VPN - Virtual Private Network (See Mod Note: post 11)

Mr.Torrent

First of all due to the number of PM's I have been receiving lately, I Have decided to create a thread for anyone who wants to get started with their own VPN. I will explan the basics of how it all works, its enough to get an idea of where to go.
Lastly I would like to ask all the boards members who dissagree with using a VPN because of their own reasons, to kindly not get into a debate why someone should not use a VPN.

Its simply for people who want to obtain more knowledge.

Thank You.


What Is a VPN?

Put simply, a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a group of computers (or discrete networks) networked together over a public network—namely, the internet. Businesses use VPNs to connect remote datacenters, and individuals can use VPNs to get access to network resources when they're not physically on the same LAN (local area network), or as a method for securing and encrypting their communications when they're using an untrusted public network.

When you connect to a VPN, you usually launch a VPN client on your computer (or click a link on a special website), log in with your credentials, and your computer exchanges trusted keys with a far away server. Once both computers have verified each other as authentic, all of your internet communication is encrypted and secured from eavesdropping.
The most important thing you need to know about a VPN: It secures your computer's internet connection to guarantee that all of the data you're sending and receiving is encrypted and secured from prying eyes.

Benifits Of Using A VPN

The downloader. Whether they're downloading legally or illegally, this person doesn't want on some company's witch-hunt list just because they have a torrenting app installed on their computer. VPNs are the only way to stay safe when using something like BitTorrent—everything else is just a false sense of security. Better safe than trying to defend yourself in court or paying a massive fine for something you may or may not have even done, right?

The privacy minded and security advocate. Whether they're a in a strictly monitored environment or a completely free and open one, this person uses VPN services to keep their communications secure and encrypted and away from prying eyes whether they're at home or abroad. To them, unsecured connections mean someone's reading what you say.

The globetrotter. This person wants to watch the Olympics live as they happen, without dealing with their crummy local networks. They want to check out their favorite TV shows as they air instead of waiting for translations or re-broadcasts (or watch the versions aired in other countries,) listen to location-restricted streaming internet radio, or want to use a new web service or application that looks great but for some reason is limited to a specific country or region.

Even if none of the above really sound right to you, you can still benefit from using a VPN. You should definitely use one when you travel or work on an untrusted network (read: a network you don't own, manage, or trust who manages.) That means opening your laptop at the coffee shop and logging in to Facebook or using your phone's Wi-Fi to check your email at the airport can all potentially put you at risk.
The best VPNs offer a solid balance of features, server location, connectivity protocols, and price. Some are great for occasional use, others are geared towards getting around the location restrictions companies put on their apps and services, and others are targeted at people who do heavy downloading and want a little privacy while they do it.

What Makes A Good VPN

Logging: When you connect to a VPN, you're trusting the VPN service provider with your data. Your communications may be secure from eavesdropping, but other systems on the same VPN—especially the operator—can log your data if they choose. If this bothers you (e.g., you're the privacy/security advocate or the downloader), make absolutely sure you know your provider's logging policies before signing up. This applies to location as well—if your company doesn't keep logs, it may not matter as much where it's located. (There's a popular rumor that US-based VPN providers are required to log, in case the government wants them. This isn't true, but the government can always request whatever data they have if they do log.)

Anti-Malware/Anti-Spyware Features: Using a VPN doesn't mean you're invulnerable. You should still make sure you're using HTTPS whenever possible, and you should still be careful about what you download. Some VPN service providers—especially mobile ones—bundle their clients with anti-malware scanners to make sure you're not downloading viruses or trojans. When you're shopping, see if the providers you're interested in offer anti-malware protection while you're connected. For example, previously mentioned Hotspot Shield offers malware protection to its premium users. It may not be a dealbreaker for you, but it's always good to have someone watching your back.

Price: Finally, go into your user agreement with both eyes open. You should read the privacy policy for the service you're interested in, and be very aware of the differences between free and paid services.

