Who doesn't use a VPN?

Me - I just don't have any need for one.

Me, why would I?

You make it sound like using a VPN is the normal thing..?

I don't.  Not been convinced I need one.

No. I have a free one on my Pixel phone. I tried it, but switched it off as I could see no benefit and it stopped quite a few apps I use regularly from working. If I travelled more and wanted to access UK services from overseas, then maybe it might have a use.

I don't.
I don't think I need one.

If I was regularly connecting to coffee shop wi-fi etc with a laptop then it's something I would probably consider, but I am not sure I need it in the home environment.

If you dont, why?

It seems like 'If you do, why?' is the more pertinent question.

Nope - can't really see why I'd need to

I don't. Why? Because I bought a tin foil hat instead 😂

Me like others said I am not convinced I need one and certain apps wont work while using one

You make it sound like using a VPN is the normal thing..?

Not really (I dont use one) I worked in IT for years and had responsibility for data and system security. I still dont have a VPN on my home devices (I am retired now btw) but as I spend more time managing my finances (as small as they are) from home and occasionally on *free WIFI then I am rethinking it.

As with many things you take a look and feel that you are the only one not using one.

It seems like ‘If you do, why?’ is the more pertinent question.

Maybe, see above. Interested in those who feel they are indispensable.

I can see why anyone who watches a lot of YouTube might think they need one. Nearly every youtuber I watch seems to be sponsored by Nordvpn!

Edit: Or Surf shark and I don't need that either!

I do when I remember to switch the work one on.

(yes, just did it now)

and occasionally on *free WIFI then I am rethinking it.

I switch to 4G if checking banking in public areas.

I can't imagine needing to manage my finances on free cafe WiFi to be honest. If I did then maybe I'd worry.

Me, no need

surfer

but as I spend more time managing my finances (as small as they are) from home and occasionally on *free WIFI then I am rethinking it.

We do quite a lot of IT security training stuff at work, to try & drum into us that we shouldn't be clicking on links from unexpected sources, remembering to scrutinise URLs etc. and one of the things they always say is DO NOT USE FREE Wi-Fi.
That would probably be a more sensible precaution, than worrying about a VPN.
Just don't log onto your banking app while using "COSTA FREE-GUEST HONEST GUV Wi-Fi" and you're probably 99% of the way there.

Anything that goes to a bank account is worked on at home or via that institutions app on the phone using cellular network. Any browsing that I don't want anyone to sniff goes via Firefox with a slew of add-ons that protect privacy and prevent tracking.

Yes and no. My wife watches stuff from Germany which is not available to view without one. We also have some sort of weird IP/DNS conflict on our hybrid microwave/radio broadband link which means some websites won't load over wifi unless you are running a VPN of some sorts. It is a stange issue since there are no such conflicts on the PC via ethernet to the same router. But heyho, no explanation but a working solution so, yes, I do use/need a VPN. My nephew has a NORD VPN account next door and lives alone so we are one of his 6 permitted devices. We only use this proper VPN spradically when needed, but it does work well. However, just for the phone/wifi issue we run 1.1.1.1 which is a free app that is essentially a very lite version of a proper VPN. (just checked, it is in fact a DNS resolver. as you can see I don't really know what I am talking about lol)

If your site is flagged as secure i.e. You type in mybank.com and it doesn't get altered, and there is no security warning from the browser then I think you're ok in public WiFi. If those conditions are met then you are securely connected to your bank and your data can't be intercepted.

The owner of the WiFi network could work out what bank you're with, but meh. Or, in my case, they could maybe work out who my employer is.

But for general use - I don't use one. You could use it to mask where you browse and what sites you visit, but the VPN provider would know, and I'm not sure I trust any of them any more than I trust Google &co.

I have OpenVPN setup on my firewall to connect back home, mainly so when I am abroad it doesn't trip any banking/shopping concerns with my card being used in a different country.

Its also useful when you are connecting to "free wifi", better to be safe

I only use one for work because that’s the way it is.

tried one for home use just to see a while back - NordVPN. Longer pings. Slower transfer speeds. Ditched it ASAP.

Why would I need to use one?

I have found that since moving from Virgin to BRSK that attempted network intrusions have been absent .

