this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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There's way too much hype over VPN Providers, but do not forget, you are routing all your traffic through their servers

As a general advice, if a VPN provider keeps logs of your activity, does not allow you to pay with crypto, and generally spends way too much on youtube ads is probably not an ideal choice.

Do not follow any advice/recommendation blindly, do your own research on which one offers the best service for your own needs.

TorrentFreak Q&A with VPN Providers

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Something that people need to realize: If you want a VPN for PRIVACY, Mullvad (edit: also maybe IVPN) is the only good option on this list. They make it very easy for you to maintain complete anonymity, they don't even WANT your email address, you can use crypto, or you can literally mail them an envelope of cash with a note inside containing your unique ID and they'll load up your account with that value. It's ridiculous how seriously they take this stuff. And if you're really concerned about privacy, you should also be taking extra steps like using a hardened OS and browser, and using disposable virtual machines. But I suspect that most of us here aren't that concerned with actual privacy.

If you want a VPN for PIRACY, any of these options are probably fine as long as they don't block or slow torrent traffic. Just use the fastest one here that you can afford. The only thing you're really doing in this case is blocking your torrent traffic from your ISP. Remember, if you give them a credit card and your email address, then that's not private! It's just for piracy. It's important to look at your priorities and pick a VPN accordingly.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

IVPN and Mullvad are probably the only two that give a shit about privacy. Neither require email or credit cards, and accept cash.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If someone starts his list with NordVPN you know its complete and utter bullshit

[–] Ilandar 10 points 1 year ago (6 children)

That's not how the annual Torrentfreak VPN questionnaire works.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I still highly recommend Mullvad, they are generally an awesome company and havent had many issues with them beyond a few random sites blocking them which is to be expected.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Mullvad used to be the no-brainer choice until they stopped supporting port forwarding. I kinda need it for seeding. ProtonVPN seems like a good idea for now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I find that weird that so many struggle without port forwarding... my seeding is going just fine without port forwarding.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

You'll be fine in public trackers without port forwarding due to the abundance of participants. In private trackers, it matters much more.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I switched to Torguard and have gotten MUCH better speeds than I do with Proton and marginally better speeds than Mullvad. I had issues setting up port forwarding, but it was user error and Torguard customer support is next fucking level so I got that taken care of.

Overall, no complaints so far.

They also accept crypto payments, however there is an email requirement.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They recently got visited by officers of the country they’re in. The officers didn’t find shit (no logs, no ips, nothing)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I fully believe this is true, however do you have an article or anything about it?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use Mozilla VPN, which I believe is just a rebranded Mullvad

never had any issues!

[–] Ilandar 6 points 1 year ago

I'd like to use Mozilla VPN so I can support them financially (big Firefox user) but it's still unavailable in my country. I've given up hope at this stage.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I would still be using mullvad if they hadn't removed port forwarding -- it's too damn bad but I get why they needed it. Switched to Proton but I imagine they'll run into the same issue down the road and will need to find a more permanent solution.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I use it for 2 years unfortunately from July 1 port forwarding will be removed. Had to switch to another vpn.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Wasn’t PIA bought out by a company that keeps logs a couple years ago? Interesting it made it on this list.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

The list are not recommended VPN Providers, they are anything but private since they are using Google services etc

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've been using PIA for years. I didn't know about that. If I were to switch to a new company, any recommendations?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

It was a whole hoopla but to what I know they still don't keep logs. I believe one of the times they were asked to appear in court (and gave nothing) was since the purchase.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Yes they were bought by an Israeli spyware company.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been using Proton VPN for years without issue. They don't keep any logs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I switched all my stuff to proton and I am very happy with them.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I use Mullvad. They have you buy time upfront at a fixed price, have lots of payment options, and at one point were subpoenaed and proved to the Swedish government they don't store any user data and therefore have nothing to turn over. They have a nice app too, I like them.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Mysterium Network

If you want privacy and great speeds better to use a dVPN.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anyone used ProtonVPN before? What's your thought?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I recently made the switch from Surfshark to Mullvad. No real complaints about the actual VPN service with Surfshark, but the desktop app was constantly advertising their other products and was becoming bloated. Mullvad just does what I want it to do with little fuss.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So how bad is nord vpn seeing as that is all over YouTube?

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