Bill Gordon

In another post someone mentioned the use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This is something I have recently found myself considering. Are there any hoggers who would care to share their experiences here with VPNs, perhaps including recommendations and caveats? Thanks in advance.

old man 88 Loc: Palmview, TX when not on road

The best thing about VPN is you not receive ads on web pages or if so, very few.
It does slow the network down some but not very much. Banks and finance companies will sometime ask you to submit a question since they don't know where you're coming from.
I use IPVanish on sale $100.00 for two years.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

I subscribe to a service called Windscribe and am very happy. With one account you can connect all your phones, tablets, laptops, computers providing they all reside in "your" family. It allows you to choose which area to connect to or a best choice for your area also giving you a Netflix workaround. On top of that it allows your browser to double hop. (the device is connected to server xyz and the browser then hops from there to server abc for a double hop) They also have a free service which I did try for several months but that entailed logging in and out to protect my allotted bandwidth. The prices are comparable to most others and I find this service to be quick and easy, not to mention unlimited. It works for me, YMMV.

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

I have been using PIA (Private Internet Access) for the last 2 or 3 years and I am very happy with it. However, I don't use it constantly, just in specific cases:
- From PC anytime I think it is necessary
- From cell phone whenever I need to use any public/shared WiFi network that I don't fully trust (read: almost any WiFi that is not mine).

As was mentioned on the other comment, as you will be "detected" as connecting from another place, the connection can be identified as "suspicious" and trigger additional login checks (or at least receive emails alerting you of unusual activity on your account).

My main advice would be: avoid any free option. As you already know, nothing is actually free.
Try to read reviews/articles of trusted sources about different providers to choose the one that better suits your needs.
For example: amount and location of servers, if they store logs or not and what they store, policy or previous records of how they respond to legal requests, platforms on which they have available apps, allowed connections, etc.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

I was connected to VPNNord for a year; it was excellent. I didn't need it, so left... not because of the service. You want a VPN that's located in a foreign jurisdiction outside the US influence... no UK, Australia, etc. Some of the best rated ones on PC Mag are located in the US or within their 'grasp'. They seem to forget the 'long reach of the American law'.

Dik

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

I use two:
"VPN Unlimited" Works well. With this, and probably other VPN services, take advantage of big discounts on lifetime subscriptions. Example: KeepSolid.com sells their lifetime "VPN Unlimited" subscription for $199.99. StackSocial.com sells the same subscription for $59.99. One "VPN Unlimited" subscription works with up to 5 devices. Some services have apps so it will also work with your smarphone.
My other VPN is a free service provided by my local Internet service provider. I see no speed difference between my two VPNs.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

I’ve been using ExpressVPN for about a year and like it a lot. It is fast and very useful when I’m not on my home net. One problem, I have to log off the VPN to print on a wireless printer but that’s only a problem when I forget it’s on and nothing is coming out of the printer.

George

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

Depends on what your need is. I would not use VPN Unlimited and would avoid ExpressVPN, unless for casual anonymity. See the attached spreadsheet. It's a couple of years old, but mostly OK.

Correction: The VPN I used was NordVPN, not VPNNord.

Dik

Attached file:
(Download)

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Although I use PIA (Private Internet Access), NordVPN is top notch and would also recommend it.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

See the attached spreadsheet. It has summaries of nearly all VPN providers. When I left them I sent a note to them that I was not at all unhappy with the service. They were excellent. Access was not possible from a couple of my 'hakker buddies'; I asked them to try and 'break'.

You want to avoid those that are American based or 'eyes' based if you want to remain 'hidden'.

Dik

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

I got Winscribe Lifetime for $59, and I'm happy with it. Others may be as good/better- I dunno.
I got a VPN for many reasons; some may sound pissy, but they all add up.
1) A supposedly secure icloud account went down, then got hacked. In it was a Word file of accounts and passwords. Suddenly no access to Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, my medical files, health records and bank accounts. Yes the file had a password- but that too is easily hacked. Took me 10+ years.
2) Sometimes I try it, just to see. VPN off: I open up Google, start Gmail, and order pizza. Suddenly my promotions folder is full of offers from various vendors, most within 10 miles of my zipcode. Fast food, furniture, auto services, insurance, refis and realty, mostly. VPN on- none.
3) Olympics. The USA coverage was so poor it was ridiculous. I have BBC on Kodi, and theirs was amazing. Just the opening celebration/ parade was over a couple hours, with great commentary. Local US version would show a piece, cut to a pair of minions in a studio with green screen, then commercials. 5 hour lag? 40/60 ratio event/garbage? And ONLY the events the US made the top 3?
The Corps is looking for means to restrict all foreign Olympic news to the 95% in the US.
4/ Provider gave me a 6 month Internet suspension for downloading a couple movies. No letter, no notice, just done. It took a week of calling before they'd tell me what was "wrong" with my service. Afterwards, I finally had to exchange the modem, 'cause they couldn't lift the "kill" order, no matter how many times they tried and told me "It's OK now". The movies were "leaked" "For your consideration" movies, from Youtube. Later: "We're sorry about that- it's just policy".
SO: Roku and subbed channels. Kodi, and a double hop VPN. I might be from Sweden right now.
The ONLY problem I've had, is that mine skips IP addresses every so often, so occasionally I'll get a black browser screen- for maybe 20 seconds or so. Now I'm in ... Bulgaria?

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Yes, they are definitively one of the very good ones.
Personally, being US based is not a big deal for my case.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

You may or may not have the anonymity you want... your call.

Dik

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sounds like you’re looking for an anonymizer for secure browsing. The original free anonymizer which is still available is the TOR browser available here: https://www.torproject.org/

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

A secure VPN provides and added 'onion skin' to the TOR browser.

Dik