy4 where in 2:30 he talks in brief detail of Kape and ExpressVPN.
I personally do not judge a VPN company ( in this case, expressvpn.) based on the history of another company (kape). So even if Express joined Kape, why should I care?
I only care about the UI, strong software and simplicity of the app. That's all.

I don't care about logging my data if they do.
I quote this from @Freud2004

"Privacy policies are like love promises, if you want to commit a crime use onion. If you just want to torrenting, any VPN will give you the anonymity that you need."
And he also said:


So I only choose a VPN for the performance.

 

[n8chavez]

Yes, I watched this video hxxps://youtu.be/s9pEC1ALTy4 where in 2:30 he talks in brief detail of Kape and ExpressVPN.
I personally do not judge a VPN company ( in this case, expressvpn.) based on the history of another company (kape). So even if Express joined Kape, why should I care?
I only care about the UI, strong software and simplicity of the app. That's all.

I don't care about logging my data if they do.
I quote this from @Freud2004

"Privacy policies are like love promises, if you want to commit a crime use onion. If you just want to torrenting, any VPN will give you the anonymity that you need."
And he also said:
View attachment 264871

So I only choose a VPN for the performance.

If that's the case, and trust is not a factor for you (mistake), then why go with the most expensive VPN there is...all things being equal? Surely there are others that have the speed at a lesser price. (Yes, I called you Shirley)

Since the title of this thread is about safe and good vpns, kape it out!

 

[amirr]

If that's the case, and trust is not a factor for you (mistake), then why go with the most expensive VPN there is...all things being equal? Surely there are others that have the speed at a lesser price. (Yes, I called you Shirley)

NordVPN is also perfect with less price. I agree in that with you. My brother has Nord and he gave it to me as well.