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Robin Hood
@midco.net

Robin Hood

Anon

Very specific questions, would appreciate feed back,

Greetings,

I am in need of some detailed advice from people in the know in making the most informed decision as possible in selecting a VPN that suits my needs. I will start out by saying I apologize for the long winded post however, after doing on and off again research on VPN providers and there particulars, I’m more confused on what’s good and needed and what’s not, even before I started looking into them. My interest in VPN (and possibly the TOR network) lies in my firm belief that any shred of privacy that once existed on the Internet is gone (maybe it never existed and now, like many others I'm just realizing it). I find myself becoming much more of a privacy advocate and simply need help in selecting which VPN will actually help me take my sense of individuality and privacy back. Below is a list of questions that if someone would take the time to share their knowledge on the specifics, I would be very appreciative. I thought the best way to present this would be to place my questions in bullet form so here goes:

1. In selecting a VPN, I would like to know if selecting a provider (I am willing to subscribe, rather
than the free account) would it be prudent to take into consideration what legal justification the
provider is subjugated to? In addition to this, I would think it would be very prudent to have a
provider that, "does not log"?

2. If one does go with a overseas service provider, will this slow down ones connection
or have any impact on reliably and/or level of security that one receives.

3. What level of bit encryption is necessary? While it appears that many have the
opinion that 128 bit is perfectly fine, I cant seem to leave the idea that more is
better?

4. The TOR network; this is one of my most intensive queries. It seems that as of late
there has been much controversy surround this tool being its association with illegal
activity such as the Silk Road. Like in many aspects of my research, One can
become overwhelmed with information and the main question I have is, how secure is
the TOR network and in using this technology, would this make me a target of the
government for using a tool which seems so associated with illegal activity? To be
sure, Imp not looking t do anything illegal, (well I suppose everyone is going to say
that) but Imp really not. I just am wondering given the state of affairs associated with
the TOR network if there is a ideology of, "where there's smoke, there’s fire". Will
using the TOR network make me less secure just because of its association?

5. From what I can see, some VPN support TOR, is it suffusive to say that ones that do
not advertise that they do, do not?

6. I see that many VPN providers are set up to take bit coin. While I am of the opinion
that bit coin has the potential to be a powerful source of economic freedom, for this
gal its learning one thing at a time and that’s VPN's for now, bit coin next. While I
understand the autonomy that bit coin can provide, I am wondering that for the
purpose of purchasing a VPN's, would not a pre-paid credit card achieve the same
ends as paying with bit coin?

7. In examining the plethora of VPNs that are available, I believe that one factor that
would be important to me is the ease of installation and use along with a competent
customer support rather that the "pay us and we don't care" mission statement which
seems to so prevalent in the modern day E commerce environment.

That is about all the variables I can think of at this point that has hindered me from actually selecting fro the numerous VPN's currently available. Again, I apologize for my long windedness however, if you made it this far I would greatly appreciate your input as to the specific question presented above. Even if its as quick and simple as, "use this VPN" based off what you have read, it would be a great assistance in helping me weed through the unrelenting amount of information available on VPNs. Thanks for your time and assistance in this matter.
HELLFIRE
MVM
join:2009-11-25

HELLFIRE

MVM

1. based on your desire for privacy, a good policy to follow.

2. slow down, possible, given the distance / latency factors. "Level of security" is rather an
open ended question. Can you clarify further and/or give a specific example?

3. greater bit strength does not always equal greater security. If you ever have a case of insomnia,
feel free to read up on encryption some more. For sure, avoid a PPTP VPN -- look up "bruce schneier
cryptanalysis pptp" on your searchengine of choice for a reason why. That leaves you with an IPSec-based
or SSL-based VPN solution -- I'd look out for something that uses AES for the encryption, and SHA1 for
the hashing.

4.
said by Robin Hood :

the main question I have is, how secure is the TOR network and in using this technology

What's your definition of "secure." I'd have to dig around again, but I seem to recall a thread in
another forum where some governmental agency recently admitted that TOR was proving to be quite an
impediment to them in some fashion... don't quote me on that, though.

5. that's a safe bet to make.

