First Time VPN sign up Things to know

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › First Time VPN sign up Things to know

gnfb

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#311725 10-Feb-2024 10:10

I am looking to sign up for a VPN service I use slingshot fibre and dont play games online.

Initial online research points to Surfshark price and hype

I would be grateful for any red flags i and do and donts to be aware of

(I understand that nothing will fully protect my data)

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

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#3193120 10-Feb-2024 10:14

If your going for Surfshark or NordVPN, always worth waiting until there is a Cashback deal going through Cashrewards, I managed to snag a 3 year Surfshark Subscription with 99% cashback a while back and think it ended up costing me around $10 for the entire 3 years.

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Jase2985

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#3193137 10-Feb-2024 10:43

what are you trying to achieve with a VPN?

gnfb

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#3193140 10-Feb-2024 10:51

I take a fistfull of vitamins each day. There is a real chance I am wasting my money but "err on the side of caution"

Same with the VPN privacy mainly. For the $10 to $30 odd dollars a year ehhh? "err on the side of caution"

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

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timmmay

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#3193143 10-Feb-2024 10:59

Unless you can articulate a particular reason you need a VPN, you don't need a VPN. The only reason most people would want a VPN would be to get around geoblocking for services like Netflix, to route their traffic via another country, but that doesn't work well any more as most large services know the VPN server IPs.

rscole86

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#3193144 10-Feb-2024 10:59

Privacy from who and why?

I would certainly trust a NZ ISP more than a foreign company based in a foreign country.
While they may day they don't log anything, they may be compelled to in certain situations, which you would have no sight or recourse over

If you're concerned about your data in NZ you have laws and courts to support any complaint you may have. Good luck doing that with most VPNs.

gnfb

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#3193145 10-Feb-2024 11:01

Can I take it that the naysayers do not use a VPN?

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
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gnfb

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#3193146 10-Feb-2024 11:06

timmmay:

Unless you have a real need for a VPN, and you can articulate that need, you don't need a VPN. The only reason most people would want a VPN would be to get around geoblocking for services like Netflix, to route their traffic via another country, but that doesn't work well any more as most large services know the VPN server IPs.

Nope pay for my Netflix like a good consumer. I did use a free vpn for a while when hostgator had blocked slingshot's ip address

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
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timmmay

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#3193148 10-Feb-2024 11:08

I don't use a VPN. I used to before NZ streaming was practical, but I haven't for years now. The only other time I needed a VPN was when I was doing technical work for USA based customer, occasionally it was useful to have my internet traffic route via the US.

michaelmurfy

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#3193155 10-Feb-2024 11:24

gnfb:

Can I take it that the naysayers do not use a VPN?

I work in the security industry and am against VPN’s entirely unless if you set up and run one yourself.

Read this: https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative.html

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gnfb

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#3193159 10-Feb-2024 11:31

michaelmurfy:

gnfb:

Can I take it that the naysayers do not use a VPN?

I work in the security industry and am against VPN’s entirely unless if you set up and run one yourself.

Read this: https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative.html

Well thank you the whole reason I asked was people like yourself proving information to steer me in the right direction

I intend to read the complete article tonight but skimming seems "dont bother with VPN's"

as for "unless if you set up and run one yourself." I doubt I would have the skills and peseverance

Thanks for your insights

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
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timmmay

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#3193177 10-Feb-2024 11:43

It's pretty easy to set up a VPN using Algo, if you have a server.

https://github.com/trailofbits/algo

You still don't need one though.

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freitasm

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#3193179 10-Feb-2024 11:50

gnfb:

I did use a free vpn for a while when hostgator had blocked slingshot's ip address

Most "free VPNs" have small print clauses that clarify how you pay for those "free" services: they use your connection to allow others who want to change location to your country (in this case New Zealand).

For some time after launch Hola did not disclose they used your resources. They still use it in the free version, but it's not mentioned anywhere in the homepage - if you just read it it's as simple as installing a browser add-on.

You have to dig down the huge list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to find this:

"Your use of Hola's Free Limited product is free of charge in exchange for safely using some of your device's resources (WiFi and very limited cellular data), on Windows and Android only when you are not using your device. You may opt out of this by joining Hola's Premium service. Please see our TOS for further information."

The conclusion?

You think you are getting a safer Internet when in fact you are opening up more holes.

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zespri

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#3193239 10-Feb-2024 13:13

gnfb:

Can I take it that the naysayers do not use a VPN?

I use VPN to secure my home network. This is not the VPN you are thinking of, it allows me to connect to my home network securely when I'm away. I set it up myself. I'm also running WireGuard on Digital Ocean (also self-setup) to help some friends from certain countries to avoid particular blockings they have problems with, I'm not using that one personally.

I do not see a point of using VPN in New Zealand as the way to access internet daily, so I'm joining the choir and telling you, unless you have a specific problem, you can articulate, that a VPN solves you do not need it.

gnfb

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#3193246 10-Feb-2024 13:55

Once again I thank you guys for taking the time to answer questions from the tech' challenged like myself it really is beneficial.

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
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Wombat1

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#3193247 10-Feb-2024 14:02

I use wireguard between my mobile devices and my home network, this secures me from snooping when using free wifi hotspots and while travelling and staying in hotels etc ... If you dont have an option for wireguard or a vpn on your router then installing a good vpn on your mobile devices is a good thing - despite what others here have to say.

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