Question Nord VPN.

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Is this all they are doing ?

What does the privacy policy say ?

Says they don't share any information. What does nords and other pay VPNs say?

 

[Spymaster]

The vpn encrypts all the traffic between your device and the provider, so the isp cannot are any of it. The theory goes that the vpn provider doesn’t hold any logs, so your traffic is untraceable.

How well this stands up depends upon how naughty you are being.

Eg a student at harvard was tracked down after he made bomb threats over tor, which is a lot more secure than a vpn.

Alex

Thank you.

 

[JimW]

In my case I could bypass web censorship though they play whackamole with the VPN providers. ExpressVPN seems to get the best uptime here. Sadly I'd mostly use it for football highlights on YouTube not anything radical

 

[alex_]

Says they don't share any information. What does nords and other pay VPNs say?

There is a pretty good comparison of VPN’s at thatoneprivacysite.

Nord looks pretty good, might be worth seeing if the free product is the same as the pay one.

Thanks

Alex

 

[cybershot]

aaaaaand - I need a VPN that plays nice with my iPad, my Chromebook and my Android phone...
any ideas? I have been looking at Nord as most people who I know who use it love it, but are usually invested in one or two platforms only.

Chromebooks are the pain it seems:
Help - need a VPN for iOS, Android and Chromebook

PIA does everything you need.I eve have it working on my QNAP NAS.

I'll post up some speed results shortly for those worried about the speed of their network.

VPN Client Application Download | Private Internet Access (all Os clients you need here, although i am making the assumption the chrome extension does what you need on chromebook OS. DYOR)

 

[cybershot]

PIA Speed tests today:

My actual connection (200Mbps down and ~12Mbps Up, Virgin Media, you usually get 20% more than what the package is advertised at, for some reason, as I did this in the middle of the day when the network was not at peak, this is why I got the 220Mbps):


Connected to the London server (all sites blocked by UK court order are available using the UK servers):


Connected to the Spain Server:


Connected to the German Berlin server:


Connected to the US New York server:


Connected to the US California server:


All the above more than good enough for casual browsing, and more than good enough for streaming too. Torrenting supported, but if you want a full setup you need to use a server that supports port forwarding too. Germany and Spain do.

 

[Fez909]

Eg a student at harvard was tracked down after he made bomb threats over tor, which is a lot more secure than a vpn.

This is irrelevant to VPN, and he wasn't caught due to a weakness in Tor, but due to his own stupidity.

 

[alex_]

This is irrelevant to VPN, and he wasn't caught due to a weakness in Tor, but due to his own stupidity.

Yes, failures in Opsec and traffic analysis. But the point is that “they” can track you despite supposed controls like a vpn or tor being used if you piss “them” off enough.

Alex

 

[Spymaster]

PIA Speed tests today:

My actual connection (200Mbps down and ~12Mbps Up, Virgin Media, you usually get 20% more than what the package is advertised at, for some reason, as I did this in the middle of the day when the network was not at peak, this is why I got the 220Mbps):


Connected to the London server (all sites blocked by UK court order are available using the UK servers):


Connected to the Spain Server:


Connected to the German Berlin server:


Connected to the US New York server:


Connected to the US California server:


All the above more than good enough for casual browsing, and more than good enough for streaming too. Torrenting supported, but if you want a full setup you need to use a server that supports port forwarding too. Germany and Spain do.

So, in English, this means that using a VPN will slow my shit down but not so that I'd notice?

 

[cybershot]

The logging thing is worth talking about as well, if you want full annoymity while using a VPN, rather than just something that allows you access to blocked sites or gives you that extra layer of protection when using public wifi in coffee shops/train stations etc.

Which VPN Services Keep You Anonymous in 2018? - TorrentFreak

 

[cybershot]

So, in English, this means that using a VPN will slow my shit down but not so that I'd notice?

For web browsing it's a little bit slower, but not 3G one bar annoyingly slow you give up slow (of course using a VPN on 3G one bar would be even more painful)

Using local UK based servers you'll probably not notice, if you wanted to access US Netflix for example, you'd need to use a US server, the one that provides the best ping and speed (will be one on the east coast) then you'll probably notice it will take a bit longer to initially load the content and sort itself out, but otherwise. No. I often use German or Spanish servers to access streams of Premier League football that Virgin Media will block once 3pm hits, as per their court orders from the Premier League. It works fine, but also, I'm on a relative fast connection at home anyway (200Mpbs) so your mileage may vary.

ETA: I'll do some videos from my iPhone with load times later this eve, as unfortuently the video will show my public IP address, and as I'd rather not show my home or work IP, I'll do it over mobile network, but yeah, I have one bar 3G in this building I'm currently in.

 

[alex_]

This is irrelevant to VPN, and he wasn't caught due to a weakness in Tor, but due to his own stupidity.

And ~100% of people are caught due to their own stupidity.

Alex

 

[Fez909]

And ~100% of people are caught due to their own stupidity.

Alex

Yes, but this was particularly stupid.

Tor has not been broken. You can stay perfectly anonymous on Tor if you do the right things, no matter how hard someone wants to find you.

This fella, IIRC, called a bomb threat to cancel an exam. He mentioned the reason in the threat, narrowing down the suspects to everyone in the exam. He was the only student due to take the exam who was on Tor at the time - game over. He essentially admitted he did it.

