My First VPN

[jballi]

I'm looking for an inexpensive and lightweight VPN/Proxy service for occasional use. Actual use TBD. I started looking around and there are tons of providers out there. The two I have my eye on are Private Internet Access and IPVanish.

Does anyone have experience with these or any other VPN/Proxy providers? I'm looking for a recommendation or feedback of any kind. Thanks.

[guest3456]

you are not truly anonymous with many VPN providers as they still keep logs and will provide them to govt agencies when pressed.

i use http://www.proxy.sh and have been for a few years now. they are extremely proactive about protecting users privacy and publicly publish all notices they receive

[jballi]

you are not truly anonymous with many VPN providers as they still keep logs and will provide them to govt agencies when pressed.

This is true for many VPN providers, especially the free ones. However, many of the better ones, including the ones I specified in the first post, no longer keep logs of any kind. And yes, it is important to understand that your activities can still be scrutinized by outside groups but many of the tools that these services provide or don't provide (Ex: logs) help to improve anonymity.

Of course, these tools are not just for anonymity. With all of the open Wi-Fi out there, it will probably become more and more important to protect yourself.

i use http://www.proxy.sh and have been for a few years now. they are extremely proactive about protecting users privacy and publicly publish all notices they receive

Thanks for the feedback. I will take a look/see.

[Guest]

Here is a nice starting point incl. vpn comparison chart http://www.ghacks.net/2016/05/10/resear ... -to-a-vpn/

[joedf]

I mean... I guess you could try ultrasurf or tor or something :/

[jballi]

Here is a nice starting point incl. vpn comparison chart http://www.ghacks.net/2016/05/10/resear ... -to-a-vpn/

I missed this earlier. It looks useful. Thanks.

[xZomBie]

Betternet and Psyphon3 is what I use

[Masonjar13]

However, many of the better ones, including the ones I specified in the first post, no longer keep logs of any kind.

This is untrue. All servers must have some logs, system logs most especially. It's simply not feasible to run a large-scale server otherwise. What's important is if they log your usage, which isn't necessary. Read through ALL of a VPN's privacy policy, you'll see somethings you might not expect.

I use PIA, and if you want privacy: get some bitcoin, blend them, spoof your MAC, pay for PIA with those. If someone happens to show up, reset your MAC and hide the evidence. Simple. Any other VPN that takes bitcoin would also work for that, obviously.

[jballi]

This is untrue. All servers must have some logs, system logs most especially. It's simply not feasible to run a large-scale server otherwise. What's important is if they log your usage, which isn't necessary. Read through ALL of a VPN's privacy policy, you'll see somethings you might not expect.

I use PIA, and if you want privacy: get some bitcoin, blend them, spoof your MAC, pay for PIA with those. If someone happens to show up, reset your MAC and hide the evidence. Simple. Any other VPN that takes bitcoin would also work for that, obviously.

Thanks for your feedback.

Some of the VPN providers use "no logs" to indicate what they do but you're right, they couldn't eliminate all logs and operate a business. One provider clarified by stating "no traffic logs". They might log when you connect/disconnect to their their service but everything else is either not logged or is deleted frequently.

And yes, I am looking at Private Internet Access. Thanks for letting me know that you use it. The price is competitive and they offer quite a few services.

[joedf]

Sorry... Didnt mention it before.

ShadowSocks is the way to go. UltraSurf is just the "goto-easy" solution. (Both originally designed to bypass the Gr347 Fir3w4ll 0f Chin4)
client: https://github.com/shadowsocks/shadowso ... ses/latest
server (get a cheap digitalocean vps): An Excellent guide on how to set up your own ShadowSocks server here: https://www.vpndada.com/how-to-setup-a- ... italocean/

[Hajin]

Betternet and Psyphon3 is what I use

These are good

[Lomne]

In that case, the proxy and VPN services are in abundance. I would even say that this is an area where there is plenty to choose from. Here it is necessary to look at your budget and needs, I try to use advanced.name in these latter days.

[simplysunny]

Got to be Zenmate.

[qiangwaikan]

It is recommended to build your own shadowsocksR.here:http://qiangwaikan.com/ssr/

[KingBrog]

I used Tor Browser and also VPN in the Opera browser, but their speed was not sufficient
I am currently using the FriGate extension for Google Chrome

[SOTE]

I'm not sure to what extent people can trust any VPN provider. They tend to claim they are trustworthy, but the reality can be much different. Most definitely you will have government agencies infiltrate them or pay them off, so users can still be logged in one way or another. It becomes questionable how secure are the computers that your internet connection is running through. If a computer in the chain is compromised, then so is your data going through it. On top of that, there is the question of speed, which affects usability.