What VPN server should I choose??

By Genesis1982
in Smart Home, Network & Security

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Genesis1982

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Lately I'm beginning to worry about privacy, so I'm considering a VPN server.
(for ads/spam etc I have a few browser-plugins and of course a good AV)

Now I saw a few reviews on Google, and the following VPN servers got my attention;

• NordVPN
• VyprVPN
• ExpressVPN
• IPvanish
• Perfect Privacy

I find it rather difficult though, to make a good choice, due to the fact they all claim to be the #1 in the business, and also on their individual websites they all throw around with perfect 'customer' reviews.
(which I don't consider that serious btw, since these kind of companies are known to pay to publish positive reviews)

- Can you maybe help me with making the right choice?
Maybe you have some experience with the earlier mentioned VPN servers?

---
The criteria I find important;

1) Security (how well are you protected against IP leaks, DNS-leaks, etc)
2) Speed (how much 'damage' will the download/upload speeds get)
3) Settings (does the server have good settings, like, etc)
4) Usage (how user friendly is everything)
5) Stability (is the connection stable, without interruptions)

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Mindovermaster Moderator

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Watch some YT vids. They explain each pro and con of several different VPN companies.

 

I'm personally going to go with NordVPN. For what they have, and others do not. (need some money first)

 

 

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Mindovermaster Moderator

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5 minutes ago, Copernic said:

You can still Save 91% off a Lifetime Subscription to Windscribe VPN - get it for only $39!

 

 

Most "for life" subscriptions are a rip-off. Think @BudManwould agree... I'd trust a 6mo or year subscription more...

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farmeunit

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I got Windscribe as part of a Humble Bundle and it's been fine.  Only used to watch some streaming video from MTV.CA, but worked.  They have a Windows client and browser extensions.  I used VyprVPN before that, but only because I got it free from Giganews which I don't use anymore.

 

VyprVPN worked well, though.  The Chameleon piece worked well for what I used it for.

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Genesis1982

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1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

I'm personally going to go with NordVPN. For what they have, and others do not. (need some money first)

https://nordvpn.com/special/2ydeal/?utm_source=aff1810&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=off15&coupon=2YDeal2017

 

NordVPN at least seems very cheap... :p

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Mindovermaster Moderator

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1 minute ago, The_Prodigy_1982 said:

https://nordvpn.com/special/2ydeal/?utm_source=aff1810&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=off15&coupon=2YDeal2017

 

NordVPN at least seems very cheap... :p

Well, it's not as cheap as PIA, but yes, lower than the other competitors. 

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+BudMan MVC

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2 hours ago, The_Prodigy_1982 said:

Lately I'm beginning to worry about privacy

So you have switched over to cash only?  And wear a mask when you go out in public to hide from all the camera's doing facial recognition.. Don't use a cell phone, etc.

 

Or do you mean you want a vpn to circumvent geo restrictions and hide your torrent traffic from your ISP?  You do understand that routing all your traffic through a vpn just hides from your isp.. And hands over all your traffic to some vpn company that just as likely be selling your info to the highest bidder ;) What are you doing about cookies and all the companies using those to track you?

 

If your worried about "privacy" why not just roll your own via cheap vps and route your traffic through there for vpn.. 

 

As to lifetime subscriptions.. How is that a sustainable business model - think about it for 2 seconds.. They have to pay for power for the equipment, they have to pay for the bandwidth, they have to pay for the people to run it, etc..  If they can not pay for (and make a profit from the subscriptions) then they are making money elsewhere - most likely your info or the ads they inject into your streams, etc.

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T3X4S

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37 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

I would 100% stay away from PIA.

 

11 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

Why is that, Circaflex?

Ive been with them for about a year and 1/2 - Only lose 10% bandwidth @ most, and it has solved the problem I was dealing with.

Have no complaints, but my issue was simple.

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Mindovermaster Moderator

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2 minutes ago, T3X4S said:

 

Ive been with them for about a year and 1/2 - Only lose 10% bandwidth @ most, and it has solved the problem I was dealing with.

Have no complaints, but my issue was simple.

I was considering IPA or NordVNP for ages, so i compared the two, in what they offered. NordVPN stuck out for me a little bit.

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T3X4S

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5 minutes ago, ZeroHour said:

I have had over 25MB/s (megabytes) with PIA so speed is quite good, I have a 1GB net connection.

Not tried Nord but they would be my second option.

I only have a 150/150 connxn, and the diff on speed tests when connected/not connected to PIA VPN is about a 10% diff @ most.  So no gripes. (using Texas site)

I have not checked to see if anything changes @ higher encryption.

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Circaflex

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I don't trust PIA because they are part of an affiliate program which means many of their reviews are bogus, ie TorrentFreaks reviews and recommendations. They pay to be #1 on many "recommendation" pages. That in itself, is shady enough for me to stay away from them. Their service was also leaking IP's, https://vpntesting.info/Initial-Win7-Results.html. I could go on and on, but I just don't trust them. I follow the following criteria when recommending a VPN; outside of the US, no logging, supports OpenVPN, no personal information is required to create an account and use the service, and use encryption. The other big no-no is they are US based, I dont see the point in using a US Based VPN.

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+JR1966 Subscriber²

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I have been using Express Vpn for some time now and find it to be solid and reliable. They are rather expensive compared to some other options however cost should play only a minor part in choosing a vpn. I also find the speeds it provides to be quite decent although I've only ever used them so have no ability to compare with other vpn's.

