Other Do you use a VPN with your iPhone?

[negativzero]

Its not the VPN leaking your information to law enforcement. Its the malware you're picking up when engaging in nefarious activities thats leading law enforcement to you. Thats how most of these criminals do get caught, if you're ever wondering how they get caught even with these so-called "no-log" VPNs.

Most VPN providers do provide some logging policy in their fine print that you should read up on.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Do you use the vpn with cellular data too?

Yes. I don’t want Verizon or anyone else data mining me etc. I have unlimited data plan.

 

[TechNismo]

I just use it at school cuz the block certain applications like snapchat, FaceBook and iMessage games

 

[BigMcGuire]

Was testing Vypr VPN for the longest time but ended up going with NordVPN - 3 years for $99. Vypr was weird - I could never connect with OpenVPN or their high end service, always had to opt for the L2TP/IPsec protocol. It disconnected a few times too but the apps were really nice. https://restoreprivacy.com seems to say positive things about it now. https://restoreprivacy.com/nordvpn-review/

Spent way too much time reading on this, but learned a lot. Kinda happy now I don't have to worry about text files going over the internet or using open wifi. Thanks for the help all!

 

[DNichter]

Never

 

[akash.nu]

My work requires me to login using VPN and I also use private VPN when connecting to any open public WiFi network such as at Starbucks.

 

[MacDawg]

I have to use VPN for work access to our various servers, so there are times I do so from my iPhone to use Remote Desktop
It has saved me several times to be able to access, troubleshoot and solve an issue on the fly without being at my desk at home or at work

I have PIA as well for personal use on my computers and phone, but honestly I rarely use it

 

[Newtons Apple]

Never for me. Do not see a need.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Never for me. Do not see a need.

Yeah if I didn’t travel so much for Work or I didn’t use public WiFi that much I’d agree. Last year my work sent me around the world almost every other month. Also my wife is going to UCLA and their open WiFi recommends vpns. Figured I might as well look into it. $100 for 3 years isn’t bad for peace of mind while using open WiFi. But yeah up until now I never had a need.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Yeah if I didn’t travel so much for Work or I didn’t use public WiFi that much I’d agree. Last year my work sent me around the world almost every other month. Also my wife is going to UCLA and their open WiFi recommends vpns. Figured I might as well look into it. $100 for 3 years isn’t bad for peace of mind while using open WiFi. But yeah up until now I never had a need.

If I traveled around the world I would do the same.

 

[Beelzbub]

As needed. I roll my own, my ASUS router has OpenVPN built into it. I stay away from public WiFi, but if for some reason I have to use it, I will VPN into my home so all my traffic is coming out of my home ISP connection. Very rarely do I ever need to do that.

 

[Sheldonsmith]

Yes, you bet especially when in hotels, shopping malls, and airports when man-in-the-middle attacks are more probable/possible...

 

[Apple_Robert]

For those using NordVPN on your iPhone, you might want to check and see just how anonymous you are on the web by going to https://whoer.net. It will probably detect that you are using Nord as your proxy etc., amongst other things (with Safari as well as Chrome). That means you can be traced. Run the same test with PIA, and it shows anonymity at 100%.

Edited to add: Same results on the Mac.

 

[Pnr2020]

I use AdGuard which sets up a VPN for system wide adblocking

 

[nia820]

I live abroad and I use a VPN for services like Netflix and Hulu. I also use a VPN when I'm on public wifi.

 

[AlexH]

Anytime I connect to a WiFi network I don’t own, I use a VPN. It’s not so much for privacy or anonymity as it is security.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I have had the chance to test several VPN providers. They all seem inconvenient to use - server speeds vary greatly. Sometimes it'll be really fast, other times I'm lucky to load a webpage in a minute. App reviews are usually really low and I can see why - they're difficult to use and not friendly at all.

All the VPNs I've used on my phone will disconnect after a period of inactivity and not stay connected all the time - the best was just over a day.

I tried leaving VPNs on all the time but so many things didn't work that I used to use that I ended up just turning it off.

I go on a work trip this week so I'll be using it while connected to public wifi / airport wifi for the first time. (Hotel WiFi probably won't work with it on?) - we'll see.

 

[TiggrToo]

All the VPNs I've used on my phone will disconnect after a period of inactivity and not stay connected all the time - the best was just over a day.

I tried leaving VPNs on all the time but so many things didn't work that I used to use that I ended up just turning it off.

Isn't this a bit of a, oh, I dunno, problem?

I thought the whole point was to ensure you were protected at all times.

In addition, anyone got any experience of how to handle a private VPN and a corporate one as well (e.g. Fortigate) - more especially how split-tunnelling by the corporate VPN is handled...?

