# Which VPN?



## Raindance (12/12/18)

Hi guys!

Thinking of getting a VPN service running to get a bit more secure on the net. Anybody have any recommendations?

Thanks/Regards


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## RainstormZA (12/12/18)

@Daniel may have some advice. Sadly TOR browsers have been blacklisted and blocked from most websites, due to criminal activity. 

I'd love to know too for security purposes.

Reactions: Like 1


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## VapeSnow (12/12/18)

PrivateVpn.com works amazing for me.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Raindance (12/12/18)

VapeSnow said:


> PrivateVpn.com works amazing for me.


Will check it out, thanks.

With banking and many (most) purchases being online these day's I am getting more and more concerned about the security of my online financial activity. Thing is, I do not want to pay someone to slow down my connection any. 

Looking at NordVPN but I've been out of IT for more than 15 years and the lingo has turned foreign to me. Need help from a boffin that understands all this jabber jabber.

Regards


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## RainstormZA (12/12/18)

Raindance said:


> Will check it out, thanks.
> 
> With banking and many (most) purchases being online these day's I am getting more and more concerned about the security of my online financial activity. Thing is, I do not want to pay someone to slow down my connection any.
> 
> ...


If your connection is encrypted, you will be fine. I stay away from sites that dont offer encryption. Ive been banking online for a couple years and it's quite simple really.

But I hear you, I'm still paranoid about online security.

For me, AES and SHA-512 are the best encryption methods. You can check the bank site certificate too

Reactions: Like 1


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## Raindance (12/12/18)

RainstormZA said:


> paranoid


There's the word I was looking for.

Regards

Reactions: Funny 2


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## RainstormZA (12/12/18)

Here is an example of who I bank with - FNB. 

Take note here - if it's got https in it, it's secure. 













I see that my banking site uses the SHA256RSA encryption.

EDIT: just checked Capitec and ABSA - they both use the same certificate authority and the same encryption method.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Carnival (12/12/18)

I used ExpressVPN.com in the past and it worked well for me.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Faiyaz Cheulkar (12/12/18)

I have used VPN for many reasons, but never for increasing security on online transactions. When you use a VPN it connects you to a remote LAN over a secured internet connection and through their LAN you connect to the required server/website. The connection to the VPN is secure however you are routing all your traffic through them which according to me is less secure because they now have access to whatever you are doing over the internet.
Like @RainstormZA said, keep an eye on the site security certificate to ensure connection is secure and get Norton internet security. 
I dont "like" norton but I find it provides the best security.

Reactions: Thanks 2


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## RainstormZA (12/12/18)

Norton? Eeeek . In my techie days, there were tons of issues with Norton, and another whose name escapes my memory, ah yes Mcafee.

Best antivirus for me is Avast and Spybot Search and Destroy for spyware/cookies/trackers. Then on my browser, I have Ghostery and Adblock Plus.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Raindance (12/12/18)

RainstormZA said:


> Norton? Eeeek . In my techie days, there were tons of issues with Norton, and another whose name escapes my memory, ah yes Mcafee.
> 
> Best antivirus for me is Avast and Spybot Search and Destroy for spyware/cookies/trackers. Then on my browser, I have Ghostery and Adblock Plus.


Agree about Norton and Mcafee. Both have been caught sleeping on guard duty a couple of times if gossip can be trusted.

Regards

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Faiyaz Cheulkar (12/12/18)

RainstormZA said:


> Norton? Eeeek . In my techie days, there were tons of issues with Norton, and another whose name escapes my memory, ah yes Mcafee.
> 
> Best antivirus for me is Avast and Spybot Search and Destroy for spyware/cookies/trackers. Then on my browser, I have Ghostery and Adblock Plus.


issues with norton are because of its security. few issues with norton - it slows down your system, deletes files it thinks are infected and creates issues with your internet connection by blocking ports or creating protocols, also creates compatibility issues with many software's. 
But again, I see it as a price you have to pay for a secure system. 
I am not a supporter of norton but I do recommend it to people who ask "which is the best antivirus". I am using norton right now because I got it free with my new motherboard

Reactions: Agree 1


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## RainstormZA (12/12/18)

Faiyaz Cheulkar said:


> issues with norton are because of its security. few issues with norton - it slows down your system, deletes files it thinks are infected and creates issues with your internet connection by blocking ports or creating protocols, also creates compatibility issues with many software's.
> But again, I see it as a price you have to pay for a secure system.
> I am not a supporter of norton but I do recommend it to people who ask "which is the best antivirus". I am using norton right now because I got it free with my new motherboard


I rather recommend a good free solution than give the clients bloatware. Lol. 

Having said that, I starting to find that Avast is becoming an irritant now. Bugging me to do this and that. Fsck off with the advertising, I opted for free and plan to keep it that way for life...


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## Daniel (13/12/18)

Any VPN service should be fine ... sadly with our internet in deepest darkest Africa it becomes challenging to find a balance between speed and security.

I use Windscribe VPN ..... works on multiple platforms .... windscribe.com 
For added security I use NOD32 and Heimdal/Thor for software ...

At the end of the day you are never a 100% "safe" on the internet .....

Reactions: Agree 1 | Thanks 1


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## Daniel (13/12/18)

RainstormZA said:


> I rather recommend a good free solution than give the clients bloatware. Lol.
> 
> Having said that, I starting to find that Avast is becoming an irritant now. Bugging me to do this and that. Fsck off with the advertising, I opted for free and plan to keep it that way for life...



