VPN usage limits vs. prices vs. usage patterns?

I'm testing VPN services. It seems with my regular usage pattern it eats the bankwidth fast. But I dunno nothing special, light surfing and listening to some music from YouTube in the background. Not that the latter would be superprivate or illegal. But it just eats VPN bandwidth.

Is there a way to, let's say have one media browser on the same machine which bypasses the VPN but all other traffic go through it? As far as I know VPN technology just tunnels everything, so the only way is to buy the bigger package?

 

At the risk of being boring, I'd say just use a VM In this case, you'd run your VPN on the VM. Host sees naked Internet, and VM uses VPN.

 

True! I forgot to add that I have a "weaker" machine, not a powerhouse, so a VM is not optimal.

 

What are its specs?

 

Old ThinkPad X61.

 

It may be possible to run VMs on the ThinkPad X61. It came with virtualization-capable single or dual core CPUs. But a BIOS upgrade may be necessary to enable virtualization. It came with 512MB-2GB RAM, and accepts up to 4GB. You'll want at least 2GB, but running one or two VMs in 1GB is possible if you use light Linux distros for the host and VMs. Bodhi, for example, runs in 230MB or so.

Edit: See https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=2179740#post2179740 about Linux with 512MB RAM.

 

OP, have you thought about the security risks of running as you described? By leaving your machine open to any traffic outside of the VPN tunnel you are exposing yourself to some stuff you might want to avoid. Things like dns leaks, dropped VPN connection, etc...

There are a few great VPN's with unlimited use. I happen to really like AirVPN and I am on a tunnel from there right now. Cost: a full year of unlimited use on almost 30 servers around the globe for 4 Bitcoins. Anonymous and unlimited. Might be just what you need to avoid all the pitfalls a weaker configuration would expose you to.

I run relays and I am getting 10.5 meg during peak time.

Not trying to be out of line here. I just know how simple it is to setup a total "lock down" and it helps you sleep at night.

 

my friend a total lockdown looks completely different see this thread

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=339051

air user here as well and more

 

happyyarou666 - acknowledged.

I was posting what I thought was a good starting point. When the OP mentioned bandwidth issues and price I felt that Airvpn would be a nice solution for the problem. Unlimited is nice.

I didn't go into "partition of trust" models because that need wasn't made clear by the OP. The other threads around here have covered much of what you refer to. I have really enjoyed reading through this forum over the months. I don't post all that much, in fact fewer than a 100 at this time.

Thanks to all who participate here. Its a great place to learn and the site runs like a "fine watch" on this end.