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+John Teacake MVC

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1 hour ago, BudMan said:

I would stay away from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as well.. Their safety record is dismal! ;)

LOL!! It may be the 4 beers I've had but ... Dunno they aren't that bad!! Apart from Cattle Class. 

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+BudMan MVC

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11 minutes ago, John Teacake said:

Dunno they aren't that bad!! Apart from Cattle Class.

You have flown them?

 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1217643

Pakistani airlines: Unsafe at any altitude

 

A comparative study of airline safety revealed that PIA has consistently underperformed on airline safety, and it is one of the world’s most disaster-prone airlines.

 

Clearly this off topic..  But couldn't help myself, and talking about how bad this airline is way more interesting then yet again another lets beat the dead horse of what vpn to use ;)  And how they are concerned with their privacy... Which we all know is utter BS.. They just don't want to get another DMCA from their isp, or they are wanting to watch netflix from the area they are in, etc.

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+John Teacake MVC

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6 minutes ago, BudMan said:

You have flown them?

 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1217643

Pakistani airlines: Unsafe at any altitude

 

A comparative study of airline safety revealed that PIA has consistently underperformed on airline safety, and it is one of the world’s most disaster-prone airlines.

 

Clearly this off topic..  But couldn't help myself, and talking about how bad this airline is way more interesting then yet again another lets beat the dead horse of what vpn to use ;)  And how they are concerned with their privacy... Which we all know is utter BS.. They just don't want to get another DMCA from their isp, or they are wanting to watch netflix from the area they are in, etc.

"yet again another lets beat the dead horse of what vpn to use"

 

I know two people who have flown them....Why do you think I chose to comment on the Airlines rather than the VPN! LOL ... Not because I'm drunk...

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Draconian Guppy

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11 minutes ago, BudMan said:

You have flown them?

 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1217643

Pakistani airlines: Unsafe at any altitude

 

A comparative study of airline safety revealed that PIA has consistently underperformed on airline safety, and it is one of the world’s most disaster-prone airlines.

 

Clearly this off topic..  But couldn't help myself, and talking about how bad this airline is way more interesting then yet again another lets beat the dead horse of what vpn to use ;)  And how they are concerned with their privacy... Which we all know is utter BS.. They just don't want to get another DMCA from their isp, or they are wanting to watch netflix from the area they are in, etc.

Well wanting to hide from getting DMCA notices is a privacy thing no ? 

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+BudMan MVC

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1 hour ago, ZeroHour said:

I have had over 25MB/s (megabytes) with PIA so speed is quite good, I have a 1GB net connection.

25MBps on a gig connection is Horrible!!  And think you meant you 1Gb, 1GByte would be freaking screaming!!  Backbone line of the net into your house? ;)

 

60MBsomething.thumb.png.b69bd93be21aab33ec1b26e34621cd85.png

 

Here I tried to find a LARGE iso to grab.. So freaking fast that really has little time to ramp up.. But you can see it peaks out at 60+ MBytes per second and finished the whole 4.35GByte download in less than 2 min..  

10 minutes ago, Draconian Guppy said:

Well wanting to hide from getting DMCA notices is a privacy thing no ?

Sure ;)  But lets be clear if you were actually worried about your so called "privacy" you sure and the hell could not be using CC or even walking down the street these days..  Oh my Gawd.. My ISP saw I did a query for www.domain.com...  But its ok that googledns or opendns knows every query I do ;) (dnsleak) But your ok with your CC knowing you bought condoms and a sixpack of beer at 11:33 PM last night at the corner store  ;)

 

If you want to hide your torrents from your isp - get a seedbox somewhere, ie like the NL (OP location? <grin>)  And stop claiming you want your vpn for "privacy" reasons...

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1337ish

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6 hours ago, BudMan said:

25MBps on a gig connection is Horrible!!  And think you meant you 1Gb, 1GByte would be freaking screaming!!  Backbone line of the net into your house? ;)

 

60MBsomething.thumb.png.b69bd93be21aab33ec1b26e34621cd85.png

 

Here I tried to find a LARGE iso to grab.. So freaking fast that really has little time to ramp up.. But you can see it peaks out at 60+ MBytes per second and finished the whole 4.35GByte download in less than 2 min..  

Sure ;)  But lets be clear if you were actually worried about your so called "privacy" you sure and the hell could not be using CC or even walking down the street these days..  Oh my Gawd.. My ISP saw I did a query for www.domain.com...  But its ok that googledns or opendns knows every query I do ;) (dnsleak) But your ok with your CC knowing you bought condoms and a sixpack of beer at 11:33 PM last night at the corner store  ;)

 

If you want to hide your torrents from your isp - get a seedbox somewhere, ie like the NL (OP location? <grin>)  And stop claiming you want your vpn for "privacy" reasons...

Hahaha yeah I am a Tier 1 isp! or actually derp with the caps on the 1Gb ;)

 

The 25MBps was a torrent test I did with an iso that probably needed to be larger to properly ramp up, its not using ideal conditions as I have not given it a really hard time tbh (its on a VM) so I will endever to give it a bigger beating soon to see how far I can push it. My point was more that it was faster than a lot of peoples home connections.

When I direct download I max out my 1Gb without the vpn.

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+BudMan MVC

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9 hours ago, ZeroHour said:

When I direct download I max out my 1Gb without the vpn.

And how is it "with" the vpn.. That would be a valid test.. VPN is going to be a hit that is for sure..  That you could find a vpn provider for a few $ a month that would give you close to your 1Gbps seems a bit far fetched if you ask me ;)

 

Lets see a test where you get your full gig, and then do the same download via your vpn..

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