I find "free" Anti Virus programs are actually viruses themselves .... and you don;t know what kind of stats they gather in the backend ....

bleepingcomputer.com has some valuable tools that has saved many a bacon

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 2


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## RainstormZA (13/12/18)

@Daniel I've had issues with NOD32 - both versions, after a good while it becomes bloated and uses resources more than it should .


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## Dietz (13/12/18)

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/
I like it as it does not throttle my connection

Reactions: Winner 1


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## daniel craig (13/12/18)

@Raindance You should check out this guide to get a better on VPN's and why most options aren't a good idea: https:// www. reddit. com /r/privacytoolsIO/comments/4ihtdj/that_one_privacy_guys_guide_to_choosing_the_best/

(Remove all the spaces in the URL)

Reactions: Winner 1 | Thanks 1


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## JurgensSt (13/12/18)

AVG any good ??


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## Daniel (13/12/18)

JurgensSt said:


> AVG any good ??



AVG is crap ... all the free ones are crap .... invest a bit and buy a proper AV ....

Reactions: Informative 1 | Disagree 1


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## RainstormZA (13/12/18)

JurgensSt said:


> AVG any good ??


Nee man, I stay far away from it like it's the bubonic plague

@Daniel, I disagree. Ive been around a few for long enough and Avast has been one of my best experiences, bar the annoying pop-ups, it's blocked a lot of malicious urls and saved my hide many times.


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## Daniel (13/12/18)

RainstormZA said:


> Nee man, I stay far away from it like it's the bubonic plague
> 
> @Daniel, I disagree. Ive been around a few for long enough and Avast has been one of my best experiences, bar the annoying pop-ups, it's blocked a lot of malicious urls and saved my hide many tines.



And you believe everything Avast is telling you ? 
If it can't detect it ..... how would you know ? 

Been in IT 20 years plus and I always tell my users , have more than one ..... one AV and one other program like Malware Bytes or something for periodic scans . We used to be on Symantec (gaptuuuu!) , we had a 90% detection rate which was great till we actually did additional scans and found it was actually more like 80% lol . We use Panda now (yes there is actually an AV named Panda) , and their free AV is actually pretty good also PandaDome (again annoying ads wanting you to buy their Pro product) ..... and no I'm not getting any kickback advertising .....

Reactions: Like 1


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## RainstormZA (13/12/18)

Daniel said:


> And you believe everything Avast is telling you ?
> If it can't detect it ..... how would you know ?
> 
> Been in IT 20 years plus and I always tell my users , have more than one ..... one AV and one other program like Malware Bytes or something for periodic scans . We used to be on Symantec (gaptuuuu!) , we had a 90% detection rate which was great till we actually did additional scans and found it was actually more like 80% lol . We use Panda now (yes there is actually an AV named Panda) , and their free AV is actually pretty good also PandaDome (again annoying ads wanting you to buy their Pro product) ..... and no I'm not getting any kickback advertising .....



Lol I've been in IT since I was 17, now nearly 40.

I've had Avast for the last 3 years or more, can't remember how long it was since I ditched AVG. 

I also use Spybot Search and Destroy, since I was 25. 

Then on top of that, I have Ghostery as a browser addon and Adblock Plus.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Raindance (13/12/18)

Dietz said:


> https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/
> I like it as it does not throttle my connection


Looks good on paper. Anyone else use them?

Regards


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## ARYANTO (24/12/18)

Opera free vpn - I know about this because our in house nerd send me a link - don't know how good etc etc .

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## CTRiaan (24/12/18)

ARYANTO said:


> Opera free vpn - I know about this because our in house nerd send me a link - don't know how good etc etc .


It’s not a VPN, it’s a proxy.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## ARYANTO (27/12/18)

CTRiaan said:


> It’s not a VPN, it’s a proxy.


But is it any good to hide IP address if I want to d/l series or movies ?


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## CTRiaan (27/12/18)

"A VPN routes your traffic through a secured and impenetrable tunnel. It encrypts your information to keep it out of unwanted hands.

Opera VPN provides minimal encryption but with no tunneling protocol. This is why I would put it somewhere between a VPN and a proxy."

From https://www.vpnranks.com/opera-vpn-review/

Reactions: Informative 1


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## ARYANTO (27/12/18)

CTRiaan said:


> "A VPN routes your traffic through a secured and impenetrable tunnel. It encrypts your information to keep it out of unwanted hands.
> 
> Opera VPN provides minimal encryption but with no tunneling protocol. This is why I would put it somewhere between a VPN and a proxy."
> 
> From https://www.vpnranks.com/opera-vpn-review/


Thank you for this info ...@CTRiaan
Unfortunately, Opera VPN does not support torrenting. It is not a conventional VPN and is limited to the Opera browser.

This means that it will not work on your BitTorrent and uTorrent client. Moreover, Opera does not encrypt your data, which means you will be exposed torrenting on it regardless.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## KB_314 (29/12/18)

I've been using ExpressVPN for ages and it's very reliable and works well. I've also heard good things about Nord VPN, but since I've never had issue with ExpressVPN I haven't tried it (but Nord is slightly cheaper I think).

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 1


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## supermoto (30/12/18)

The only vpn I've tried and have been happy with is vprvpn from golden frog.
It claims to be the only vpn that doesn't keep logs of your activity. 
I pay 30 pounds a year for my subscription. Not sure if thats cheap or expensive but the service I get is worth it to be able to watch bbc programs and listen to my favorite UK based rock radio stations


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