VPN virgin here... What is recommended?

[Caveman]

Per title... Never tried a VPN but I'm seeing more and more advantages there... Any recommendations on something easy on the wallet, easy to implement, and effective?

 

[ch33zw1z]

I use Private Internet access. It's $3 per month and versatile. I have it on my phone, my PC, and I setup a pfsense vm that was an always on connection.

Not a the vpns out there will do that, afaik.

I dont have too much slowdown with their service, almost always tests my full bandwidth when I check it.

 

[Unheard]

I use Private Internet access. It's $3 per month and versatile. I have it on my phone, my PC, and I setup a pfsense vm that was an always on connection.

Not a the vpns out there will do that, afaik.

I dont have too much slowdown with their service, almost always tests my full bandwidth when I check it.

Seconding PIA. They've been great, had them for a few years now.

 

[daveybrat]

Agree with the others, PIA is excellent. About as simple as it gets to install and use and very effective.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Their privacy policy is icing on the cake.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/kb/articles/do-you-log-the-traffic-of-your-users

 

[Caveman]

Ok, so I'm using PIA. I like how easy it was to get going and it's fairly transparent aside from it dropping my download speeds across my wifi by a factor of 5. That seems like a huge speed tax to pay. What is going on here?

 

[bigboxes]

I've been using Windscribe for a couple of years now. They don't keep logs of anything that can identify you. Easy client to connect all your devices. I tried them first for $12 for a year. When that expired, I saw that the regular price was a lot more. I messaged the support for a better deal. They are always responsive. Within a day I got a 20 month deal for $18. Unlimited bandwidth and a plethora of options.

 

[mnewsham]

Ok, so I'm using PIA. I like how easy it was to get going and it's fairly transparent aside from it dropping my download speeds across my wifi by a factor of 5. That seems like a huge speed tax to pay. What is going on here?

Depends how you're running your VPN and what level of encryption you're using.

You can also run your VPN off of your router, which offloads the encryption from your device to the router.

Also, VPN servers in general are not going to have a massive amount of bandwidth available, but I can generally get 150-300mbps of my 1gbps depending on the time of day.