NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew • Hacker News Board

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#71

Post by LiberatedLlama » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

kevincox wrote: post #9

LordHeini wrote: post #7

Why are these VPNs even a thing? The only reason i would use one is to get cheaper steam keys from brasil and for that i can get a free one. From a security standpoint it is awful because you increase the number of providers you have to trust. Apart from your ISP and the server you connect to, you got a third party involved for no reason. And VPNs can not that trustworhty as shown by the leaks of logs and what not. M…

Mostly because of their FUD marketing. Almost all of the VPN ads imply, if not outright state that accessing your bank account is unsafe without a VPN. I mean sure, if you want to sell Netflix access sure, but their security claims are way off.

Their marketing is the sketchiest shit ever. Any VPN that advertises like that is dead as far as I'm concerned, particularly NordVPN. They are the worst offender; listening to a few different jackasses on youtube pitching their product and hearing each one repeat the same talking points, it's obvious the FUD comes from NordVPN themselves, telling people to say it.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#72

Post by Aldipower » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

cube2222 wrote: post #69

lliamander wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait,, what's wrong about 1?

Almost everything is over https now, and with it, the wifi network security doesn't matter much.

Wifi isn't only browsing the web..

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#73

Post by LiberatedLlama » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

nicoburns wrote: post #68

bzb6 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which you would notice immediately because of the big, scary warnings.

Right, but how do you respond to that? Using a VPN seems like a reasonable approach in this situation.

It's a hotel right? I would respond by closing my laptop, then my eyelids, then checking out the next morning.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#74

Post by hannob » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #55

notRobot wrote: post #5

Honestly, nothing holds up to Mullvad [1]. They don't even take an email address while creating accounts, and you can pay easily with Bitcoin or even with cash mailed to them. I'm not affiliated, just a very happy customer. Mullvad is also who Mozilla trusts for the Mozilla VPN [2]. You can sign up with that if you'd like Mozilla to get a cut. [1]: https://mullvad.net/ [2]: https://vpn.mozilla.org/

I totally understand using a VPN service if you're trying to access the internet from another location, e.g. to get past the China firewall or get access to content from a different copyright jurisdiction. However, I don't fully understand the privacy argument. It would seem to be that instead of handing over your entire DNS query history and unencrypted HTTP history to your own corporate IT department or the Starbuc…

> However, I don't fully understand the privacy argument. It would seem to be that instead of handing over your entire DNS query history and unencrypted HTTP history to your own corporate IT department or the Starbucks Wi-Fi router, you're now handing over all that data to Mullvad.

Well, you're of course right that the privacy argument for VPNs doesn't make a lot of sense. But there's a whole industry living from people believing it does, and ad partners of that industry willing to proclaim that VPNs are essential for your personal privacy.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#75

Post by LiberatedLlama » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

notRobot wrote: post #5

Honestly, nothing holds up to Mullvad [1]. They don't even take an email address while creating accounts, and you can pay easily with Bitcoin or even with cash mailed to them. I'm not affiliated, just a very happy customer. Mullvad is also who Mozilla trusts for the Mozilla VPN [2]. You can sign up with that if you'd like Mozilla to get a cut. [1]: https://mullvad.net/ [2]: https://vpn.mozilla.org/

Does Mullvad allow me to connect using wireguard without pasting my private key into their website? Their website says the private key never leaves my browser and is only used to generate the configuration file, but all I really want to do is give them a public key and I suppose let them know which server I'll be connecting to. I can put together the config file by hand myself, thanks, I shouldn't need to ever copy the private key into my clipboard, let alone paste it into a browser.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#76

Post by lawn » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

vmception wrote: post #13

notRobot wrote: post #5

Honestly, nothing holds up to Mullvad [1]. They don't even take an email address while creating accounts, and you can pay easily with Bitcoin or even with cash mailed to them. I'm not affiliated, just a very happy customer. Mullvad is also who Mozilla trusts for the Mozilla VPN [2]. You can sign up with that if you'd like Mozilla to get a cut. [1]: https://mullvad.net/ [2]: https://vpn.mozilla.org/

How do they take bitcoin? I’ve seen various invoicing systems that completely break in Tor+JS and in all noJS environments. If they shoehorned bitpay in, its probably not tapping into the utility of having bitcoin payment options. I like paying invoices with Monero over Tor, while the merchant receives bitcoin that a third party pushed to them. I’ve been doing that for at least half a decade. But if I can’t access th…

They have a custom implementation.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#77

Post by fasicle » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:39 PM UTC

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #63

From the thread: >The secret to not dealing with crapty company practices is to avoid ones that advertise literally everywhere 24/7 nonstop around every single corner you look. This is so true it nearly qualifies as physics.

Audible might be the exception, I'm very happy with it.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#78

Post by LiberatedLlama » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

LordHeini wrote: post #27

ence wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pirating copyrighted material.

Well afaik seeding on public torrents is just about the only way, where you would get in trouble for pirating. Just don't do that, use a private tracker and use Tor for small stuff like ebooks.

Getting onto many private trackers is a real pain in the ass, involving lurking on some IRC channel for who knows how long, begging and sucking up to people until somebody gives you an invite (assuming the tracker is even open to new applicants at the time.) Then, even with an invite, often the admins want to interview you to see if you answer probing questions like a pirate or a lawyer. The whole thing is a pain in the ass. These days I just say YOLO and use public trackers.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#79

Post by myrandomcomment » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:45 PM UTC

wwwwwwwww wrote: post #33

gopty wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is mullvad able to drill through the Great Firewall of China? Few VPN can

Nowadays its probably best to set up your own VPN server for that. Back when I lived there, most VPNs got occationally blocked, then they would get new IPs and work fine again. But from what I heard, it got way worse since Winnie the Pooh took over.

I am not sure using your own is a good idea. Every time I was in China for the last 3 years they would quickly find and block my small startups VPN. I was able to send an email and ask someone to move it to a new IP. Now imaging you have your own setup and they block it, as well as access to the provider you used to create the VM that runs it. Using something like Nord or the like at least you know that they will keep changing the IPs. Your mileage might vary, but this was my experience.

Re: NordVPN disables features when you turn off auto-renew

#80

Post by muststopmyths » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 5:47 PM UTC

djrogers wrote: post #24

muststopmyths wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

exactly. I have at least some trust in Mulvad, but I'll be damned if I'm getting on the hotel WiFi in a US hotel chain without VPN. Let alone while travelling in foreign countries. I frequently access my bank info etc. on such trips. With a VPN at least I have fewer random threat vectors to consider on a network.

What ‘bank info etc.’ are you accessing that isn’t TLS encrypted already? Adding IPSEC on top of that isn’t helping much, if at all…

I've frequently (especially outside the US, but even in a major hospital system here in San Francisco) come across WiFi networks that force access web through a MITM proxy. Yes, HTTPS will help me detect it, but if I need to actually get through, a VPN is helpful.

"bank info" in this case being anything from logging in to check my balance, pay bills or even contact them via their secure messaging because I'm disputing a transaction.

It doesn't eliminate all threats, but I'm not a secret agent ninja that needs 100% hardened communications. I just need a modicum of assurance.