Looking for a VPN(not free)

[bearssoapbox]

Hello, room.

I've looked at 35-50 different ones and SurfShark is one I'm leaning towards, with Express VPN coming in second.
Anyone had experience with either of them?
Money wise SurfShark seems best bet with the sign up deal they have now.
Express VPN is more expensive but might be worth the extras.
SurfShark is a little ahead in the friendly and knowledge and don't seem to be in a rush.
Ease of use seems about equal too.
Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

[Alacritous Crier]

1. I use PIA.

Private Internet Access. I've had it for years and it's worked fine for me.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

[Drunken Irishman]

2. I like CyberGhost. It's affordable and has a no log policy.

[Ron Obvious]

3. I use NordVPN and have no complaints

Very easy to use, no logs (they say), and the app installs a virtual ethernet adapter that is really your connection to the VPN. Not a feature that most would use, but nevertheless allows some interesting things to do, like sharing the VPN connection on your local network. You can also connect to VPNs in other countries to get around regional restrictions.

With a multi-year contract, it's only about a dollar or two a month.

[hunter]

4. What are you using it for?

Generally I figure if someone doesn't want me to see their stuff I don't look at their stuff.

If I'm telling someone they should fuck off and die then they can fuck off and die.

This is the U.S.A., supposedly a free nation, right??? Right?

Make it free.

If you've got some dangerous whistle-blowing to do a VPN isn't going to help.

[Make7]

5. Mozilla has a VPN now for $4.99/month.

https://vpn.mozilla.org/

This isn't an endorsement – I don't use it – but it may be worth checking out. They are still ramping up features, so they might not have everything you need right now.

[krispos42]

6. I use ExpressVPN and have been happy

I use the app on my phone, and on my computer. It's reliable and easy to use, haven't gotten any nastygrams from my ISP, and I don't notice any loss of internet speed.

[douglas9]

7. THAT ONE PRIVACY SITE

https://thatoneprivacysite.net

[Captain Zero]

8. If you look through thatoneprivacysite above. Mullvad has a LOT of positives.

fyi

[displacedtexan]

9. Can a vpn keep bad stuff from getting into your computer?

Or is it even possible to keep bad stuff from getting into your computer?

[CloudWatcher]

10. Not really

If you're talking about keeping malware and viruses off your machine, using a VPN doesn't really help.

A VPN service basically hides the internet address of your computer, so the computers you connect to can't tell where you are coming from. They see that your traffic comes from the VPN server ... instead of from your actual network address.

Using a VPN service also encrypts the traffic between your computer and the VPN server. If you're only using modern web servers that are already encrypting traffic, this doesn't mean much. But if you are communicating with some old/neglected servers that don't use "https" ... then using VPN will add a little bit of security.

Bottom line is that using VPNs adds privacy and anonymity but is not a replacement for anti-malware and anti-virus software.

And the biggest danger is from clicking on links you get in email, or accepting that offer to update your flash player from any site other than Adobe :/

[displacedtexan]

11. Thanks!

I've been reading for years about how much people like their vpn thing, but I didn't know what it actually did.

[CloudWatcher]

12. Location spoofing

You're welcome! I should also mention then that people can use VPNs to confuse a content provider's guess about where they are located. E.g. if you connect to the BBC through a VPN server in the UK, you may be able to fool the BBC into thinking you are in the UK ... and thus able to watch normally restricted content.

So of course the content providers try and figure out if you're using a VPN server and still block you ... but it's a bit of an arms race.

And it's not surprising that what VPNs do is a mystery. I've heard a lot of over-the-top ridiculous ads by VPN providers trying to scare you into thinking you really need to buy their service.