Any recommendations for a VPN? I have been using Nord for the past 3 years. Coming up for renewal at $99 / 30 months. What are you folks using? My use case is very limited (mostly for work - occasionally). And should work decently over both a Mac and an iPhone. Why am I looking to change? Nord started out well - but for the past many months, it takes a while to connect and once in two times, I need to disconnect & reconnect before it latches on.

Used ExpressVPN until 2020 in multiple countries and was very fast. Looks like owners of PIA ^ acquired them last year.

Most of these VPNs aren't exactly known for their privacy. Try one of Mullvad or Proton VPN or IVPN. They aren't exactly cheap but have best privacy practices and well audited companies. Most of these discounted VPNs are owned by couple of companies only which are shady companies with disturbing practices and hacks

Mullvad is good experience for me though i don't use it heavily

I found vpntierlist.com recently

Hey I'd like to learn more about these privacy concerns, you mean they sell our browsing data? For me the PIA experience was pretty good, they have an option to signup anonymously, just use a throwaway email and pay in crypto. Also both ProtonVPN and PIA just self publish a transparency report. Afaict cant find solid evidence that point to PIA being less safe and Proton being more safe. All the review sites look like ads to me. Do you guys mind sharing any links.

Thanks @bitter-salesclerk-57109 Went with hide.me via the link you shared. Got a $94 / 3 year deal via the affiliate link. It looks decent with Fire TV support. I also got US Netflix streaming on my Mac - something I Have never been able to do via Nord. 👍

Awesome, let us know how it works in a few days. I’m looking for one too 😄

Seems decent. @bitter-salesclerk-57109 These are the speed test results. All test servers are Pune in 3 of these cases. Other things: + Was able to stream from Netflix US (hopefully this keeps working) + FireTV support (not tried as yet) + 10 devices allowed + Speedtest looks decent

I use ExpressVPN. Netflix works through their endpoints, even when connecting back to India. Also tested this with Hotstar, Prime - but they don't actively solve for those. Downside is that they are expensive.

This site is very good for Privacy and Security Education and reviews. It has associated Youtube Channel which I follow. VPN Reviews: https://techlore.tech/vpn

I have the same question with an additional requirement that I need something that works with Hotstar

Mulvad if it's not for streaming

My rule - Never use any VPN that requires linking an email address. Some top executives at ExpressVPN were involved in spying operations Mullvad - seems to be the most trustworthy but its quite slow iVPN - allows both email + non-email based accounts. Speed is quite good.

Cloudflare Warp / 1.1.1.1 Free.

Regarding privacy, I have quite a controversial take in that --- if I am looking for "cheap" deals for VPN services, I am probably not worth spying on anyways. Besides, with regards to blackbox things - like VPN, cloud connected cameras, etc. I go with the assumption that it is not going to be as secure as they promise it is. (For example, the recent Wyze debacle) In the end, it is a trade off that I need to think of. Am I OK with someone spying on what sites I am visiting as long as I get to use a VPN / stream US Netflix / etc? (Meh) Would I rather have a security camera put in to prevent my house from being robbed versus some guy in China viewing my door - or who comes in goes out? (Meh) The choice is simple. I can go with a $250 nest subscription which promises to be secure (but you never know) versus a $10 Wyze subscription. For me, the extra $240 is not worth it for the value I extract from the service.

I tried cloudflare warp for about 6 months, it frequently has connection problems.

@careful-napkin-30353 I don't trust anyone. Which means if I really am doing something which needs proper security, I'll make sure to cover my tracks, either use a couple of VPNS, TOR, etc. or really pay well for a service that I know has these assurances. Unfortunately, in most B2C services, no matter what they say, there will always be loopholes and exploits.

trusting no-one makes sense. but in reality, we have to trust either the ISP or the VPN provider. given ISPs are regulated by government as a rule (not sure how effectively they do it, there are some recommendations from TRAI regarding data privacy but it's not a regulation) and a VPN providers are not, would you still trust VPN provider which is an independent entity? that's the question i was stuck at.

@careful-napkin-30353 I am not looking at VPN from a privacy view point. It is more of a convenience - so I really don't care about that. Same from my ISP's point of view. So it knows what sites I visit and how much Netflix I watch or what I am downloading. I really don't care about that.