I know the Digital Bill has made some people nervous about info being collected about them by ISP’s and then shared with the government/hacked from the ISP.

CyberGhost currently $21/year (normally $66) – offer ends in 5 hours or so.

All your stw ads will think you’re in Norway if you don’t have a ‘P’ but that’s a small price to pay…

https://stacksocial.com/sales/lifetime-of-ra4w-vpn

$39 for a lifetime sub. No idea if it’s any good or not though. There’s a few others too:

https://stacksocial.com/search?cat=390&query=VPN

VPN Unlimited seems to get good reviews, and that’s $29.

https://stacksocial.com/sales/vpn-unlimited-lifetime-subscription

I use Ivacy. Works well with good speeds when needed and five simultaneous logins.
Always deals on…

Hmmm… Interested… Who is everyone using? There are loads and a quick google would suggest some are rubbish.. Would like access to Netflix USA and hiding t*****t traffic.

I’m using PIA over port 443 (so it looks like HTTPS traffic and BT therefore don’t throttle it). You can choose which end point you use, I’m on Southampton, benefit being you still get served UK pages rather than France, Netherlands etc like with some other providers.

Can you trust the end point of the VPN any more than Mrs May’s spies?

And besides there will be back doors in the software soon enough.

Still. Host an Amazon/Azure VM in the US, set up VPN server on it, and away you go. Not sure how the cost will stack up, but would be just yourself as user. Netflix though I guess is going to get costly on data transfer.

actually, I’m on a server in Manchester – my son says he chose Norway which led to my confusion about where server would be…

To be honest I don’t know. They say they don’t keep logs, but who really knows?

In terms of the software, you are free to use vanilla openvpn on your client (and I do) but of course you no way of knowing what’s been done to the code running on the server.

I suppose we have to rely on the face it would be extremely bad for business if they were to reveal any user identities/data.

I’m looking too – this one looks good, supports P2P, TOR over VPN, $5.75 per month for 6 devices, so theoriticaly you could chip in with a mate and have 3 secured devices each, bringing the cost down to $2.87 per month…based in panama https://nordvpn.com/features/

retro83 – Member
…I suppose we have to rely on the face it would be extremely bad for business if they were to reveal any user identities/data.

Or I suppose we have to rely on the face it would be extremely bad for business if they were to make public that they had revealed any user identities/data :).

Can you trust the end point of the VPN any more than Mrs May’s spies?

I’d at least want one which terminated outside the UK, somewhere privacy friendly like Germany. Terminating in the UK is a bit pointless as the VPN company will still have to log all your traffic for Mrs May’s inspection.

I’d at least want one which terminated outside the UK, somewhere privacy friendly like Germany.

You might want to have a look at this –
https://www.my-private-network.co.uk/vpn-provider-14-eyes-country-something-know/

If you are serious about finding a quality VPN (and given the way legislation is going I suggest we all get serious about it), grab a cup of tea and spend some time and braincells here..

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/

OMG It’s a damn minefield of options! 😯 😕

I’m swaying more towards NordVPN at the moment.

Terminating in the UK is a bit pointless as the VPN company will still have to log all your traffic for Mrs May’s inspection.

Is it though? If we legislate that ISPs have to keep logs, a VPN provider is not an ISP. I’d doubt that they get bundled up in the same law for the simple reason that most MPs probably have no concept of what one is. Remember not so long ago, someone made a speech in Parliament describing IP addresses as Intellectual Property addresses.

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/

That’s a really good read. Thanks for that.

opera has a vpn built in if you just want to hide browsing.

I’m using IPVanish – seems decent enough, has apps for iPhone, tablet, PC etc too.

Is it though? If we legislate that ISPs have to keep logs, a VPN provider is not an ISP. I’d doubt that they get bundled up in the same law for the simple reason that most MPs probably have no concept of what one is.

Normally laws are drafted as loose as possibly to catch all and then the finer details are argued in the courts and it all gets endlessly refined via case law….

I wear my tin foil hat when it comes to Tor. Short of actually reviewing the source code each time there’s a “security” update I can’t trust the binaries and hashes (or that the peers reviewing it are reliable). Not updating is a vulnerability also. And these days there’s a likelihood of a large amount of end nodes being under surveillance.

Not that using it for dodgy Netflix shenanigans is going to upset government spies, and besides it would be worse than useless in performance.

footflaps – Member 
I’d at least want one which terminated outside the UK, somewhere privacy friendly like Germany.

Would have to be US to get US Netflix.

I bought a cyberghost lifetime sub off StackSocial ‘just in case’. Seems legit.

You have to keep up with the updates as servers sprout up and die off, but I suspect thats the same with all of these services.

For £16 for life it was cheaper than running an AWS instance and offers a wider variety of egress countries.

Would have to be US to get US Netflix

Netflix must be logging VPN IP address exit points or something similar as I’ve tried a couple of VPNs and Unblock-us to view US or UK Netflix (I’m in Canada) and they’re detecting I’m not in the correct geographical location and blocking access….

I’m struggling to decide the best VPN.. never used one before outside of work..I’m not bothered about getting American netflix if I can unblock eztv or whatever, and not have to hunt for a new proxy or mirror site every few weeks…I want it to be good enough to stream at reasonable definition, P2P friendly is a plus.

I’m using PIA over port 443 (so it looks like HTTPS traffic and BT therefore don’t throttle it). You can choose which end point you use, I’m on Southampton, benefit being you still get served UK pages rather than France, Netherlands etc like with some other providers.

Retro83 – what kind of speed do you get on PIA when you’re connected?

