VPN Choices SOLVED

[frostymusic]

Hello All,
I have been researching some VPN's for home use. I currently have Private Internet Access and I find their speeds slow. NordVPN sounds interesting. What are these "14 eyes" that a lot of VPN companies mention?

[Kris345]

dunno.
I used PIA a few times but last time I found the overhead was about 50%. iow, even if you pay a lot of money for a VPN, it will really slow things down VERY noticeably. After I realized that, I stopped using it. Google for vpn speeds/efficiencies - lot of good info out there.

[RIH]

I use a paid for SurfShark.
Very satisfied.
It has just over a 100 servers in various countries, some countries (USA. UK, Australia etc.) have servers in different cities.
The speed varies considerably between servers (even between servers in the same country) so you have to do your homework & speed test them.
Switching between servers is the click of a button & no restrictions, unlike some VPNs that have a monthly switching limit.
For normal everyday use I use a server in a neighbouring country, it actually gives me better speeds than no VPN at all...

The Five Eyes (FVEY), Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes are state surveillance alliances, united for the sole purpose of monitoring and sharing the activity of internet users to protect national security.

[GELvdH]

Most VPN's will slow down your throughput at least 20%. That being said, it would depend on the ISP speed you have if you can afford any speed loss of that magnitude. My ISP's speed is near 400Mbs so if I loose 20 - 30% it is not going to effect my throughput very much since I don't play games. By the way, I have been using NordVPN for a couple of years and found them to be reliable and good with their tech support when I needed it. My throughput speed drops around 25% so I still have over 300Mbs usable, NordVPN is registered in Panama and they do not track your activities.

[RIH]

Speed loss very much depends on where you are, where your VPN server is & where the servers are of the web sites that you most often use.

I live in North Eastern Thailand, but the majority of the web pages I use are located in Europe.
Without any VPN whatsoever I get speeds of between 507* & 563* Mps for Downloads & 205 & 324 Mps for Uploads with a server in Holland.
Using SurfShark's server in Singapore I can achieve between 560 & 690 Mps for Downloads & 304 & 386 for Uploads for the same server.

Of course, if I am contacting sites with servers in Thailand the results are very, very different.
Without a VPN I get more or less my 'paid for' speed of 935 Mps for Downloads & 700 Mps for Uploads, while the VPN in Singapore will throttle it back to 641 & 526 Mps...

* The different speeds are from using different speed test sites..

[GELvdH]

Every review I have seen said they loose at least 20%. Looks like your speed increases when using a VPN. Sure wish that our network speeds were at your level.

[RIH]

Lol, yes not bad for a third world country.
Price is not bad either - approx. 30 USD a month for mine which is advertised as 1 GB Up & 700 MB down.
The best available to me is advertised as 1 GB Up & Down for approx. 42 USD a month.

I believe that the constraint on speed direct out of Thailand is due to all the outward International stuff going through 1 pipeline.
I think using Singapore bypasses that - it is certainly the fastest way I have found..
But the variance using different SurfShark servers has a very, very large impact on the speeds achieved..
I went with a paid service after using free Browsec & Opera VPNs for a while.
The speed with them to Europe barely rose above 20 MB Down though..

[GELvdH]

I live in a residential neighborhood so it is last on the ISP's to do list. This morning I am getting a lovely 85Mbs down and 22Mbs up, Yeah.

[frostymusic]

On PIA I can get 526mbs on a server East Coast USA. Reading a review on VPN's Nord vpn claims to have highspeed servers. Dunno.

[GELvdH]

VPN server speed is one part of the issue, the main one is the ISP. I am supposed to have 400Mbs download but I have never gotten that even without any VPN. Here in the US we have many ISP's who throttle the speeds to try to get more money for supposedly better connection.

[dave0808]

What are these "14 eyes" that a lot of VPN companies mention?

A co-operation between the intelligence agencies of 14 countries so that they don't have to spy on their own citizens, because that would be bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Fourteen_Eyes

[phd21]

Hi frostymusic,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to let us know the general area that you are currently located in like your country. As has been stated, try to choose a VPN provider that is not part of the "14 eyes".

I.) FYI: There are many very good posts already in this forum on this topic. But, because of the forums limited search capabilities, you would have to use a search engine like Google to find them

Example to put into a search engine's search box. The first part limits the search to a particular website like the Linux Mint forum and then what you are searching for.

