Black Friday has some excellent deals. I picked up a 2 year AirVPN subscription at 69% off and another lifetime subscription from the Stacksocial offerings at 40% discount. AirVPN is awesome. It is extremely well setup on a technical level. Their DNS is by far the most thorough and best set up I've seen yet. They have a huge number of servers. They are also much more transparent than most VPNs their app is open source. I think the activist approach is a good thing. It basically means that privacy is the priority. The Stacksocial lifetime sub VPNs are ok but you defintely get what you pay for with VPNs. I use them for media devices mostly and I find a lot of times I can't connect to one or another server and my guess is that is because they are at capacity and can't take on more connections without compromising bandwidth. That means they've oversold their bandwidth which is pretty common for lower priced internet services in general, not just VPNs.
Just a quick note. Currently, at Stack Social they have the VPNUnlimited app - LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION - for 5 devices. And the price - $19. Next. Stack Social is still running their special discount - CMSAVE40. After the coupon is applied, the price for VPNUnlimited - Lifetime Subscription - is only $12! I've been using (among other ones) that VPN service for years. The app has been constantly updated. I check it for any leaks on a regular basis - NO ISSUES. VPNUnlimited is using their SERVERS, not like some other VPN wannabes with Public GOOGLE servers. I know, it's not for the TOR fans, it's not for the "government is going to get me" specialists. It's for normal people that need a SOLID - no leaks - VPN app, with fast WIREGUARD and secure encryption. And don't forget their immediate customer service.
For their LifeTime Subscription, you get only access to a rather small subset of their servers. Moreover they fingerprint a lot of things. For example, you can not set up more of 5 IPsec or IkeV2 VpnUnlimited connection overall on your devices, even if you use only 1 of these connections at a time, and for that, they fingerprint each of your devices. And once you have set up these 5 connections, you have to wait 1 week to change them. I have never seen elsewhere such rigidity.
WOW! Let's start from the beginning. I have a Lifetime subscription and have NEVER NOTICED ANY of "minimized" number of SERVERS! I strongly disagree with your statement! About connections. I use ONE CONNECTION per COMPUTER! Yes, should you use any VIRTUAL MACHINES (like NEW COMPUTERS) you'll face that 5-device restriction. Also, if several people use the same computer with different LOG IN info, you'll face that 5-device restriction. It clearly says for five devices! A lot of other VPN companies also have those "strict" restrictions with the "one-per-week" removal regulations. But... For NORMAL PEOPLE (as I've mentioned in my previous post), you download one APP and install on your computer. You download 1 app for your LAPTOP. You download 1 app for your phone/iphone. You install 1 Browser based app/extension for Chrome or Firefox, and you are set. And for $12 dollars FOREVER. N.B. I use WIREGUARD. I've stopped using IPEV2 many months ago. To sum up. It's my hobby (obsession) to check for any LEAKS of numerous VPN. And VPNUnlimited has no issues whatsoever. P.S. As my hobby, I tend to purchase new VPN apps at very low prices. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, some go bankrupt. As a gift for myself, recently I've purchased iProVPN and some totally unknown, unheard of RealVPN from Estonia. Currently, iProVPN is a "LOST MONEY" deal - no wireguard, obnoxiously blatant use of PUBLIC SERVERS (Google), plus, some stability issues with their App. I like any VPN apps that have browser extensions, but iProVPN's browser extension has some DNS leaks. After going through a limited number of the iProVPN servers, I've found one server in Sweden that is not a PUBLIC SERVER. Let's hope iProVPN is going to improve. RealVPN (lifetime for $12) - just forget about it. Maybe, someday it will change...
Concerning the "subset" of servers, I may have done a mistake, confusing with an other lifetime offer (like VpnSecure).And $12 is a good price especially since VPN Unlimited seems to offer "exotic" server locations. (like Lybia). So surely the $12 lifetime offer is pretty appealing for some usages. They allow torrent on 3 servers: Canada (why not), Romania (sure), but France too, and I'm very surprised with this one. Because in France, illegal P2P traffic detection = short server termination. If they allow torrent in France, why not in Ukraine, Isle of Man, Serbia, Moldova... Or Lybia?? It's a mystery for me. But I stand by what I said about the rigidity of use. Most other providers limit the use of their service to 5 simultaneous connections too, but without the need to fingerprint each device, and to keep those fingerprints even after the connection is over. These fingerprints moreover being kept with timestamps. With Vpn Unlimited, browser extensions are recognized as a separate device too, so they fingerprint/timestamp every browser on witch you have once used their UnlimlitedVpn proxy extension. I wonder why Keepsolid/VpnUnlimited needs to do this, just to avoid having more than 5 simultaneous connections to their service. What is the need for them to take all these fingerprints with timestamps, and to keep them after the end of the connections. UnlimitedVpn being a US firm, I don't like the answer I can think of. Moreover, my tests showed me that their proxy extension leaks dns. And like many, they claim not to keep any logs, but at the same time they sell a "personal ip" feature, without warning the user that it is difficult to offer such a feature while remaining completely nolog, which is not very honest on their part. As for Wireguard, it is very good for speed and quality of encryption, but it is by design the opposite of a nolog protocol. VPN Unlimited nowhere mentions this issue, which again is not very honest. Serious providers like Ivpn or Mullvad acknowledge the existence of the problem (NordVpn too) and specify the tricks they implement to try to solve the problem. But even in these cases, these tricks remain only tricks, developed by some teams, on their own. These tricks are neither audited, nor based on any academic study, etc. So Wireguard is not yet for me (although I might perhaps use it in the middle of a nested Vpn chain). The problem is that some customers are almost willing to sell their soul to get a little more speed. For my part, Wireguard allows me to gain max 20% speed compared to Ikev2. So, when I want something faster than OpenVpn, I just use Ikev2 (of which the encryption level is sufficient for me in these cases). And I keep my soul with me. For now. PS: Concerning RealVPN, be aware that your lifetime subscription may be available only with the current 1.7 version on the app, as noticed on stacksocial (fine prints).
