Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ @lemmy.dbzer0.com

1y ago

(LINUX USER)What VPNs would you lovely people recommend?

Hello all!

I have been out of the piracy game since a little before mullvad lost port-forwarding; I know these things are ever changing, and to my understanding ivpn is a good bet at this moment in time.

I was wondering what everyone else has been using. As well as if anyone has tried the gui client for ivpn either built from source or the AUR build(I do use arch btw).

I am open to any vpn client that has a good reputation in the community, and build-able from a repository; A gui is preferred but not necessary, and absolutely NO account creation (Except for generic account numbers of course).

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to answer.

118 comments

The same 3 VPNs get recommended each time this question is asked:
Mullvad
Proton
IVPN
- +1 for Mullvad
  
  +2
  
  No more port forwarding though
- Only Proton should be recommended for torrenting since it has port-forwarding. I don't know why people love suggesting these even without port-forwarding.
  
  Because most people aren't tech savvy enough or have the need for port forwarding.
  
  What is the advantage of port-forwarding? I use Mullvad and don't know if I'm missing some critical feature
- So two that don't offer port forwarding and one that only does on Windows? Wow what a great recommendation...

Mullvad. The others have horrible apps on Linux.
- Mullvad doesn't support port forwarding anymore. I use airvpn and you can just use the native WireGuard (or OpenVPN if you'r crazy) apps on different platforms if you want.
  
  Wait why "if you're crazy"? I know wireguard is faster but is there something I'm missing?
  
  I use Wireguard on Mullvad. I don't know what you're talking about 🤷‍♂️
- Tbf, you don't really need any app. With Mullvad I just download configuration files and import them in KDE. It really is dead simple. Now enabling VPN at will is just two clicks with the possibility do make it automatic with three to four clicks.
- ProtonVPN's interface is fine
  
  Is it? I couldn't get it to auto connect at start. Which makes the all idea of having a VPN senseless IMHO.

I've been a ProtonVPN user for years and they have been rock solid since day one. It's also convenient for me as I have moved away from Google services and replaced them with Proton's other applications.
- Proton as a package is nice. If you immerse yourself into their ecosystem (email, drive, pass, vpn) you can get a lot of value from that $10/mo.
  I had to unsubscribe from them after using them for some years because they just won't bring feature parity to the Linux VPN client. I know they don't have permanent, fixed port forwarding on the Windows client, but the fact that they still haven't brought that feature to Linux is a big 🙄 for me.
  The other thing is I'd be cautious about being dependent on any service where if you decide it isn't bringing you as much value as you pay for, but you invested in certain extra features that are paid-only. In my case I had a secondary email handle (one that didn't just have my full name in it, so I can sign up for stuff anonymously). Well, after coming to grips with the fact that I don't want the VPN anymore, and that I don't want to pay $4/mo just to send one email a week and receive a few that are only confirmations, that second address can no longer send/receive. I had to move every account into secondary free proton email before my term ended.
  I'm not saying there's anything nefarious about using a paid feature and then losing it. I am just saying be cautious about it and understand what you get yourself info when starting a subscription that you may depend on.
  edit: this is advice directed generally, not specifically to the person I'm responding to who merely inspired me to comment
  
  I think using proton service is more for privacy. Nothing is free anyway. If you use Google or anything else that's free, you are paying them with your data, and proton they don't make money from ads, nor do they have them and those servers won't pay itself, but yea their ecosystem is pretty good, I mainly use email and VPN but there is a service called SimpleLogin that basically makes alias for your email, which you can send and receive from, and I believe proton own them now (dont have to pay for it), I basically use that with browser extension that generates random email each time, and we can deactivate the email so no need to bother with unsubscribing from promotional email and all.
  
  I will be cancelling my Proton Plus subscription due to the lack of feature parity on their Linux apps. For a privacy-respecting service provider, it's a shame Linux is so low on their priorities and so far behind in development. If you're on Linux, I would advise to steer clear until they actually focus on the quality of their services they have established instead of pushing out half-baked products.
- I just decided to make the switch to protons services last week, so far it's working well enough. I haven't found a good way to automatically backup photos from my phone to my proton drive in an organized way though...
  
  Proton Drive is beta at best... i works, just not how normie end user would expect. there work orders. But I am too lazy to set it up

Another mullvad recommendation usually don't trust any provider if they can afford and want to do advertisement all over the place. Mullvad let's you pay in coins if you want to be super ghost
- Oh yeah. I've used them for a couple years, I've just been out of the circle for 4-5 months. I also know things can change in the snap of a finger, so I figured I'd ask around. Good to see mullvad is still so highly recommended.

Airvpn. I've been using it for years with no problem.
- Same here. They have an open source graphical client you can use or they can generate an OpenVPN profile for you. Easy to use, high speeds, good price and they support port forwarding.
- Same here but do find they are blocked a bit more than other vpn providers. But will keep using them due to good speeds and easy config.

Mullvad!
- What about the removal of port forwarding?

Windscribe works for me. You can either use their software which is open source or create personal VPN configs on their site to use it with your distros network manager.
- They're the best!

- Holy shit, thank you for that information; I will definitely ensure I use a client with those vulnerabilities patched!

+1 to Mullvad. I only switched to NordVPN because I wanted to use an IP address from a country they have servers on.

