VPNs

[Hannibalistique]

That was for their email service, not the VPN. They collect and store the information you provide. You can’t blame the service provider for compromising your anonymity when you’re handing over your Gmail account and credit card, which is the same as giving out your ID card. Proton has free plans and supports anonymous payments using cash, they also allows sign-ups over Tor, so you’re not required to deanonymize yourself. I don't see any claims that their service is anonymous on the website, either.

They could strengthen user anonymity for their VPN by using a random identifier like Mullvad and IVPN do, but from the VPN side there isn’t much to criticize about Proton. They provide one of the few free VPNs that isn't compromised, which is a nice community service.

Proton is still at fault for availing themselves to law enforcement and not being able to deliver the anonymity that is basically their whole sales gimmick.
We have no idea whether they are better with their VPN service, we have no reason to believe so (unlike mullvad).

 

[Irregular Expression]

We have no idea whether they are better with their VPN service, we have no reason to believe so (unlike mullvad).

I'd say it doesn't matter if their VPN is perfect as long as they continually bundle it with their email suite in sales. It introduces the gmail issue, where if you get banned for posting wrongthink on YouTube, suddenly you lose access to your calendar and bank account.

Except with gmail, it's "just" losing your entire digital life. With Proton, it's that, plus the fact that the moment you lose your VPN is the exact moment you've pissed someone off and need it most.

 

[Rekeita's Kidneys]

AirVPN is a little better because you can open ports. I think it might be the only one with permanent port opening (others you need to sign in to say you want to keep it every now and then etc) anymore? Which makes it the only one suitable for torrenting basically.

If there are others that allow it and give you the OpenVPN and WireGuard details I would definitely be interested to know.

Mullvad used to but I remember it wasn't possible when I tried some time ago and emailed their customer support expecting it to be in an option I couldn't find.

Bingo. Port forwarding is an absolute requirement for the vast majority of private trackers.

 

[Zyklon C]

Has anyone experienced longer than usual waits for Mullvad's VPN to connect to a city in the past week or so? My issue coincides with a new router from my ISP, but I'm not sure why it would be causing it. The speeds are unaffected, just takes up to 20-30 seconds to connect where before it was generally pretty quick.

 

[Cpt. Stud Beefpile]

Daily reminder that the Commies were better at border control. 8(

 

[NimertiS]

I give zero fucks about this. Mullvad is cheap and reliable, just 5 euros a month.

 

[Iroh]

Has anyone experienced longer than usual waits for Mullvad's VPN to connect to a city in the past week or so? My issue coincides with a new router from my ISP, but I'm not sure why it would be causing it. The speeds are unaffected, just takes up to 20-30 seconds to connect where before it was generally pretty quick.

On multiple different platforms?

 

[Zyklon C]

On multiple different platforms?

Yeah, I'm noticing that it's happening on both my desktop and laptop. Both are running Ubuntu so (theoretically) it's not an OS dependent issue. I wish I had a Windows machine so I could test it out to remove any possibility that OS version is at fault.

I'm beginning to think it's the new router. I may have to plumb around the internals to see if there is a setting causing it.

 

[Hannibalistique]

Yeah, I'm noticing that it's happening on both my desktop and laptop. Both are running Ubuntu so (theoretically) it's not an OS dependent issue. I wish I had a Windows machine so I could test it out to remove any possibility that OS version is at fault.

I'm beginning to think it's the new router. I may have to plumb around the internals to see if there is a setting causing it.

As the old saying goes: even when it's not DNS, it's always DNS. Try overriding your ISP default DNS with 4.2.2.2, 8.8.8.8 or some other fan favorite and see if it helps.

 

[Begemot]

Has anyone experienced longer than usual waits for Mullvad's VPN to connect to a city in the past week or so? My issue coincides with a new router from my ISP, but I'm not sure why it would be causing it. The speeds are unaffected, just takes up to 20-30 seconds to connect where before it was generally pretty quick.

20 seconds for me

 

[SchizoDaemon]

Proton is still at fault for availing themselves to law enforcement and not being able to deliver the anonymity that is basically their whole sales gimmick.
We have no idea whether they are better with their VPN service, we have no reason to believe so (unlike mullvad).

Proton was caught giving up information on customers... Fuck that company.

1. No company is going to break the law for you. They are compelled to comply by Swiss law. The CEO/Director of a business is not going to jail for you.
2. Protonmail claims to offer privacy; this is not anonymity. I checked my website just now myself, and they do not say any of their services provide anonymity. They claim to provide better privacy compared to their competitors, e.g., Google.
3. VPNs do not provide anonymity. They provide privacy (it is in the name).

 

[Hannibalistique]

1. No company is going to break the law for you. They are compelled to comply by Swiss law. The CEO/Director of a business is not going to jail for you.
2. Protonmail claims to offer privacy; this is not anonymity. I checked my website just now myself, and they do not say any of their services provide anonymity. They claim to provide better privacy compared to their competitors, e.g., Google.
3. VPNs do not provide anonymity. They provide privacy (it is in the name).

My point is that incorporating in switzerland is retarded for anyone pretending to offer privacy or anonymity, and that their sales gimmick is misleading at best.

 

[SchizoDaemon]

My point is that incorporating in switzerland is retarded for anyone pretending to offer privacy or anonymity, and that their sales gimmick is misleading at best.

It isn't misleading, because they never said it was anonymous. Nowhere does it say "We will break Swiss law to protect you" in their marketing.
They say it offers better privacy compared to other services. You can see on their marketing.

Your expectations are not only unrealistic, but they are also not found anywhere in the marketing material.

 

[Hannibalistique]

It isn't misleading, because they never said it was anonymous. Nowhere does it say "We will break Swiss law to protect you" in their marketing.
They say it offers better privacy compared to other services. You can see on their marketing.

Your expectations are not only unrealistic, but they are also not found anywhere in the marketing material.

Word games like that are inherently dishonest.

 

[SchizoDaemon]

Word games like that are inherently dishonest.

There are no word games. Privacy and anonymity are two different concepts. Granted they are related, but they are not the same thing.
You are the one that is playing games by conflating the two terms, claiming there is a "gimmick" when there isn't and pretending the marketing says something it doesn't.