I run one at home so I can connect and access iPlayer when I'm abroad. Benefits of fast internet making that a good experience.

Other than that, not felt the need to except where I have to get into my work network. Never heard a really convincing argument why you need it in a cafe etc. if everything is going over SSL/TLS and the certificates are checking out.

I use one very occasionally for naughty (no, not that sort of naughty 😛 ) downloads. But hardly ever cos it's so bleedin slow

Not sure why some random VPN provider would be any more secure than some random free WiFi in a cafe? Https secures your traffic either way, but the VPN is a far larger target for someone to attack.

MFA pretty much eliminates the risk of credentials being jacked anyway. I don't use a VPN other than the mandated work one for anything

I suspect one of the biggest uses is the illicit downloading of movies to stash on something like plex.

They are situational.

I use one for work to access stuff that is behind the firewall and, if I am travelling, I can choose to use one for normal browsing if I think that I need to, or if I have a legit reason to think that my traffic might leak info.

My main use case is masking my home IP when I am doing research on phishing/malware and or threat intel. For that, a free VPN is "good enough", but I prefer something with a history of absolutely not taking logs or metadata and enough security to make sure that my ISP does not get nervous. I usually recommend Mullvad.

Free VPNs are like wearing shorts over a wetsuit (IMHO).

Me. I used one once when on holiday in Canada so I could watch the ITV TdF highlights show on my iPad, apart from that no.

I used one when in Turkey, so I could watch the DH on Red Bull TV...

Ah...better times eh...

DrP

Its also useful when you are connecting to “free wifi”, better to be safe

Serious question - how do you trust a VPN provider?

I suspect one of the biggest uses is the illicit downloading of movies to stash on something like plex.

Speaking from experience?

can we compare notes

Me. No need for one.

I use one working from home, because work makes me. Otherwise, no need really.

I use one for work, all the time. I mean I can kill the process but then I can't access any work resources.

For home I only ever use one if I need to pretend I'm in a different country.

For security  HTTPS does the job perfectly well. Although I don't generally use free WiFi, unless I have no mobile signal, which is pretty rare as I have a dual SIM phone. And if I do use free WiFi it's usually just browsing here.

Serious question – how do you trust a VPN provider?

most influencers sponsored?

If you pay the £0.99pm for iCloud then you get Private Relay across your Apple devices, which does a similar thing to a VPN. I turned it on and haven’t noticed it at all.

Safari only of course!

I suspect one of the biggest uses is the illicit downloading of movies to stash on something like plex.

Don't we use Tor for this?

IANAITguru

I can't see the point in sending all of my clicks and searches via yet another data gatherer.

The TunnelVision technique has existed for 20 years, although I don't know what it effects; maybe an IT-ist out there can explain in a sentence?? https://www.leviathansecurity.com/blog/tunnelvision

I don't use one either - but have been tempted.  The main use case being watching\listening to UK streaming services whilst overseas but also taking advantage of other international streaming services that are geo-blocked in the UK.  For example, you can watch live sport that sits behind a paywall in the UK using a VPN originating from a different country.  I've not researched in depth but suspect a monthly VPN subscription when stacked up against the cost of all the various UK sport channel subscriptions starts to make sense.

We had one at work for remote working during Covid if we were isolating. It was so slow to be practically unusable.

hoopsFull Member
I don’t use one either – but have been tempted.  The main use case being watching\listening to UK streaming services whilst overseas but also taking advantage of other international streaming services that are geo-blocked in the UK.  For example, you can watch live sport that sits behind a paywall in the UK using a VPN originating from a different country.  I’ve not researched in depth but suspect a monthly VPN subscription when stacked up against the cost of all the various UK sport channel subscriptions starts to make sense.

Beware using a VPN for avoiding geoblocks, lots of services are blocking this, or attempting to at least.

I setup an OpenVPN server on my PI so I could connect whilst outside the house to view webcams (security ones, no hanky panky) blocked from the internet, but it was also useful for watching iPlayer whilst abroad for the kids tv stuff. Also good for using pi-hole on the phone whilst out and about.

Also good for using pi-hole on the phone whilst out and about.

I've no idea what that is but I really want to believe its and app that shows the distance and direction to the nearest Greggs

Don't see why  would need one.

