xeroBank gone?

[jpoc]

The xeroBank vpn service has been down for almost a week now and there is no sign that it is coming back.

They posted that they had some problems due to folks at defcon making heavy use of the system but defcon is over and there is still no sign of zeroBank returning.

I'm beginning to fear that they have gone the same way as so many others in this business.

[Cutting_Edgetech]

Their awesome forum that they promised that would solve all their customer support problems has been a joke. They very rarely respond to any post on the fourm, and when they do the answer you receive is never even close to being accurate. There are post on the forum that have gone unanswered for months. They should have to reimburse everyone that has been paying for service for the past year or more. I'm glad I dropped them a long time ago. They make lots of promises, but never deliver. It's a shame they had so much potential, but their business practices are the worst. They are their own worst enemy. They wise wells to close up shop. I would say more, but I have a migraine right now, and I can barely even see what i'm typing now so if there's lots of errors then just ignore them.

[luciddream]

I eliminated Xerobank from contention reading though a few threads in here. There was some information brought to light that put more than enough reasonable doubt in my mind to put my trust in them.

Early in one of the threads somebody said "I wouldn't trust them" after seeing some of the info. Turns out later on this same person changed his tune, because XB was now signing his paychecks. Some ethics there...

If I were one of their users I'd run like h3ll right now. This is precisely why I'm doing so much research and not just jumping in with both feet.

[nix]

https://xerobank.com/forum/network-s...ctivity-issues

[Cutting_Edgetech]

Here's a couple more threads where questions just go unanswered. The only replies most of the time come from other users seeking answers. When you do receive an occasional reply its weeks or months later. It's a Ghost Town there.
https://xerobank.com/forum/xerobank-...l-be-available
https://xerobank.com/forum/xb-vpn/un...therlands-down

[caspian]

Xerobank has been running a lot faster lately. There for a while it had slowed down, it seemed. Now it is running smooth as silk with excellent speeds.

[truthpatrol]

Originally Posted by caspian

Xerobank has been running a lot faster lately. There for a while it had slowed down, it seemed. Now it is running smooth as silk with excellent speeds.

Once again, history has repeated itself and once again Caspian strains to have us forget about all the bad customer service and look only at the bright side.

This time the long-promised, super Xerobank forum (off line for more than 9 months for improvements that looks like could have been done in a week) documents the usual lack of customer service. The sequence:

Xerobank goes off line. At least it appears that Steve Topletz warned his clients, which is no small improvement over the past.

But then Steve makes all kinds of promises to fix things and promises his usual freebies to compensate.

Then there is silence and his own stated deadline to fix things passes.

Only after the clamours and complaints grow louder and louder (and spill over to Wilders) do things finally get fixed.

This is ample evidence that the "old, pathetic customer support" for Xerobank remains intact despite all of Steve's promises to reform.

If you look at the Xerobank forum, you'll see that these days the customers themselves are helping other Xerobank clients. You can also see how nobody from Xerobank appears to lend a hand - even when the issues are to cancel services or figure out why they have problems connecting.

Do all of you remember here on Wilders last yeart when some fellow from Europe came on line, arrogantly said that he represented Xerobank, and that he would handle customer complaints?

Another broken promise. Where is that fellow now?

Look even Xerobank's detractors (I see that I join a growing line) usually admit that the service has many good features and heaps of potential. But Steve Topletz continues to demonstrate by his actions/inactions that he treats his clients with disdain. That is not the key to a successful business. As long as he treats his customers with contempt, we should continue to shine the light of transparency on Xerobank. Steve was pretty much allowed to get away with the poor service for a long, long time. Now it's good to see that a lot of people aren't cutting Steve any more slack.

Let's also not forget all his other promises of new services, new cheaper rates, etc. Remember the happy, eyewinking postings that Steve put onto Wilders earlier this year in announcing Xerobank's comeback? Add that to the junk pile of all the promises of the past. Often broken, partially delivered and well behind schedule.

If Steve would admit that he was pretty much a one man show, I certainly would be much more tolerant to all his missed deadlines. But he still pretends that he's part of a much greater organization.

