Roll your own! Setting up your own, private VPN can be done quite easily with <a href="https://github.com/jlund/streisand" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jlund/streisand</a> and a DigitalOcean account. Costs $5 per month. It doesn't require a whole lot of technical competence either, as the Streisand project configures just about everything for you.
I use <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/</a> on recommendation from a colleague, and I'm pretty happy. No logs, plenty servers, no real issues, and they recently shut down their Russian server due to imminent privacy concerns. So I feel that they have their priorities straight.<p>I used <a href="https://www.frootvpn.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.frootvpn.com/</a> briefly when it was free - seemed ok too, but not many servers back then.<p>Depends really what you want to use it for, but you could look into something like <a href="https://www.zerotier.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.zerotier.com/</a> or even hosting your own.<p>This might be useful for more in depth comparisons: <a href="https://thatoneprivacysite.net/" rel="nofollow">https://thatoneprivacysite.net/</a>
I think that a analyzing VPNs is quite impractical, but here we go:<p>After trying a couple, I'm now with Private Internet Access; the reasons are:<p><pre><code> - the support actually replies and helps (this doesn't hold true for all the companies); although I think VPN typical problems are very technical (in fact, I didn't really solve the issue at the time) and may not be solved by them, it shows that the company is actually striving to provide a good service
- they don't keep logs
- the quality is stable and fast; my network is permanently connected to it
- they have many servers around the world
- they do provided their service with integrity; they've pulled their Russian servers because the Russian authorities imposed them to keep logs
</code></pre>
Some of these statements can't be proved, but as far as I can possibly examine and experience, it's a really good service.
With Verizon becoming an ad company and AT&T showing signs of the same thing, I was wondering what would be involved in having my home's router automatically and permanently connect to a VPN service to keep my data from my ISP? I understand the performance hit would be huge (I have a gigabit fiber connection), but as long as I can still stream MLB and Netflix, I'd be happy.
Torrentfreak has a quite excessive comparison list of different providers:
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/" rel="nofollow">https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/</a><p>I'm also not a big fan of rolling my own VPN, don't have the time to keep it updated.
Privateinternetaccess.com besides their somewhat uncatchy name and dated looking website is cheap and reliable. You can even pay with Amazon gift cards, in case you want to anonymise your payment and don't want to dive into Bitcoin<p>I had PIA for a year and when the subscription ran out, though being a happy customer, I got tempted by iVpn.net, which was 3x the price, and had a pretty website. It also got many recommendations here on HN, but think they were not 100% honest. I regret moving away and will go back to PIA asap.<p>Takeaways: also important is which device you will be using to surf. Many vpn providers have a flawed or no iPad app, and refer to the standard openvpn app. It's very cumbersome to use (you can not copy paste your username and password, just to name one thing).<p>And setting up your own, doesn't make much sense to me as you will always have the same public ip then.
I've been using Tunnelbear(<a href="https://www.tunnelbear.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.tunnelbear.com/</a>) for a couple of years now and my experience has been fantastic:<p><pre><code> • It doesn't keep activity logs.
• Their tunnel network has been recently improved and it counts something like 20 countries at the moment.
• It's really fast and it keeps your device safe even in the possibility of a connection issue, it will block all unsecured traffic until it's possible to properly gain access again.
• Something not directly related as a VPN feature but since I have to pay for it I'm more than happily going to underline this, the UI is really really nice, the design is clean, smooth and is one great experience on every device I've been using it on(Android, iOS and Windows).</code></pre>
Didn't you ask the same question two days ago? <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12290362" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12290362</a>
I prefer <a href="http://BlackHoleCloud.com" rel="nofollow">http://BlackHoleCloud.com</a> . You get your own VPN server(s) in the cities that you choose so there is no fighting for bandwidth, and no other vpn subscriber will try to hack into your computer. It also comes with your choice of tiny hardware firewalls. The smallest one fits on a keychain. You can put up to 64 devices on the VPN at no extra cost. Oh, and it has Tor built in if you want it and the firewall blocks ads like a PiHole.
I've done "VPNs" using sshuttle <a href="https://www.unixmen.com/sshuttle-poor-mans-vpn-ssh/" rel="nofollow">https://www.unixmen.com/sshuttle-poor-mans-vpn-ssh/</a><p>Basically, if you have SSH access to a machine and Python is installed on the endpoint, you can set up a "VPN" over SSH. To me, this is much easier to set up. You can get by most of the time by having a vanilla Linux installation on a cheap VPS without any additional work.
I'm in Sydney and a very satisfied user of AirVPN. I mostly use it to get around geo-blocking.
They have more than enough servers and I've never had an issue with the reliability of their service.
Speeds in Europe are reasonable, but I'm on crappy ADSL anyway.<p>You should check out this very extensive comparison sheet as well:<p><a href="https://thatoneprivacysite.net/vpn-comparison-chart/" rel="nofollow">https://thatoneprivacysite.net/vpn-comparison-chart/</a>
If you need it only for web browsing, than I highly recommend the free VPN that’s now integrated in developer release of Opera. <a href="https://www.opera.com/computer/beta" rel="nofollow">https://www.opera.com/computer/beta</a><p>On iOS, all traffic goes through it. <a href="http://www.opera.com/apps/vpn" rel="nofollow">http://www.opera.com/apps/vpn</a>
I use NordVPN. Pay annually and it can be as low as $40. Allows up to 5 devices and they have servers all over the planet. I primarily use it for streaming; Netflix US/UK/CA/FR, i-player, and checking how advertising looks in different countries.<p>And popcorntime, occassionally.
I used to be a customer of PIA but the speed wasn't good anymore and I got blocked.<p>I switched to ExpressVPN and they are very reliable. Especially if you travel in Asia.<p>In addition, they have dedicated router firmwares so you can secure your whole network.
airvpn, privateinternetaccess
It's easy to set up your own VPN as well. Just get a VPS and then install OpenVPN server on it. <a href="https://vpntips.com/how-to-setup-a-vpn-server/" rel="nofollow">https://vpntips.com/how-to-setup-a-vpn-server/</a>
I use hide.me
I tested several providers over the years but this one has given me the best speed and lowest latency when I choose servers close to me. Works well to have it running 24/7 on the phone.
Of course it's more expensive than just hosting a droplet, but very helpful to get IPs of various countries. Unlimited traffic also comes in handy..
I'm using Overplay vpn service.I chose it from this rating <a href="https://myipservices.com/vpnrating" rel="nofollow">https://myipservices.com/vpnrating</a> . I chose a paid service as they say that it works much better and faster. And to be honest, their security is much better.
AirVPN.
It allows to setup a stable port-forward, unlike PIA which (by design, I suppose, due to being safer) changes the port forward every connection.<p>Also, AirVPN allows 3 or 5 port forwards, whereas PIA allows 1.
You can use this VPN Comparator to choose the right VPN for you: <a href="https://thatoneprivacysite.net/simple-vpn-comparison-chart/" rel="nofollow">https://thatoneprivacysite.net/simple-vpn-comparison-chart/</a><p>Personally, I've been using ExpressVPN for the last 6 months. Absolutely great service and speed with a large choice of locations/servers.<p>You can get 30 days free trial using my referral link: <a href="http://bit.ly/2bKHXgO" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/2bKHXgO</a>