I use FortiClientVPN, the one provided by my work company. I only use it to access a private company folders/information. So, it’s a way to use information within our company. I don’t seem to notice any barriers or when navigating. At the same time, I wonder if I’m being watched as I work. Now that would be interesting to know…
Well, this is a little embarrassing. Chinese ownership of VPNs is nothing new, and in fact, we did an ExtraBIT about it back in 2019.
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And in this article from the pre-poll thread, @randy2 shared a YouTube video, which strongly implies (without actually stating) that most commercial encryption products, including VPNs have been compromised or may actually be run by various global intelligence agencies, both from “friendly” and “hostile” nations.
I haven’t bothered trying to fact-check that video, because it’s all just amusement to me (since I still don’t see a need to use VPNs except as a means of accessing an otherwise private network). But for someone who thinks that a VPN is necessary in order to avoid being spied on by (insert your favorite corporate/government entity here), that information, if true, is critically important.
Have a look at:
I mention an example of this in my earlier comment. One company owns several VPN an uses/sells info about you.
For me, it depends on the use case. I use the employer provided VPN only on my work MacBook Pro. I’m generally using it at least once during the day, but there are days I don’t need to (if I’m only working in Entra ID and Outlook/Teams/etc.). For my personal devices, when I’m out of the house, I have always-on wireguard VPN that connects back to my home router (Firewalla). I do use Proton VPN on the Firewalla to provide DNS over VPN via Unbound, and there are rare cases I’ll use it on my devices to get around a geo restriction (I work for a global company and there are times I need to appear to be coming from a European IP).
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As a mid-Atlantic person with one foot in the US and the other in the UK I first used a free VPN in 2003 or 2004 to follow the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Sometime later I migrated to the adorable TunnelBear which was fine until it wouldn’t support keeping up with the BBC from the States. Since then I’ve used ExpressVPN mainly for streaming and for internet use from public WiFi in airports, hotels and eateries. I was an early adopter of its Apple TV client. I’ve been thinking to make a switch since its acquisition, and will probably go for NordVPN despite some reservations. Installing Tailscale has been on my to-do list for too long,
I just ran into something of a related nature. Since the demise of Skype, I’ve been trying to get a replacement setup. One of those is Talkatone, as recommended by Doug Lerner @doug2. I couldn’t get past the first step in setting up the app, it gave me a weird “Account Registration Error” repeatedly. I contacted the company, and they gave me a few recommendations, including making sure I turned off any VPNs. I did so, but the problem repeated, even after I restarted and did a reinstall of Talkatone. I gave up on it, but when I read about your experience in this thread, it made me think that I was running into a related problem, so I just deleted my VPN, and lo and behold, Talkatone is now working. I’m eventually going to reinstall the VPN on my iPhone, but first I want to see Talkatone’s functionality.
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I also use Bitdefender VPN, along with some of its other services. Living in Japan, sometimes I want to do things as though I’m in the states, and sometimes websites don’t function if you’re outside the USA.
I use AdGuard Pro’s VPN in my iPhone since I hate ads. I wished we could block ads better in iOS apps.
MullvadVPN is five EU a month. No offers, no annual fee. Five devices. Can do anonymous payment. Excellent service.
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Yes it basically bypasses my PiHole that I use to block stuff that the kids are addicted to. Shhhh don’t tell them :) but then they just jump on the Apple TV or grab one of our phones. They’ll always find a way around it little bastards :-)