I've no comment on points 6 or 7 as I've neither used bitcoin nor have I used one of these services.
There's a couple threads around about VPN provider recommendations that you can peruse.

My 00000010bits.

Regards

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav to Robin Hood

Premium Member

to Robin Hood
Ive wondered about this question as I suspect many if not all VPN providers in the US were suspect wrt security due to laws requiring access by the govt. It may be the same in other countries as well in terms of ISP and their traffic. I would think if one would prefer to find a third party, like a relative in Europe or something and come to an agreement to vpn to their connection and use it and vice versa they could tunnel to your ISP and use it to face the interent. Wouldn't that be better than a. paying and b. trusting an unknown entity. Heck Id rather trust Hellfire that any VPN provider.LOL.
The good news is that I have a 70-30 setup here, so Hellfire better improve his throughput for this deal to go through . ))

Robin Hood
@qwest.net

Robin Hood to HELLFIRE

Anon

to HELLFIRE

Thanks for taking the time to reply,

When someone first starts looking at VPN's, myself, as well as many others I believe are simply overwhelmed by the information available on set topic which led me to simply ask direct questions on this forum. In reference to my first question, it appears that some VPN providers (overseas providers I’m sure) as well as some independent IT professional see the recent exposure of the NSA collection practices as a foundation to look towards countries were the VPN providers are not "as" subject as they are in America to the quote, "give me your files because our secret court told us we can have them and because you are a terrorist" type ideology. In reference to this and elaborating on my statement of, "level of security" effected by choosing an overseas provider; would I be more secure aligning myself with a VPN where privacy laws are more transparent than American based providers are subject to, and if so, what countries would those be? My continuing thought on this is that I did read that, the closer you are to the host the less latency issuers one would experience while running a VPN and rather than play a month to month VPN rodeo to find out, I am hoping if someone can tell me this, "is getting a VPN service provider based in a more neutral country with a stronger respect for individual privacy pertaint to remaining anonymous or will such a service even operate reliably if the users is separated by such a great distances?

While reading what I have wrote so far, it has compelled me to expand this conversation into a area that I was not going to however; I believe it is important to take the time to justify why I want a VPN and in doing so, I think it may answer a couple of questions hellfire posed to me and also may assist anyone in getting me where I want to be with this VPN thing if they would be so kind to do so. First, I will say that in reference to my goals of using a VPN and, "level of security" I am looking to achieve is that I believe anyone; government, private industry, individuals, ect watching and cataloging what I do on the internet in my own home to be a outright violation of privacy as an individual. However, the current environment of the internet does not allow for privacy and it is my goal to limit, and take my anonymity back in anyway that is feasible to do so and procuring a VPN from what I have read so far is a step a step in the right direction. So in essence, yes my motivation in all this is privacy, I want a sense of "self" back in my own home without being subject to, "this person is a criminal" which to be sure, I am not and subjugating myself to even more scrutiny. Hence my apprehensiveness to use the TOR networks. I would even use this analogy; it is my opinion that the way the internet is utilized in our society, its as if a my computer is a window into my home and my life with thousands of people on the other side (government, private industry, hackers, individuals, advertisers, ect) taking notes on everything I do. The first instance in when I started to feel this way is from an experience several years back when I was living in Europe visiting castles, WW2 sites, eating great food and going to beer festivals. During this time I was using Amazon quite a bit and couldn’t help but notice their, "we thought you might like" or "others who purchased this also purchased" section of my, "profile" and was in a state of shock what I was being offered and what I was clearly being, "profiled as". To be sure, their algorithms had me pegged as some sort of Neo Nazi, bloodthirsty vampire lover who practiced witchcraft and had a drinking problem. All of this couldn’t have been further from the truth and to myself, it was just a sense of reality how what we do on the internet makes others, all those organization previously mention, see us as individuals that we are not. I apologize in getting away from the technical nature of what this thread is supposed to support however, I felt it would be justified in making headway in making a overall suggestion as to what I am ultimately trying to accomplish. While I believe that there is no rock solid, "cure all" to solving the privacy issues to which myself (as well as many others feel it seems) are important and educating myself to the highest degree possible will make headway in getting back at least a sliver of individuality that I am attempting to maintain.