Individual key files instead of username password authentication are not uncommon among vpns and that is always done on a per device basis. AirVPN uses the same system as does another of the Stacksocial lifetimes, VPN Secure. There are advantages and disadvantages of doing it either way and, as always, it comes down to whether you can trust their no logging or not. They can tag you on a client basis even if it isn't per device. Dedicated IPs are also a common feature because some customers want a dedicated IP and use the VPN for privacy in first person not anonymity. With a dedicated IP, you can do financial transactions without the usual issues with public VPN IPs. Not that I would choose Keepsolid for such a use, they are primarily a geoblock removal streaming VPN and I would look for privacy elsewhere. One other thing I will mention about Keepsolid, they block a lot and you won't get an uncensored internet using their DNS. Apart from having some streams blocked by their DNS with no rhyme or reason, they block all direct IP connections. I have been testing it on a media device with a huge list of live webcams and a lot of them don't have a domain, they are linked directly by their IP and I can't view any of them on Keepsolid. This is actually a common security practice but it would be nice if it could be optional. For the streams that aren't blocked, Keepsolid does very well and it brings in a couple of problematic streams with little or no stuttering that other VPNs struggle with. How DNS is implemented is important and not often covered in VPN reviews. AirVPN is the best I've found so far in how they set up DNS. You have full control of what you want blocked and they have a root level DNS server set up on a per server basis that is only accessible on the VPN subnet. Keepsolid is among the worst because they aren't transparent about what they block and you have to pay extra to have control over the DNS blocking.
I think I've said enough about that VPNUnlimited - ONE OF NUMEROUS VPN apps that I have. Let me conclude my thoughts about VPNUNLIMITED. (You can take it to the bank!) There is NO BETTER DEAL (currently) to purchase a solid, stable, CONSTANTLY UPDATING VPN - a lifetime subscription for 5 devices for only $12. VPNUnlimited is not perfect, but it is the BEST VALUE FOR YOUR DOLLAR. And it will never happen again.
A better deal https://stacksocial.com/sales/the-lifetime-password-manager-privacy-subscription-bundle-sticky-pw
Yes, it was a short-term deal. I've informed WildersSecurity about. Currently, there is a good deal on FastestVPN. Get Lifetime of FastestVPN for $20 And avail Internxt 2TB Cloud Storage & PassHulk Password Manager for FREE 15 Multi Logins - 15 Days Money Back Guarantee - P2P Optimized Servers - No Logs Unblock USA Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime Videos, Hotstar & Disney+ https://fastestvpn.com/lifetime-special-deal P.S. I have purchased twice Fastest VPN lifetime subscriptions. It's NOT THE BEST or some PERFECT VPN but it works, and it's been in business for many years now.
I don't use any of the provided VPN apps just generic OpenVPN, so my comments are going to be about the technical details of how well they set up their service and their servers. Since I've set up and configured OpenVPN servers myself, I might know a thing or two about it that most users wouldn't. That comment was specific to DNS implementation. Keepsolid scores very low on that point due to blocking and not being entirely transparent about it. Every other VPN I use, either doesn't block anything at the DNS level or puts it under the end user's control with no extra subscription charge. As far as the other Stacksocial VPNs, Fastest has been the most stable and reliable with no DNS issues. Their regular price lifetime subscriptions start at $19 so they are a bit less than Keepsolid. I don't like their using the email address used to control the account as the username for logging onto both the website and VPN. That might be Ok for website logons but the best practice is to have a completely different username, preferably randomized, for VPN logon and it shouldn't be the users email address. BulletVPN also does this. VPN Secure uses individual client keys like Keepsolid and so far, they have been pretty stable but I just got the subscription last month so it hasn't been extensively tested as of yet. As far as their basic service, I kind of like their bare bones approach but it isn't for everyone. I wouldn't recommend any of these VPNs as a one and only VPN, especially if you are serious about privacy. The free Proton VPN is a far better choice. I found that the Proton servers in the US don't choke upload bandwidth the way the ones in the Netherlands do. My guess is that peer to peer uploading isn't an issue in the US the way it is in Europe. Server load can be heavy at times but most of the time, I get decent enough bandwidth to stream without stuttering, pretty much the same bandwidth quality as Fastest, Keepsolid and the other cheap lifetime subscription Stacksocial VPNs and their privacy rating is far better and their servers are well set up with all best practices implemented.