For example:

Free VPN Providers are more likely to log your activities and serve contextual ads while you're connected. They're also more likely to use your usage habits to tailor future ads to you, have fewer exit locations, and weak commitments to privacy. They may offer great features, but if logging and privacy are important to you, you may want to avoid them. However, if you just need quick, painless security while traveling on a budget, they're a great option.

Subscription VPN Providers usually take your privacy a bit more seriously, since you're paying for the service. It's unusual for them to show ads, although whether they do logging or store data about your usage varies from company to company. They usually offer free trials so you can give the service a shot first, but remember: just because you're paying for a service doesn't mean you shouldn't do your homework.

Most reliable VPN's

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/
http://torguard.net/
http://www.ipvanish.com/
http://www.itshidden.eu/
https://vikingvpn.com/
https://proxy.sh/

Extra Useful information

https://vikingvpn.com/blogs/transparency/the-vikingvpn-warrant-canary-is-live
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2013/06/prism/

If you have any futher questions or need help setting up your own VPN please dont hesitate to PM me and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Regards,
Mr.Torrent

degsie

So a VPN can disguise who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Pron sandwich anyone?

TemujinKhan

Very good post Mr.Torrent. Protect your personal online data. I would recommend private internet access.

SparrowHawk

TemujinKhan wrote: »

...I would recommend private internet access.

+1

uncle_sam_ie

I signed up to PureVPN, http://www.purevpn.com/ and it's been fantastic. VPN's are great if you're out and about and want secure access when using a WIFI hotspot.

Mr.Torrent

TemujinKhan wrote: »

Very good post Mr.Torrent. Protect your personal online data. I would recommend private internet access.

Thanks for the feedback.I'd like to see more people getting to know what its all about. Surprisingly more don't than do and yes its a great tool for protecting your personal data.

I use PIA myself, so far so good!

Mr.Torrent

degsie wrote: »

So a VPN can disguise who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Pron sandwich anyone?

Pretty much, nothing is 100% full proof but its 90% safer than leaving all your personal data open without protection to your original ISP.

BionicRasher

Will a VPN have any major effect on your connection speed?

Mr.Torrent

BionicRasher wrote: »

Will a VPN have any major effect on your connection speed?

Speed would be affected the higher the encryption is. I use the standard 128 encryption and it has actually enabled my speed to reach its maximum, when I switch off the VPN , my speeds drop.
This tells me what my ISP may throttle my connection due to my download usage.

Mr.Torrent

BenThere wrote: »

<snip>

Yea,Unblockus isn’t a VPN service in the traditional sense. It works in a different way by routing all DNS queries via the Unblockus servers, changing your location when you access certain sites.

As such, Unblockus doesn’t actually change your IP address and only provides access to certain region-specific sites, a list of which is available at this link:

http://support.unblock-us.com/customer/portal/articles/291570

In their FAQ’s, Unblockus claim that their DNS-based solution is inherently more secure than the traditional VPN alternative, where all data passes through the providers’ servers, where you “don’t know what they do with this data.”

What you make of this depends on your personal point of view, but it’s fair to say it’s probably of little concern to the product’s target market. Enthusiasts or techies needing traditional VPN service with no maintained logs are unlikely to choose this particular service anyway.

They have a free trial, so its no harm giving it a go! Your only streaming legal content anyway, Netflix BBC ect.

yoyo

Mod Note: While VPN discussions are welcome, please do not instruct how to use VPNs for illegal activities. This includes bypassing blocked websites, bypassing geographical restrictions etc. I am going to delete some posts which relate to potentially "dodgy" use. Thanks

BenEadir

Apologies YOYO, won't happen again.

yoyo

BenThere wrote: »

Apologies YOYO, won't happen again.

No problem, .

Nick

Mr.Torrent

yoyo wrote: »

Mod Note: While VPN discussions are welcome, please do not instruct how to use VPNs for illegal activities. This includes bypassing blocked websites, bypassing geographical restrictions etc. I am going to delete some posts which relate to potentially "dodgy" use. Thanks

With all due respect to the mod , using the site above mentioned that you deleted is legal.
To understand how this works, let's get a bit of background on how Netflix handles accounts from different countries.
Your Irish Netflix account is left intact and there is no need to make any changes to your credit card info.
Why is this?
Netflix dishes out content based on where it thinks the account is coming from. If you bring your laptop to the States and pull up Netflix, you’ll magically be presented with all the American content.
Yes, it’s 100% legal, and fully legit.

