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VPN Review websights

What is it you're trying to accomplish by using a VPN service? Are you thinking that by using one you'll become anonymous in the event that someone such as the RIAA objects to what you are hosting or downloading? If so, the VPN service will turn over your information to the authorities once they receive a request from a court.

I'm not here to justify use - just which are better and why,
as there are plenty of SOPA forums you can go vent on.

so far strongvpn is my early favorite, but i'm looking into
btguard because i only want to proxy my torrent traffic,
not take a download/latency hit on gaming and streaming.

I'm not judging you and I'm not venting. I was just trying to make sure you understood that even if you use a VPN service that people can still find you if they want to. I've never used a VPN service but I've read a few things about hidemyass.com. It might be something you want to look into.

thanks for your concern - and yes i'm aware nothing is DARPA'proof.

my concern began when i switched my ISP from Verizion to TWCable.
on Verizon i could renew to a different dynamic IP anytime I liked,
while on TWCable a specific IP is always bound to my modem's MAC.
TWCable is also known for shaping and throttling heavy P2P traffic,
so I just want some anonymity when I torrent a TV show I missed.

you make a good point about VPN reliablity
»www.guavi.com/ and »checkmytorrentip.com/
that's an application just to keep your VPN honest

i read about hidemyass already; many reviewers suffer disconnects,
but i guess that could be just that end users condition or reviewer
sabotage from another provider... strongvpn claims more servers
however only their higher cost plans give you access to them all.

so the hunt goes on...

here's one way i may be able to get an unbiased review;
»www.google.com/products/seller?c···n&sort=1
when people pay with google checkout, they are solicited
to leave a review - so these are real customers, not spoofs.

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READ NEXT POST - THIS DOES NOT TURN OUT WELL

I found something called: torrentprivacy which has a torrent
solution that does not penalize your other web applications,
but it's as expensive as many total private VPN solutions.

OK, I spent more time studying torrentprivacy and discovered
they offer 2 applications, one that encrypts and anonymizeIP
your torrents, and another that vpn tunnels all your traffic.
what i like is you can chose to run one or the other or both,
so i can torrent and play online games with the performance
hit only effecting the torrents, not the gaming. this is unlike
vpn solutions that impact all online activity. for those who
don't trust third party software, there are vpn servers who
don't require any software, and you simply adjust your own
windows network settings, but i'm really not that concerned.

I also like that I can disable both, and use my connection as
any other normal oblivious internet consumer - as doing that
occasionally may help make my connection less suspicious.
There are some forums and financial software that may get
nervous if i login without seeing my usual geographical IP.
another benefit of a software client managing these things,
is it will self monitor, so i know instantly if there is a failure.

I'm also reading a lot of VPN services actually restrict
torrent traffic, so i really want a vendor that focuses
on serving torrent traffic specifically like these guys.
cost is $32/quarter for both torrent encryption and VPN
and that price is locked in for life. I'll keep googling around
but unless i find information bashing them, i'll just get it.

READ BOTTOM - THIS DOES NOT TURN OUT WELL

ok boys and girls;
i bought 3 months of torrentprivacy,
and have a week to beat the crap out of it
till my 7 day free trial runs out,
so i will post a well documented review
over the weekend. their online chat was
helpful in answering my questions, setup
went fast and easy for WinXP, and paying
only requires an email address and paypal,
they don't ask you any other questions

reply to Packeteers

Arne - it's helpful to know which VPN service is torrent friendly,
and I have read most of the big names discourage torrent'ing.
so I guess the benefit of BTGuard is I may be able to enjoy
better bandwidth/latency using that, then VPN'ing to europe.

torrentprivacy's Netherland's based VPN does work fine,
but I fear a Sweden based VPN will be the same penelty,
which is why I'm still hoping to find a Proxy, not a VPN,
but if Proxy's only serve to block trackers, then I guess
I'll have to satisfy myself with a VPN.

please correct me if anything I wrote is wrong.

so if Paypal refunds my torrentprivay payment,
I'll try 3 months with VPNtunnel.se next, and if
not, i'll just use torrentprivacy VPN to torrent
until my 3 month has expires (and I will cancel
their auto-renewal on my Paypal account).

Arne - would you mind posting a speedtest.net
result while using VPNtunnel.se - that would help.
$18 is a much cheaper 3 months than $32 I paid,
assuming Sweden's performance hit is not great.

 
Sweden and the Netherlands are very close to each other, so no difference regarding latency.

Anyway, with torrent'ing latency is never an issue. The 65 ms over the Atlantic doesn't matter when downloading or torrent'ing.

The bandwidth is also excellent with VPNtunnel.

But the most important thing is anonymity when torrent'ing and that's the one reason why you should use VPNtunnel. Never use a proxy for torrent'ing, at least not for less legal torrent's.
 
--
Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

Arne - I bought a month of vpntunnel for $6.80

many more trackers work through it than before.
I'll try various servers they port me through to
determine best download-ping, but so far from
Sweden it's not any better than torrentprivacy,
but it's primetime on my cabletv isp, so to be
fair, i'll run a set of various tests on Tuesday.

off my 15.0/0.5 ISP: these tests emanate from Sweden;

 
Thanks for the update. I don't do torrents so I have almost no experience in that area. I got the information about torrents and VPNtunnel from other users.