We use a VPN to access some work systems.  I could use that for extra security to protect me on phone/laptop on public wifi (mostly I use 4/5G as its just easier and avoids spam but sometimes the signal is crap and wifi is ok).  I've never felt the need to use VPN in that circumstance.  I've never met anyone who has been hacked from using public wifi.  MFA is far more effective.  As someone else said, you place a lot of faith in the security of the commercial VPN provider if you use one.  Who is the greatest threat?  Some really clever local scammer in your costa? An organised hacking group focussed on a major VPN? US Gov backdoors into VPN providers? Rogue states attacking VPN providers.  LastPass getting hacked multiple times was the wake up message for our security team at work that we can't assume that because someone claims to be secure and has a professional looking site that they are secure.  Its likely we had data loss through that.  Ironically - if we had written them in a little black book and kept in the office filing cabinet its almost inconceivable that any hacker would have bothered looking!

Visible Panty Nine?

I have a VPN on both my work laptop and mobile.

Thankfully my home network meets company requirements for security, so i don't need to use the VPN. Which means all my programs work as they should. A couple get so slow as to be unusable, one just doesn't work on a VPN.

Tried one for accessing geo blocked stuff. Was quicker and easier to wait for it to be unblocked. (and no, it's not my network.)

We don't, even though there are potential savings to be had on things like games and subscriptions. But then we usually look for deals before buying stuff anyway.

And have you been reading about the DHCP VPN vulnerability :).   I do use a VPN from time to time but not as a matter of habit as they are too faffy

I use one very occasionally for naughty (no, not that sort of naughty 😛 ) downloads. But hardly ever cos it’s so bleedin slow

I'm not so prudish, I use it for P**n on prudish hotel / AirBnB wi-fi.

I use one.

Means I can access iplayer, German broadcasters and I change to a random country when listening to podcasts or watching YouTube so that I don't get annoying adverts... Adverts in Dutch, Norwegen or Italian are more bearable that in English or German.

I get free Google one VPN, it doesn't make anything slower so I've left it on. Not sure if Google is any better than other VPN suppliers though.

I switch to 4G if checking banking in public areas.

That's what SSL/TSL is for: end to end encryption.

I use one, I think the annual cost is £33ish. It paid for itself twice over on the savings from a Mubi subscription.

It's not all that reliable for avoiding geo blocking, although the VPN company change the the server IPs around, streamers do chase the IPs down so what worked one day might not work the next.

outside of work, only thing I'd ever need one for is if i was doing something illegal...

I'm not interesting enough to be deliberately targeted in any way

I'm pretty IT savvy

Even logging in to my banking app requires so many layers of security that if a hacker can get into it, encrypting it over VPN even more won't do nowt

At home , I don't need the extra complexity, cost and latency

Also, you could argue you are giving the virtual keys to the kingdom to the VPN provider you are using as all of your traffic is going through them.

>I get free Google one VPN

Not for much longer, they're taking it away

I have 1.1.1.1, the CloudFlare VPN, ‘cos it’s free, and doesn’t seem to slow things down any more than shonky cellular services do. It’s rare I’m using the phone network for anything other than streaming music when I’m out anywhere anyway, although I very occasionally need to use my banking app and also I have Apple OpenRelay, or whatever it’s called. My regular pub has it’s own WiFi, which they’ve recently upgraded and my phone logs on automatically now and it’s really fast, so I guess having the extra layer of security doesn’t hurt, as it’s not making any perceptible difference anyway. 🤷🏼

If a VPN isn't costing you anything it would be worthwhile understanding where the value is in providing it to you

Only time i've thought about it was for access to Netflix USA a couple of years back, as they had old movies available that weren't on the UK site, it never happened due to me not being great with IT and just ending up watching something else 😂

I subscribed to SurfShark for a year as Quidco were doing a big cashback offer which meant it is effectively free. I am quite impressed at how easy it is to use and have even configured my home router to be able to use it when I want it to. That obviously sends data from all devices via the VPN.

I am not a gamer but the real time stuff I do - calls, videos, streaming all works ok.

I got it so that I could test web traffic hitting an Internet service I am working on from different countries and it works well for that.

