VPN?

[x486]

So any people use a VPN like PIA or Tunnel Bear?

 

[Jack1n]

I only used a VPN once, I used an Australian VPN to be able to play Fallout 4 about 8 hours earlier than it was released regionally for me, can't recall which one it was.

 

[Kursah]

I've been using PIA for a couple of years. Good speeds, stable, I crank up the encryption. Very happy with it...

Kind of a vague thread...any particular reason you're asking? Anything else you wanted to know?

 

[x486]

I've been using PIA for a couple of years. Good speeds, stable, I crank up the encryption. Very happy with it...

Kind of a vague thread...any particular reason you're asking? Anything else you wanted to know?

Is it worth having?
And a good way to mask your IP Address on line?

 

[Kursah]

I find it useful at times and its cheap enough to be nice to have around.

Your traffic is being pushed through their servers so the Interwebz should see their server IP as your IP.

Its a good way to keep your traffic from prying eyes if you feel there are some...especially with higher levels of encryption. The big point of a VPN is to encrypt data over the internet...but many use services like PIA simply for the IP address proxy. Both parts are important...but depending on what kind of data you're handling...encryption would still be the most important aspect IMHO.

There is still always a risk and chance of those being broken by someone that wants it bad enough or the gov't...but far less for most folks unless you're specifically targeted.

PIA has been great in my experience and I have no issues recommending it as a reliable VPN service. They provide plenty of servers worldwide for you to choose from.or let the client auto connect. I don't use mine 24/7 but know folks that do with the same sentiments I shared.

I should add some users have bandwidth issues with PIA on some servers...I haven't but I only have 60/5 Charter Cable...

 

[newtekie1]

I use PrivateInternetAccess, but I'm not exactly happy with the speeds. I only get about 20-25Mbps when connected to it. I think after my subscription with PIA is over I'm going to be switching to Astrill, I've heard really good things about them.

 

[Disparia]

Is it worth having?
And a good way to mask your IP Address on line?

$40/yr is better than raging a coffee table at my $500 TV when streaming stutters and drops to 360p now that my ISP throttles. Being a 10-yr customer with a business line doesn't mean shit and results in the run-around from them despite side-by-side comparisons of one computer with encryption and one without. So I'm not happy about why I use PIA, but do feel that it's worth it. Going to upgrade the router soon for whole-house coverage.

Note: I don't have experience with other VPN services so I can't compare. Only that I use PIA without issues so far.

 

[FireFox]

I am a faithful PIA's user

 

[qubit]

I use PrivateInternetAccess, but I'm not exactly happy with the speeds. I only get about 20-25Mbps when connected to it.

Heck that's faster than my "cutting edge" ADSL broadband at 18.5mb/s. I hate you right now.

 

[newtekie1]

Heck that's faster than my "cutting edge" ADSL broadband at 18.5mb/s. I hate you right now.

Might as well be dial-up...

 

[qubit]

Might as well be dial-up...

Now I'm raging...

 

[INSTG8R]

Now I'm raging...

I just upgraded this week if you really want to rage

 

[qubit]

I just upgraded this week if you really want to rage

That's it I ragequit!

<qubit stomps his tiny feet out of the room>

 

[Frick]

With my free ISP supplied VPN (very basic, the only thing it does is add encryption - well, MS-CHAPv2 anyway, which is ... something, I guess - at the free tier, Blowfish at the €5/month tier, and they are aggresive with their data purging with their VPN users - so they say):

Without it:

 

[INSTG8R]

With my free ISP supplied VPN (very basic, the only thing it does is add encryption - well, MS-CHAPv2 anyway, which is ... something, I guess - at the free tier, Blowfish at the €5/month tier, and they are aggresive with their data purging with their VPN users - so they say):

Without it:

Wow that's pretty good!

 

[katetaylor]

no, I use ExpressVPN and so far no problem, but many of my friends are using PIA as an affordable option

 

[lorraine walsh]

I used to have PIA but than started having problems with their connectivity and bandwidth. Like I was streaming online a program and it used to disconnect all of a sudden, multiple times. Their customer support wasn't of much help either. Than read reviews about purevpn and have been using since then working fine up till now.

 

[v12dock]

I have been using PIA for 2 years its seems to be slowing down

 

[elitan]

Is it worth having?
And a good way to mask your IP Address on line?

You can use TOR for anonymous. Its better than VPN

 

[silkstone]

I'm still on PIA.

I haven't noticed any real differences, performance-wise, in the 3 years i've been a user.
The biggest problem I have with it is when using it via openvpn. It will drop connection about once a day requiring a router reboot.

 

[cornemuse]

Curious, are VPN's as slow as Tor??

 

[slozomby]

Curious, are VPN's as slow as Tor??

depends on the distances you traverse. my vpn to my office is fast. bouncing across the pacific a couple of times is reaaaaly slow.

 

[Halo3Addict]

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/

He has everything you could possibly want to know about a poop ton of VPN services in a wonderful looking spreadsheet. Find out which one work for you. Most services have a free trial or money-back guarantee. For reference, I have used VPNSecure for about a week now and seems to be okay.

 

[Kursah]

Curious, are VPN's as slow as Tor??

depends on the distances you traverse. my vpn to my office is fast. bouncing across the pacific a couple of times is reaaaaly slow.

There quite a few factors to speed. Encryption and routes being big ones for VPN's and Tor networks. Higher encryption levels require more processing power to accomplish which can greatly affect network speeds, the route in which the encrypted packets traverse the tunnel over the web will also have a factor, the slowest spot will drag everything else down with it. There's also the type of tunnel, which can play a critical role in speeds... a basic PPTP tunnel doesn't take much for processing power but is all but useless in the grand scheme of things, where an IPSec tunnel with higher levels of encryption on both stages will take far more processing power, be slower but far far more secure.

I have an OpenVPN tunnel to home, using higher levels of encryption along with an IPSec tunnel to a managed location, both tunnels are fast and stable...but my upload speed limitation of 5Mbps is a serious restriction when anything is uploading from my network. Beyond that, having the correct hardware to handle the tunnel is critical. Using processors that can accellerate encrypted traffic is a huge bonus, using a home-grade router usually can be a drag...though there are many newer routers that have the power that is either usable out of the chute or a DD-WRT/OpenWRT flash away.

Frankly my VPN has been around the 40-50Mbps mark with PIA recently...which hasn't been too often as I do not use it 24/7. But when I do, it has proven reliable and fast or easy to switch servers if needed.

Realistically if you want to protect prying eyes and ears from accessing the data in your packets as they traverse the web, expect a slowdown. It's the cost of privacy, especially if you have configured your VPN tunnel for higher levels of encryption to keep things secure. More folks should spend time reading how to do this and why it is important, many don't and go with the fastest settings...sure you might have a level of encryption, but lower levels are easier to break. Food for thought. Better safe than sorry. If you're using a VPN tunnel, expecting 1:1 speed isn't necessarily going to happen, especially if you run any kind of decent level of encryption to protect your traffic.