Here's a list of Free" ones:
https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/...st-free-vpn-services

Here's the ratings of the "Best" ones:
https://www.top10vpn.com/best-...a/?bsid=c33se13kw001

Are you using one?
Why?

I tried NORD on a special offer and it slowed me down too much.

Your opinions?

There have been a number of threads on this subject over the past years.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...Type=1&search=Search

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
There have been a number of threads on this subject over the past years.
/QUOTE]
I seen that, but was looking for something that wasn't a year and a half old...In Technology that was like 100 years ago.

I use one but NORD isn't one of them (for no other reason than I didn't start out with them). ExpressVPN is as good as any to go with for most purposes from what I've read for several years and my own personal experience.

The underlying technology they all use (OpenVPN) is more or less the same so that shouldn't be an impact on one provider being speedier than another. I haven't noticed any real impact on my network throughput but on my iphone I do have some occasional "connection" issues. If you're on a Windows machine I don't know what to tell you.

The location and number of exit servers used by any particular VPN provider, and other network congestion related impacts, probably make more of a difference on network speed (throughput) than anything. So if NORD was slow for you try another one. You probably don't get their best class of service with a free account anyway but I don't know that for sure.

A differentiating feature between many providers seems to be whether or not they log your activities and/or what info they collect and store about your browsing habits. So if you are trying to thwart Google, Facebook, and the like, and instead you effectively just transfer that data mining to a VPN provider then you haven't accomplished much. That said, I think they all advertise to not store any identifying information about you. They would go out of business if they didn't protect your internet anonymity.

I have to use a VPN when I connect to my employer's portal remotely from my company provided laptop. Its not the same VPN that I use for my personal use, but if my company thinks it needs one, why not me personally.

VPNs aren't 100% safe. If LE wants to "hack" someone they can in various ways.

DNS leaks are a way that your ISP can track the websites you visit if your VPN connection is faulty - a good VPN provider will prevent DNS leaks and have kill switches to disconnect you if there is a problem.

Most VPN providers don't talk about WebRTC leaks but that is another means by which your ISP and others can get at your web activity / history. So find out if your VPN provider of choice can prevent WebRTC leaks (in Firefox you can disable it in about:config).

Unless you are using a secure / encrypted e-mail service, secure chat, etc., I wouldn't bother with a VPN personally. That's almost like locking your front door and keeping the backdoor wide open. And, LE will just sneak in through your windows if you aren't vigilant (or aren't doing anything unlawful).

Short answer: try another one (ExpressVPN). Pay for 1 year and get a refund if it doesn't work out.

Thanks Jimineer,
I was thinking to use when on Public wifi's not all that concerned at home on my own wifi.
Am I reading this wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
Thanks Jimineer,
I was thinking to use when on Public wifi's not all that concerned at home on my own wifi.
Am I reading this wrong?

That's typically only when I use it. Especially when I'm out of the country. Also for accessing certain websites and apps when I'm in Europe, particulary France.

I travel for both business and personal so I use a VPN at hotels, coffee shops, airports, etc. Same one for my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.

Besides security, it frequently speeds up internet connections and allows use of more websites. The reason is many commercial places have Merakis which allows admins to specify how much bandwidth goes to popular data hogs (eg Facebook) and the amount can be set to zero (eg ban firearm websites). The blocking of Sigforum is particularly annoying. An extremely hypocritical blocking that I have encountered is a restaurant/bar that serves alcohol but blocks alcohol related websites (eg BeerAdvocate).

EDIT: 99% of the time, I use VPN at home when I'm doing on-line banking and other financial stuff. I have a small ISP so I trust my VPN more since they have annual 3rd party security audits.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

Been reading up and for my Dunkin Donuts free wifi visits (Daily and multi locations)
I was thinking of this one:

unless someone has another free version they like...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: downtownv,

I use Avast VPN when I'm away from home. Kinda cool, it can make you appear like your anywhere in the world, Russia, Europe, etc. It's good enough that my employer's security team turned my account off because they thought I was entering their network from Portugal. My network IO can be significantly affected when I do use the VPN/Location Masking. Just using the VPN straight up seems to have little effect.

There are countries which block internet access unless you buy it through a government or government-approved source. All internet traffic is filtered and watched. Any number of sites, including this one, raise red flags and are either blocked, or invite observation or suspicion.

