VPN advice

Hi,
Im new to this website and Ive been reading the various forums posts regarding VPN choices and I was wondering if people could give me some advice based on their experience.

Im located in the US and like many of the people here Im tired of the erosion of freedom. Im looking for a good fast VPN service that is anonymous, supports P2P, and has servers both inside and outside the US (with ability to choose based on need). I dont think I need multi-hop since Id rather have the speed.

Based on what I've read BolehVPN or AirVPN seem like the best options, but how does one choose? Also considered Mullvad but their website seems very simplistic?
Has anyone compared speeds on these services?

Also does either of these allow you to connect multiple devices simultaneously either from the same source IP or from multiple source IPs?

 

Any of the three mentioned VPNS should be good as far as privacy and anonymity goes in my opinion. I can not speak for the other VPNS but I do know that BolehVPN allows 2 simultaneous connections to their VPN from the same source IP. Im guessing you have read through Dasfox's VPN thread? If not you should. Also BolehVPN offers a US server to use for browser surfing to access US only services like Hulu. See here for the details: http://bolehvpn.net/serv_bolehvpn_inst-03.php

 

Please see:

Anonymous Services - Can We Get A List Going And Feedback?

and

best vpn ? any recommendations?

Yes--in the 2nd thread (above), happyyarou666 has posted speedtest results for Mullvad, AirVPN, Perfect-Privacy, oVPN.to, BohlehVPN, BW Privacy, and Incloak.

Mullvad only has a server in the Netherlands (no U.S.) so that probably won't suit your needs... but any of the others are potentially good choices for you.

Most services will not allow simultaneous connections from the same account. BW Privacy is one notable exception... and possibly a few others.

 

AirVPN - one connection
BolehVPN - two simultaneous connections
Insorg - three simultaneous connections
iVPN - one connection
XeroBank - no limit (85GB/month total)

 

hi guys. I was checking yesterday and this is what I found for the VPNs that I'm interested in:

Mulvad - 3 connections
BW Privacy - 3 connections

cheers.

 

Mullvad is 3 connections (whoops, posted above). I've seen both Sweden and Holland when doing IP checks.

AirVPN allows 1 connection only, but you can put it on your router and have everything VPN'd.

I only consider cash or Bitcoin for a provider (but admit that I don't know anything about Liberty reserve or some of the other methods over seas, UKash, etc...) and both Mullvad and AirVPN offer one of those.

PD

 

how is the speed you get on mullvad?
when I read happyyarou666 speedtests it seems that airvpn and bolehvpn did the best and mullvad was quite slow...

 

I wouldn't get airvpn if I were you. It has to be the most unstable VPN I have ever used, by far.

Their servers are seemingly always down when I try to use them. Then the odd times that I can even connect, I constantly get authorization errors every few minutes. When I ask for help, all I get is nonsense about it being my ISP changing my ip address constantly (Really? Then why hasn't that disconnected me from everything else I've been doing that requires a constant connection, and why does every other VPN I've used work fine?). It's quite stupid to try a VPN that doesn't allow a stable connection. And the worst part is, when it disconnects, it keeps your internet running. That seems like a colossal security hole. They can't even take the time to make it so the program shuts down the internet if the VPN stops working like many other VPN's do. Just seems lazy to me. Waste of a month's subscription.

If you like disconnecting every 5 minutes at a time, use Air VPN. Otherwise, your money is better spent elsewhere. I'm still trying to find a decent VPN. Mullvad has been good, but it's just a couple servers in only 2 countries. I need something with a few more. I'm trying iVPN next. I'll update on my experience with them if this thread is still alive by then.

For now, I recommend Mullvad, but it seems too small to put much faith in. There are probably better options out there. AirVPN is slightly faster than mullvad (during the 5 minutes you have before disconnecting), but overall, mullvad is far more stable.

As far as iVPN goes, does anyone know where they are based? They only seem to have 4 countries, and out of those 4 only the netherlands one seems even remotely safe to use. Are they operating from the netherlands? It seems pretty pointless to use a VPN in a freedom-restricted country in the EU to bypass freedom and copyright restrictions in the USA. Why are 3/4 of their servers in such terrible locations?

