Bitcoins

[worthingsaxovtr]

Hi

Trying to get my head round bitcoins, understand the process.

As want to sign up to Mullvad using bitcoins.

Are they secure and anymous, where is the best place to tansfer funds from say a card payment into bitcoins to pay for a service.

Cheers

 

[d_brennen]

I think the ship sailed on bitcoins. Unless you feel you need higher electricity bills in your life, it might not be worth your time getting to understand it...

e: Re read your post. You want to buy bitcoins. Don't bother, most porn sites take paypal these days lol

 

[KIA]

https://bitbargain.co.uk/tutorial
https://bitbargain.co.uk/buy

 

[Rainmaker]

I think the ship sailed on bitcoins. Unless you feel you need higher electricity bills in your life, it might not be worth your time getting to understand it...

e: Re read your post. You want to buy bitcoins. Don't bother, most porn sites take paypal these days lol

Since the OP said he wanted to use them to buy a VPN, I assume that - like myself - he wants to add an additional anonymity layer with an untraceable payment. You would need to buy the BC on an exchange and then put them through a rinser, effectively. I'm only just looking into it but I do know from memory that Google has good guides. That said, uKash is a good alternative as you can just buy a voucher for cash in any local newsagent or shop with a PayPoint. Then use the voucher code online. Anonymous and fast, though they do charge a small commission.

BTW don't bother with Mulvad, the service is flaky. I got a year with PrivateInternetAccess for £20 on their Labor Day sale, but it still only works out at about £2.xx a month if you buy at regular prices. They allow five devices from multiple IP addresses, and have a Windows client, Linux script and allow the usual OpenVPN, IPSEC/L2TP and PPTP (but don't use the latter, it's insecure). I regularly max my 100Mbps cable line no problems, they're torrent friendly, keep NO logs, and have tons of servers to choose from. You get a free SOCKS5 proxy included, as well as the ability to port forward (for full speed torrenting).

Anonymity wise they're excellent and very clued up network-wise, with great support as I found out with a support ticket over trivial iptables issues in Linux. I should add I get nothing for recommending them, I'm just a satisfied customer who'd tried several of the big name VPN companies before these and found them all lacking until finally trying PIA.

If you're really wanting good anonymity though I'd ditch Windows altogether. It has proven integrated backdoors planted by Microsoft for the NSA (including extra keys in ADVAPI.dll for them) and tbh selling 'secure' software to the public then selling the keys to governments is one hell of a good racket if you can get away with it. Not so great for user privacy though! If true privacy is important to you grab a proper open-source Linux distro and set up your tunnel over 4096 bit OpenVPN.

OpenSUSE, Fedora, Mint, Ubuntu et al. all have one-click VPN networking built right into the taskbar's network applet. Simples. Hope this helped.

 

[KIA]

PrivateInternetAccess is an American company...

 

[Rainmaker]

PrivateInternetAccess is an American company...

Yes, making it (ironically) in a jurisdiction which - unlike the UK, or indeed the EU - doesn't have mandatory data retention laws. This means it can get away with not keeping ANY logs about customers connecting to the servers, what shared (and dynamic) IP address they were allocated, and/or what they did while connected.

They cover this issue quite well, if you'd care to read. I was more than satisfied and they are vociferously active in campaigning (and advising the public) on developments regarding PRISM, BullRun, EdgeHill etc. They have also doubled server capacity, and added 4096 bit OpenVPN (as opposed to industry standard 256bit), as well as working with renowned privacy activists to implement all kinds of new encryption algorithms to help confound NSA and GCHQ (et al.) efforts.

I'm more than satisfied, and at the end of the day at £1.xx a month it's an inexpensive second layer of security... and certainly one the MPAA, BPI et al. can't bypass.

 

[KIA]

I wouldn't take their word for it. There's no way of telling if they've been forced by the NSA to give access to customer data.

Have they said if they'll shut down the service instead of giving access to security agencies if push comes to shove?

 

[Rainmaker]

I wouldn't take their word for it. There's no way of telling if they've been forced by the NSA to give access to customer data.

Have they said if they'll shut down the service instead of giving access to security agencies if push comes to shove?

They've been very vocal about it, yes. They are also working with the likes of Bruce Schneier to harden the service, as I said. They've publicly spoken out against PRISM, denied any involvement with government agencies, and spoken of their contingency plans to move overseas and/or close the service if they were ever faced with such an ultimatum. They're also developing elliptical curve 4096 bit OpenVPN with Bruce to help ensure the privacy of members in light of the ongoing revelations as more papers are published.