I am not convinced that anyone who is reasonably sensible about web use needs one.

If a VPN isn’t costing you anything it would be worthwhile understanding where the value is in providing it to you

Presumably in getting you onto the subscription service once your free 1GB/month is up or you want a faster service than a server in Timbukto.

.

I'd just like to point out that we're sixty-odd posts in, onto the second page, and no input from Cougar.

Cougar, love, are you ill?

Yup. I pay for ExpressVPN to access geo-blocked content. I have it installed on my Amazon Firestick, 2 PCs, a couple of phones and a tablet

As others have pointed out, it's questionable whether it actually improves security but I'm not using it for that purpose anyway...

and one of the things they always say is DO NOT USE FREE Wi-Fi.

Because the corporate spyware they always install replaces all certs with invalid ones, then hides this fact. So when you are on a work machine you can't actually validate SSL/TLS connections.

For normal people without spyware SSL/TLS is perfectly good security protocol!

What is such a thing even? Yes I could ask Google but...meh

Don’t we use Tor for this?

I don't know if we do, but opera has a VPN built in, should one need it.

Cougar, love, are you ill?

Oh hai.

Actually, yes I am ill, but by the by.

I see little cause to use a VPN day-to-day for tinfoil hat reasons because frankly I'm just not that interesting. I came to the conclusion decades ago that anything I post automatically may be in the public domain and if I'm in any way concerned then I'll just not post it in the first place.

I do use a VPN for "this content is not available in your country" reasons because bollocks to that petty nonsense. I picked up a lifetime subscription from some random "$2000 down to $40" offer and it's served me well.

The one thing it's failed on, I want to watch an episode of an Australian TV show and it refuses to stream. If anyone has got such a thing and would be willing to loan it to me on a temporary password for an hour or so, I'll be your friend.

Use one for remote access when working off site. Other than that I can’t see where I would want or need to.

I have 1.1.1.1, the CloudFlare VPN, ‘cos it’s free

Are you sure that's a VPN and not just an alternative DNS service?

What is 1.1.1.1? | Cloudflare

I have a Nord account, but only use it when I’m working abroad to watch Discovery+ etc. Never use public WiFi

Pretty much all VPN providers are just preying on fear imo. Public wifi has it's risks, sure - but https traffic is encrypted end-to-end, just make sure the website you're connecting to is presenting a valid cert.

Are you sure that’s a VPN and not just an alternative DNS service?

What is 1.1.1.1? | Cloudflare

Probably WARP

I subscribe to "smart DNS", which works really well with the various streaming apps on my smart/apple TV - you can set it so different apps think you're in different regions.  I don't know how it works, but it just does - set and forget.  it's also just on the TV - so it doesn't interfere with any of my other computing needs.

I suspect one of the biggest uses is the illicit downloading of movies to stash on something like plex.

You don't need a VPN for usenet, which is (ironically) what all the kids are using these days.

 I want to watch an episode of an Australian TV show

Hey, we won't judge

Pointless unless you're trying to evade geoblocking (or a work VPN that provides a secure link to your work network). You're just shifting the risk from a wifi/broadband provider that you shouldn't trust to a VPN provider that you shouldn't trust. And the bit of internet between the VPN endpoint and the site you're trying to access remains insecure.

Almost all internet traffic is now end-to-end encrypted by default (HTTPS, IMAPS, POPS, SSH), which is a much better thing to rely on than hoping that the network is secure.

We recently had some IT security auditors ask us what our policy was on employees using untrusted public wifi to access our systems. We explained that they can use it in exactly the same way as any other network connection, because if we're relying on any connection being secure, we've failed.

Also use a VPN for work, never noticed any slowness. Can also use any public WiFi hotspot as it all gets encrypted and funnelled to the company servers.

Only reason I can see to use my own would be for pihole on the go.

I've used one when abroad to watch the rugby world cup and TdF.

Otherwise no.

I've got Nord, it will auto connect when using untrusted / unsecure wifi.

It's part of a suite of cyber security tools we use. I enjoy the irony of the fact you can use it to by-pass elements of the MDM tool.

TBH it's more of a work thing, usually a sensible requirement for accessing cloud tools like 365 from mobile devices etc.