Now, imagine he hadn't given any clue to his identity, or the reason for the threat. Now the suspects number millions. Who would suspect a bomb threat to get out of an exam in an age of global terror? So they wouldn't neccessarily be looking at students. And even if they did, they'd probably more than likely see more than one student on Tor - what they going to do, arrest them all, on no evidence at all?

 

[alex_]

Now, imagine he hadn't given any clue to his identity, or the reason for the threat. Now the suspects number millions. Who would suspect a bomb threat to get out of an exam in an age of global terror? So they wouldn't neccessarily be looking at students. And even if they did, they'd probably more than likely see more than one student on Tor - what they going to do, arrest them all, on no evidence at all?

They’d still have looked at all the locals, they’d still have gone to seen him to “ask him a few questions to help them clear up their enquiries”, when he refused to answer their questions they’d have taken their data to a friendly judge, then seized all his shit and then proved it.

In London it’d be harder, but if you use a tiny vpn provider you are making it much easier for them.

Incidentally for all the none techies here - VPN’s and tor are perfectly safe at hiding all sorts of stuff from prying eyes. But usage depends upon your threat model.

Alex

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Googles Threat Model

 

[Epona]

I used Nord VPN for a while around 3 years ago as someone had a spare login key that they gave me (I was having trouble logging in somewhere because of an internet problem somewhere, the VPN let me route around it)- it's user friendly, and if I was going to pay for a VPN I would consider that one favourably tbh.

 

[hot air baboon]

VPN's are basically a way of hiding your browsing activity from an ISP who you know & vouchsafing it to some totally faceless 3rd party whom you don't know.

I did go to the bother of setting up a proton.com anonymous email & have started using TOR quite regularly for no great purpose other than being a bit more aware of privacy ( albeit a dubious concept on the internet ) - things seemed to be getting a bit silly after the Count Dankula stuff & prompted me to read this

 

[Epona]

VPN's are basically a way of hiding your browsing activity from an ISP who you know & vouchsafing it to some totally faceless 3rd party whom you don't know.

I did go to the bother of setting up a proton.com anonymous email & have started using TOR quite regularly for no great purpose other than being a bit more aware of privacy ( albeit a dubious concept on the internet ) - things seemed to be getting a bit silly after the Count Dankula stuff & prompted me to read this

My ISP *is* the faceless entity that I don't know, and they charge me through the back teeth for that privilege - glad to hear that you are on first name terms with your ISP!

The reason I used Nord VPN was because for a few days there was an internet issue involving some sort of outage that was preventing me from logging on to ESO, so I used the VPN and was able to log in fine. There is nothing nefarious about it.

 

[hot air baboon]

well yes I do have a pretty good idea about BT - its ownership, governance, relationship to the State & its various tentacles. Those parties offering bomb proof server rooms under mountains in the arctic circle & records kept on self destructing wax cylinders could be operating from above a kebab shop in Ilford or GRU headquarters for all I actually know

 

[Epona]

LOL I love a good fantasy

 

[xenon]

Obligatory just run your own. I use OpenVPN on a VPS. I don't keep my own logs. I'm not doing anything dodgy though and wouldn't rely on it if I were.

 

[xenon]

I assume the VPS provider keeps network logs though. So, you know.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

I've had Nord last couple of years. Been good for me.

 

[Mordi]

My ISP *is* the faceless entity that I don't know, and they charge me through the back teeth for that privilege - glad to hear that you are on first name terms with your ISP!

The reason I used Nord VPN was because for a few days there was an internet issue involving some sort of outage that was preventing me from logging on to ESO, so I used the VPN and was able to log in fine. There is nothing nefarious about it.

I visited some friends in Poland and they really were on first names with their ISP. It was Marek, and he went around the countryside whacking aerials into fields of wheat so that folk could have blisteringly high speeds in the arse end of nowhere. Since then I've been outraged at how shit sub/urban internet is by comparison.

 

[donkyboy]

just use opera browser. it has vpn built in which you can turn off and on. I use it to access torrentday.

 

[pinkychukkles]

PIA is fine on my wired connection to the router at home but it’s getting close to being unusable with the app on my phone, takes ages to connect, frequent dropped connections that then take forever to sort themselves out.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I've just signed up for Nord after finding this deal which ends tomorrow at TopCashBack which should make it £34 and change
more details at:
Nord VPN - 3 Years for £85.44 (£2.38 per month) - hotukdeals
NordVPN Christmas Sales, Discount Codes, Cashback & Boxing Day Offers

Some say the cashback hasn't tracked after months so I'll leave that decision to you- if it works you're paying about £11 per annum for 3 years - which is fab, if it works. YMMV. I'm taking the chance.

Stacksocial discount mentioned on HUKD thread too

 

[UnderOpenSky]

just use opera browser. it has vpn built in which you can turn off and on. I use it to access torrentday.

This is what I do, but it won't hide your torrenting from your ISP, which I think is what Sasaferrato was after.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I've got a question about NORD

I mainly use a Chromebook at home and use the Nord Chrome Extension. For some reason the Android app won't play nice on my Chromebook.
Anyway - I can't access some sites when the VPN is on and not set to UK/GB - the BBC news is the main culprit - it reports '400 Bad Request'

Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
The number of request header fields exceeds this server's limit.​

Any ideas?

I have no such issues when using Nord on my Android phone or my iPad.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Nord VPN is going for 3 quid a month for 3 years for the next 9 hours.

Any good?

I'm looking at setting up a VM and tunneling through to that mostly.