A VPN bypasses much of that. It also makes transmission more protected and seamless, and improves connection in many places, too. I use it a lot when outside the country, and when in hotels, especially any hotel that has a free common log-in.

There are times that using a VPN won't allow me to connect with a site or interferes with already marginal internet enough that I can't use it, but I use it when I can. I'm outside the country a lot (headed back to Africa shortly).

Who needs them? Everyone who uses the internet.

Why? Because humans. Humans run governments, run companies, write programs, test software, and the rest, and far too many can't be trusted to do it right or legally, and far too many have devious and otherwise questionable intentions, and anything within reason that you can do to thwart their efforts is a good thing - because fuck them all, the bad ones, and that's better than more rules and laws that don't work well anyway. Protect yourself...

I've been using VPNSecure for a couple of years and been pretty happy with it, Stacksocial has it on sale for $20, lifetime subscription (more like 20 years ), you can use it on up to 5 devices:

https://stacksocial.com/sales/...etime-subscription-2

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lkdr1989,

quote:

Originally posted by lkdr1989:
I've been using VPNSecure for a couple of years and been pretty happy with it, Stacksocial has it on sale for $20, lifetime subscription (more like 20 years ), you can use it on up to 5 devices

See, this is what worries me. Nothing is ever, truly free. What is VPNSecure's business model? How can they stay in business offering VPN service for $20 a year?

I would like to start using a private VPN service. But how do I know that the service is keeping my activity private?

I started with Nord but dropped them inside of 30 days for the refund when they were unresponsive about Amazon prime preventing me from watching movies.

I went with purevpn at $69 for 5 years starting April of this year. Same plan now is $79.20 for 5 years.

Not to get too off topic here, but this is sort of related to computer security and keeping your data/info safe: secure cloud storage.

I heard about (maybe on Sigforum) a company called pCloud that provides an encrypted cloud storage solution. They mainly cater to companies but you can get a single user account (lifetime or annual payment with a discounted price), and I think they even offer 10 GB of free storage.

I signed up with pCloud for several reasons:

a) because I wanted something other than Google, Apple, etc., etc.. for storing data and pictures "in the cloud".
b) they are located in Switzerland, which supposedly has strict privacy laws (like pictures of my pups need secure storage )
c) I wanted an iPhone app that will automatically upload my pictures and documents to pCloud

So far it integrates nicely with Linux Mint 19.x and my iPhone. I can easily upload documents and photographs from my iPhone and from Linux (or any PC for that matter).

Anyway, just an FYI if you are interested.

I’ve been using my University’s VPN for 6 years now for all work stuff. I can’t even access my email without it. I love it. I can access public WiFi on the road and be secure.

Last year, the university dropped a policy where the secured network is no longer accessible unless they have their Tier 1’s install full University encryption on your personal device. This sucks as WiFi is everywhere on campus and powerful. Fastest in the state of OK. I’m deep inside buildings and wanted to use the public that isn’t secured. ExpressVPN lets me do just that.

I’ve been running it on all my devices at the house on my secured network as well. I really haven’t notice any decline in speed in reel world stuff, but I can notice a difference when I run a speed test. What I have notice is a drastic decrease in adds and email crap. I enjoy not being tracked on every key stroke as well.

I’m a Cubs fan and Preds fan. If either are playing the Stars, Royals, Rangers, Cards or Astro’s, I’m blacked out on my apps. A quick simple server change, and I’m watching the Cubs or Preds home feed. That is worth the cost alone.

I’ll be using one for good.

I read a review by pc mag and nord was their first pick. I think I'll try their trial and see how it goes. I believe they also claim compatibility with Netflix and Tor.

I've been using Express VPN for over a year now with very good results. I like that I can set the VPN in my router so everyone on my network is on the VPN.

One drawback to this is my bank won't let me login online if I'm on the VPN.

JP

Thanks for the info

Coupon: MERRY15 will get the price down to $17

quote:

Originally posted by lkdr1989:
I've been using VPNSecure for a couple of years and been pretty happy with it, Stacksocial has it on sale for $20, lifetime subscription (more like 20 years ), you can use it on up to 5 devices:

https://stacksocial.com/sales/...etime-subscription-2