Actually I did once use BitTorrent to get a Linux image, torrent was the only option. It took so long time I gave up before it was finished.
 
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Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

reply to Packeteers

can you recommend a free OpenVPN client that does not leave a console task window on your toolbar like the rest of your open apps, but rather only uses and icon in the notification area by your time clock and LAN connection icon? will I still be able to select which server the Swedes emanate my packets to, whether it make me appear as though I'm from a Europe or USA origin IP? those are my two main concerns for pursuing a generic OpenVPN client over the one included by the Swedes. It may help if the Swedes know of and will support the OpenVPN client you suggest just in case there is a technical issue later or with it's initial setup.

 
I don't use Windows, but I have installed the Windows version of the OpenVPN client from
»openvpn.net/index.php/open-sourc···ads.html
for several Windows users.

This OpenVPN client has a small icon in the notification area.

The client from VPNtunnel.se makes it easier to switch between servers. With the above OpenVPN client you just add the different servers manually in the client and after that you can make your choice by clicking on the server you want. Works very well.

The server you use is the location others see, no matter what OpenVPN client you use.

The OpenVPN client from Openvpn.net is the most used client and it works like a charm. I don't think you will have any issues. Also, by using this client you can add several different VPN providers to the client. No need for different client programs.
 
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Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

I'll look into this, but I doubt I'll use OpenVPN.net's client.

I Read their TOS and it appears they want your info,
keep logs and cooperate with authorities, which may
defeat the whole purpose of me VPN'ing my torrents.

In the meantime, I'll learn about what info I need and
get it from Swedish support - then I can pursue this
on my own with a more anonymously sourced client.

Thanks for expanding my awareness of this service

I think you have misread their ToS.

OpenVPN is an open source technology and Openvpn.net is their project site. The software, both server and client, are open source.

They have no way of logging your use of the client. Because as it's open source it's not possible to build any tracking without the open source community discovering it.

Anyone running the server software can of course log their users activity. Most VPN services do log their customers activity because they are required to do so by law.

From legal point of view a VPN provider is the same as an ordinary ISP, both offer an internet connection. If an ISP in NY must keep log files, a VPN provider must also do so.

If you care for your anonymity you should only use VPNtunnel's servers in Sweden for torrent'ing, do not use their servers in US, Netherlands and Denmark.

Both Sweden and Germany refuse to require logging of internet activity.

Denmark has an extensive logging of internet traffic, everything you do is logged by the government. In 2010 this amounted to an average of over one hundred thousands records per person in Denmark. So torrent'ing from Denmark is the worst thing you can do.

The Netherlands also do logging, although not so extensive as in Denmark. Also a no-go country for torrent'ing.

USA is also a bad place for torrent'ing. You never know when MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) or RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) will hit the data center with a court order.

Your safest place for torrent'ing is currently Sweden. Now I don't know what kind of torrent'ing you do, but I assume it's something RIAA and MPAA might dislike.
--
Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

 
I like to add that VPNtunnel.se makes it very clear that the no-logging policy only applies to servers physically located in Sweden. On all other servers there are logging of traffic, including users original IP addresses.
 
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Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

Arne - thanks for all the feedback, I'm learning a lot here.

two observations another day in to using this VPN.
euro performance halved, speeds seem to vary a lot,
while their USA server keeps delivering same speeds.

I saw another VPN's client that gives you a live ping
to each of their servers to help you pick the best one.
shame they can't do that with this customized client.
I would attach to each server and trace rout to try
to find which outside of USA server was working best.
»whatismyipaddress.com/
their Russian server thinks I'm in California, and their
German server think I'm off the coast of Africa - LOL

My vpntunnel.se support email inquiry goes unanswered.

Paypal held the $32 I wasted trying torrentprivacy,
so hopefully they'll fully refund that money soon.

TWCable did someone odd recently. I kept the VPN running
overnight to the USA server, and pinged a generic IP address
every 10 seconds. when I woke up the VPN was still going
and functional, yet TWCable rerouted me completely at 4am
for some odd reason, and the rerouting is still active even
after I power cycle my modem and not use the VPN at all.
I just hope it's common practice to maintain their network,
and not in reaction to my use of a VPN. so far peerblock
shows TWCable sniffing around less, so I'm happy for now.

 
Speeds can vary a lot on the Swedish servers, as they for obvious reasons are popular among the torrent people.

It's likely the US server has little torrent'ing.
 
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Main provider: Anveo - Secondary providers: VoIP.ms, Callcentric, Localphone and Rebtel
Hosted PBX: PBXes.org - Phone: Gigaset S685IP

someone in private has been discussing the use of a seedbox
which essentially allows you to manage torrents off a remote
server, then download them using FTP and/or an SSH tunnel.

the idea is you only use your tunnel bandwidth to get the
100% finished file, not for hosting any of the seed:peers.

once i get my $32 back, I may explore that next
I'm really not a hard core torrent guy, I'm doing this
more to learn about current IP traffic security options,
as that's the "growth industry" of computer consulting.