Don't get me wrong, but a year ago, I purchased that "DNS BLOCKER(?)" - DNS Firewall from Keep solid for $49. LOL! It's not good for me, but... I've learned to live with my expenditure as a "nice" gesture to KeepSolid VPN. I have BulletVPN and use it extensively, but I use it with the Wireguard app. Currently, I get the BEST SERVICE and the best SPEEDS from BulletVPN with their tunnel/s for the Wireguard app.
What I like about VPNSecure is that (almost) immediate and very knowledgeable customer service from Australia, but... In my case, in my location, they use the PUBLIC DNS servers - Google, and I don't like it at all. Also, VPNSecure Interface is way too complicated for a regular user and they don't have Wireguard.
Your ISP is more than likely doing traffic shaping and discriminating against OpenVPN connections. ISPs use DPI to identify the OpenVPN signature. One way of defeating this is using TLS crypt which encrypts the control channel and makes OpenVPN connections look like regular SSL connections. AirVPN supports TLS crypt which I'm using in a router setup. In general, the overhead for OpenVPN assuming that the hardware is capable of the speed and the ISP isn't throttling it, should be around 10% of the unencrypted speed and 800mbs should give you at least 720mbs with OpenVPN. At those speeds, I really wouldn't care that much because I don't have any practical use for running a VPN at more than 100mbs. VPNSecure also has poor DNS implementation but due to not providing any DNS and relying on public DNS. That being said, you can easily change which DNS it uses. I've put it in a router and it steals DNS from Bullet's DNS server without any DNS specified but it would take one IP tables rule to force it to use cloudflare or any other DNS I choose. I've had speed issues with Bullet, not Fastest. Their UltraHD servers don't always perform as advertised. This is always with an OpenVPN client connection in a media box. With Bullet, I have some servers slower than others. With Fastest, all the servers I've tried give me pretty much the same speed. I never have speed issues with either in a router setup.
VPNUnlimited has it as "KeepSolid TLS", but I have issues with my LAN connections; therefore, I'm not using it. On the other hand, I like the Windscribe app with Wireguard, just because Windscribe has a button in the app settings. Now, with Windscribe's choice to allow LAN traffic, I can "see and talk" other computers on my LAN. Yes, it's possible to "edit" Allowed IP's in the Wireguard App, but it starts leaking DNS. Windscribe is good at that.
My download speed is only about 27 Mbps and I can't get a faster plan Because of the lack of speed, I see very little drop in performance no matter what VPN or protocol I'm, using as long as I'm connected to a fast server which is not too far away.
WOW!!! That's sad. Very sad. Is it just your area? What about the Internet speeds in Australia overall? Edit. I will remove my Internet speed numbers. It's very arrogant of me. Sorry.
Mine is even lower but we're due for an upgrade. It's either slow or expensive where I live, or both. I can at least use the one decent ISP in my area so I have a choice of paying more or having slower speeds. That does throw a bit of a curve to VPN speed testing but it does say a lot if a VPN can't even reach my base speed - 10%. That means severely oversold bandwidth. Starlink is becoming an option these days and a few people are using it around here already. That has forced my ISP to upgrade their setup and they claim that they'll be able to deliver 600mbs after their latest round of equipment upgrades. That will still be for their top tier plans which will be $150+ a month but they will be forced to upgrade all plans or have their business bleed away.
It's not all of Australia. But due to the technology used where I live, I can't get faster speeds. I did try a faster internet plan, but it did not increase the speed.
Not sure what is going on, but I use Mullvad. For the heck of it I just ran their leak test and using their VPN, it says I have a DNS leak. I am not sure if their app is not compatible with Windows 11, or if something is amiss with my browser. Anyone else?
The Mullvad Installation Guide says it's good for WIn 10 + Win 11 https://mullvad.net/en/help/install-mullvad-app-windows/ The latest Version is 2022.1 https://mullvad.net/en/download/windows/
Are your DNS settings altered to reflect this guide? What about DoH in Windows 11? If you want to add encrypted DoH using Mullvad's ad/tracker blocking use and elevated powershell terminal and run: Code: Add-DnsClientDohServerAddress -ServerAddress 194.242.2.3 -DohTemplate https://adblock.doh.mullvad.net/dns-query Add-DnsClientDohServerAddress -ServerAddress 193.19.108.3 -DohTemplate https://adblock.doh.mullvad.net/dns-query Add-DnsClientDohServerAddress -ServerAddress 2a07:e340::3 -DohTemplate https://adblock.doh.mullvad.net/dns-query Then make sure your NIC DNS settings say encrypted.
