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VPN choices

DJM

DJM

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Looking for a VPN recommendation. Most of the house is on wireless and I'm going to start digital currency transactions.

Also will need it while family travelling on mobile devices, eg Android, IOS, Win10.

I have a hard wired router with access points in the house if that makes a difference. I saw some individual plans but it would really add up on all the devices.

I'm only semi-literate on the whole VPN thing but if I have an idea of what works best I can zero in on it.
 
DJM said:
Looking for a VPN recommendation. Most of the house is on wireless and I'm going to start digital currency transactions.

Also will need it while family travelling on mobile devices, eg Android, IOS, Win10.

I have a hard wired router with access points in the house if that makes a difference. I saw some individual plans but it would really add up on all the devices.

I'm only semi-literate on the whole VPN thing but if I have an idea of what works best I can zero in on it.
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Have a look over on Red Flag Deals. There's a whole bunch of nerds there that know all this stuff and can point out the best current deal. I have PIA and that works well for me for the limited times I use it. Works with an app across phones/tablets etc and you can get the settings put on a PS4/smart TV/router side for the entire house if you want.
 
I also use private internet access (PIA). It is ~$45/yr IIRC. For one price you get access to all of their services on all of your devices(computer VPN, torrent proxy, mobile VPN). I have used it for years with no problems. When I first set it up, I had the router running everything through the PIA VPN. This was a pain (limited speed, a huge pain to connect to the house from outside, to do geo-relocation you would be running double VPN etc.). Now I just turn it on on mobile devices when required (public wifi or pretty much anytime I am out of the country). FWIW, I tried using the Toronto server while I was in Korea so my data was encrypted into NA, but it was almost impossibly slow, HK server was an order of magnitude (or two) faster. I had also locked up my phone account so it couldn't be accessed from outside of NA to enhance security but the trip got extended and I needed to transfer money in. Being able to geo-relocate to deal with that helped (although that also means my security is barely enhanced because it is so easy to get around).

There are a ton of these VPN services that are probably very similar. Make sure that the one you choose keeps no logs (nothing to subpoena).

Wait a sec, are you trying to keep your family in a private VPN or provide a layer of security/obscurity? I have done private VPN's before (one running on a router, another on a Windows Server) and they were kind of a pain, but it may be the best way to ensure complete security. I don't know if it is possible, but I would investigate selective VPN traffic if you are setting one up yourself (eg. traffic associated with banking servers goes through VPN, traffic associated with youtube/netflix and the like doesn't). You might have to do it as Firefox is VPN protected and Chrome isn't (or something similar). I haven't done this, but it would eliminate many of my problems with everything going through the VPN.
 
Just want to add another layer of security. My wife has had her Facebook and email hacked this year, Facebook was actually twice. I'm assuming it's from all the "Free Public Wifi" AP's she connects to while travelling for work.

I don't know enough about home wifi security to say if i really need it on the router or just through software on the devices. Don't torrent or care about geofencing if that matters. It's mostly internet banking and other financial transactions I'm concerned about.
 
Does she have a yahoo or Rogers email address. If so dump them and get new email.


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DJM said:
Just want to add another layer of security. My wife has had her Facebook and email hacked this year, Facebook was actually twice. I'm assuming it's from all the "Free Public Wifi" AP's she connects to while travelling for work.

I don't know enough about home wifi security to say if i really need it on the router or just through software on the devices. Don't torrent or care about geofencing if that matters. It's mostly internet banking and other financial transactions I'm concerned about.
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Two factor authentication should be used wherever possible. My wife's gmail account was compromised years ago and we turned on two factor wherever possible. No problems since.
 
FWIW the current version of Opera has free and unlimited VPN built in.

It’s only good a the browser level (vs whole home) of course, however in fits most of peoples requirements.

If you like Chrome, you’ll feel right at home in Opera. And it’s not anywhere near as big a resource hog.
 
have tried a few over the years
currently would recommend Nord VPN
not the cheapest, but exceptionally good service

they have special servers dedicated to certain tasks ie: video streaming, P2P

some options for extreme security, VPN over the onion network
and double VPN, traffic bounced through 2 different IP's

also very good at getting around internet filtering/blocking
I work in Saudi Arabia that has very strict internet rules
all websites are open to me with Nord VPN

one account enables several devices including iOS and Android
you could enable at the router level, if your router supports that
I don't find that necessary as each device can be turned off or on as needed
 
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FWIW most hacks involvint people getting their Facebook accounts compromised is a result of people blindly following phishing emails with links in them.

Two factor authentication helps reduce this....unless people fall prey to two factor phishing as well. Seen it happen.

A healthy respect for NOT clicking links randomly is the biggest defence against this.

Also FWIW, a VPN is in no way a magic bullet of extra security for banking - that’s what encryption is for, and it’s on for banking by default. VPN for the most part just obfuscates your location and makes you harder to track.

None of the above will help you if family members routinely fall for phishing attempts however.
 
