Privacy @lemmy.ml helenslunch @feddit.nl 10mo ago

What VPN are you using?

I use Proton. But I continue to run into more and more websites and services that detect my VPN and refuse my connection, or just run literally 40 captchas in a row until I just give up.

I use Proton because it has a "suite" of products under a single subscription, but that benefit is losing it's allure as some of their products are pretty shitty from a user experience perspective, their customer support is atrocious, and they don't seem to pay any attention to what their users actually want.

Does anyone track known VPN servers? Is there a specific provider that causes less problems? Does anyone test different VPNs for detection?

Thinking about cancelling my subscription and moving to Mullvad.

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Mullvad, haven't had any issues with it. If a site refuses my connection I just change servers until it works, even found a few that work on reddit
There are only 2 VPN providers that are worth using IMHO: Proton and Mullvad. All the other VPNs are of questionable quality or their practices make you wonder if you should use them at all (eg logging and keeping logs)

Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don't encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.
- What don't you like about IVPN? Audited, open source, great reputation. I don't even use them but seems odd to count them out.
  
  yeah ivpn is recommended too, i think he just forget. i think they do the same thing as mullvad? like you can pay with monero and no email
  
  ivpn mullvad and proton seem to be the golden three. I'd throw in OVPN too though
- Can also recommend AirVPN.
- Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don’t encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.
  
  It's mostly CDNs like Cloudflare and Akamai that are notorious for blocking VPN and Tor users. Fuck CDNs, they destroy privacy and centralize the internet.
- That’s what I do. If a website blocks me because of my vpn, fuck em. I don’t waste my time. What business of theirs is it if I’m using a vpn.
- Also IVPN and AirVPN
Mullvad, it has ipv6 and way better linux support than proton
- No port forwarding though :(
  
  I used to use Mullvad but after they disabled port forwarding I switched over to Proton.
  
  AirVPN has port forwarding
- I used to be a Mullvad customer but switched to Proton because I use all the products on their suite. It makes financial sense to me.
  
  Mullvad, however, has the best VPN experience ever. Faster, more stable and way less Captchas (though I'm not sure that's good?). Plus, I love their bullshit free pricing. It's 5 euros a month regardless if you buy 1 month or 2 years. Can't recommend it enough, even though I'm no longer a customer.
  
  Yep, I switched because I was moving away from the proton ecosystem lol. Their poor google-free android support for mail, and awful linux vpn support (they have a hard dependency on networkmanager, but I don't use NM, I use iwd) plus no ipv6 pushed me away
Nice try FBI.

But seriously... if everyone knew about better options, I think they would already be blocked too :)
Proton and Mullvad are the only 2 I'd trust. I suspect that they get similar results.

Proton has gotten a lot better since launch, but it's always a moving target with these things. I really only have issues with some store sites that just don't load with a VPN, which only tells me I don't want to shop there.
- IVPN and AirVPN are also very trustworthy and pretty popular in the privacy community
Nice try fed, won't narrow me down that easily
ProtonVPN free (paid is still too expensive for me) and Mullvad.

I find that Mullvad is usually blocked more.

For the past 3 or 4 years I was just on ProtonVPN free tier. For past 15 days I am using Mullvad. I really like that you can choose some custom ports for WireGuard, and also the multihop.
What is unfortunate is that I can't generate separate credentials for OpenVPN, like with ProtonVPN. It just uses account ID.

I have also tried IVPN for a week. Nicer UI, but a bit more expensive, sort of. They have variable pricing based on subscription length, and that just makes me dislike them enough to stick with Mullvad. €5/month whether it's 1 month, 6 months, a year or longer.
I don't remember what specifically it was, but I know I also preferred the Mullvad's ToS over IVPN, although both are fine.

I also thought of AirVPN because of port forwarding, but for privacy I'll stick to Mullvad.

What surprised me with Mullvad was the payment processing speed. It only took 4 days from me dropping the envelope with money into mail collection box in Slovakia to me getting the time added. Considering that shipping to Sweden is "3-5 days", they must have just processed that basically immediately.
But perhaps I was just lucky. I'll see the next time.
- this is the life i deserve, not the one i have
Mullvad, IVPN, Proton, AirVPN, or Windscribe are all fine. Depending on how much stock you put into audits the first three are probably a tier above for privacy.
Not really answering your question, but there is this open source extensions that automatically solves captchas locally
- when humans were asked to solve distorted text CAPTCHAs, they were able to solve them in 9 to 15 seconds...and were only able to get the answer correctly 50-84% of the time....bots taking the same texts were able to answer the same tests in less than a second, and they were able to do it more accurately — 99.8% accurately, specifically.
  
  https://www.pcmag.com/news/bots-better-at-solving-captchas-than-humans
- The irony of this lol
VPNs are not meant for privacy. The concept is clunky, as is the concept of our internet.

