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Looking For A Free VPN That Minds Its Own Business

startac4

startac4

Well-Known Member
I was away and saw a warning on my phone that the hotel's WI-FI "was not secure". The phone turned on a VPN, which seemed to be a nice thing. Until that VPN displayed a screen showing all of the information it would take from my usage and save and keep. It wasn't a google VPN but that was just as bad as what google tries to do all the time. I disabled the WI-FI and made do without it in the hotel.

Is there such a thing as a free VPN that minds its own business? Or is that an oxymoron?
 
I agree with @The_Chief managing and maintaining a VPN service involves costs, that's a given. For those who expect to be able to use online services for free, it's a matter of being aware that at some point someone has to be 'paying the bills'. Keeping servers online and Internet connections cost money, it's not in any way a charitable service.
Use a free VPN if you don't want to just pay for one, but keep in mind that there is a cost involved. Some do rely upon data mining to some degree, some just offer a free VPN as a marketing scheme that may indeed be 'private' but will include limitations (i.e. caps and/or bandwidth speed.)
 
Your points are well articulated and I understand them. Let's change the focus - is there a good not-free VPN that could be used on a pay-as-you-use basis, rather than a fixed fee monthly/annual when for most of the time it would not be needed and not used?
 
You can use Proton VPN, or Windscribe VPN.

They offer free service, as they have upper tiers of service that is for paying customers. This covers the costs of the free accounts, which are provided as a service to entice to to purchase upgraded accounts.

Windscribe is nice, but a free account has very limited GB per month.
There are ways to earn more.
Also, I grew tired of the seemingly constant e-mails and notifications.

Proton seems like the best as far as free goes, as the limits on a free account are only the number of servers you can have access to.

As far as your hotel wi-fi being "unsecured", that basically means that there is no password, it is not using some security protocol that your device has been set to demand, or some other trivial poop.

At any rate, you should always use a VPN when on anyone else's wi-fi connection.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/ch.protonvpn.android/

https://windscribe.en.uptodown.com/android

Keep in mind that any VPN you use will slow down your internet experience.
 
There is Psiphon, which has a free option, and donations as well.. I've used and do trust it for privacy.
https://psiphon.ca/
I believe it's run by non-profit organisations, mainly the University of Toronto.

I've never seen a pay as you use VPN, they seem to be either monthly or annual subscription. And I use Express or Astrill, both paid annually.
 
puppykickr and mikedt - Thank you. I will look into those three VPNs.
Davdi - I have limited data on my plan so opening it in place of wi-fi could well become expensive.
Stephanie Sy - just looking to connect to a VPN for occasional away-from-home use.

As for slowing down Internet, that's not really a concern. I don't do much on Internet on my phone - I use my computer for that. I just need occasional away-from-home access to weather sites (e.g. weather.com), maps and software updates (e.g. f-droid). In general, I mostly use WI-FI for making calls.
 
startac4 said:
I was away and saw a warning on my phone that the hotel's WI-FI "was not secure". The phone turned on a VPN, which seemed to be a nice thing. Until that VPN displayed a screen showing all of the information it would take from my usage and save and keep. It wasn't a google VPN but that was just as bad as what google tries to do all the time. I disabled the WI-FI and made do without it in the hotel.

Is there such a thing as a free VPN that minds its own business? Or is that an oxymoron?
Click to expand...


Lighthouse vpn barely has any notifcations or ads
 
The easiest and most private thing you can do is simply edit HOSTS and just route all unwanted sites and traffic to 127.0.0.1 essentially doing what a VPN does but on device and locally. That's how I've blocked all the update servers and ultimately killed Windows Update. NetGuard No-Root Firewall does this also quite well. Many apps don't need internet anyway. I just used my Kroger Plus card via the Kroger app completely offline that way today when shopping. That way it can't enforce updating the app to keep using it.
 
svim said:
Needs to be noted that editing a Hosts file using a Windows PC is merely a function, a basic admin-level option. Editing the Hosts file on an Android device is a project, you need to either root your device first or set up ADB on a PC to remotely access your device:
https://www.modmy.com/how-modify-hosts-file-your-android-device
Click to expand...
Which is why I recommended NetGuard. Free and no root needed. You can redirect sites to localhost or just switch off internet to specific apps to avoid things like ads or forced updates. Quite handy for mobile games.
 
