Which product is the best for VPN?

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac Cheap often reflects quality my friend…

Of course mate I agree, although this was driven down with a 2 year membership.

[phenomlab]

@jac True, but it’s worth it.

[phenomlab]

Side edit - I’m switching this to a standard topic as it’s become much more (thanks to all participants) of an in-depth discussion than a simple question

[gotwf]

@jac Interestingly… Surfshark makes their #3 slot. And yeah, streaming seems to be one of Surfshark’s weak spots on my end as well. For e.g. Youtube vids will be playing fine and then buffer briefly.

Another irritation w/Surfshark is that while they support various protocols, I did not find any way to easily choose which I preferred to be using in a given app. FF browser plugin for e.g. I guess it is using OpenVPN? I’d like to try/test it w/wireguard, w/o having to reach out to support and/or spend an hour surfing their tech support articles.

Price is definitely a factor but not at the cost of poor quality. Think I shall dump 'em and go back to living dangerously. Maybe just toss up a vm at my cloud provider and IKEv2 through there as necessary? Yeah, I know, FBI can still p’wn all my bases but at least maybe something w.r.t. the site trackers and such? Just got to watch the bandwidth… wh/come to think this thru further, probably makes it a non starter.

Edit: Hmm… that is odd… I thought I was replying to @phenomlab tech radar link. Freakin’ brain dead today…

[phenomlab]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

Edit: Hmm… that is odd… I thought I was replying to @phenomlab tech radar link. Freakin’ brain dead today…

[JAC]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

@jac Interestingly… Surfshark makes their #3 slot. And yeah, streaming seems to be one of Surfshark’s weak spots on my end as well. For e.g. Youtube vids will be playing fine and then buffer briefly.

Another irritation w/Surfshark is that while they support various protocols, I did not find any way to easily choose which I preferred to be using in a given app. FF browser plugin for e.g. I guess it is using OpenVPN? I’d like to try/test it w/wireguard, w/o having to reach out to support and/or spend an hour surfing their tech support articles.

Price is definitely a factor but not at the cost of poor quality. Think I shall dump 'em and go back to living dangerously. Maybe just toss up a vm at my cloud provider and IKEv2 through there as necessary? Yeah, I know, FBI can still p’wn all my bases but at least maybe something w.r.t. the site trackers and such? Just got to watch the bandwidth… wh/come to think this thru further, probably makes it a non starter.

Edit: Hmm… that is odd… I thought I was replying to @phenomlab tech radar link. Freakin’ brain dead today…

So would you both @phenomlab & @gotwf say to try get a refund and move to Nord? I just want the best for streaming really.

[JAC]

@jac said in Best VPN:

For e.g. Youtube vids will be playing fine and then buffer briefly.

Ive noticed this too.

[phenomlab]

@jac said in Best VPN:

try get a refund and move to Nord? I just want the best for streaming really.

I would - based on the comments here. NordVPN is going to be superior. If you really want to compare, the closest is probably Express VPN, although they are pretty expensive

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac said in Best VPN:

try get a refund and move to Nord? I just want the best for streaming really.

I would - based on the comments here. NordVPN is going to be superior. If you really want to compare, the closest is probably Express VPN, although they are pretty expensive

Thanks Mark. I’ve seen many people recommend Express VPN but you’re right it is pricey and especially if Nord is superior for streaming purposes then I’m happy to try get a refund and move to Nord.

[phenomlab]

@jac I’ve not had any issues with Nord. Admittedly, I don’t stream (as such), but having used it for pretty much everything else, it’s hard to find fault.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac I’ve not had any issues with Nord. Admittedly, I don’t stream (as such), but having used it for pretty much everything else, it’s hard to find fault.

That’s great, I’ll do a little more research on it and see if it’s any good for streaming.

[phenomlab]

@jac https://support.nordvpn.com/General-info/SmartPlay/1047407902/How-to-securely-watch-streaming-services-with-NordVPN.htm

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac https://support.nordvpn.com/General-info/SmartPlay/1047407902/How-to-securely-watch-streaming-services-with-NordVPN.htm

Can’t argue with that, it does sound promising.

[gotwf]

Does Nord offer a trial period? Maybe @jac should take 'em for a test drive before your Surfshark refund clock runs out.

@JAC As far as which way to go, I’d suggest going with your experiences. Things will vary and ultimately it is your set up that is the final test. For e.g. maybe my ISP is at fault? I’ve not tested exhaustively. Got other interests and time demands to spend too much time down the rabbit hole on this one so could very well be issue on my end. That said, @phenomlab was experiencing similar concerns, so maybe something to that? Still, if it works on your machine and you’re price conscious … else maybe if the Nord fee is not a big deal then go that direction for greater peace of mind.

And finally, I would not put too much, if any, stock in any reviews from ad sponsored sites. Weight feedback from folks you know are “real” the heaviest.

Good luck!

P.S.; Oh yeah, when I click on nord’s streaming support help for netflix:

The Hulu link works fine though.

[gotwf]

Following up on my own here… bad form, yeah… but I am being lazy…

Nord pricing is not that far off Surfshark on the yearly subscriptions. Only approx. $1/mo. more:

And they do offer a 30 day trial as well:

Somehow I’d missed that last bit when I last looked.

[phenomlab]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

Does Nord offer a trial period? Maybe @jac should take 'em for a test drive before your Surfshark refund clock runs out

Certainly does - https://nordvpn.com/risk-free-vpn/

[phenomlab]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

Weight feedback from folks you know are “real” the heaviest.

I wish we had a reactions plugin here (something for me to think about). If everyone took this advice, the world would be a better place. Salient comment @gotwf

[JAC]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

Nord pricing is not that far off Surfshark on the yearly subscriptions. Only approx. $1/mo. more:

And they do offer a 30 day trial as well:

Somehow I’d missed that last bit when I last looked.

Many thanks @gotwf for the links.

Onto SurfShark now to try get them to cancel and refund… wish me luck

[JAC]

I take it this is the most popular thread (up to now ) @phenomlab. Plenty of healthy chat!

[JAC]

Awaiting confirmation of SurfShark cancellation, purchased NordVPN.

Can you confirm this is indeed logged to a different IP Mark?