Tor or I2P are made for privacy, but the interactions with the clearnet have the same problems, you need a legal entity hosting the server, IPs are known and can be blocked etc.

Hosting your own VPN does not anonymize you anymore but is very unlikely to get blocked.
Been using mullvad for at least 3 years, no major problems so far.

Currently I'm not using it so much and my subscription ended 2 months ago, so I'm using the free version of proton which is good enough for the basics of using public wifi.
Windscribe...had it for a few years now and seems fine. I'll probably look into proton or mulvad when my subscription runs out, but I'd re-up if I find another subscription deal.
- Best thing i ever bought was my lifetime subscription for $40
Apparently unpopular but I use Mozilla VPN
- You're fine, it's basically just rebranded Mullvad VPN
  
  But at that point, you can just cut out the middle man and use Mullvad directly, I think their clients are much better and offer more features. They also don't require your email address and you can pay anonymously with crypto.
  
  Actually, the middle man is why I picked them... I'm just trying to give Mozilla extra revenue streams besides donations from Google.
  
  But it is good to know its at least not a bad option. Their client is decent enough, I have no problems with it, so I'm happy to continue to support them and think of it as a monthly donation
unfortunately the blocking of servers is a perpetual battle that plauges almost any publicly listed proxy (vpns, tor, etc). the only way I have found around it is using lesser known/blocked VPNs or residential proxies. both of which probably have subpar data privacy policies, if they even follow them at all.

althought it likely won't help your captcha troubles, I would like to give a huge +1 to mullvad. have been a happy customer for years. in compsrison to proton as a company they have a much more direct/benifitial effect on the web & furthuring users privacy online in my eyes.
Mullvad air and proton. Several computers and infrastructure thingys I have access too in addition to a handful of vpses. Nebula for overlay networking.
try to connect to newer servers. solves these kind of issues often but ofc not always.
I don't think there is one. Nord has dedicated IPs you can buy and use so that it's always "your IP" but I'm not sure if they actually solve the blocks and captcha issues.
- Nord is one of the worst VPNs I have used. Would not recommend
  
  What problems do you have with it? I’ve been using it for years without issues, so I’m genuinely curious. At first it couldn’t handle gigabit speeds but now I can get 90+MB/s from other countries.
Proton, sometimes you might need to connect to a random server like something in Philippines for example, then you won't get captcha. If I encounter a site that flags my server then I do that.
I've been using Nord VPN for years. Maybe someone can educate me on why it's not good but I've had zero issues with it and it allows me to do everything I need to for a great price.
- If I remember correctly, NordVPN keeps logs So, if a govt ever subpoenas their data, users can have their privacy violated.
  
  Nord says they don't keep logs. Who knows if they actually do or not.
- I'm the same, it has wonderful Linux support
- I'd be interested to hear some evidence of why it's bad too
Depends on use case and the country. I use Mullvad and Riseup VPN and something private (and Tor). Sometimes when a site has Mullvad in Europe blocked, it works when I try one of their servers outside of Europe. In my experience Mullvad is awesome, and you can try it for one month. And Mullvad, the no nonsense VPN provider, has had the same prize since years! (And no discounts like Proton trying to get you sign up for a year or more trying to keep you with Proton).
- how did you get a riseup vpn account?
  
  No need to have an account. https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=riseup
AirVPN, but only for its port forwarding to sail the high seas.
I use both AirVPN and Mullvad, and certain websites block them too, but it depends on which country and which server you're connected too.
Geph were not mentioned yet. It will likely not solve the problem mentioned by OP, but it is VERY censorship resistant.
Please don't downvote this [too much] but...

I'm not seeing ExpressVPN get mentioned here or elsewhere anymore except for the odd YouTube ad (perhaps this is already a tell-tale sign).

Their website states that they run it off RAM and they don't keep logs.

Is there something wrong with it / did something happen to it that I'm not aware of? (I've been a customer of theirs for some time now)

My aim with using VPN is to maintain data privacy across my Windows, iOS and Android devices, and be able to access geofenced media (e.g. a different country's Netflix library), with minimal to no access issues during browsing or streaming. What's the go-to these days?
- why are ppl scared of downvotes or being downvoted?
  