Unfortunately for me, across multiple devices, NetGuard will not allow any internet connection at all after a short while if I have "Block Connections Without VPN" selected.

Having all connections going through the VPN is the whole point, so it defeats the purpose altogether.
That is why I stopped using NetGuard.

More strangeness is the fact that my friend in Germany does not have this problem.
(I am in the USA.)

Anyway, I dont have this problem when I use No Root Firewall.
Although it has less options, it is very simple and generally works very well.
 
I had to dump PIA - Private Internet Access, because it became too much of a PITA.

First, it will not exclude Microsoft Outlook and Office programs from the VPN, although I set them as "excluded" in split-tunnel settings. They would not open or connect to the Internet with the VPN running.

Second, Android Auto would not connect to my vehicle's head unit and run with the VPN running. Since Android Auto is a system application, I can't exclude it. I can only exclude user apps.

If I can't use it on my desktop, laptop or cell phone, there isn't much point in paying for it!
 
Private Internet Access was a scam anyway. I've taken to assume out the gate that if it's a common sponsor on YouTube videos, best to ignore it.
 
PIA works well, when it works. You can't judge the effectiveness of a product on its marketing team: they advertise where prospective customers are. However, recent conflicts with MY reality sort of sealed its fate with me.
 
99.9999% of YouTube 'sponsors' are for crapware, addictive mobile gaming, and scams. Besides, they're just a new form of 'ad' that happens to affect those of us who paid for Premium to not only support the creators, but to avoid ads. I despise them myself. I got an extension that auto-fast fowards past 'em. It only showed how ridiculous it was when I was watching a vegan documentary and a sponsor spot from Tyson of all things interrupted the playback.
 
There were rumors that those with Samsung hardware could put into the 'Private DNS' the address 'dns.adguard.com' and block ads in any app everywhere without root. All it ever did was make my Wifi and LTE claim 'no internet'. and broke every app.
 
nickdalzell said:
There were rumors that those with Samsung hardware could put into the 'Private DNS' the address 'dns.adguard.com' and block ads in any app everywhere without root. All it ever did was make my Wifi and LTE claim 'no internet'. and broke every app.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm.... I think I'll pass on trying that one, at least until others chime in with if they have had any issues or not. I haven't run across anyone that has their own vpn with a samsung device like we could with our router (required pptp). So far, Lighthouse VPN is still working for me and I'm happy with it.
 
It won't do anything destructive just make all your apps think you have no data connection and they fail to connect. Turning that feature off by removing that address fixes the issue. It was a rumor and I never got it to work so I think it was an assumption that was never really proven.
 
nickdalzell said:
It won't do anything destructive just make all your apps think you have no data connection and they fail to connect. Turning that feature off by removing that address fixes the issue. It was a rumor and I never got it to work so I think it was an assumption that was never really proven.
Click to expand...
Okay thanks. I got a little spooked when you said "and broke every app". I didn't know how and didn't want to find out since I hate resetting my phone.

Have you heard or personally seen anyone successful in setting up their own vpn with the S22 Ultra?
 
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Nope. I don't really use smartphones much less any modern stuff anymore.

The term 'broke my apps' is a common generic term for apps not working properly for any reason--such as the incorrect setting in Private DNS blocking them from connecting to the internet and failing to work.

Kinda like my term 'EOL/EOL'd' to refer to any death of any company, death of an app, service, etc. Got that term from Shango066 on YouTube. "End of Life"/"End of the Line"
 
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