I'll be the first one to vanish from these boards when I see Xerobank truly treating its customers with respect by dealing with complaints promptly, fixing things as promised, and not promising more that can be delivered. He didn't help me when I was a customer and needed assistance. Be forewarned that you might not get any help either.

[bryanjoe]

Originally Posted by caspian

Xerobank has been running a lot faster lately. There for a while it had slowed down, it seemed. Now it is running smooth as silk with excellent speeds.

hahahaha .....

[bryanjoe]

Originally Posted by jpoc

The xeroBank vpn service has been down for almost a week now and there is no sign that it is coming back.

They posted that they had some problems due to folks at defcon making heavy use of the system but defcon is over and there is still no sign of zeroBank returning.

I'm beginning to fear that they have gone the same way as so many others in this business.

you gave your virgin post to xb..... and then u r gone ....

[LockBox]

I was, once upon a time, a believer in XeroBank and Steve. After being a customer and being treated with disrespect, I never used them again. All the promises, all the lies (whatever else would you call them?) I don't see how anyone could possibly trust these guys. Remember that old classic Wilders post that listed all the similarities between XB and MetroPipe? I scoffed at it at the time and defended Steve, but recently re-read it and I have no idea why I chose to ignore the obvious. Now we can add to that list: right down to the same total lack of customer support as MetroPipe. My only words: fool me once....fool me twice...you know the story. Beware.

edited to give link. Thank you, Google:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1018578

Then, there's this one. I'd forgotten about it. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=224184

[dw426]

Well something is certainly not right. I can't understand how the forum is so neglected..unless it's ran by the same people that used to run DriveSentry Obviously support is not a number one concern, as Steve hasn't even been here since late May. Steve made too many mistakes of claiming things without any backup (A major mistake here), promising to reveal things only to have the topics get buried in dust, and so on. In other words, he's a poor public face for the company, if the company is still breathing without a ventilator even.

I've got nothing personal against the guy, but he just does not act like a public face should. If everything that comes out of his mouth can't be talked about much, it's likely a decent idea to not bring it up to begin with. *Shrug* I have no idea what's going on with them. I find it very difficult to trust them, but that is just my personal deal.

[Cutting_Edgetech]

Originally Posted by caspian

Xerobank has been running a lot faster lately. There for a while it had slowed down, it seemed. Now it is running smooth as silk with excellent speeds.

Why would you continue to defend Xerobank. They should be prosecuted for not rendering the services that were payed for by their customers. Also that forum that was suppose to fix everything is a Ghost Town. No one from Xerobank is answering any questions from their customers there. I did a lot of defending Xerobank in the past. What a dummy I was!

[luciddream]

Originally Posted by LockBox

I don't see how anyone could possibly trust these guys. Remember that old classic Wilders post that listed all the similarities between XB and MetroPipe? I scoffed at it at the time and defended Steve, but recently re-read it and I have no idea why I chose to ignore the obvious.

After reading through that thread, neither do I. The evidence was pretty overwhelming. I figured that the people defending them had to be shills. There was no other explanation as to how people could turn a blind eye to the facts staring them right in the face.

In your case maybe you just didn't want to acknowledge it because it was uncomfortable (in denial)?

This is why I spent so much time dissecting information before making a decision. I read through every single post in that thread, and a few other threads like it. Choosing a VPN provider, you're putting a lot of trust in somebody. Even after considerable research, you can still never be sure. The next Metropipe/XB is always around the corner, unfortunately. But you can at least put yourself in a better position to make a more informed decision.

[truthpatrol]

On the other hand, you can't discount the original explanation that it's a very small world when it comes to internet privacy, everyone knows everyone, and talents from one "company" (I use that term loosely, because most seem to be 1 man shows) are sourced out or bought by another "company" all the time. I can accept that Metropipe people have been used by Xerobank Steve without the companies actually being the same.

[TheMozart]

A sucker is born every minute!

[thebeasters]

Found this thread and used xerobank bout 2 years ago and enjoyed the service. Not so much for the speed which was decent, but the confidence I had in them defending my anonymity. I liked the fact they were offshore and not subject to U.S. law. I do nothing illegal but take my privacy seriously and use torrents and such and don't want to be prosecuted for sharing some files.