  I think they cause a lot of people psychological distress, either because they can't handle disagreements or because they interpret them as a personal attack. If this sounds like you (the person reading this comment), please do yourself a favour and disable scores in Lemmy's settings. You don't have to live with reddit's moronic upvote/downvote culture here.
- It's owned by Kape Technologies, the same companies that owns other garbage VPN providers like CyberGhost and PIA
If you don't need port forwarding, Mullvad is my pick. Since they got rid of port forwarding, I've moved to AirVPN and am happy with them. I just dislike AirVPNs' GUI app, Eddie. I mainly use Wireguard directly for their servers.
WireGuard
- That's not a VPN provider, just a protocol
Not OP but can I just comment that there are some high-quality answers here, good discussion. Thanks!
I'm using SurfShark. I have not seen it once in the discussion so far. Is there something I don't know that I should?
There’s always the option of renting a low cost VM in the cloud and running your own VPN. They will probably monitor your traffic though.
um I don't use a vpn. Please tell me why I should use a VPN. It's just something that costs money that seems unnecessary. I have nothing to hide. Why are you all hiding behind VPNs? What am I missing?
- @helenslunch@feddit.nl
  
  "I have nothing to hide ..."
  
  Nice story, bro.
  
  When you post a real photograph of yourself, wife, kids, and all your social security numbers and bank account numbers, along with a complete history of all video rentals and library books, and your private confessions of folly, vice, and sin-- post all that on your Lemmy profile, then I'll believe you have nothing to hide.
  
  My wife? Gross! I'm heterosexual woman. and everything else you described, except for social security numbers, sounds a lot like Facebook. Which I don't use.
- A VPN doesn’t protect you the way OP thinks it does. It just hides your IP address from the websites you visit. Of course, now instead of one website seeing that you visited it, one organization can see everything you visit.
  
  Basically it just moves your trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. So yeah, if you don’t need that, and you don’t need to get around geo blocks, you don’t need a VPN.
  
  I believe there is clear evidence/jurisprudence showing that (at least some of the trustworthy) VPN providers donnot keep ANY data.
- Because mainstream porn sites are blocked or require age verification in my state. Other good reasons are to avoid some issues when torrenting things or to "be" in another country to get around Netflix and other streaming service region blocks.
  
  Privacy and avoiding man in the middle is kinda bullshit. Nearly all websites use TLS, so mitm isn't possible. And it's only privacy from your ISP.
- um I don’t use a vpn. Please tell me why I should use a VPN.
  
  It is up to you to use a VPN or not. Some people use a VPN to watch regular TV series which are blocked in their own country. Some people, like myself, despise the ad- and tracking- exploitation industry, other people may want to download e-books from anna's archive or simply do not trust their ISP. Other people live in countries where their government is very oppressive and intends to arrest and torture any critical voices.
  
  I have nothing to hide.
  
  Reminds me of : "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say."
  
  Recommended viewing : https://piped.video/results?search_query=Shoshana+Zuboff
- It obscures your IP so that sites don't know who you are by that, but really, they can just fingerprint your browser if you're not addressing that too.
  
  You can present your location to a site as being from any where the VPN has a server. Say you want to watch something that is only available to users in Canada, but you live in Mexico. You can use the VPN to present yourself to the site as being in Canada and watch it. Unfortunately, some sites are blocking content from being accessed by known VPN IP addresses. I think Netflix is one. Frustrating to me, lemmy.world doesn't let anyone post or comment while using a VPN, though I understand that it's for valid security and admin purposes, such as to reduce CASM material.
  
  More importantly, it encrypts your data between you and the VPN. That means that no one between you two knows what the info you're transmitting means. This includes your ISP that likely collects/sells your data or could report it to authorities. Additionally, it protects you from people that can join your wifi and steal your data that way, say at a public wifi like a coffee shop.
  
  Personally, I use a VPN as much as possible, especially when I'm connected to any wifi outside of my home. In fact, I will absolutely not access security-sensitive sites (e.g. bank accounts, credit cards, etc.) on public wifi without using my VPN.
- You have nothing to hide huh... So you take a shit with the stall door open?
- It protects your data from snooping or man-in-the-middle attacks on untrusted networks. Or your internet service provider.
  
  Not really. Unless you’re visiting unencrypted websites. If you’re using HTTPS and DNS over HTTPS, your ISP can only see what IP address you’re connecting to, not the traffic.

104 comments