Anything else a user decides to do is their own business.

But that link was legal.

So not as "dodgy" as you presume.

Regards

Mr.Torrent

degsie

/* grabs popcorn and waits for mods response */

yoyo

Mr.Torrent wrote: »

With all due respect to the mod , using the site above mentioned that you deleted is legal.
To understand how this works, let's get a bit of background on how Netflix handles accounts from different countries.
Your Irish Netflix account is left intact and there is no need to make any changes to your credit card info.
Why is this?
Netflix dishes out content based on where it thinks the account is coming from. If you bring your laptop to the States and pull up Netflix, you’ll magically be presented with all the American content.
Yes, it’s 100% legal, and fully legit.

Anything else a user decides to do is their own business.

But that link was legal.

So not as "dodgy" as you presume.

Regards

Mr.Torrent

The content is licensed for a particular region to see the content. It is not licensed for all regions, hence restrictions are imposed. It is would you believe copyright infringement as you are attempting to view the content "without a license" as you reside outside the place the license in granted for.
Boards is not the place for this kind of discussion, it's also against this forums charter to discuss bypassing region restrictions (and was the case, even before I became a mod on here).
While your entitled to your view, the industry may not see it that way and allowing such discussion could land the site in hot water. It's safer to not allow discussion of anything dodgy full stop. There is only one purpose to use such a service, the unblock in the name a key giveaway, and unlike VPNs they do not really serve any more purpose.

Nick

AnCatDubh

Mr.Torrent wrote: »

and fully legit.

I think Netflix's interpretation of their terms and conditions 6.(c) may contradict you, and thus they may apply the provisions of 6.(h) which Netflix users have already agreed to.

Mr.Torrent

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I think Netflix's interpretation of their terms and conditions 6.(c) may contradict you, and thus they may apply the provisions of 6.(h) which Netflix users have already agreed to.

6 (c)
"You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show."

This is very loosely based. They do not state exactly the rules to this.

eg. So when im on holidays in america I can use my irish netflix's account.
So in principle whats the difference, my fees paid are for my geographic location only.


6 (h)
We may terminate or restrict your use of our service, without compensation or notice if you are, or if we suspect that you are (i) in violation of any of these Terms of Use

So, its their terms of use, which we could argue all day about because of their lack of explanation whether watching an american netflix in ireland is wrong. But if it is a breach of contract it certainly does not make it illegal.

It's currently legal and based on rights enshrined in international law. Furthermore, you are paying Netflix for licensed content and they recognize your rights to access your account in any country where they operate. The only difference between physically being in a place and cybertraveling there is that the airlines don't benefit. The studios lose nothing, the local licensee loses nothing, Netflix loses nothing, and consumers enjoy the benefits of human technological achievement.

BenEadir

Mr T, you're on a losing wicket here I'm afraid.

The license is dependent on where you are actually physically located not on where you are projecting to their servers you are located. The fact the Un***ck service presents you as being physically located in the US does not mean you are there, it just means you are fooling them and that's copyright infringement I'm afraid which is the point YOYO is making.

If we want this thread to be of use to people looking to learn about the benefits of VPN's etc we'd better err on the side of caution of YOYO will un***ck us out of here!!!

Ben

degsie

A word in the 'shell like' to Mr T: Don't contradict the mods. Netflix rules are clear.

Given your boards username, your low post count AND your other posts re torrenting, I'd thread lightly!

Just sayin'

Mr.Torrent

BenThere wrote: »

Mr T, you're on a losing wicket here I'm afraid.

The license is dependent on where you are actually physically located not on where you are projecting to their servers you are located. The fact the Un***ck service presents you as being physically located in the US does not mean you are there, it just means you are fooling them and that's copyright infringement I'm afraid which is the point YOYO is making.

