Welcome to Incremental Social! Learn more about this project here!
Check out lemmyverse to find more communities to join from here!

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.

telep ,

unfortunately the blocking of servers is a perpetual battle that plauges almost any publicly listed proxy (vpns, tor, etc). the only way I have found around it is using lesser known/blocked VPNs or residential proxies. both of which probably have subpar data privacy policies, if they even follow them at all.

althought it likely won't help your captcha troubles, I would like to give a huge +1 to mullvad. have been a happy customer for years. in compsrison to proton as a company they have a much more direct/benifitial effect on the web & furthuring users privacy online in my eyes.

Eol ,

I don't think there is one. Nord has dedicated IPs you can buy and use so that it's always "your IP" but I'm not sure if they actually solve the blocks and captcha issues.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

That sounds like it would defeat the purpose of the VPN almost entirely.

refalo ,

Some only use a VPN for geoblocks, like to watch the Netflix content of another country... and in that case I think it makes more sense.

Eol ,

wHaT aRe U uSiNg ur VPN fOr? /S

x86x87 ,

Nord is one of the worst VPNs I have used. Would not recommend

Rai ,

What problems do you have with it? I’ve been using it for years without issues, so I’m genuinely curious. At first it couldn’t handle gigabit speeds but now I can get 90+MB/s from other countries.

anton2492 ,

Please don't downvote this [too much] but...

I'm not seeing ExpressVPN get mentioned here or elsewhere anymore except for the odd YouTube ad (perhaps this is already a tell-tale sign).

Their website states that they run it off RAM and they don't keep logs.

Is there something wrong with it / did something happen to it that I'm not aware of? (I've been a customer of theirs for some time now)

My aim with using VPN is to maintain data privacy across my Windows, iOS and Android devices, and be able to access geofenced media (e.g. a different country's Netflix library), with minimal to no access issues during browsing or streaming. What's the go-to these days?

greywolf0x1 ,

why are ppl scared of downvotes or being downvoted?

Ilandar ,

I think they cause a lot of people psychological distress, either because they can't handle disagreements or because they interpret them as a personal attack. If this sounds like you (the person reading this comment), please do yourself a favour and disable scores in Lemmy's settings. You don't have to live with reddit's moronic upvote/downvote culture here.

Upstream7564 ,

https://embed.kumu.io/9ced55e897e74fd807be51990b26b415#vpn-company-relationships/express-vpn

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It's owned by Kape Technologies, the same companies that owns other garbage VPN providers like CyberGhost and PIA

pineapplelover ,

Proton, sometimes you might need to connect to a random server like something in Philippines for example, then you won't get captcha. If I encounter a site that flags my server then I do that.

bloodfart ,

Mullvad air and proton. Several computers and infrastructure thingys I have access too in addition to a handful of vpses. Nebula for overlay networking.

lemmyreader ,

Depends on use case and the country. I use Mullvad and Riseup VPN and something private (and Tor). Sometimes when a site has Mullvad in Europe blocked, it works when I try one of their servers outside of Europe. In my experience Mullvad is awesome, and you can try it for one month. And Mullvad, the no nonsense VPN provider, has had the same prize since years! (And no discounts like Proton trying to get you sign up for a year or more trying to keep you with Proton).

greywolf0x1 ,

how did you get a riseup vpn account?

lemmyreader ,

No need to have an account.
https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=riseup

sasquash ,

try to connect to newer servers. solves these kind of issues often but ofc not always.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

How do you know which ones are "new"? I've tried to switch servers but there are literally hundreds and I can't try them all.

sasquash ,

by its name. the higher the number the newer the server.

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I see, thanks for the tip!

refalo ,

Isn't this just a cat-and-mouse or whack-a-mole situation? If the people who create these block lists can also see the new IPs just by having that service, they can also add them to block lists.

sasquash ,

yes. I guess there is no other way then adding new severs and changing IP's regularly.

UckyBon ,

I use both AirVPN and Mullvad, and certain websites block them too, but it depends on which country and which server you're connected too.

Freuks ,
@Freuks@lemmy.ml avatar

Using Ivpn mainly, Mullvad and Windscribe secondly. Good ones

LostAndSmelly ,

I'm using SurfShark. I have not seen it once in the discussion so far. Is there something I don't know that I should?

helenslunch OP ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Haven't looked into them specifically but Proton and Mullvad have been around and have a good reputation with the privacy community.

Salix ,

If you don't need port forwarding, Mullvad is my pick. Since they got rid of port forwarding, I've moved to AirVPN and am happy with them. I just dislike AirVPNs' GUI app, Eddie. I mainly use Wireguard directly for their servers.

RecursiveParadox ,
@RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world avatar

Not OP but can I just comment that there are some high-quality answers here, good discussion. Thanks!

totikom ,

Geph were not mentioned yet. It will likely not solve the problem mentioned by OP, but it is VERY censorship resistant.

mypasswordis1234 ,
@mypasswordis1234@lemmy.world avatar

WireGuard

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

That's not a VPN provider, just a protocol

exu ,
@exu@feditown.com avatar

AirVPN, but only for its port forwarding to sail the high seas.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • privacy@lemmy.ml
  • random
  • incremental_games
  • meta
  • All magazines
    •