Advice Request Why do you use a VPN?

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HarborFront

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Not yet. Coming soon

Ok, I thought you already had one, I was going to ask your opinion so I could buy a pair of Yubikey.

I'm thinking hard about it. The issue now is very few websites actually support it. Some websites which claim to support it actually is using its yubi authenticator software and NOT the hard key itself. So don't get tricked by these websites.

There's a list of sites supporting Yubikey at its website but not sure how many sites are actually using it..... like I mentioned.

Must check carefully whether it's worth buying the Yubikey
 

piquiteco

Level 14
Oct 16, 2022
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There's a list of sites supporting Yubikey at its website but not sure actually how many sites are actually using it..... like I mentioned.
In the list of supported sites, it is small but large companies, the Big Tech. Yubikey has been around for a while, I believe that most web sites have not adopted its use, due to the cost. Well, I guess.
 

simmerskool

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In the list of supported sites, it is small but large companies, the Big Tech. Yubikey has been around for a while, I believe that most web sites have not adopted its use, due to the cost. Well, I guess.
fwiw, I have a 2 yubikeys, IIRC gmail requires 2 so you have a backup yubikey. I like the sense of security yubikey gives, BUT I'm finding it problematic using yubikey with virtual machine. Not an obvious problem since you can instruct VM to accept / use USB flash eg, but I'm finding plugging a yubikey into USB slot and expecting VM to work correctly, is problematic. I haven't figured it out yet, and see many many posts about yubikey in VM, and read more failures than successes?? :confused::censored::(
 

Orchid

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Jan 27, 2023
43
@HarborFront is correct, there are things that only a VPN can do, you can surf the web connected as a South Korean, and another day you surf the web connected as a North American, this makes it difficult to track you on the web, as long as you make sure that your VPN and not your browser is not leaking your real IP, another important thing to do, is to keep the same language of your browser and time zone of the country where you are connected to your VPN, this way it is more difficult to track you and target your correct geo parameters. 😉

What are things VPNs can only do? From my research, TOR and VPNs pretty much do the same thing. However, the features they implement are different, meaning one is better than the other. Also, can we please get back on topic? I don't know how Yubikey relates to VPNs.
 

simmerskool

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What are things VPNs can only do? From my research, TOR and VPNs pretty much do the same thing. However, the features they implement are different, meaning one is better than the other. Also, can we please get back on topic? I don't know how Yubikey relates to VPNs.
you can also run TOR thru your vpn, see eg
 
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Orchid

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Jan 27, 2023
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you can also run TOR thru your vpn, see eg

I have done much research showing mixed results on this. Some people say you can use VPNs with TOR or not. TOR themselves say not to use a VPN because your information can still leak out to your ISP or anyone who may get a hold of your identity from the VPN provider. Also, TOR has TOR bridges that can do the same thing. Plus, VPNs cannot be as reliable as they claim to be. Yet, many prefer using a VPN.

References
TorPlusVPN
VPN Providers Are LYING To Your Face! ft. Techlore
Links referenced in my 1st post
 

HarborFront

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I have done much research showing mixed results on this. Some people say you can use VPNs with TOR or not. TOR themselves say not to use a VPN because your information can still leak out to your ISP or anyone who may get a hold of your identity from the VPN provider. Also, TOR has TOR bridges that can do the same thing. Plus, VPNs cannot be as reliable as they claim to be. Yet, many prefer using a VPN.

References
TorPlusVPN
VPN Providers Are LYING To Your Face! ft. Techlore
Links referenced in my 1st post

Using a VPN is definitely faster than 3x TOR relays. Using 3x different VPN providers, IMO, is also faster than 3x TOR relays.

If you run

VPN => TOR => VPN means you need to hop 5x. What do you think of the speed?
 
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Shadowra

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I use 2 VPNs :)

The 1st one (IPVanish) on my pc and my tv for foreign Netflix catalogs (Japan, Korea etc) and others.

the 2nd one (Mullvad) on my VMs to do my tests safely and surf on high risk sites

:)
 

zkSnark

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Jan 13, 2019
203
I don't use a VPN for privacy, I do run a local VPN to block unwanted trackers, ad networks and block Internet access for select apps.

If I had to compromise such as travelling abroad, or using public WiFi network for an extended period. My preferences are Windscribe Free 10GB, NordVPN or VPN by Google One.

Related thread:
If possible, would love to have a AzireVPN giveaway on MT :)
 
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mlnevese

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May 3, 2015
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I only use VPN to protect my connection when I'm using public wi-fi, such as in a hotel, for instance.
 

Orchid

Level 1
Thread author
Jan 27, 2023
43
What do you think of the speed?

@HarborFront I did some tests today regarding VPN with/without Tor, and here are the conclusions I have found. With a VPN on a regular web browser (Firefox), the speed is slightly slower than without a VPN. When it comes to VPN and TOR, TOR without a VPN is faster than TOR with VPN.

Firefox (No VPN) - 23 Mbps
Firefox with VPN - 21 Mbps
Tor (No VPN) - .46 Mbps
Tor with VPN - .45 Mbps

I can see using a regular web browser with a VPN may be significant for some users. Yet, I'm cautious about VPN companies: What they say is what they would do, etc. That is just the way I am. Everyone has their own opinion on things, and that is OK.
 

Zero Knowledge

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Dec 2, 2016
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Yet, I'm cautious about VPN companies: What they say is what they would do, etc.
You should be cautious. No VPN company/provider is going to jail for you for just $5 a month. It's unrealistic that they would do anything but roll over to a law enforcement intercept request or release any information they have related to your signup, payment and general VPN usage. You would have to be very radical and an extremist like ThePirateBay developers/owners/admins back in the day to tell law enforcement, lawyers and specifically the USA government to go F**K yourself.

TOR is a dual use technology, same situation with E2EE apps, so they are different than VPNs. The government puts up with all the shady stuff going on because they use TOR/E2EE themselves to communicate with personal and sources, and off course it's a great source of intel. What could be better than having all the spies, terrorists, criminals, extremists and ne'er-do-wells in one place talking on the same message boards on the same platforms?
 
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HarborFront

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@HarborFront I did some tests today regarding VPN with/without Tor, and here are the conclusions I have found. With a VPN on a regular web browser (Firefox), the speed is slightly slower than without a VPN. When it comes to VPN and TOR, TOR without a VPN is faster than TOR with VPN.

Firefox (No VPN) - 23 Mbps
Firefox with VPN - 21 Mbps
Tor (No VPN) - .46 Mbps
Tor with VPN - .45 Mbps

I can see using a regular web browser with a VPN may be significant for some users. Yet, I'm cautious about VPN companies: What they say is what they would do, etc. That is just the way I am. Everyone has their own opinion on things, and that is OK.

Yes, with no VPN, the speed should be faster. How much slower a VPN contributes depend on many factors like location, internet traffic, server conjestion, use of 1 or 10Gbps server etc

On my phone using a VPN (depending on VPN provider too) gives faster and smoother connection
 
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