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What VPN are you using?

I use Proton. But I continue to run into more and more websites and services that detect my VPN and refuse my connection, or just run literally 40 captchas in a row until I just give up.

I use Proton because it has a "suite" of products under a single subscription, but that benefit is losing it's allure as some of their products are pretty shitty from a user experience perspective, their customer support is atrocious, and they don't seem to pay any attention to what their users actually want.

Does anyone track known VPN servers? Is there a specific provider that causes less problems? Does anyone test different VPNs for detection?

Thinking about cancelling my subscription and moving to Mullvad.

x86x87 ,

There are only 2 VPN providers that are worth using IMHO: Proton and Mullvad. All the other VPNs are of questionable quality or their practices make you wonder if you should use them at all (eg logging and keeping logs)

Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don't encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.

Imprint9816 ,

What don't you like about IVPN? Audited, open source, great reputation. I don't even use them but seems odd to count them out.

Scolding0513 ,

yeah ivpn is recommended too, i think he just forget. i think they do the same thing as mullvad? like you can pay with monero and no email

ivpn mullvad and proton seem to be the golden three. I'd throw in OVPN too though

helenslunch OP , (edited )
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I try not to but those websites comprise most of the internet at this point. Unfortunately people also use VPNs to do nefarious shit, so it's not always malicious (though it obviously mostly is).

harsh3466 ,

That’s what I do. If a website blocks me because of my vpn, fuck em. I don’t waste my time. What business of theirs is it if I’m using a vpn.

jfr ,

Can also recommend AirVPN.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Also IVPN and AirVPN

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don’t encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.

It's mostly CDNs like Cloudflare and Akamai that are notorious for blocking VPN and Tor users. Fuck CDNs, they destroy privacy and centralize the internet.

eya ,
@eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Mullvad, haven't had any issues with it. If a site refuses my connection I just change servers until it works, even found a few that work on reddit

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Reddit is one of the main problems for sure.

telep ,

have you considered using alternatives front ends for some of the major social platforms?

I use libreddit/redlib to browse reddit. you can run an instance locally or connect to remote ones. this way your IP isn't logged by reddit in the first place & no JavaScript is required to be run for the website to function properly.

there is even an extension called libredirect which can automatically swap clicked reddit (& other platforms) links to the same page on public frontends, which removes the hasstle of manually changing the URL.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Yeah I used to do that before they broke all of them. Used the Stealth app every day but it stopped working a few months ago. Possibly due to VPN, don't really know exactly how that service works.

telep ,

redlib is the updated version of libreddit & it seems to have circumvented the issues reddit caused so maybe consider giving it another try.

I think stealth also broke when they removed free API access. although, you can still use the webscraping mode by changing it in the settings I believe. if u want another option maybe try out RedReader or Geddit.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I'll try Redlib, thanks for the heads up.

Edit:

The official instance is hosted at https://redlib.matthew.science

It's already broken.

Stealth continued working for a few months after they killed the API.

RedReader is just a terrible app, if I'm honest.

Will try Geddit but I doubt they will hold up to Stealth. It was so good :'(

telep ,

I would avoid trying to make sure you use the "official instance" as it kind of works against the projects purpose of decentralizing web requests. pinging around instances helps with avoiding outages as well. you can find active instances here on the uptime monitor.

otherwise, stealth should work just fine if u turn on webscraping mode. I have been using it since the reddit changes with only very occasional issues, as similar to you I have some quams with alternative reddit clients.1000018448

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I would avoid trying to make sure you use the "official instance" as it kind of works against the projects purpose of decentralizing web requests.

I would but I didn't know where to find them.

you can find active instances here on the uptime monitor

Thanks

stealth should work just fine if u turn on webscraping mode

Nope

Geddit also doesn't do anything but a constant loading indicator.

telep ,

oh damn I see sorry u can't get the apps to work I guess I'll do a little digging on my side. in the mean time I hope I've been at least somewhat helpful haha 🙏

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

You have been, thank you.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

The official instance is hosted at https://redlib.matthew.science

It’s already broken.

Their server is down, but I haven't seen a Redlib instance get blocked by Reddit. Try another instance like safereddit.com or check out the entire list of instances: https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib-instances/blob/main/instances.md

LibRedirect should also automatically fetch the list and allow you to choose instances you like

helenslunch OP , (edited )
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Their server is down

Yes that sort of thing seems to happen frequently with these type of platforms. LibReddit, Piped, Invidious, Bibliogram, etc.