First, let us make it clear that our company, nor anyone in our company has ever worked with the NSA, CIA, FBI, or other intelligence agency on any government surveillance or information collection project. In fact, the members of our company are strongly passionate about protecting the civil liberties of individuals. It is a foregone conclusion that if our company ever received an invite or request to participate in PRISM or any other government surveillance program, that we would immediately challenge the request. Our Company strongly supports and donates to legal organizations that value internet freedom and privacy such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), and Fight For the Future (FFTF). We would certainly employ the resources of these legal defense organizations were we asked to participate in one or more of the aforementioned programs. It is our understanding that intelligence agencies have backed down when challenged in federal court regarding these types of matters. Finally, we have already come to the conclusion that were we forced to participate in a state-sponsored surveillance and/or intelligence gathering program which we ideologically and philosophically oppose, we would rather shut down than betray the privacy of our customers.

Horse's mouth.

 

[KIA]

First, let us make it clear that our company, nor anyone in our company has ever worked with the NSA, CIA, FBI, or other intelligence agency on any government surveillance or information collection project.

They wouldn't be allowed to say if they had received an NSL.

 

[worthingsaxovtr]

Thanks for the replies, in the end gave some money to a friend who put it on his card. So no traces back to my bank account.

 

[hugobosslives]

......
You get a free SOCKS5 proxy included, as well as the ability to port forward (for full speed torrenting)
......

hey buddy. don't mean to half hijack this thread but I use PIA and like you still get amazing speeds on an 80mb fibre line

However, when torrenting get ridiculously rubbish speeds under vpn. and its not the seeds. if I re-route the connection to not use the vpn it will shoot up to much better speeds.

therefore your comment quoted above grabbed my attention....

please explain how you do it

 

[KIA]

However, when torrenting get ridiculously rubbish speeds under vpn. and its not the seeds. if I re-route the connection to not use the vpn it will shoot up to much better speeds.

therefore your comment quoted above grabbed my attention....

please explain how you do it

Did you forward a port to make yourself connectable?

 

[Rainmaker]

hey buddy. don't mean to half hijack this thread but I use PIA and like you still get amazing speeds on an 80mb fibre line

However, when torrenting get ridiculously rubbish speeds under vpn. and its not the seeds. if I re-route the connection to not use the vpn it will shoot up to much better speeds.

therefore your comment quoted above grabbed my attention....

please explain how you do it

Drop me a mail in Trust if you get stuck mate, as there's only so much I'd want to say on here publicly. Basically if you're on the Windows client tick the box for port forwarding in the Advanced menu.

Then when you connect (it has to be Netherlands for forwarding) you'll get a tooltip popup over the little green icon by the clock whenever you hover your mouse over it. Usually it simply says PIA - connected or similar (I'm on Linux so going from memory from when I had a Windows box). But once you've enabled forwarding that'll change to PIA - Connected (82376) with that number being the forwarded port. Then it's simply a matter of forwarding the listed port in your router to point to your desktop.

So if you're on LAN IP 192.168.0.2 make that static in the router so you always get it, and then forward port (whatever) to that IP. It's easy and if you don't know how to do it then PortForward.com will give you a walk-through guide based on your exact router model.

You should see much better speeds after that, and connecting over TCP instead of UDP (again in Advanced) can help too if you're still not seeing proper speeds. Make sure in your torrent client that you have NOT ticked uPNP, NAT-PMP or similar. But DO ensure you enter the port that the PIA app gives you as your only torrent port, and tick to use the same port for peer connections (DHT, PEx) and trackers.

 

[hugobosslives]

Did you forward a port to make yourself connectable?

not quite sure what you mean here. i clicked port forwarding in the client? my background is more in non-internet software so the language of routeing confuses me

Drop me a mail in Trust if you get stuck mate, as there's only so much I'd want to say on here publicly. Basically if you're on the Windows client tick the box for port forwarding in the Advanced menu.

Then when you connect (it has to be Netherlands for forwarding) you'll get a tooltip popup over the little green icon by the clock whenever you hover your mouse over it. Usually it simply says PIA - connected or similar (I'm on Linux so going from memory from when I had a Windows box). But once you've enabled forwarding that'll change to PIA - Connected (82376) with that number being the forwarded port. Then it's simply a matter of forwarding the listed port in your router to point to your desktop.

So if you're on LAN IP 192.168.0.2 make that static in the router so you always get it, and then forward port (whatever) to that IP. It's easy and if you don't know how to do it then PortForward.com will give you a walk-through guide based on your exact router model.

You should see much better speeds after that, and connecting over TCP instead of UDP (again in Advanced) can help too if you're still not seeing proper speeds. Make sure in your torrent client that you have NOT ticked uPNP, NAT-PMP or similar. But DO ensure you enter the port that the PIA app gives you as your only torrent port, and tick to use the same port for peer connections (DHT, PEx) and trackers.

