My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent
updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a >> cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
What do you need a VPN *for*?
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent
updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a >> cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
How frequently do you use it? I'm a fan of the TunnelBear free tier for irregular use. Annual rates seem reasonable.
Software is very unobtrusive but the quaint bear theme might grate some.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent
updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a >> cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
How frequently do you use it? I'm a fan of the TunnelBear free tier for irregular use. Annual rates seem reasonable.
Software is very unobtrusive but the quaint bear theme might grate some.
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent
updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a
cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
My Nord VPN subscription is coming up for renewal at about £30pa.
I'll probably stick with it because it does seem to work reliably. It's mainly
the software I don't like - trying to push 'premium' features, frequent >>>> updates, password needed whenever the computer restarts. And maybe there's a
cheaper alternative?
Any suggestions appreciated.
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
VPNs don't really hide your identity. Everything is encrypted via TLS these days - all your hotel/etc can see is your DNS. They can see you connect to google.com, facebook.com, youtube.com which doesn't tell them very much. Maybe there's a tiny bit of profiling they can do if they see you are connecting to bank.com, but not very much.
What they do do is give the VPN provider a firehose of users' traffic, from where they can do much more detailed profiling. eg they can see that people are increasingly going to Temu instead of Amazon - that's monetisable information. And there are certainly shady VPN providers out there.
On location, the main usefulness is pretending to be in another country for accesing geoblocked things, eg watching iPlayer when on holiday (if iPlayer haven't blocked the VPN). If you have devices which are phoning home your home IP / GPS coordinates (some Androids do this) then I suppose you can use a VPN to avoid that *as long as* the Android isn't on VPN. And there's a certain degree of safety in numbers (many VPN users emerge from the same endpoint) - as long as the VPN provider can be trusted.
Do you need to pretend you're in a different (specific) country? If so, how fussy are you about which country? If you need to pretend to be in, say, Paraguay then you'd need to find a VPN provider with such an endpoint.
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
VPNs don't really hide your identity. Everything is encrypted via TLS these >> days - all your hotel/etc can see is your DNS. They can see you connect to >> google.com, facebook.com, youtube.com which doesn't tell them very much.
Maybe there's a tiny bit of profiling they can do if they see you are
connecting to bank.com, but not very much.
It's not so much my identity, as what I'm accessing/downloading.
I'm assuming
a VPN conceals that from everyone except (potentially) the VPN.
Yes, mimicking a location has been useful from time to time.
On 3 Mar 2025 at 16:13:04 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
VPNs don't really hide your identity. Everything is encrypted via TLS these
days - all your hotel/etc can see is your DNS. They can see you connect to >>> google.com, facebook.com, youtube.com which doesn't tell them very much. >>> Maybe there's a tiny bit of profiling they can do if they see you are
connecting to bank.com, but not very much.
It's not so much my identity, as what I'm accessing/downloading.
Accessing/downloading will still be trackable at the server side.
I'm assuming
a VPN conceals that from everyone except (potentially) the VPN.
Not really. Various tracker things (like all those fb/twitter/etc
clickables you see everywhere, let alone all sites with advertising)
will attempt to ID you at the client, not caring at all that your route
from client to server is disguised.
If you're resolutely blocking all that as well, then you're probably
doing okay.
Yes, mimicking a location has been useful from time to time.
The real use of VPNs.
As an alternative I tend to bypass such region limitations by just
torrenting media. If they chose to make it unavailable they clearly
don't want my money anyway.
On 4 Mar 2025 at 17:13:08 GMT, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 3 Mar 2025 at 16:13:04 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
VPNs don't really hide your identity. Everything is encrypted via TLS these
days - all your hotel/etc can see is your DNS. They can see you connect to
google.com, facebook.com, youtube.com which doesn't tell them very much. >>>> Maybe there's a tiny bit of profiling they can do if they see you are
connecting to bank.com, but not very much.
It's not so much my identity, as what I'm accessing/downloading.
Accessing/downloading will still be trackable at the server side.
Ah. Didn't know that. So the server knows my 'real' IP address and ISP even while using a VPN?
And by extension my ISP knows which server I've accessed?
I'd always thought that information was concealed - the 'private' in virtual network. And checking Nord, they say that the ISP 'loses access to':
"The websites you visit
The specific web pages you browse and the time you spend there
Your browsing and search history
The files you download from or upload to unencrypted websites
The info you type on unencrypted websites"
That's incorrect?
As an alternative I tend to bypass such region limitations by just
torrenting media. If they chose to make it unavailable they clearly
don't want my money anyway.
Which may well be illegal?
Of course, I know my ISP knows I use a VPN. I'd always thought that's as far as it goes, and not what went on 'inside' the VPN. Seems I've got that wrong .
On 5 Mar 2025 at 08:35:49 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 4 Mar 2025 at 17:13:08 GMT, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 3 Mar 2025 at 16:13:04 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 5 Mar 2025 at 08:35:49 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 4 Mar 2025 at 17:13:08 GMT, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 3 Mar 2025 at 16:13:04 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
For completeness, a VPN can be configured to exist between two internet routers. This can join one LAN to another, generally at geographically separate locations. Handy for staff working from home to access their
head office, and for head office to provide technical support to such
remote staff.
On 5 Mar 2025 at 08:35:49 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 4 Mar 2025 at 17:13:08 GMT, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 3 Mar 2025 at 16:13:04 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 27 Feb 2025 at 09:48:18 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Feb 2025 at 10:00:36 GMT, Theo wrote:
What do you need a VPN *for*?
Hide my identity and/or location.
VPNs don't really hide your identity. Everything is encrypted via TLS these
days - all your hotel/etc can see is your DNS. They can see you connect to
google.com, facebook.com, youtube.com which doesn't tell them very much. >>>>> Maybe there's a tiny bit of profiling they can do if they see you are >>>>> connecting to bank.com, but not very much.
It's not so much my identity, as what I'm accessing/downloading.
Accessing/downloading will still be trackable at the server side.
Ah. Didn't know that. So the server knows my 'real' IP address and ISP even >> while using a VPN?
Possibly, but it's not what I mean. If you're interacting with a server, it'll know what you've done. If you have an account there, they'll know
who did it (up to whatever limit of information you've provided them in
the account setup).
And by extension my ISP knows which server I've accessed?
No, this is indeed prevented. Early 'domestic' use of VPNs was to
prevent other people's local wifi from being able to tell what you're
doing on them, or indeed from being bad actors redirecting you via DNS
faking and such - eg cafes, hotels.
I'd always thought that information was concealed - the 'private' in virtual >> network. And checking Nord, they say that the ISP 'loses access to':
"The websites you visit
The specific web pages you browse and the time you spend there
Your browsing and search history
The files you download from or upload to unencrypted websites
The info you type on unencrypted websites"
That's incorrect?
It's correct, but not what I was talking about as elucidated above.
As an alternative I tend to bypass such region limitations by just
torrenting media. If they chose to make it unavailable they clearly
don't want my money anyway.
Which may well be illegal?
Meh. It's harmless and I have no ethical qualms about it.
Of course, I know my ISP knows I use a VPN. I'd always thought that's as far >> as it goes, and not what went on 'inside' the VPN. Seems I've got that wrong .
No, you're fine there. Unless you do stuff you'd usually do in a vpn accidentally through the ISP directly.
At which point the far end server knows more about you too.
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 546 |
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