It's too much hassle to constantly be trying to chase down a functioning instance.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

LibRedirect automates most of that for you. Also, I've been using safereddit.com for over 6 months and never had any issues. Just try it out and see if it works for you :)

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

LibRedirect automates most of that for you

How does it do that?

Just try it out and see if it works for you :)

Already did, did not work at all. Constantly redirected me to broken webpages.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It fetches an updated list of working instances. It also has a built-in tool that let's you ping all instances and remove the broken ones. I'm pretty sure this will work well, even if you remove all instances except for safereddit.com. That's another way you can use it: Just find one working instance and remove all the others.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Maybe that's new since I last used it...

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Btw you can also use normal third-party clients with your custom developer API key, there's a patched version of Apollo for iOS/iPadOS (you can download it from AltStore using their custom repository, it's explained on the website) and ReVanced offers a patch for Infinity on Android. The patched Apollo version has a quick guide on how to get an API Key, it works with all apps that support these custom keys though:

  1. Sign into your Reddit account and go to the link above (reddit.com/prefs/apps)
  2. Click the "are you a developer? create an app..." button
  3. Fill in the fields
    • Name: anything
    • Choose "Installed App"
    • Description: anything
    • About url: anything
    • Redirect uri: apollo://reddit-oauth
  4. Click "create app"
  5. After creating the app you'll get a client identifier which will be a bunch of random characters.
Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Redlib works perfectly, I think they use IPv6 address rotation to evade IP bans

RecursiveParadox ,
@RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world avatar

Comment saved, thanks.

JJROKCZ ,

Have you considered not using Reddit?

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I don't use Reddit. Just browse. As soon as Reddit is no longer a veritable cornucopia of information I'll stop doing that.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

If you don't need to log in, I would recommend a private frontend like Redlib (fork of Libreddit) together with the LibRedirect browser extension

iiGxC ,

Mullvad, it has ipv6 and way better linux support than proton

Molecular0079 ,

No port forwarding though :(

I used to use Mullvad but after they disabled port forwarding I switched over to Proton.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

AirVPN has port forwarding

pathief ,
@pathief@lemmy.world avatar

I used to be a Mullvad customer but switched to Proton because I use all the products on their suite. It makes financial sense to me.

Mullvad, however, has the best VPN experience ever. Faster, more stable and way less Captchas (though I'm not sure that's good?). Plus, I love their bullshit free pricing. It's 5 euros a month regardless if you buy 1 month or 2 years. Can't recommend it enough, even though I'm no longer a customer.

iiGxC ,

Yep, I switched because I was moving away from the proton ecosystem lol. Their poor google-free android support for mail, and awful linux vpn support (they have a hard dependency on networkmanager, but I don't use NM, I use iwd) plus no ipv6 pushed me away

pathief ,
@pathief@lemmy.world avatar

Yep, I know exactly what you mean. Lack of ipv6 is mind blowing, to be honest.

refalo ,

Nice try FBI.

But seriously... if everyone knew about better options, I think they would already be blocked too :)

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

You make a good point.

therealjcdenton ,
@therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip avatar

Nice try fed, won't narrow me down that easily

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Too late for this joke

TheAnonymouseJoker ,

I know your local IP address. 127.0.0.1 and now you will be caught.

therealjcdenton ,
@therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip avatar

Delete this comment you're doxxing me bud

TheAnonymouseJoker ,

Unfortunately, the internet does not forget and forgive. It was your fault.

Broken ,

Proton and Mullvad are the only 2 I'd trust. I suspect that they get similar results.

Proton has gotten a lot better since launch, but it's always a moving target with these things. I really only have issues with some store sites that just don't load with a VPN, which only tells me I don't want to shop there.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

IVPN and AirVPN are also very trustworthy and pretty popular in the privacy community

user224 , (edited )
@user224@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

ProtonVPN free (paid is still too expensive for me) and Mullvad.

I find that Mullvad is usually blocked more.

For the past 3 or 4 years I was just on ProtonVPN free tier. For past 15 days I am using Mullvad. I really like that you can choose some custom ports for WireGuard, and also the multihop.
What is unfortunate is that I can't generate separate credentials for OpenVPN, like with ProtonVPN. It just uses account ID.