Code: Select all

site:forums.linuxmint.com vpn 2020 2021

or

Code: Select all

site:forums.linuxmint.com best vpn 2020 2021

II.) I would recommend choosing a VPN provider that has a Linux software client preferably a desktop GUI client although the console terminal clients can also work well. Most VPN providers will work with Linux even if they do not have a Linux software client by importing their OpenVPN servers through the Network Manager in your system tray.

III.) If you have a very fast ISP (Internet Service Provider), then no matter what VPN provider you choose, you will probably notice a slower Internet speed after connecting to a VPN provider's server. This is usually not so significant to not use the VPN and can vary depending upon the VPN provider and their servers that you connect to. In some cases, usually with slower ISPs, you may notice an increase in Internet speed (faster when connected to the VPN).

- It is common that VPN providers servers can get congested in certain areas at certain times. If you notice a major slow down, then simply changing the VPN provider's server connection may help (choose a different VPN server).

- It is recommended to use a VPN server that is not going to show your actual or close general location with the exception of online banking if you are having trouble logging in to that. Most VPN providers have numerous VPN servers located in various countries and regions. In the USA, there may be multiple VPN servers in various states and cities to choose from.

IV.) I always recommend that people or businesses change their Local ISP's default DNS servers to those from a secure and ananymous DNS provider or even better setting up and configuring DNS encryption like DNS over TLS or DNS over HTTPS. I use DNS over TLS. In some countries and with some ISP's, you may not even be able to use a VPN provider's servers without changing the ISP's DNS servers. There are other advantages to changing the ISP DNS servers as well.

Protect Your DNS Privacy on Ubuntu 20.04/18.04 (DNS over TLS)
https://www.linuxbabe.com/ubuntu/ubuntu ... %20spying.

V.) Although there are many reviews of VPN providers on the Internet, you must be aware that some of them are nothing more than advertising for specific VPN providers; they are sponsored by certain VPN providers. However, there are reliable unbiased VPN review websites available, if you want we can provide some more links.

The best VPN service in 2021 | Tom's Guide
https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-vpn

Best VPN service of 2021 - CNET
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and- ... /best-vpn/

* Note: When choosing a VPN provider, you must consider how many users and their computers, phones, tablets, etc... will be using the VPN provider's servers because the VPN providers usually have a limit to the number of concurrent, simultaneous, users and their pricing reflects that. TIP: If you have or get a good Network WiFi router that supports using VPN providers, then you can setup the VPN through the router which will only use one VPN connection for all the devices connected to that router (computers, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, smart TV's and smart Blue-ray DVD players, IoT devices, etc...). Using a Router that supports VPN also means that you do not have to setup each computer or other devices for using the VPN service. I have an Asus router that supports using VPNs and a nice little portable travel router with open-source firmware (GL.iNet) from Amazon.com that also supports VPNs.

Best VPN routers 2021: top routers for Virtual Private Networks | TechRadar
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-vpn-routers

The 6 Best Wireless Travel Routers of 2021
https://www.lifewire.com/top-travel-wir ... rs-2377742

- PIA has an excellent reputation and they have good software in the Linux Mint software repos. But last time I checked, they are located (domicile) in the USA which is part of the 14 eyes.

- Some VPN's are so popular like NordVPN, that some of their VPN servers can be congested and or require extra authentication for basic activities like Google Search. Last I checked, NordVPN does not have a desktop GUI Linux software client, but their console terminal client works well. I have a neighbor that has NordVPN which works well most of the time and is very fast, but at least in Florida, USA, he frequently runs into websites and Google search issues that want him to go through the super annoying extra captcha authentication crap. From what I read about this, it is because they have so many people using those particular VPN servers, that certain websites and Google search think something is wrong with that many people using the same IP address. You could pay extra for your own dedicated IP address, but you should not have to. You can sometimes get around that by choosing another NordVPN server. I have not seen this problem with other VPN providers that I have tried.

- ProtonVPN is located in Switzerland and is considered one of the best in the world, but they charge a little more than other VPN providers. I have a free limited version of ProtonVPN which works really well.

ProtonVPN: Secure and Free VPN service for protecting your privacy
https://protonvpn.com/

How to use ProtonVPN on Linux
https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-vpn-setup/

- I have been using the "VPN.ac" provider for over a year and I am very pleased with it. They have a superb Linux software client as well as MS Windows, Mac, smartphone and tablet clients, etc... They are located in Romania which is not part of the "14 eyes", so they are safe to use.