Besides iVPN, what's a good recommendation for a VPN? I'm going to look into BolehVPN since you said it's good.

EDIT: Actually, I was lying. I just got disconnected from air vpn (again). Then I turned on Mullvad. I'm getting 300-400 kb download on mullvad. I got 50 kb on AirVPN. I've been wasting so much time trying to get AirVPN to work that I stopped using Mullvad because I thought I was doing something wrong. But Mullvad seems to be faster for P2P and slower for everything else. This is just my experience. I always get 50-100 kb on airvpn (P2P). On mullvad P2P is much faster, but web browsing or anything else connection based is noticeably slower.

This makes it look like AirVPN throttles or otherwise disables P2P, whereas mullvad has slower servers but doesn't throttle P2P. AirVPN seems to works just fine when you have it on. Then the moment you turn on P2P, bam. 5 minute countdown to disconnect. They say they don't block P2P, but I wouldn't take their word on it. I'd put my trust in my experiences over an advertisement. If I can't find a decent VPN, mullvad seems to be fine. I just wish they had more servers.

Also, mullvad blocks internet on connection failure, which is a huge deal. They seem to care more about security instead of money. AirVPN seems to check to make sure you paid (authorization) extremely often, which leads to a lot of connection errors (authorization errors). And as said before, they don't care enough to block the internet if the connection fails, leaving you completely open to copyright extortion. I think all the good reviews they get are either paid, or told to someone so they tell it to someone else without experiencing the service themselves.

 

It's easy to block that. There are instructions on Wilders for Linux and Windows, and maybe for Mac.

BolehVPN has been designed for P2P.

Security-focused VPNs throttle all high-throughput traffic, so that it doesn't stand out from the crowd. Maybe your P2P client and AirVPN aren't playing well together.

Check your connection log. You may be seeing frequent TLS renegotiation, which is good for security, but bad for throughput.

 

Hm, the list of providers is getting really short for me considering this thread .

you say mulvad is slower on normal surfing which is most important to me.
AirVPN supports only 1 connection so that is off for me cos I need at-least 2.

How is BW Privacy in terms of P2P and normal surfing (I'm on 4mbit aDSL connection and that wont change very soon).
they have 3 connections and if I'm not mistaken recommended here on wilders?

BTW Is it possible to use newgroup (SSL, Ports 443 or 563) thrue VPN for extra protection?

cheers.

 

Hi Sumwun, you're experience is completely different to mine I find Air VPN the best Ive tried, and Ive tried 5 or 6 and most of them are listed here as being good but unfortunately they gave basically the same issues you are having with Air VPN, Air VPN gives me about 70% of my ISP speed and as for disconnections I have only had 1 disconnection in 3 weeks.

Nessy

 

Although we support P2P and a lot of our customers use it for that, I do think our security is pretty good as well. All options are Blowfish encrypted, no central login necessary (the login is only to retrieve your configuration files) and no log retention. So we're not purely a P2P VPN and indeed have seen an uptick in privacy conscious people who want both speed and security (based on the support queries we get).

Also since so many people is doing P2P on our networks, it doesn't quite stand out from the crowd either

 

Yes, that's clear. I should have said that BolehVPN started out with a focus on P2P. My point is just that P2P should work well on it.

That's an interesting point. I wonder whether average throughput per user is much greater on BolehVPN than on VPNs that discourage P2P. If that were so, BolehVPN could allow greater P2P throughput without sacrificing crowding.

 

Boleh VPN must pay via paypal right?

 

You can also pay cash through Malaysian bank With PayPal, you can use gift card, registered to misleading address.

 

BwPrivacy seems to have interesting feature (anonymous payment - interesting servers locations). But it's a bit new on the market. I generaly prefer "well installed" vpn provider.

So, have you already tried BwPrivacy ? Do they provide stable connections (with only few disconnnection) ? Do you think its a trustable provider (eg have you many times sent through their network your secret bank card number, without being ruined 3 days after )

 

You can also pay via Liberty Reserve

 

Indeed. I forgot about that And it was a generous addition

 

iVPN is based in the island of Malta, EU. (http://www.ivpn.net/aboutus)

Their server location is probably based on what most customers want, many people want to be able to watch TV in the US&UK from abroad, if nobody ever used certain servers I would imagine that they would see it and swap location, having overloaded servers and empty servers doesn't make business sense.

