Should I have a VPN ?

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by AMD, Oct 18, 2012.

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  1. AMD

    AMD Registered Member

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    Hi,

    I have been reading various snippets on the forum about VPN's and have grasped the general idea of it.

    I am not too hot on securiry/privacy but I suppose it would be a good idea to hide my identity and encrypt online data etc.

    I generally use IE9 when browsing within Sandboxie, and I use Avast Safezone for online banking, but I am not sure if a VPN would be necessary or not.

    I was hoping for some feedback to determine if it is something I should have and perhaps some recommendations, preferably cheap or free and with easy configuration.

    Many Thanks

    Andy
     
  2. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    There are three main reasons to use VPNs:

    • you don't want your ISP to see what websites you access
    • you don't trust the public WiFi hotspot that you use
    • you don't want websites that you access to see your IP address
    You might like AirVPN.
     
  3. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    Or try the new Norton VPN for just $2 for a "day pass."
     
  4. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Using a VPN from Symantec just seems weird ;)
     
  5. hogndog

    hogndog Registered Member

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  6. box750

    box750 Registered Member

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    Two more reasons to use a VPN:

    • Watch online US TV or listen to music from abroad (Hulu, CWTV,Slacker,Pandora,etc)

    • Bypass ISP filtering (The Pirate Bay website is blocked in the UK)

    For the activities above you can use a free advertisement supported VPN like HotSpotShield, but if what you want is privacy you will be better off with a paid for VPN like SecurityKiss, AirVPN, or Mullvad.
     
  7. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    @Hogndog

    pfSense is arguably better on both ends of the VPN than MS anything.
     
  8. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    I should have clarified....here's what I wrote in another thread earler this afternoon:

    I call a VPN like this from Norton a "Coffee Shop VPN' (not to be confused with a VPN used for serious pseudo-anonymity). With that said, this might be the best of the Coffee Shop variety. The $19.99 a month is a bad deal. The $49.99 a year is an incredible deal. The $2.99 "day pass" is perfect for every now and then use.

    I like this VPN for what it is. Nice software package, reliable name, good speeds. Can't go wrong for this 'class' of VPN.​
     
  9. hogndog

    hogndog Registered Member

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    Personally i prefer Tor.. :)
     
  10. AMD

    AMD Registered Member

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    Many thanks for your responses. I will investigate the comments and see which one best suits.

    Thanks again

    Andy
     
  11. tooth

    tooth Registered Member

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    I would agree with these reasons...I never used to bother with it (I know what I'm browsing and cover my bases though), but traveling a lot more lately, I use one setup on my server when on the road.

    It wouldn't hurt to use a better browser like Firefox or Chrome, and install HTTPS Everywhere, so at least a good chunk of your sites that really matter are for sure going through SSL.
     
  12. PaulyDefran

    PaulyDefran Registered Member

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    To the OP:

    Yes.

    PD
     
  13. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    I use SecurityKiss Tunnel free.
     
  14. AMD

    AMD Registered Member

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    Thanks again for the comments.

    I managed to get a free year's promo of Cyberghost so I am trying that at the moment to see how it goes.
     
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