I am now looking for a new service and have been out of the game a while. Anyone have suggestions? Security is def more paramount to speed, though both would be excellent.

[mirimir]

RIP xerobank, joining pioneer zeroknowledge. So sad and enigmatic

Insorg's paid double VPN routes are very fast, and they are Russian iVPN is also good, but not quite as fast. Both take Liberty Reserve, but that doesn't matter unless you are couching. BolehVPN is very torrent friendly and fast, but PayPal is the only payment option outside Malaysia

[luciddream]

Originally Posted by thebeasters

Found this thread and used xerobank bout 2 years ago and enjoyed the service. Not so much for the speed which was decent, but the confidence I had in them defending my anonymity. I liked the fact they were offshore and not subject to U.S. law. I do nothing illegal but take my privacy seriously and use torrents and such and don't want to be prosecuted for sharing some files.

I am now looking for a new service and have been out of the game a while. Anyone have suggestions? Security is def more paramount to speed, though both would be excellent.

If you have to sacrifice one for the other (speed/security), they're not worth your time. Me and 2 others have done considerable research into this in the past few months. Real, first hand trial & error. The 2 best we encountered are: iVPN & BolehVPN, as the person below you said. I didn't personally try Boleh, but with iVPN I experience no slowdown whatsoever using single-hop and only the slightest impact using multi-hop (about a half-second/page).

My advice = try them both for 1 month and decide for yourself.

[Victek123]

Originally Posted by luciddream

The 2 best we encountered are: iVPN & BolehVPN, as the person below you said. I didn't personally try Boleh, but with iVPN I experience no slowdown whatsoever using single-hop and only the slightest impact using multi-hop (about a half-second/page).

These are both fairly pricey. Do you think the extra cost is buying better security or mostly better performance?

[CasperFace]

$10-15 per month is not what I'd consider "fairly pricey" by any stretch of the imagination. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. If the service is free or unrealistically cheap, you can be sure they're going to make up for it one way or another--such as limiting/capping bandwidth, skimping on security, or by over-subscribing users beyond the optimal capacity of the server(s).

[Victek123]

$10-$15/month is pricey compared with $5/month ($60/year sub) from Witopia - do you feel $60/year is unrealistically cheap? I used them for a couple of years and the performance was always good. Are you aware of their service and would you characterize them as limiting/skimping? That's an honest question, not a criticism.

[CasperFace]

Perhaps Witopia is a good deal, but it all depends on what your priorities are. Personally, I find their Terms of Use to be discouraging. The wording suggests that they DO in fact keep at least some sort of basic logs, and the last thing I want is to have a VPN provider rolling over on me on the off-chance that they get a frivolous complaint from some adversary. That's why I don't mind paying up for providers that offer stronger privacy protection--I consider it money well spent. Having said that, the T.O.S. of iVPN looks rather "iffy" to me as well--a lot of wording that's contradictory to their "no logging" claim. I'll have to do some further research on that one, I suppose.

[mirimir]

I do not see any point of researching and debating T.O.S. of various services. Whatever they say, when it's crunch time, they will do what seems right to them, or what they are forced to do. You cannot count on what they say. If your privacy matters enough to worry about T.O.S., it is foolish to simply rely on VPN providers. You need some sort of layered minimal (ideally zero) knowledge setup. There is much on Wilders about useful components, including VPNs, Tor and proxies.

[CasperFace]

Generally I agree with this. However, given the choice between a service that obviously keeps logs versus one that might not, I'd much rather take my chances with the latter. At the very least, a good VPN provider should be able to protect its clients against DMCA complaints and things of that nature. Even if one's situation warrants additional layers of protection for increased anonymity, if you're going to use a VPN as a part of that chain, then it's still in your best interest to go for the one that is likely to provide maximum privacy protection.

[lotuseclat79]

One VPN provider you might want to check out is ibVPN at privacylover.com or ibvpn.com directly. The prices seem reasonable, and they keep no logs.

FAQ is at: www.ibvpn.com/faq.html and
Privacy Policy is at: www.ibvpn.com/privacy-policy.html

-- Tom