Soldato
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Replace ‘review’ with ‘referral’ and all becomes clear.


+1. Nord are just one of the more pushy affiliate-based VPNs. Not all providers with affiliate schemes are bad, and in fact some of the best still have some type of affiliate scheme (eg refer a friend and we'll give you week for every month they sign up). That said, the more shilly and pushy ones like NordVPN and IPVanish, though, will often give as much as 100% commission to 'review' sites just to drive more traffic through their door. Such sites are little more than click-through affiliate farms and you can often spot those types of VPN 'services' by having massive advertising budgets and not much in the way of solid infrastructure.

For example most of the ones I can think of off the top of my head advertise thousands of locations, which isn't feasible on anything other than VPS. They also have flashy websites full of third party trackers, and all the TV ads and sponsor slots on YouTube and so on. I'd suggest to take recommendations from security professionals and people who you know and trust rather than 'review' sites or what's currently popular.
 
Soldato
Joined
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3,611
Not suprising they are still number 1. Other than them being paid referrals, I doubt many will care about the issue and will just accept nord's statement.

I doubt many that are truly interest in security/anonymity are using nord or the other big providers. Most people seem to just want a vpn to bypass geoblocking and hide behind while torrenting. Won't care about vps vs custom hardware etc, as long as it works.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
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7,252
It scares me how many people want a VPN but don't know why.

Usually because the shady sites/services they use suggest it's a good idea and have a referral link :D

In fairness, it's relative - if you literally need to add the minimum layer of privacy because you don't want the world to know how many cat pictures/videos you view or linux ISO's you download, then feel free to jump on the race to the bottom, your risk profile is minimal. Compare that to someone living under a dictatorial government that requires service providers to log usage, restrict access to non approved sites and routinely investigates/detains people with minimal judicial oversight. Once upon a time, that would be a reference to far eastern countries, now the lines are a lot more blurred.
 
Associate
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28 Feb 2011
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Norwich
I need a new vpn. Though avast secureline does netflix fine in its streaming servers but the 60% reduction in speed makes p2p very tedious.

Not nord or pia, both with their shady call outs.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
Posts
7,252
I need a new vpn. Though avast secureline does netflix fine in its streaming servers but the 60% reduction in speed makes p2p very tedious.

Not nord or pia, both with their shady call outs.

You're using Avast, and calling out Nord and PIA? That's impressive, but not in a good way. It's a rebranded HideMyAss product (Avast purchased them a few years back), perhaps have a look into the history of HMA before you go any further? People are currently in jail because HMA folded like origami when leaned on by the US authorities, I wouldn't trust them with kitten pictures, let alone anything mildly questionable. Nord/PIA (and for that matter most VPN providers) tend to have periodic issues, sometimes provider specific, sometimes it's a wider issue, but neither of them have admitted to handing users over to authorities, let alone been indignant about doing so. Also a UK based VPN provider is just a horrible idea, our privacy laws are arguably worse than the US and most dictator run countries.
 
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Soldato
Joined
14 Oct 2009
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UK
Anyone here use Mullvad?

Has the additional privacy layer of not requiring a sign up with your name and address etc, it works a bit differently to most VPN from what I can see in that sense.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Aug 2007
Posts
9,710
Location
Liverpool
Anyone here use Mullvad?

Has the additional privacy layer of not requiring a sign up with your name and address etc, it works a bit differently to most VPN from what I can see in that sense.

Mullvad are one of the more decent VPNs, and they also offer WireGuard. Their throughput is quite respectable, certainly compared to most major providers.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Oct 2009
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Location
UK
Mullvad are one of the more decent VPNs, and they also offer WireGuard. Their throughput is quite respectable, certainly compared to most major providers.
They seem quite decent price wise. Not as great as some offers you see but of course you can't compare them strictly on that. Cheers for the reply, I think I will go for them.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
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7,252
They seem quite decent price wise. Not as great as some offers you see but of course you can't compare them strictly on that. Cheers for the reply, I think I will go for them.

Some things are hard to put a price on, i’d suggest this is probably one of them.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2016
Posts
79
Does anyone know of a working VPN service from within Dubai (or UAE)?

Know they lock a lot of things like that down over there but my friends are just looking to access iPlayer if possible (they pay license fee on UK home, if an issue). They seem to be having trouble with finding one that works.
Thanks
 
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