Picked up ProXpn...not a bad service

[Monkeywoman]

I've always been on the fence about getting a vpn service because of all the "snake oil" programs out there. I ran into a close call having a keyloger make its way through firefox, I needed a solution.

I came across ProXpn, the free version routs your connection at 128bit encryption while the premium handles unlimited bandwidth at 2048bit encryption.
Using http auditmypc.com I checked what information was accessible before and after the service installed ( I went for the premium version at 49.99 for 6 months) without the program, my geographic location, ip, gps and such were available...it even showed a general location of where i was on google maps. With ProXpn running only the ip of the vpn server was seen. Firewall tests also yield no open ports.

Id have to say I do notice a slight slowdown with youtube, and I'm not sure what my isp is goning to say about it; if there is an issue I have an indie isp lined up.

anyone else use vpn services or know of any tests I could do to measure my security?

[Serra]

It sounds to me more like you're using an encrypted proxy than a VPN. I mean, sure, to encrypt to the proxy you may be creating a VPN... but if the purpose of the VPN is to have traffic appear to come from another destination then it's really more of a proxy service.

In either case an Internet experience slowdown should be expected - your packets have to go from your house to your ISP's headend to your Proxy Service head-end (which may be on a different ISP), to your proxy service, back to their head end, then towards your final destination... and the same in reverse. Plus encryption overhead. Realistically, if it's only a slight slowdown you should be very pleased.


Of course for $50/month they better please you. That kind of price makes me want to get into that game. They've got to have a huge margin on the premium service, though it's surely eroded by the free users... they probably outnumber their premium users by a large ratio.


When you ask what "tests you could do to measure your security"... security as regards what? The ability to see your IP address? That is pretty much all a proxy service gives you that you couldn't do yourself. Geographic info can be pulled using your IP, and your ISP/gov't can obtain your address from it as well, but that's a derivation from the same. I would actually caution you that now rather than only you and your bank being able to see your transactions, now it's you, your bank, whoever is running the proxy service, and whoever may have compromised your proxy service. An alarming number of proxy services (including paid proxy services) are run by people that do that kind of thing (not to say this company is, just in general).

[Monkeywoman]

thanks for the word of caution. I will use the service for the 6 month term, according to how well it's affective and the service gets updated-I might move on to something else.

I have also looked into rack mounted firewalls like HotBrick, I assume similar to your setup; but next on my list would be a storage server.

[noroger]

Serra, it's not $50/month, but $50/6 months.

Thanks to my awesome ISP (one of the last few here in Canada), I get a "free" VPN service based on OpenVPN, SSH tunnel and 100GB of FTP storage all with my cable subscription. They swear they don't keep logs of who does what, but who knows

Anyway, it's a very good idea to use a VPN when you're outside your trusted network.

Before I was with my current ISP, I was using Astrill, and I have to say it was one of the fastest (review here: http://vpnreviews.net/astrill-vpn-review/ ). Sadly I didn't get a chance to try their DD-WRT add-on.