My limited understanding is that perhaps you can only have one VPN running at a time. If so and the corporate VPN has spli-tunnelling turned on then would this not lead to all non-VPN traffic then going across and unprotected WiFi network?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I use AdGuard which sets up a VPN for system wide adblocking

Same.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have had the chance to test several VPN providers. They all seem inconvenient to use - server speeds vary greatly. Sometimes it'll be really fast, other times I'm lucky to load a webpage in a minute. App reviews are usually really low and I can see why - they're difficult to use and not friendly at all.

All the VPNs I've used on my phone will disconnect after a period of inactivity and not stay connected all the time - the best was just over a day.

I tried leaving VPNs on all the time but so many things didn't work that I used to use that I ended up just turning it off.

I go on a work trip this week so I'll be using it while connected to public wifi / airport wifi for the first time. (Hotel WiFi probably won't work with it on?) - we'll see.

Overall, I have had a decent experience. The only provider that I have had disconnect or hang on me several times on the phone is PIA. NordVPN hasn’t been a problem thus far.

 

[TokMok3]

I use a VPN, not for anonymity but rather for security and flexibility. For example, my Linksys router can act like a VPN server. I install OpenVPN on my iPhone, then I install the VPN connection profile on my phone that I download from my routers administrative page. By adding a client directive of redirect-gateway def1 in the .ovpn file this ensures that when I am connected to the VPN that all of my phone's internet traffic goes through my home ISP network. So, from a security standpoint this solution encrypts my connection over the air. And from a flexibility standpoint, my cable ISP thinks my phone is on my home network even when I am not at home, and this allows me to access all my devices on the home network as well as access all the "in home only" cable channels for streaming back to my phone.

That's awesome!!! Could you write a tutorial on how to achieve that?

 

[thisismyusername]

I will often use a VPN when using either my iPhone and iPad for 2 different reasons:
1) I'm working and thus need to connect to my work's VPN
2) I'm connected to a public wifi and want to use the web securely, in which case I use my own, personal VPN. I'll also use this VPN when I want to remotely connect to one of the machines on my home network via ssh, remote desktop, etc. I have it setup so all web traffic goes through my VPN when I'm connected to it.

That's awesome!!! Could you write a tutorial on how to achieve that?

I do something very similar to brianjsw01. How you set something like this up is kind of beyond the scope of a forum post but there's lots of documentation online about how to do things like this. Basically, you use a router that supports OpenVPN and configure it appropriately, which isn't hard at all if you have a decent understanding of networking. Your router's documentation should explain how to setup the server part, how to export a client config, etc. How to import a VPN config into an iPhone might require some googling but it is pretty easy. The easiest way to do all this is to use an off the shelf router that natively supports OpenVPN, or something similar. I have no idea what models these days do or if this is even a common thing for consumer grade routers as I haven't used a consumer grade router in years.

Lots of people who have more advanced home network setups, that allow one to do things like VPN into them, don't use the firmware that comes with their router. This allows you to run things like OpenVPN on routers that don't natively support it. You do this by installing something like OpenWRT on it, which replaces the router's firmware. This gives you all kinds of capabilities you might not normally find on a consumer router (i.e. things a typical home network doesn't need). I went the extreme overkill route and built my router (a separate, older off the shelf router, running OpenWRT, serves as my wireless access point). It runs pfSense, which is a FreeBSD-based open source router/firewall that gives you all kinds of capabilities you'd only find on commercial grade routers.

 

[BooBee]

I use VPN always on my phone and laptop when I dare go on public wifi. I try to avoid public wifi but there are instances I it makes sense.

 

[Wickintime]

For those using NordVPN on your iPhone, you might want to check and see just how anonymous you are on the web by going to https://whoer.net. It will probably detect that you are using Nord as your proxy etc., amongst other things (with Safari as well as Chrome). That means you can be traced. Run the same test with PIA, and it shows anonymity at 100%.

Edited to add: Same results on the Mac.

I use Nord and I've just tried this - I'm horrified at what it reveals. Are there any other VPNs that should be avoided?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I use Nord and I've just tried this - I'm horrified at what it reveals. Are there any other VPNs that should be avoided?

I did a lot of testing with various VPNs a while back. I need to check and see if I still have my notes. I do recall that many failed the various tests I ran.

As you experiment with different services, it is important to try several of their servers, as some will offer better speed and anonymity than others. I will say that in my testing, I do recall that PIA did not have these kinds of problems ( leaks etc) and their tech support has been superior to Nord, Express, Pure, TeddyBear, VyprVPN and several others I tested.

For the record, I am not affiliated with PIA. I did buy a 2year subscription last year.