VPN Service advice needed

[trophynuts]

I will be going out of the country again on Saturday. I am thinking of purchasing a VPN service for my trip so i can use Netflix mainly among other things. Does anyone have any advice on this?


https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/


That is one of the companies that i'm looking at going with. TIA

 

[iowabowtech]

I just went through the procedure of investigating VPN services. It's tricky to find unbiased reviews on this topic. Most of what's out there is promotional stuff, some of which is camouflaged as independent review. My conclusion was this:

PIA does seem to be one of the better rated VPN's in the US. But some of the user comments HERE make it seem there's been a shift in service toward the negative. Once again, hard to discern fact from fiction.

I ended up opting for AirVPN because they are based in Italy and I believe would be less susceptible to information gathering/pressuring from US based 3 letter agencies.

Sounds like we have different goals in mind. I think you're looking for a short term VPN with less regard to privacy policy and more emphasis on it just working, whereas I use mine every day, almost constantly for all things web based.

What I've seen so far are varying speeds, as expected. Sometimes I get my full ISP speed and other times, it's reduced significantly. You just need to make sure you have enough throughput to consistently run Netflix.

 

[trophynuts]

Thanks IBT for the advice. Yeah i'm really just wanting to use it to get around the international issues for media. I do know that the internet speeds in Korea where i'll be are of the fastest i've seen (70+mb down hard wired, 40+ mb down wifi). However i realize there are many other loops and hops that could have an effect on the throughput.

 

[2bit]

I ended up opting for AirVPN because they are based in Italy and I believe would be less susceptible to information gathering/pressuring from US based 3 letter agencies.

Sounds like we have different goals in mind. I think you're looking for a short term VPN with less regard to privacy policy and more emphasis on it just working, whereas I use mine every day, almost constantly for all things web based.

What I've seen so far are varying speeds, as expected. Sometimes I get my full ISP speed and other times, it's reduced significantly. You just need to make sure you have enough throughput to consistently run Netflix.

Are you just running the VPN or are you using it with anything else like Tor, or similar apps? Just wondering based on speed issues you mentioned. I am about to set up a VPN and I use Tor, and other things from time to time. Just wondering if the combo would make things ultra slow or just slightly affected?

 

[iowabowtech]

Are you just running the VPN or are you using it with anything else like Tor, or similar apps? Just wondering based on speed issues you mentioned. I am about to set up a VPN and I use Tor, and other things from time to time. Just wondering if the combo would make things ultra slow or just slightly affected?

I think it could vary by setup but I would expect a significant slowdown using VPN over Tor. I have used Tor as well, but not in tandem with VPN. I have sealed off all DNS leaks and am running strictly through the VPN now. I could see where short runs of Tor > VPN could be advantageous but I'd be careful to run the VPN over Tor so you could be assured you have a trusted exit node.

 

[2bit]

I think it could vary by setup but I would expect a significant slowdown using VPN over Tor. I have used Tor as well, but not in tandem with VPN. I have sealed off all DNS leaks and am running strictly through the VPN now. I could see where short runs of Tor > VPN could be advantageous but I'd be careful to run the VPN over Tor so you could be assured you have a trusted exit node.

Gotcha, I just started looking into VPNs actually so I'm trying to figure out what my best options are going to be as far as security, and weighing privacy vs. anonymity...with a slight lean toward anonymity...haha. Thanks for the input!

 

[iowabowtech]

Gotcha, I just started looking into VPNs actually so I'm trying to figure out what my best options are going to be as far as security, and weighing privacy vs. anonymity...with a slight lean toward anonymity...haha. Thanks for the input!

Let me know what you find. I'd be very interested to see what you end up with and the results.

 

[2bit]

Let me know what you find. I'd be very interested to see what you end up with and the results.

Will do, but I still have a good bit of homework to do before I decide I think...lol. I also need to look into how tethering plays in, concerning privacy as far as both devices are concerned. Would hate to focus on securing one only to be undone by the other.

I do know however, it probably won't involve Tor. Doesn't seem very sensible anymore knowing they can be(have been) exploited.

 

[Rukbat]

Tethering is about as secure as a full page ad in the NY Times, unless you're using encryption between devices. Wireshark can read a tethered connection like I can read a child's book. Just by sitting near you reading a magazine on my phone.