I have also tried IVPN for a week. Nicer UI, but a bit more expensive, sort of. They have variable pricing based on subscription length, and that just makes me dislike them enough to stick with Mullvad. €5/month whether it's 1 month, 6 months, a year or longer.
I don't remember what specifically it was, but I know I also preferred the Mullvad's ToS over IVPN, although both are fine.

I also thought of AirVPN because of port forwarding, but for privacy I'll stick to Mullvad.

What surprised me with Mullvad was the payment processing speed. It only took 4 days from me dropping the envelope with money into mail collection box in Slovakia to me getting the time added. Considering that shipping to Sweden is "3-5 days", they must have just processed that basically immediately.
But perhaps I was just lucky. I'll see the next time.

greywolf0x1 ,

this is the life i deserve, not the one i have

Imprint9816 ,

Mullvad, IVPN, Proton, AirVPN, or Windscribe are all fine. Depending on how much stock you put into audits the first three are probably a tier above for privacy.

RmDebArc_5 ,
@RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works avatar

Not really answering your question, but there is this open source extensions that automatically solves captchas locally

classic ,

The irony of this lol

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

The fact that this even exists is hilarious. Not to mention that it's actually a "featured" extension in the Chrome Web Store. Google is actively promoting a product that defeats their own product.

Have you used it? Does it work?

RmDebArc_5 ,
@RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works avatar

It worked well enough, but since I haven’t used it in a while I can’t say how it holds up

FutileRecipe ,

when humans were asked to solve distorted text CAPTCHAs, they were able to solve them in 9 to 15 seconds...and were only able to get the answer correctly 50-84% of the time....bots taking the same texts were able to answer the same tests in less than a second, and they were able to do it more accurately — 99.8% accurately, specifically.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/bots-better-at-solving-captchas-than-humans

gusgalarnyk ,

I've been using Nord VPN for years. Maybe someone can educate me on why it's not good but I've had zero issues with it and it allows me to do everything I need to for a great price.

BackOnMyBS ,
@BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world avatar

If I remember correctly, NordVPN keeps logs So, if a govt ever subpoenas their data, users can have their privacy violated.

xenspidey , (edited )

Nord says they don't keep logs. Who knows if they actually do or not.

irreticent ,
@irreticent@lemmy.world avatar

"NordVPN is clarifying that it will comply with information requests from international law enforcement after publishing a blog post in 2017 saying that it wouldn’t."

So, it seems they'll turn on logging if asked nicely enough.

xenspidey ,

I'm the same, it has wonderful Linux support

MrDrillerArcade ,

I'd be interested to hear some evidence of why it's bad too

Pantherina ,

VPNs are not meant for privacy. The concept is clunky, as is the concept of our internet.

Tor or I2P are made for privacy, but the interactions with the clearnet have the same problems, you need a legal entity hosting the server, IPs are known and can be blocked etc.

Hosting your own VPN does not anonymize you anymore but is very unlikely to get blocked.

iliketurtles ,

Windscribe...had it for a few years now and seems fine. I'll probably look into proton or mulvad when my subscription runs out, but I'd re-up if I find another subscription deal.

Microplasticbrain ,

Best thing i ever bought was my lifetime subscription for $40

LemmyKnowsBest ,

um I don't use a vpn. Please tell me why I should use a VPN. It's just something that costs money that seems unnecessary. I have nothing to hide. Why are you all hiding behind VPNs? What am I missing?

pipariturbiini ,
@pipariturbiini@sopuli.xyz avatar

It protects your data from snooping or man-in-the-middle attacks on untrusted networks. Or your internet service provider.

hperrin ,

Not really. Unless you’re visiting unencrypted websites. If you’re using HTTPS and DNS over HTTPS, your ISP can only see what IP address you’re connecting to, not the traffic.

duckythescientist ,

Because mainstream porn sites are blocked or require age verification in my state. Other good reasons are to avoid some issues when torrenting things or to "be" in another country to get around Netflix and other streaming service region blocks.

Privacy and avoiding man in the middle is kinda bullshit. Nearly all websites use TLS, so mitm isn't possible. And it's only privacy from your ISP.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

To prevent your activity being tracked across the web.

If "you have nothing to hide" then you're in the wrong place.

