Post: #1

Hey guys Swooper here, I live and work in China and I used to use StrongVPN to get past the 'great firewall' (censorship) of the internet here but recently they cancelled their service because I use torrent software apparently. Any alternatives? I don't think I can stop torrenting so I would need a VPN service that is tolerant/doesn't care.

Post: #2

Can't you just torrent without the VPN on? Chinese ISPs shouldn't really give a damn about American copyright laws.

Post: #3

Torrent without the vpn, much faster and no one in China will ever care. That's how everybody gets everything there.

Post: #4

If torrenting is the only concern, you can rent a seed box from a company such as http://www.whatbox.ca which you can use to download your files to their servers, then download them to your computer via FTP.

Post: #5

Yeah it's possible to only torrent when the VPN is off but I like to be connected to a VPN most of the time to access western websites. So are there any other VPNs you guys know/have used?

Post: #6

Why are there so many threads about VPN's? Should add "VPN troll" to the troll list. I never knew it was so difficult to find a VPN. Pretty easy to find a good VPN by doing a Google search for "VPN Services." If one VPN service banned you then just sign up for another.

Post: #7

First off don't accuse people of trolling just because you don't care about the topic. Second of all, I can't do a google search because China doesn't allow google searches about VPNs so I can't 'just find' another one. That's why I'm posting for help.

Post: #8

(05-08-2014 03:32 AM)travolta Wrote:  Why are there so many threads about VPN's? Should add "VPN troll" to the troll list. I never knew it was so difficult to find a VPN. Pretty easy to find a good VPN by doing a Google search for "VPN Services." If one VPN service banned you then just sign up for another.

It is not nearly as easy as you may think. Just to cite one example (of many), many VPN companies keep logs that identify their clients -- so that the VPN does not protect your privacy as advertised. It has been established that some VPN companies say that they do not keep logs when, in fact, they do (as proven when people get arrested when the log is disclosed to law enforcement agencies). The truth is very difficult to fathom when it comes to VPN services. I let my last VPN expire at the end of last year, because I was not happy with it. I am always on the lookout.

Cryptohippie is excellent and it is run by real libertarians who believe in the privacy cause, but it also quite expensive at $275 per year.

https://secure.cryptohippie.com/products...arrior.php

Post: #9

(05-09-2014 12:31 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(05-08-2014 03:32 AM)travolta Wrote:  Why are there so many threads about VPN's? Should add "VPN troll" to the troll list. I never knew it was so difficult to find a VPN. Pretty easy to find a good VPN by doing a Google search for "VPN Services." If one VPN service banned you then just sign up for another.

It is not nearly as easy as you may think. Just to cite one example (of many), many VPN companies keep logs that identify their clients -- so that the VPN does not protect your privacy as advertised. It has been established that some VPN companies say that they do not keep logs when, in fact, they do (as proven when people get arrested when the log is disclosed to law enforcement agencies). The truth is very difficult to fathom when it comes to VPN services. I let my last VPN expire at the end of last year, because I was not happy with it. I am always on the lookout.

Cryptohippie is excellent and it is run by real libertarians who believe in the privacy cause, but it also quite expensive at $275 per year.

https://secure.cryptohippie.com/products...arrior.php

Thanks Gunner, I just signed up with ExpressVPN but I may try Cryptohippie in the future. Privacy is definitely growing more and more important by the day so it's definitely critical to see whether a VPN keeps logs.

Post: #10

I've heard good things about cryptohippie, but I'm not overly concerned about my internet privacy (yet). A VPN was priceless in China, though. I've used both FoxyProxy and VPNFire in the past and would recommend both.

If you really need to, have someone else who can access a vpn site get one and give you the info, then use it to get your own. Long, round about process, but one that works.

Post: #11

(05-09-2014 08:59 AM)Swooper Wrote:  

(05-09-2014 12:31 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(05-08-2014 03:32 AM)travolta Wrote:  Why are there so many threads about VPN's? Should add "VPN troll" to the troll list. I never knew it was so difficult to find a VPN. Pretty easy to find a good VPN by doing a Google search for "VPN Services." If one VPN service banned you then just sign up for another.

It is not nearly as easy as you may think. Just to cite one example (of many), many VPN companies keep logs that identify their clients -- so that the VPN does not protect your privacy as advertised. It has been established that some VPN companies say that they do not keep logs when, in fact, they do (as proven when people get arrested when the log is disclosed to law enforcement agencies). The truth is very difficult to fathom when it comes to VPN services. I let my last VPN expire at the end of last year, because I was not happy with it. I am always on the lookout.