 

As I recall, the strange ability of the US FBI to seize Megauploads servers in other countries was based upon the fact that they had servers in the US, even though they (Megaupload) were based corporately in another country. A very surreal situation that is still playing out.

I did a Whois on IVPN and it was strange, seemed to be located in the US? Not sure what this means really, but it is somewhat confusing. The most recent law about internet privacy being considered in the US, CISPA, had a line in it specifically directed at "Anonymizing Services" which was chilling as it seemed to step beyond the EU law which requires logging for ISP's and mail services, not VPN services as yet. Something to keep an eye on, eff.org is usually up to date on the ramifications in these areas.

I am currently trying out Mullvad, which has no presence in the US, is relatively inexpensive, and am reasonably happy with the speed. The speed may not be the best but it is sure better than a straight TOR connection and fast enough IMO for casual browsing. A clean Wireshark read on the Tap connection also, which I would strongly recommend as a factor in choosing a VPN service.

 

I beleive PayPal has recently changed their TOS where this is no longer possible. I haven't tested the waters, but seems they are now asking for more personally identifiable information which has made me conclude they are no longer an option for anonymous services.

 

Hi All:

I am new to the forum; I have been lurking about for a few weeks reading, reading and reading LOL. It's so refreshing to see that there are so many like minded individuals when it comes to security and privacy. The whole underhanded agreement between the enterntainment industry and the major ISP's have caused me to decide enough is enough. With that in mind, I have been using AirVPN for about a month and thus far I am extremely satisfied with both the speed of service and with the prompt professional and friendly support staff. I basically have the entire service VPN'd to keep nosey ISP's out my life Yes, I realize it's not perfect and there are caveats (most tied to various ways I can give myself away, not the fault of the service). Still, I am enjoying the service.

One frustration I have though is in the payment. I used PayPal initially because I knew nothing about BitCoin or Liberty Reserve. For obvious reasons, I want to get away from them. I have since been becoming more versed in the ePayment options out there. I thought Liberty Reserve was going to be the way to go, until I went to the trouble of registering, only to find out they wanted my personal details. HOW can this service purport to be "anonymous". How can I be assured that they would respect my information if someone came a knockin? I might as well use PayPal, wouldn't you say? Does anyone use Liberty Reserve that can comment on this? So, given the various options out there, I have decided to use BitCoin as the most anonymous type of currency exchange currently available. Unfortunately, I don't think Countermail takes BTC, so I have to figure out how to handle that.

At any rate, I am excited to finally post and look forward to sharing my thoughts with others of the community!

~h

 

Using PayPal checkout requires less authentication than getting an account does. And you can be creative about what information you provide

Be creative

 

If you go the Bitcoin route, take a look at BitInstant. Choose the 'Cash Deposit At Bank To Bitcoin By Email Option'. I tested it out this weekend and it was an awesome way to get coins as anonymously as possible. You basically create an anon email account somewhere (I used Tormail) and then log onto their site via the Tor Browser Bundle. You pick the above option (Cash/Email) and enter how much you will be depositing and the email address. It will tell you how many coins that amount buys and create a 'ticket' along with a TrustCash link (Green Box). When you click on that, you are at TrustCash and enter the city and bank where you want to pay. TrustCash will print out deposit instructions with their routing number and account number. You walk into the bank and hand the exact change to the cashier along with the slip. I was asked fo *no ID* at the bank I used. When I got home, there was an email saying I had coins waiting. Clicking on the link (In Tor Browser Bundle) brought me to Coinapult. I entered my wallet address and clicked 'Send'. I opened up the BTC Client (also connected through Tor) and the coins were in my wallet. Total time, on a Saturday, was about 1 hour. No bank account needed, no Dwolla account, no Mt. Gox account. I hope they live forever It types out a lot more complicated than it really is.

PD

 

PD:

Thanks, I was actually going to go with another provider, but I like your suggestion better than my own, AND you went to all of this trouble to lay out how do it, seems an awful shame not to give it a whirl.

~h