I use PIA and I notice no degradation in my connection speed. Most IT/security peeps I know use it.

monkeychild – Member
I use PIA and I notice no degradation in my connection speed. Most IT/security peeps I know use it.

In terms of bandwidth it maxes out my BT fibre connection no problem. There is a bit more latency though as you’d expect.

Short answer is it makes no noticeable difference except to gaming.

Okay scratch that, I just tested it again. No difference on ping now either.

This is using the native windows 10 VPN client, not the PIA tray program. No reason for that just that I’d rather not have extra programs running when it’s already built in to W10.

IPVanish for me. Well priced and performance is good. In an audit of VPN providers they scored very well for protecting anonymity (of course it they really want to screw you over then such audits would be a fix anyway 😉 ).

To be honest though. Most of the time I browse in the clear. They can keep and store all my posts to STW if they really want 😀

IP vanish and PIA are based in the states which is not something I would want, as has been said before it has to be a non 14 eyes country where the operator is based.Have a look at Nordvpn based Panama,6 devices,vpn, double vpn, vpn over tor, I`ve had good service from them for the past few years. I personally would be a little skeptical of a lifetime sub for $20..you pay peanuts…

IPreadtor here, but it gets a bit interesting having to convert bike parts prices from Swedish to GBP

Some good stuff on here. Philosophical question…

As a citizen (not a corporate) would you rather have the perennial bad guys like the Chinese be spying on you, or your own government / their best mates?

Assume all are open to hacking / unintentional data loss.

IP vanish and PIA are based in the states which is not something I would want, as has been said before it has to be a non 14 eyes country where the operator is based.

Depends what you’re using the VPN for, really. If you want total security against targeted investigation then absolutely – it has to be a company that can’t be leaned on by the authorities.

But if you’re using a VPN just to mess with them, to make sure they can’t just sweep up all your data and do data mining on it, then it doesn’t have to be that secure.

As Ben said there are a number of use cases here (including watching US Netflix), the emerging one being the latter – “But if you’re using a VPN just to mess with them, to make sure they can’t just sweep up all your data and do data mining on it, then it doesn’t have to be that secure.”

Me – I’ll be looking for a service hosted in a country with a strong privacy record that citizens of that country hold in high regard, preferably European.

Me – I’ll be looking for a service hosted in a country with a strong privacy record that citizens of that country hold in high regard, preferably European

not sure if that means anything if they are one of the 14 eyes states which probably means sharing your data supercedes any privacy IMO.
Personally if I am going to PAY to use a VPN I would prefer it to be watertight and not be half arsed otherwise whats the point IMO?

Even with all the great info posted in the link I listed earlier I am having a real problem weighing various strengths and weaknesses.
From having spend a few hours going through the spreadsheet on the site it seems as though IVPN are about the best going in terms of data logging (none), and privacy standards. However they are pretty expensive in comparison to others (although they support multi hop in that price which many others either don’t support or charge extra for).
The only issue I have with them is that they are based in Gibraltar.. As that is technically part of the UK, that means they fall into 14 eyes territory. IVPN have addressed this in an extensive blog post essentially saying that Gibraltar sets it’s own laws and legal system, if they are leaned on by government then they will move out of Gibraltar. Having said all that the new laws that are coming into effect mean that if they were leaned on by government then they would be prevented from telling anyone about it..

The more I read about this new legislation the more dangerous and insidious it seem to be. From what I can make out it essentially gives Parliament the ability to retrospectively change what constituted illegal activity and then prosecute people for breaking that law even though it wasn’t illegal when they did whatever it was.!!!!!!!

This probably doesn’t help, but after reading and using the site thatoneprivacysite.net, I went with NordVPN. Downloads seem to be the same speed as without a VPN and can have 6 devices. It also seems to work with US Netflicks, although it hasn’t been 1080 HD quality yet.

Why the hell would you use a vpn to watch netflix, using a vpn for everything is going to flag you up nicely to your isp and the security services – mow that youvr managed to distinguish yourself from your average traffic – so that the next time you decide to pull your todger – GCHQ will be watching through your webcam. Just use one for sensitive searches such as health queries etc

Why the hell would you use a vpn to watch netflix

I’m pretty sure GCHQ are not bothered what I watch on US Netflix here in the UK or what I download! 🙄 😆

using a vpn for everything is going to flag you up nicely to your ISP and the security services

It will not be any different to a home office user being connected to a work LAN via VPN which there are millions of people doing admittedly maybe not 24/7, but also it is not illegal to be connected 24/7. Even if they did decide to tap me, I really don’t have anything to hide from the security services, but I do not want the government/council to abuse the powers, so it’s just easier and safter to use a VPN.

Here’s a tip, next time you pull your todger just stick some tape over the webcam. 😆 😆

Nope, they’ll have a lovely list of known VPNs and commercial users – anyone not in both will end up bumped up a naughty list – same goes for TOR.

Just seen that the PM can actually sign off on targeted intercepts of MPs. Great.

If you dont mind them tapping you, then there is no point to using it all the time. As I said, use it for sensitive queries like health ones and then go back to doing what you usually do – that will prevent your sensitive data from being leaked and not flag you up.

But if you are connecting via a VPN what options do they have to intercept. Off the top of my head I can think of…

1. Snoop your Wi-Fi/network
2. Install something on your device (phone, laptop, tablet)
3. Confiscate your device and carry out forensic analysis, or look in your history.
4. Go medieval on the VPN provider and get access to their records

Government: We think you were doing something illegal because you connected via a VPN.
Me: Prove it
Government: …

This also presumes that they have the manpower to manage such a list that Tom alludes to and also that they have even more manpower to investigate everyone who uses a VPN and is on the naughty list. The more people that start using a VPN the bigger the problem is going to get.