I completely understood all of that until the last paragraph

You have to pick a netherlands server? that might explain some of it. I normally use the uk or france. Does only that server support it?

right. onto the last paragraph.... I use utorrent if that helps.... I generally leave all the porting stuff to the default settings. I only change the other settings so I'm not sure what you mean with some of those acronyms.

I use PIA 90% on the time on windows and the rest on fedora manually (need windows a lot for all the program compatibility). Presumably this stuff doesn't matter if you are connecting to the router via wifi or via a gigabit port? it varies depending on which device I use.....

edit: thanks for replying by the way. very helpful/interesting

 

[Rainmaker]

I completely understood all of that until the last paragraph

Let's see what we can do.

You have to pick a netherlands server? that might explain some of it. I normally use the uk or france. Does only that server support it?

UK (London or Southampton) don't support forwarding but I've just checked PIA's site and France does. The full list is:

Enable port forwarding in the application by entering the Advanced area, enabling port forwarding and selecting one of the following gateways:

Netherlands
Switzerland
CA North York
CA Toronto
Romania
Sweden
France
Germany

After enabling port forwarding and re-connecting to one of the above gateways, please hover your mouse over the System Tray or Menu Bar icon to reveal the tooltip which will display the port number. You can then enter this port into your software.

So...

right. onto the last paragraph.... I use utorrent if that helps.... I generally leave all the porting stuff to the default settings. I only change the other settings so I'm not sure what you mean with some of those acronyms.

You need to enter the port that's forwarded into uTorrent. So if PIA tells you it's forwarded 8373 you need to enter port 8373 into uTorrent's port box and UNTICK the 'use random port each time' box. In fact here's a quick guide by a different company, you can follow this for what to tick and untick - EXCEPT don't use the SOCKS5 proxy section because you don't really need that since you have a full VPN.

https://torrentprivacy.com/index.php?mod=v2_faq_steps&select=1

I use PIA 90% on the time on windows and the rest on fedora manually (need windows a lot for all the program compatibility). Presumably this stuff doesn't matter if you are connecting to the router via wifi or via a gigabit port? it varies depending on which device I use.....

edit: thanks for replying by the way. very helpful/interesting

Doesn't matter how you connect to the router, though ethernet will give you way faster speeds and stability usually. I use Linux too, and there's a forwarding script available for Linux on PIA's forum.

Regardless, you'll need to get the port number as above, and also forward it through the router to your LAN IP. The site I linked earlier (PortForward) will show you how. So in summary:

* Change to a server supporting forwarding (which France does)
* Connect to PIA and note the port number it gives you
* Enter that port number into uTorrent so that it connects on the right port
* Forward that port in the router so the traffic actually reaches your PC

Good luck.

 

[hugobosslives]

Regardless, you'll need to get the port number as above, and also forward it through the router to your LAN IP. The site I linked earlier (PortForward) will show you how. So in summary:

* Change to a server supporting forwarding (which France does)
* Connect to PIA and note the port number it gives you
* Enter that port number into uTorrent so that it connects on the right port
* Forward that port in the router so the traffic actually reaches your PC

Good luck.

right thanks for the help. really good explanation

everything looks pretty simple when explained like that so for the router thing i just do something like this?

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/VirginMedia/Super_Hub_2/Utorrent.htm

i'm not actually at home now so can't try it out. but when i'm back next week and have some time i'll give it a try. will report back if anything goes wrong

 

[Rainmaker]

right thanks for the help. really good explanation

everything looks pretty simple when explained like that so for the router thing i just do something like this?

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/VirginMedia/Super_Hub_2/Utorrent.htm

i'm not actually at home now so can't try it out. but when i'm back next week and have some time i'll give it a try. will report back if anything goes wrong

No worries. Just out of interest I did a speedtest just now while connected to PIA's Netherlands node. Pleased, but not surprised, at the results.



Bear in mind I'm on 120/12 cable so that's basically my line max. I am using Linux though so I wouldn't expect to see results that close to the 'real' connection under Windows.

 

[KIA]

You do not need to touch your routers configuration.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/client-support/

After enabling port forwarding and re-connecting to one of the above gateways, please hover your mouse over the System Tray or Menu Bar icon to reveal the tooltip which will display the port number. You can then enter this port into your software.

It's extremely straight forward.

 

[Rainmaker]

Sorry you´re right about that one; I´m getting mixed up with the SOCK5 proxy (which does require port 1080 forwarding). Other than that crack on.