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VPN anyone ?

5K views 43 replies 19 participants last post by  Spudd 
#1 ·
Just got myself a Firestick streaming device from Amazon when it was 20% off 2 weeks ago. Mainly to get Netflix with this. Found a lot of advises on line that I should get VPN with this. Also my Norton Security on my computer keep telling me to get their VPN suscription for safe browsing. Is this necessary ? Any of you use VPN service ? If yes, which one ? Thanks.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have been looking at VPNs. I too have Firestick. No real need for VPN (yet!) except for switching location. So far, I am using the free version of Windscribe. It is based in Toronto. https://www.reddit.com/r/Windscribe/ It can be installed direct from app store on Firestick. I have not done that - just using it on computer so far.

Paid versions of Windscribe and others like NORDVPN are not exactly low cost if you only need to use them occasionally.

This site has a comparison of VPNs. Not totally up to date, but lot's of info.

Looking for cheapest pay VPN? I so far have looked at this list:
Fastestvpn https://fastestvpn.com/buy-vpn?a_aid=5b80030f787a0
Surfshark https://surfshark.com/
PIA https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/
PureVPN https://www.purevpn.com/order-now.php?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=aff-35741-vpnservicepro.com
Cyberghost https://www.cyberghostvpn.com
NordVPN https://join.nordvpn.com/order/?menu=pricing
Ivacy https://www.ivacy.com/buy-ivacy-vpn/?utm_source=aff-22035&utm_medium=Affiliate
IPVanish https://www.ipvanish.com/

There are of course hundreds more!

Seems location or jurisdiction of company is important for some (are they likely to be "audited" )
Also method of payment may provide a trail to user.

Just something to research until golf weather returns :) If anyone finds THE best deal, please post :)
 
#9 ·
May the Fourth with you all !

Thank you all for the replies.

I am still contemplating if I need this for normal use. Getting more selection of videos on Netflix is not important to me, The Firestick is mainly for YouTube. I often like to check out the travelling videos there. So I can watch it from my TV instead of the computer. Movies and TV I always get them from my local library. Will take a free one month trial with Netflix and Amazon Prime first and then decide.

A99, do you find the speed ot the internet slow down when you use VPN with the Firestick ?
 
#10 ·
I am still contemplating if I need this for normal use. Getting more selection of videos on Netflix is not important to me, The Firestick is mainly for YouTube. I often like to check out the travelling videos there. So I can watch it from my TV instead of the computer. Movies and TV I always get them from my local library. Will take a free one month trial with Netflix and Amazon Prime first and then decide.

A99, do you find the speed ot the internet slow down when you use VPN with the Firestick ?
If you don't have a specific reason for a VPN (geoblocking, etc) you don't really need it.

VPNs do slow down the connection but for most low bandwidth/slow activities (web browsing, emails, etc) you'll likely not notice it.
 
#13 ·
Netflix doesn't allow VPNs to bypass geoblocking (can only access through non-VPN connections).

I use it to less than fully legally acquire content that is not easily and cheaply available to me, while avoiding any copyright complaints from rightsholders through the ISP.
 
#15 ·
I recently noticed that despite using a VPN, the sites I accessed still knew I was in Canada. Checking into this, I found that one of the possible reasons was because browsers like Chrome, Firefox and others default to providing sites with your location. They 'may' ask you first if it is OK. However, you can turn this off. This article describes the problem and how to turn off geolocation:

https://proprivacy.com/privacy-service/guides/disable-geolocation-in-browsers

There are other ways sites can determine your location, but for now this hopefully cured the problem I had noticed. Won't know for sure until I am out of Canada.
 
#17 ·
I'm not sure what security benefits a VPN really has, so your ISP doesn't know what IP you're connected to, but the VPN provider knows this.
Also several VPN providers sell this data.

So you're basically giving some third party, that you don't know, the information you're trying to hide from your ISP.
 
#18 ·
Also several VPN providers sell this data.
Really? Source? The paid VPNs are selling my data? (I use Nord)

So you're basically giving some third party, that you don't know, the information you're trying to hide from your ISP.
Exactly. A third party domiciled in another country that doesn't keep logs and has no interest in revealing my details.
As opposed to Rogers, Bell, Shaw, etc who would turn over my records in a heartbeat.
 
#21 ·
He goes Jargey, lets use mailing a regular letter as an example.

Regular mail ...
  • You mail a letter to an specific address, say 123 box street, Gander, NL.
  • Canada post sends the letter directly to 123 box street, Gander, NL.
  • If they send reply mail it goes directly back to you home address.

VPN mail ...
  • You place your letter to 123 box street, Gander, NL. inside another letter.
  • The outer letter is address is 456 virtual street Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Canada post sees the Chicago, IL address and the letter goes there.
  • At Chicago, IL, they open it, change the inner letter return address to Chicago, IL.
  • They then mail your inside letter to 123 box street Gander, NL.
  • If they send reply mail, it goes back to Chicago, IL.
  • Chicago, IL then mails the return letter to your home address.

So the entire point of VPN being ...
  • It looks like, to Canada Post, you only send letters to 456 virtual street Chicago, IL, USA.
  • The final recipients of every letter you send all think they came from 456 virtual street Chicago, IL, USA.
  • The final recipients don't know your home address.

Make sense?
 
#20 ·
Rogers Cable is now giving customers free access to the Hollywood Suite of movies.

It can be accessed through the guide or channel number, but is also available on the voice control on the Ignite remote control.

Example........If you want to watch western movies just say "western movies" and all the movies from Hollywood Suite will come up along with Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO and Disney.

We have all the packages so it is a handy way to see all the movies available in one place, rather than searching through all the programs.

Hollywood Suite offers tons of movies from the past eras, so there is lots of good content available.
 
#35 ·
Just thought I'd raise this.
If you're using a VPN for privacy, I think you're fooling yourself.



"No Logs"
Then when the logs were posted it took 2 weeks for them to hide them.

I have no idea how they would have even gotten passwords, that's nuts.
 
#36 ·
Mozilla (Firefox) is promoting their VPN service. I have never used VPN before except a long time ago with work laptops when away from the office.

Any techie gurus have comments on Mozilla's offering?
 
#37 ·
#39 ·
My better half had issues watching BBC with ExpressVPN. The problems started in August and are still not resolved. Luckily the subscription has expired and she is using Sharksurf. So far so good. It's easy to use and it's very inexpensive compared to ExpressVPN. It's a new VPN services and at the current price it's worth a flyer.
 
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