So, in retrospect, I am looking for a VPN, something that will ultimately not make it so easy to be profiled, has good speeds, (based of others experience), has user friendly and intuitive navigation for a beginner, can also cover IOs, not have bandwidth or timing restrictions, does not log (more anonymous?) where I can do things like post on forums, shop online, ect ect ect. without having so many entities (i.e. ultimately people) watching what I do in my own home. As long as where on topic and as I have spent the better part of an afternoon composing this, I am also looking to use a more privatized email provider than the ones being offered. Sick I am of targeted ads and the like based off what I have viewed in the past. Hellfire & Anav, I appreciate you both taking the time to answer me back. I will check out your suggested readings by Bruce Schneieron cryptanalysis pptp and any other competent readings you feel would expand my knowledge base on the subject matter would be much appreciated as well. Thank you

P.S. I have been looking at "strongvpn" U.S. based though, any experience with this provider?
Expand your moderator at work
HELLFIRE
MVM
join:2009-11-25

HELLFIRE to Robin Hood

MVM

to Robin Hood

Re: Very specific questions, would appreciate feed back,

said by Anav:

The good news is that I have a 70-30 setup here, so Hellfire better improve his throughput for this deal to go through . ))

Y'know Anav, I'd love to do that with ya sometime...problem is while I hear enough wine-with-cheese stories
about you Easterners and the Rogers-Bell duopoloy giving low speeds / low caps crap, out West here with the
Telus / Shaw duopoly we've got an even worse speed-to-caps ratio that isn't going to be improved any time soon.
said by Robin Hood :

In reference to this and elaborating on my statement of, "level of security" effected by choosing an overseas provider; would I be more secure aligning myself with a VPN where privacy laws are more transparent than American based providers are subject to, and if so, what countries would those be?

That's more a legal question than technical question... and I don't do legal Robin Hood... caveat emptor / YMMV.

As to the latency factor... again, only by trying can you get a better sense of how things will be / perform.
You could dig up a CCIE discourse in BGP routing, but the sheer factors that could affect things are too numerous
to list, to state nothing that most if not all of these factors will likely be COMPLETELY out of your control.

The other technical question I can address is about you being profiled, etc. My one saying around here is "VPN is
about secure communications over an insecure medium." Full stop. You don't want anyone sniffing
your traffic, fine and dandy... VPN can address part of that.

Keep in mind that through the VPN provider's network is a big black box that you don't know about, much less what
is plugged in. And after that point after its decrypted and sent off to where it's got to go, anyone with the time,
money and inclination to can tune in. Secondly, VPN doesn't alter the fundamental end-to-end communication model of
TCP/IP -- You don't want Amazon profiling you while signed into your profile, VPN doesn't really address that.

The third thing, keep up the research. I certainly don't know everything, nor do I claim to... but definately the
more information you got, the more informed a decision you can make.

Best of luck with things!

Regards
Expand your moderator at work

Robin Hood
@qwest.net

Robin Hood to HELLFIRE

Anon

to HELLFIRE

Re: Very specific questions, would appreciate feed back,

In the efforts of perusing some of the advice I have received so for on VPN's, I have come across specialized, in home routers having something to do with, "dd wrt" and Tomatoes? Questions is, Can someone give me a brief explanation in laymens terms, what this is and should I purchase one of these in conjuction with a VPN? I have been looking closely at, "strongvpn" for a possible provider. Although expensive, it seems that they have good customer support and offer everything my novice self is looking for? Is there anything that that don't offer that you pro's out there might thing I may require given my aforementioned goals with a VPN? I really appreciate any feedback your willing to give…Robin
HELLFIRE
MVM
join:2009-11-25

HELLFIRE to Robin Hood

MVM

to Robin Hood
said by Robin Hood :

I have come across specialized, in home routers having something to do with, "dd wrt" and Tomatoes? Questions is, Can someone give me a brief explanation in laymens terms, what this is and should I purchase one of these in conjuction with a VPN?

Instead of downloading / installing / configuring VPN client software on each individual PC, you now do it on
a router with modded firmware -- of which DDWRT and Tomato are two examples.

Nothing really special beyond that.

Regards