LemmyKnowsBest ,

I'm in the wrong place? You mean this place privacy@lemmy.ml ? Now I'm curious what y'all here are hiding.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Now I'm curious what y'all here are hiding.

Everything we possibly can, because it's nobody's God damn business.

hperrin ,

A VPN doesn’t protect you the way OP thinks it does. It just hides your IP address from the websites you visit. Of course, now instead of one website seeing that you visited it, one organization can see everything you visit.

Basically it just moves your trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. So yeah, if you don’t need that, and you don’t need to get around geo blocks, you don’t need a VPN.

NotSpez ,

I believe there is clear evidence/jurisprudence showing that (at least some of the trustworthy) VPN providers donnot keep ANY data.

firefly ,
@firefly@neon.nightbulb.net avatar

@helenslunch

"I have nothing to hide ..."

Nice story, bro.

When you post a real photograph of yourself, wife, kids, and all your social security numbers and bank account numbers, along with a complete history of all video rentals and library books, and your private confessions of folly, vice, and sin-- post all that on your Lemmy profile, then I'll believe you have nothing to hide.

LemmyKnowsBest ,

My wife? Gross! I'm heterosexual woman. and everything else you described, except for social security numbers, sounds a lot like Facebook. Which I don't use.

BackOnMyBS ,
@BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world avatar

  1. It obscures your IP so that sites don't know who you are by that, but really, they can just fingerprint your browser if you're not addressing that too.

  2. You can present your location to a site as being from any where the VPN has a server. Say you want to watch something that is only available to users in Canada, but you live in Mexico. You can use the VPN to present yourself to the site as being in Canada and watch it. Unfortunately, some sites are blocking content from being accessed by known VPN IP addresses. I think Netflix is one. Frustrating to me, lemmy.world doesn't let anyone post or comment while using a VPN, though I understand that it's for valid security and admin purposes, such as to reduce CASM material.

  3. More importantly, it encrypts your data between you and the VPN. That means that no one between you two knows what the info you're transmitting means. This includes your ISP that likely collects/sells your data or could report it to authorities. Additionally, it protects you from people that can join your wifi and steal your data that way, say at a public wifi like a coffee shop.

Personally, I use a VPN as much as possible, especially when I'm connected to any wifi outside of my home. In fact, I will absolutely not access security-sensitive sites (e.g. bank accounts, credit cards, etc.) on public wifi without using my VPN.

lemmyreader ,

um I don’t use a vpn. Please tell me why I should use a VPN.

It is up to you to use a VPN or not. Some people use a VPN to watch regular TV series which are blocked in their own country. Some people, like myself, despise the ad- and tracking- exploitation industry, other people may want to download e-books from anna's archive or simply do not trust their ISP. Other people live in countries where their government is very oppressive and intends to arrest and torture any critical voices.

I have nothing to hide.

Reminds me of : "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say."

Recommended viewing : https://piped.video/results?search_query=Shoshana+Zuboff

TheOSINTguy ,

You have nothing to hide huh... So you take a shit with the stall door open?

notnotmike ,
@notnotmike@programming.dev avatar

Apparently unpopular but I use Mozilla VPN

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

HOW DARE YOU

Grass ,

Wasn't it just rebadged mullvad?

Tenkard ,

Yes. I used it too for a year but the clients were bad

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

You're fine, it's basically just rebranded Mullvad VPN

But at that point, you can just cut out the middle man and use Mullvad directly, I think their clients are much better and offer more features. They also don't require your email address and you can pay anonymously with crypto.

notnotmike ,
@notnotmike@programming.dev avatar

Actually, the middle man is why I picked them... I'm just trying to give Mozilla extra revenue streams besides donations from Google.

But it is good to know its at least not a bad option. Their client is decent enough, I have no problems with it, so I'm happy to continue to support them and think of it as a monthly donation

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Ok that makes sense, but wtf I just realized that it's $10/month, Mullvad is 5€ which is $5.38 and they even give you a 10% discount if you pay with crypto

ahal ,

It's $5/month with an annual subscription, but then you can't go month to month like Mullvad.

devfuuu , (edited )

Been using mullvad for at least 3 years, no major problems so far.

Currently I'm not using it so much and my subscription ended 2 months ago, so I'm using the free version of proton which is good enough for the basics of using public wifi.

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