Anyone use a VPN service?

[buckskinbowman]

I use IP Vanish for my VPN, and for those sites that don't like my VPN-assigned IP address I can do something called "Split Tunneling". I tell IP Vanish which sites I do not want to access via their VPN, and it just let's me go around them. It works quite well.

 

[Old Microbiologist]

I'll chime in as I have a lot of experience with this. Mostly, the type of VPN service you use depends on what you want to be doing. If it is watching streaming services you pay for but are blocked because of the bizarre DRM issues between nations then a simple DNS confounder is enough and perhaps better than a VPN as you aren't routing your traffic through a distant server (or in some VPN's multiple hops). I use Unlocator to watch Amazon Prime. It also has a decent VPN service as an add-on.

Most commercial VPN services have agreements with the US government and are well known. They have specifically assigned IP addresses which are known by the banks, Amazon, Netflix, etc. hence why they can block you. These IP addresses do not change so the more popular services are actually the least useful to avoid monitoring.

If your goal is to use the internet without any governmental supervision then it is best to make your own and use floating IP addresses. Do not think TOR is a viable alternative. It was created by the US government. Many in China break through the great wall using commercial services which I think is more or less tolerated by the Chinese government but also closely monitored. Trying to get to Russian websites now requires a lot of creative thinking and there are services with servers in Russia and vice versa for Russians needing to get to western websites. This is far more problematic than the Chinese issues as it is being blocked at both ends. I have found to read Russian stuff servers located in Switzerland and Norway still work.

If security is really an issue and you really want to confuse the governments but don't want to develop your own in-house server some commercial sites use multiple servers so as an example you log into a German Server from inside Europe which then logs into an American server so you have 3 different IP addresses. It isn't all that secure but it takes some effort to weed through the routings to find the origin. This requires a lot of computing processing time which they won't waste on someone who is not on a watch list.

 

[Markola]

^^^^^ Excellent. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

 

[indiajust]

Firefox now offers a secure VPN service, all else from Mozilla works well.

I usually use the built in Opera VPN with the browser. Excellent for EU content. Can be slow for US.

May as well practice with these tools. Based on Snowden revelations and the browser cookie battles, both gov and corp are monetizing and profiling. Sooner is better than later. And it isn't paranoia if they really are out to get you.