PrivatePilot said:
FWIW most hacks involvint people getting their Facebook accounts compromised is a result of people blindly following phishing emails with links in them.

Two factor authentication helps reduce this....unless people fall prey to two factor phishing as well. Seen it happen.

A healthy respect for NOT clicking links randomly is the biggest defence against this.

Also FWIW, a VPN is in no way a magic bullet of extra security for banking - that’s what encryption is for, and it’s on for banking by default. VPN for the most part just obfuscates your location and makes you harder to track.

None of the above will help you if family members routinely fall for phishing attempts however.
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VPN's will by default encrypt the data that passes from your computer to the VPN server.
 
regder said:
VPN's will by default encrypt the data that passes from your computer to the VPN server.
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I’m aware of that, however good old-fashioned browser encryption that banking/financial websites use regardless accomplishes the same thing. VPN just encrypts everything, including the mundane day today things like GTAM for example.

And neither a VPN nor encryption will help a phishing problem.
 
it's a matter of time until all our internet history becomes public
ID theft is a major vulnerability
a VPN makes perfectly good sense to encrypt everything
 
ID theft is also major business. Look at email/ID/info lists that are sold in various nefarious places etc.
 
JavaFan said:
a VPN makes perfectly good sense to encrypt everything
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I've been online for over 20 years without a VPN and never had an issue. BUT...I am technically savvy however with regards to phishing, and I'm also careful about how much I share online (and where) and I also have a wide arsenal of passwords of varying strength. Further to that I'm naturally skeptical about anything I see online, or that arrives in my email.

Again, a VPN won't protect people who don't have the basic online skills to protect themselves online. I could put a whole-home VPN on our internet connection here, but if my wife went and blindly clicked a link in her email phishing for her Facebook password, and then fell prey to it all...a VPN does squat about protecting us against that. And all our online banking is done carefully (ensuring we are on the proper encrypted banking website, not a phishing lookalike) on our OWN wifi, never a public wifi hotspot or anything.
 
VPNs are not just for privacy of data.

We've been travelling in countries where the local ISPs are mandated by law to block certain sites. Other ISPs do bandwidth shaping by throttling certain kinds of traffic. A VPN allows you to bypass blocking/throttling and access the Internet the way you want to.

I use PIA (Private Internet Access). They seem to take their user's privacy pretty seriously. They claim to keep no traffic logs, and if you are extra paranoid, they will let you pay for an account using anonymous 3rd party gift cards (like Walmart, Best Buy, Starbucks, etc), so your login ID isn't even tied to a credit card.
 
Security while travelling is a benefit, as is bypassing SOME geofencing...although places like Netflix see through it and still won't let you access the USA library while you're using a VPN in Canada, for example.

My daughter was using a VPN at her school up until recently to bypass blocks on most social media, but they have since blocked VPN's.

But again, using a known secure internet connection (consider cellular more secure than public wifi) online banking is secure enough using basic encryption that a VPN doesn't really offer any additional benefit.

My comments are however based around our OP's stated goals, however.

Being tech savvy (not falling prey to phishing), avoiding public wifi for anything even remotely security related (financial transactions, sensitive passwords, etc), using two factor authentication every single place it's possible, and a browser that has VPN built in for free (For example, Opera as mentioned earlier) for those times when you may actually have a valid use for a VPN is typically enough for most people.
 
I use PIA as well. Highly regarded and works for me.

If the VPN provider has not implemented their DNS server correctly your activities can still be tracked, monitored.

For most situations having some "internet" common sense, as PP has mentioned, goes along way.
A lot of hackers rely on social hacks to get some information from you, or to get you to click or open something, or just adding them as a friend on Facebook. Being aware of these and avoiding opening, clicking things will further then locking everything down.
Fedex doesn't have a package for you, and that prince in Africa doesn't need to send you money ;)

Exploits are then next way hackers target you, leaving devices without passwords, or not strong passwords. Un patched software or security updates. Using the wrong browser like Internet Explorer, never use this (or any Microsoft browser). Running your computer with the admin account. Using flash.

Small amounts of tech maintenance and adjusting your setup will get your further ahead as well.
 
DejaVu said:
Or you can brew your own. Rent a virtual private server, run Streisand to install all the components, and you are all set

I haven't tried this myself yet, but I would like to. It looks like an interesting little challenge.

https://blog.ssdnodes.com/blog/tutorial-the-easiest-vpn-with-streisand-and-ubuntu-16-04/
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Any VPS pricing I have seen vastly exceeds what I pay for PIA. Unless you have another reason for the server, I can't see that being a reasonable option. If you just want to see if you can do it, set it up at your house using an old computer.
 
GreyGhost said:
Any VPS pricing I have seen vastly exceeds what I pay for PIA. Unless you have another reason for the server, I can't see that being a reasonable option. If you just want to see if you can do it, set it up at your house using an old computer.
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I run an OpenVPN server on my linux box at home. Works well, speed is about 10-15MB/s. Setup was pretty straightforward with fairly limited linux skill
 
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