If we want this thread to be of use to people looking to learn about the benefits of VPN's etc we'd better err on the side of caution of YOYO will un***ck us out of here!!!

Ben

Ah now you see that's where the grey area comes in.

When you are using torrents it's not the downloading that's illegal it's the uploading because you are distributing copywrited material, however since all torrent clients require you to upload in order to download it's impossible to download movies via a torrent without breaking the law.

If I were to setup a giant TV outside and start playing movies to the whole neighborhood, the people who stopped to watch would not be breaking any laws, I would for showing it.

Netflix on the other hand you are not sharing anything, nor are you keeping copies of the movies you are simply streaming an item that you paid for the right to watch.

We'll have to agree to disagree so

degsie wrote: »

A word in the 'shell like' to Mr T: Don't contradict the mods. Netflix rules are clear.

Given your boards username, your low post count AND your other posts re torrenting, I'd thread lightly!

Just sayin'

I can contradict who I like the mods dont know everything. :cool: I Was respectful and just giving my point. If i get banned i get banned. I will be back again.;)

You would make a good MOD degsie, hope you get the job one day!:P

Just sayin


Lets just end this here lads, Im off to the pub.:D

Regards

Mr.Torrent

YuM

An alternative to trusting a VPN service provider is to setup your own at home using decent router or an old PC with PFsense and OpenVNP.

It's handy for securely accessing your files or net access when traveling & the reverse of geo location blocking - you get to use RTE player to watch locally shown stuff, great for GAA on holidays. (I reckon my TV license entitles me to watch from anywhere) and my Irish Netflix account is the one being used.

AnCatDubh

Mr.Torrent wrote: »

This is very loosely based.

What is loose about "only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show". They haven't licenced content to be shown in Ireland so if you view it in Ireland then you are outside of their permissible terms and conditions. Sure, its pants. Sure it doesn't reflect the nature of a global network of electrical impulses which knows no geographic boundaries, but there is nothing loose about it. It's theirs and if you are a netflix user, then you have agreed to it.

They do not state exactly the rules to this.

What rules do you speak of. 6(c) is a rule. Its says you can't view their content from places that they are not licenced to show it. Simples.

eg. So when im on holidays in america I can use my irish netflix's account.
So in principle whats the difference, my fees paid are for my geographic location only.

Largely irrelevant, but yes their terms and conditions state that you can do it - so you are fine to do it when you are in a place that they are licenced to show you the content. Its about Netflix, and where they are licenced to show content.

So, its their terms of use, which we could argue all day about because of their lack of explanation whether watching an american netflix in ireland is wrong.

It is really clear unless you don't want it to be, but you may be just confusing yourself.

But if it is a breach of contract it certainly does not make it illegal.

I didn't say it was illegal which is a different argument altogether and you can chat with the mod about that. Rather, in response to your post of:

Mr.Torrent wrote: »

and fully legit.

I replied:

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I think Netflix's interpretation of their terms and conditions 6.(c) may contradict you, and thus they may apply the provisions of 6.(h) which Netflix users have already agreed to.

It's currently legal and based on rights enshrined in international law.

What law is this which you speak of?

Furthermore, you are paying Netflix for licensed content and they recognize your rights to access your account in any country where they operate. The only difference between physically being in a place and cybertraveling there is that the airlines don't benefit. The studios lose nothing, the local licensee loses nothing, Netflix loses nothing, and consumers enjoy the benefits of human technological achievement.

If it were just as simple as you suggest and nobody lost anything then why wouldn't they just provide the same service both sides of the atlantic. Bean counters make money for corporations from this kind of stuff. Yes, it pants that this is the way it is, but that as I understand it is the way things are.

yoyo

Mr.Torrent wrote: »

I can contradict who I like the mods dont know everything. :cool: I Was respectful and just giving my point. If i get banned i get banned. I will be back again.;)

You would make a good MOD degsie, hope you get the job one day!:P

Just sayin


Lets just end this here lads, Im off to the pub.:D

Regards

Mr.Torrent

And I'm sure the mods know more than you think they know . Anyways I think this thread as an ulterior motive so I'm going to close it.

Nick