Cryptohippie is excellent and it is run by real libertarians who believe in the privacy cause, but it also quite expensive at $275 per year.

https://secure.cryptohippie.com/products...arrior.php

Thanks Gunner, I just signed up with ExpressVPN but I may try Cryptohippie in the future. Privacy is definitely growing more and more important by the day so it's definitely critical to see whether a VPN keeps logs.

This thread actually reminded me that I must get a VPN subscription before I travel next month. I just found this VPS review web site. I like their reviews.

https://www.bestvpn.com/

I was particularly intrigued by their review of CyberGhost, which offers a high-quality free VPS. See the review under "5 Best Cheap VPNs". In my case, I think that I would purchase the paid plan as I do not like the idea of having to reconnect to the VPS every three hours, perhaps catching me in the middle of a trade or a banking transaction -- and leaving me exposed to who knows what while on the road and using someone else's WiFi network. But the free plan sounds great if you are using it at home on a secure network.

EDIT: Dang! I just downloaded the free version of CyberGhost just to check it out. It literally took less than two minutes and it was installed and running. Impressive. I used an ISP locator to ensure that I was on another ISP. The free service has three servers in the U.S. and twenty-six servers in thirteen European countries. Nothing in Asia or South America, however. I just might try this free service while overseas after all. According to the web site, CyberGhost now uses 256-bit encryption rather than 128-bit encryption, which was one of the few criticisms in the review.

Post: #12

Torrentfreak does a regular review of which VPN service is the best at actually keeping you hidden. To do so they ask VPN providers the following questions, then compiled a list of which providers are actually taking steps to ensure user privacy.

Quote:By now most Internet users are well aware of the fact that pretty much every step they take on the Internet is logged or monitored.

To prevent their IP-addresses from being visible to the rest of the Internet, millions of people have signed up to a VPN service. Using a VPN allows users to use the Internet anonymously and prevent snooping.

Unfortunately, not all VPN services are as anonymous as they claim.

Following a high-profile case of an individual using an ‘anonymous’ VPN service that turned out to be not so private, TorrentFreak decided to ask a selection of VPN services some tough questions.

By popular demand we now present the third iteration of our VPN services “logging” review. In addition to questions about logging policies we also asked VPN providers about their stance towards file-sharing traffic, and what they believe the most secure VPN is.

—

1. Do you keep ANY logs which would allow you to match an IP-address and a time stamp to a user of your service? If so, exactly what information do you hold and for how long?

2. Under what jurisdictions does your company operate and under what exact circumstances will you share the information you hold with a 3rd party?

3. What tools are used to monitor and mitigate abuse of your service?

4. In the event you receive a DMCA takedown notice or European equivalent, how are these handled?

5. What steps are taken when a valid court order requires your company to identify an active user of your service?

6. Is BitTorrent and other file-sharing traffic allowed on all servers? If not, why?

7. Which payment systems do you use and how are these linked to individual user accounts?

8. What is the most secure VPN connection and encryption algorithm you would recommend to your users?

You can the 2014 list of providers who protect online anonymity here.

Post: #13

(05-10-2014 07:41 AM)Osiris Wrote:  Torrentfreak does a regular review of which VPN service is the best at actually keeping you hidden. To do so they ask VPN providers the following questions, then compiled a list of which providers are actually taking steps to ensure user privacy.

This is a first good step. The problem is that some VPS providers lie. As noted by the web site that you referenced:

Quote:Following a high-profile case of an individual using an ‘anonymous’ VPN service that turned out to be not so private, TorrentFreak decided to ask a selection of VPN services some tough questions.

In other words, that VPS provider claimed not to keep logs, but actually did keep logs. There was no way to prove whether or not it kept logs, until the government obtained those logs and prosecuted someone with them.

IMO, step number one is dealing with a VPS provider outside of North America and Western Europe, in a country not beholden to the U.S. Then find one that is honest enough to admit that it keeps logs, but only for brief time (e.g., 24 hours) but then destroys those logs after those logs have performed their job (e.g., to diagnos any service problems).

So, if Torrentfreak is asking all these VPS providers whether or not they keep a user log, what prevents them from lying? The simple truth is that all VPS providers keep logs to some extent. That is necessary to diagnose problems if a client reports a problem with their service.

So, if any VPS provider claims not to keep logs of any kind (at least for a very short time) they are lying, because not having a temporary log would mean that it would be impossible for it to diagnose any problem experienced by a particular client.

IMO, the honest VPS providers tell the truth (e.g., we keep our logs for 24-hours) and then destroy those logs after they have done their job (i.e., diagnosed any service problems).