VPN.AC - Secure, Fast, Reliable VPN Service
https://vpn.ac/

Hope this helps ...

[johnkaperoniz]

dunno.
I used PIA a few times but last time I found the overhead was about 50%. iow, even if you pay a lot of money for a VPN, it will really slow things down VERY noticeably. After I realized that, I stopped using it. Google for vpn speeds/efficiencies - lot of good info out there.

PrivateInternetAccess is a very poor choice VPN, often very slow. I used to use them for one year until i got fed up with them. After that ive tried both nord vpn and purevpn both are very fast and actually reliable options.

[frostymusic]

I want to try Nord. Installed the .deb package. Rebooted, doesn't show up anywhere? PIA was simpler to install.

[GELvdH]

Go to Terminal, type 'nordvpn login', you should get a screen asking for your login info and than password. Next type 'nordvpn connect', this will connect you to nordvpn. To see the nordvpn current settings, type 'nordvpn settings', this will show you what nordvpn is currently set to. My settings are this,

gunter@Gunter-Desktop2:~$ nordvpn settings
Technology: OpenVPN
Protocol: UDP
Firewall: enabled
Kill Switch: disabled
CyberSec: enabled
Obfuscate: enabled
Notify: enabled
Auto-connect: enabled
IPv6: disabled
DNS: disabled

To set the individual settings type 'nordvpn set <the individual setting to set> enable' without the <> symbols.

Unfortunately nordvpn does not have a GUI for Linux at this time.

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

Let's see what a German expert on IT-Security has to say:
VPN comparison portals: stay away from these sites

VPN comparison portals are simply embarrassing. The technical level of these sites is mostly superficial and purely designed to make a (unnecessary) VPN service palatable to gullible users. Of course, this is usually not entirely altruistic. In addition, affiliate links to providers like NordVPN and Co. are used, which have already attracted negative attention. And, oh wonder: Among the top 10 VPN providers are usually those that pay out the highest affiliate commission. The information on the topic of VPN and the providers is then usually distributed over several pages in order to earn as much revenue as possible with advertisements. In short: It's all about money.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
https://www.kuketz-blog.de/vpn-vergleic ... en-seiten/

Private users, on the other hand, usually have their privacy in mind when they use a VPN. They do not want to be recognized when surfing the Internet. In practice, however, this works more badly than well, because today's tracking methods are so advanced that it is no longer sufficient to hide the IP address via a VPN. Nevertheless, many dubious VPN providers advertise with promises such as
Become invisible and surf the web anonymously without leaving any traces of your activities.

or
Without a VPN, your IP address, location, browsing activities and online communications are at risk.

Unfortunately, many users fall for these baseless advertising promises and lull themselves into a false sense of security. In addition, VPN providers also attract attention every now and then due to negligent security measures. Not to mention the VPN apps offered for mobile devices, which are virtually stuffed with trackers - in such a sensitive environment, it should actually be a matter of course to do without them. To put it bluntly: VPNs were not originally developed as anonymization services - the Tor Project also points this out.

Note
By the way, stay away from VPN comparison portals. These are usually dubious providers that rip off gullible users with affiliate links. Read more about this in the article: VPN comparison portals: Stay away from these sites.

Long story short: Don't be taken for a fool. I've summarized everything you need to know about VPNs in the Recommendations Corner. Read it at your leisure before you fall for any charlatans.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
https://www.kuketz-blog.de/empfehlungse ... n-anbieter
Enough said, PPPMP

[GELvdH]

This all sounds legit, but what are the qualifications of PMP to voice this opinion?

[Pepper-Mint-Patty]

GELvdH i suggest you (re?)read the very first line... got it?

[Slash_Earth]

Hello All,
I have been researching some VPN's for home use. I currently have Private Internet Access and I find their speeds slow. NordVPN sounds interesting. What are these "14 eyes" that a lot of VPN companies mention?

More information about them here:

https://www.privacytools.io/classic/

[GELvdH]

OK PMP, I see you are a German 'Expert' on IT. It has been my experience (over 60 years in the electronics and computer field) that expert relates to x is a hasbeen and a spurt is a drip under pressure. I do not mean to diminish your credentials but I would like a little more than a head line.
My qualifications for my comments are, 60's mainframe computer programmer and networking them between Baltimore, MD and Oklahoma City, 70's electronics radar tech., 80's started to build my own personal computers and program them in CPM, MS-Dos, LDos. As you can see I have a little experience in computers.