Ivpn would be your best choice I think. I'm using proton VPN after mullvad abandoned port forwarding (why oh why did they do that!), but their client for Linux is basic but they are developing a new one at the moment. So port forwarding is a bit difficult to setup (but they do have it).
- Sorry but your wording is a bit confusing. Are you saying that Proton have port forwarding but it's difficult to set up? And is Mullvad developing a new client or is it Proton? And how does IVPN fit into the picture, do they not have any of these limitations as Proton/Mullvad?
  
  Sorry haven't had coffee yet. So in short:
  Proton has port forwarding but difficult to setup on Linux. They are developing a Linux client more feature rich where hopefully oort forwarding will be an ease just like the windows client they have. Ipvns client for linux I think has this feature but needs verification since last time I looked was more than I months ago.

ProtonVPN came with my Proton plan so I decided to try it. Works great on all my Linux distros, haven't had any problems. Kill switch works too, bind your torrent software of choice to the VPN device and you should be good to go.
Make suse to use one of the P2P specific servers for best performance.
No nasty letters from my ISP yet!
- Have you been able to get ProtonVPN to work with WireGuard on Linux? I believe their VPN client on Linux only uses OpenVPN and I've tried to pull a WireGuard config file for a P2P server but every time I try to use it, I get no connection.
  
  I haven' tried that naw, sorry :/

i've been using mullvad for almost a year with zero issues. fast, cheap and reliable.

I was using mullvad for a few months and noticed that a lot of websites I wanted to use were not working for me. Plus they removed port forwarding.
Since then I have been looking for alternatives.
Currently I'm considering -
Airvpn
Azirevpn
PIA
Pia seems to have a really good deal for the 3 year plan. This particular plan is so cheap that other providers prices seem ridiculously high. I have not heard much good things about PIA, so I still havent bought it.
I have generally heard a positive response on Airvpn.
Don't know much about Azirevpn.
Are there any cheap yet "not shitty" vpn providers that you guys suggest ?
- PIA is not good. It's owned by Kape Technologies which has done sketchy things in the past.
- I switched to airvpn. It gets the job done.
  Not as fast as mullvad on gigabit but it's good enough
  the app doesn't look great, but yeah.
  In general cheaper than mullvad.
  I have no idea if they are blocked from streaming sites, I only use VPN for torrents.

Airvpn with wireguard client prolly. I would just get a seedbox tbh roughly the same price but with more features
https://hostingby.design/app-hosting/
https://ultra.cc/
- Thanks for the suggestion! This may actually be the route I may go, as I can seed MUCH higher than a 1.0 without affecting my home connection speeds.
  
  Exactly.
  You also get wireguard vpn free with seedbox. Albeit the location will be limited to Netherlands.

Airvpn
- Airvpn cuz mullvad dont have PF anymore. Simmilar prices and just works. I found eddie client gui buggy (it could be something on my side), but its working for me
  
  Does the server ping keep disappearing for you too?

I enjoy ProtonVPN and other services that come with the premium subscription. Proton Pass with email aliases is a very good addition.
- Seconding this, Proton has been super easy to work with, and the ProtonPass alias feature just works beautifully

Mysterium looks pretty interesting, being completely decentralized. All the mainstream VPNs are pretty shady to me, being run in a centralized manner and some heavily marketed by "influencers".
- Isn't that just tor but less secure?
  
  It's more like anonymously connecting to someone else's wi-fi.
  
  https://safing.io/ is ToR but less secure.
  I tried learning about mysterium and it appears to be just a bunch of wire guard vpns in a network you can pay with Myst tokens. So no onion routing at all.

ivpn cuz you can pay with Monero

Can I piggy back on this and ask why NordVPN isn't as highly recommended?
- Some of the things I have written down, are mostly old so if anything is missing or needs correction, please let me know:
  They have shady origins, no one knows who they are or where they came from, but they did it with enough funds to quickly expand a large worldwide network of servers and an endless aggressive advertising campaign everywhere.
  Misleading advertising, from saying they are the best in the world to adding countdowns to get an offer that restarts when clearing cookies.
  They were hacked and tried to hide it for a very, very long time.
  Their app on mac pings google every 20 seconds. The android app is riddled with trackers. They use a myriad of integrated google services.
  They do not offer open source or audited apps.
  If you cancel the auto-renewal of the service, you lose many secondary services and they charge you weeks before the end of the subscription.
  In short, they are the kind of company that screams that they don't deserve anyone's trust, and that's a big problem for a VPN. I suggest mullvad, they have a long history of good practices, are privacy activists and are backed by companies like mozilla.
  
  Also besides them being extremely shady; I refuse to use any VPN that makes me create an account past a generic account number. If you don't log my data, why do you need me to sign up?
  
  Thank you so much; your response was very helpful. I guess I'm canceling my Nord sub now...

Torguard has worked well for me

Proton vpn is great, has a free tier as well. (Proton is a privacy-focused company so you can probably trust them)
- Free tier doesn't support p2p, should be noted
  
  Oh, I didn't realise this, thanks

Nobody mentioned Mozilla VPN (not recommending it, just wondering why).
- It's mullvad, which I love. The app works great in Linux on arch or you can use wireguard.

Astrill.

What do you folks think about Azire VPN https://www.azirevpn.com ? Looks similar in feature set to Mullvad & co (except Azire still supports port forwarding).

IVPN is good. A little on the expensive side but based in Gibraltar, good GUI for x86 machines, CLI client for other machines, and ofc openvpn config files. Wireguard too, "hardcore" tracker blocker, always-on firewall available... A lot of bells and whistles. AND really good customer service.