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VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

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Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#151

Post by kevinr »

gruez wrote: post #71
kevinr wrote: post #63

lololol. Half of these VPN vendors show up on Kenn White's VPN Hall of Shame for offering unsafe configurations: https://gist.github.com/kennwhite/1f3bc4d889b02b35d8aa For anything actually sensitive, you're better off not using a VPN than using a VPN which provides an unsafe configuration. If you'd rather not do your own pager duty for something like Algo, here's a recommendation I put together a while ago: https://…

>lololol. Half of these VPN vendors show up on Kenn White's VPN Hall of Shame for offering unsafe configurations: having a per-user PSK isn't going to protect you if the protocol is fundamentally broken, which is the case for PPTP/l2tp

That's why Kenn only recommends using services with per-user PSK for geo-shifting video streams.

For all other uses, Kenn recommends Algo, and I recommend Cloak, neither of which uses PPTP/l2tp.

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#152

Post by Macuyiko »

mstaoru wrote: post #128

I'm still looking for a reliable provider that would support openconnect and / or wireguard. Alas, here in China OpenVPN-based VPNs are getting more and more flaky, with talks of shutting down completely soon (not talking about the fake Bloomberg article). IPSec and Socks5 never really worked. Streisand only really works on AWS and having an AWS public IP means no Google most of the time (they block whole IP ranges),…

I once tried to set up OpenConnect on one of my servers as I heard it provided good results in China. Not only was the setup process relatively annoying, it was also relatively quickly throttled by the GFW. Shadowsocks / Lantern / ExpressVPN combo remains the best working option for me ATM.

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#153

Post by captaindoe »

kensai wrote: post #150
captaindoe wrote: post #144

Founder of OVPN.com here. I’m happy to answer any questions regarding our infrastructure, policies or tech stack.

Hi, impressed by the specs of your service. You seem to top both this list and this one ( https://thatoneprivacysite.net/vpn-comparison-chart/ ). And I don't care if I have to pay a little bit more for such high standards. But are you planning to add more servers in other countries (than the 5 you already offer)?

We are launching three servers in a new country next week, Norway. After that it will take a couple of months before we're ready to expand further. It's time consuming to do research regarding datacenters, find ISPs with satisfactory peering and to ensure that our physical security requirements are met.

Even though it will take some time for the next location to be added, feel free to email us with your suggestion.

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#154

Post by odiroot »

tptacek wrote: post #6

To steal (and paraphrase) what is basically the perfect summary of this from @SwiftOnSecurity: Commercial VPNs: for when you want all the security of Ukrainian coffee-house wifi from the comfort of your own home. Taylor Swift isn't wrong about this. Use something like Algo to run your own VPN if you have to. If you must use a commercial VPN to get to Netflix or whatever, do it from inside a virtual machine that you u…

Knowing your profile, do you have any (current) recommendations for Chinese users?

Beijing has been cracking down on VPN users a lot recently (even blocking AWS, DO, etc.)

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#155

Post by gmac »

hackerboos wrote: post #89
tptacek wrote: post #6

To steal (and paraphrase) what is basically the perfect summary of this from @SwiftOnSecurity: Commercial VPNs: for when you want all the security of Ukrainian coffee-house wifi from the comfort of your own home. Taylor Swift isn't wrong about this. Use something like Algo to run your own VPN if you have to. If you must use a commercial VPN to get to Netflix or whatever, do it from inside a virtual machine that you u…

Set up your own VPN with https://github.com/jlund/streisand

Or https://github.com/trailofbits/algo or https://github.com/jawj/IKEv2-setup

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#156

Post by mirimir »

kevinr wrote: post #149
mirimir wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish that people would stop citing White's page without explanation. His stuff about using known secret keys is all about IPsec. People using VPN services mostly use OpenVPN.

When I'm providing security advice to a general audience, I can't expect people to reliably follow detailed instructions. "Oh, use VyperVPN, except you have to use OpenVPN, except on iOS where you're forced to use IPsec, and ." I can tell them one thing: use Cloak. And I know that, no matter how they do so , they won't be less safe than they would have been without it. For more on this, see my followup to the VPN pos…

Well, there's your problem, starting with "Oh, use VyperVPN". IVPN, for example, has leak-free apps for Windows, OS X and iOS. And are working on Android.

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#157

Post by gmac »

gerdesj wrote: post #43

I'm (British) getting the impression that VPNs are becoming rather important to Americans (int al). Please bear in mind that us foreigners don't always get the memo about the current flavour of the day in all countries. I'm well aware that citizens of CN and many others really need privacy but it seems that there is a reasonably recent strange US fetish with VPNs. Could someone please explain?

I'm (British) getting the exact same impression for the UK, given the Investigatory Powers Bill[1] that compels your ISP to log all websites you visit. This is why I now tunnel all my browsing over an IKEv2 VPN.

[1] http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ip-bill-law-details-passed

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#158

Post by wingerlang »

Accacin wrote: post #133
revanx_ wrote: post #129

"The following VPNs were not reviewed due to their website experience being poorly designed. This can mean heavy use of stock photos, utter disregard for detail, difficult navigation, excessive and hard to follow text, non-defaulting to HTTPS, and overall poor usability. " And apparently that applies to AirVPN? Lol, this guy lost all credibility, this is just another "honest and totally not payed for online review",…

That's what it feels like to me too. No mention of Mullvad either? One of the most recommended VPN providers and highly regarded.

Mullvad, what an unexpected word to read on HN. It means mole (as in the animal) in Swedish. Pretty clever name.

They do have an image of it in their website, but the connection might not be obvious still.

Re: VPN Report – Reviews of the top VPNs

#159

Post by jk2323 »

"The only thing harder than finding a VPN provider is finding an honest VPN review website."

100% true since the "best VPN" likely has the highest affiliate commission.

In fact, websites that claim honesty and transparency like BestVPN and VPNMentor actually display pop-up alerts advertising their highest rated VPN.

"I built this website because I wanted to finally get to the bottom of the question: which VPN providers are trying to build an honest long-term brand while also delivering an exceptional product experience?"

This is a fair metric. Unfortunately useless for most VPN users but this is another question. And to give him credit: He does not use affiliate links.

I suspect that he knows little about VPNs and why many users have to use them. By the way, I suspect most of these VPNs to fail in China!

Astrill.com is good for China.

vcp.ovpn.to has a good reputation regarding privacy.

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