VPNs are not as convenient as advertised

[Reverend Benny]

Yes. And how much distrust people have for those using true anonymous services such as Tor.

I don't think that necessarily true, a lot of people want to be anonymous just for the sake of not feeling that every move is recorded. Not cuz they do illegal stuff online.
But, there is a large crowd that can't be arsed reading up on things and just think that they are anonymous as soon as they switch on their free VPN service not having a basic understanding of how it works.

Also, people seem to forget that it doesn't only impact speed and performance, it can also have an impact on the device battery performance. Sure, it won't slurp it like like crazy but you will most likely see the battery taking a slight hit when using VPN services.

 

[eyoungren]

I don't think that necessarily true, a lot of people want to be anonymous just for the sake of not feeling that every move is recorded. Not cuz they do illegal stuff online.

That was kind of my point. Several years back I was running Tor just to be anonymous. My browsing is mainly confined to this site, Reddit, Google News and Flipboard. At that time it was also Facebook. Hardly anything to question. But in my experience, those using Tor were considered to be doing so precisely for illegal acts. Major news about Onion sites and the Dark Web over the last few years didn't help.

I see it kind of like jailbreaking an iPhone. I have jailbroken, and do continue to jailbreak. I did it/do it because I want certain things Apple did not or does not allow. Yet, you'll find most on the MR forums have a knee-jerk reaction to people who jailbreak their iPhone. It ranges from disapproval to outright hostility depending on what your accuser thinks you're doing (or have done).

But, there is a large crowd that can't be arsed reading up on things and just think that they are anonymous as soon as they switch on their free VPN service not having a basic understanding of how it works.

Totally agree here. I'm a graphic designer, but for the majority of my career I have worked for small companies. Because computers are a big part of my job that often made me the default 'computer' guy. So, I often got stuck with the additional job of being tech support for everyone else.

My son is going into IT as a career (he's in his third year) and he is starting to experience things like this.

 

[MacBH928]

I can absolutely see a benefit when using VPN if you are traveling and are using "unknown" wi-fi networks.
But the whole "I care about being anonymous but really only care if I can get a service for free" doesn't make sense to me. Also, if you wanna be truly anonymous, it requires a lot more than just enabling a VPN service on a client.

It always amazes me how much trust people put into VPN providers.

I don't think that necessarily true, a lot of people want to be anonymous just for the sake of not feeling that every move is recorded. Not cuz they do illegal stuff online.
But, there is a large crowd that can't be arsed reading up on things and just think that they are anonymous as soon as they switch on their free VPN service not having a basic understanding of how it works.

Also, people seem to forget that it doesn't only impact speed and performance, it can also have an impact on the device battery performance. Sure, it won't slurp it like like crazy but you will most likely see the battery taking a slight hit when using VPN services.

you are correct. This is basically people do not know how VPN works. They think a VPN is an invisible cloak. That being said, given that HTTPS will encrypt anything beyond the domain name (AFAIK) there is even less reason to use VPN.

 

[Abazigal]

I got to use a VPN earlier this year when I went for a 4-month course at my local university. The auditorium where the majority of my lectures were held had very poor cellular reception, and their wifi network blocked services like telegram and iCloud. So what I did was temporarily subscribe to a VPN service (Lockdown) which allowed me to circumvent those limitations on my iPhone and iPad.

Another minor annoyance is that there is no easy way to toggle a VPN on or off on iOS, barring native widgets by the app. I ended up creating shortcuts for this (turn wifi off, toggle VPN on, turn wifi on) and (turn VPN off), because I evidently couldn't turn on VPN while my devices were connected to wifi.

The Lockdown VPN service wasn't cheap, and didn't seem to let me circumvent Netflix region locks, but I didn't subscribe for that purpose, and speed didn't seem like it got degraded significantly, so overall, I was quite satisfied with the service.

 

[Huntn]

I can absolutely see a benefit when using VPN if you are traveling and are using "unknown" wi-fi networks.
But the whole "I care about being anonymous but really only care if I can get a service for free" doesn't make sense to me. Also, if you wanna be truly anonymous, it requires a lot more than just enabling a VPN service on a client.

It always amazes me how much trust people put into VPN providers.

At this point, I’m actually wondering how much I am benefiting by using VPN primarily from home. We don’t travel that much. I did pull up a site when looking into it before starting it, that showed both my IP address and specific location. Ok, so, that might be bad? 🤔

 

[jav6454]

At this point, I’m actually wondering how much I am benefiting by using VPN primarily from home. We don’t travel that much. I did pull up a site when looking into it before starting it, that showed both my IP address and specific location. Ok, so, that might be bad? 🤔

I travel often and having a VPN to keep access to certain places is a nice thing.

 

[KaliYoni]

showed both my IP address and specific location. Ok, so, that might be bad?

It depends on how much importance you place on privacy and, to a somewhat lesser extent, security. Again, rather than writing something from scratch, I think this article (it's a good adjunct to the one I linked to earlier) from Wirecutter does a good job discussing how to think about using a VPN:

What Is a VPN and What Can (and Can’t) It Do?

A VPN can secure a public Wi-Fi connection and reduce some types of online tracking, but is it reliable to access video sites or limit tracking? Read on to see.

www.nytimes.com

Beyond that, the specific risks of exposing your IP address and location depend a lot on how you use your connected devices and how prominent you are online. If there is something about you that makes you an attractive target for burglary, doxxing, or harassment (examples: talking about a valuable collection of something in your house, political views, your ethnicity/gender/nationality), you probably should take steps to obscure your physical location.

I also don't think there is anything wrong with simply using a VPN to reduce the massive amount of tracking and surveillance social media, online advertising, ISP, and mobile phone companies inflict on their users.

 

[MacBH928]

At this point, I’m actually wondering how much I am benefiting by using VPN primarily from home. We don’t travel that much. I did pull up a site when looking into it before starting it, that showed both my IP address and specific location. Ok, so, that might be bad? 🤔

It doesn't do much once you understand how it works. Its most effective when it comes to hiding your internet activity from your ISP or surveillance of govs. or protecting you from the local network admin if you are on a public wifi like hotel, coffee shop, airport, work.

My understanding if you use https sites, ISP can only see the main domain (x.com) , they know you visited that site but nothing further. There are other ways to track you though, logging into your GMAIL account and browsing the web with VPN will not hide you.

If you want anonymity , better use Tor Browser NOT LOGGED IN anything.

 

[Huntn]

VPN question, I’m using PIA VPN and finding that with my iPad when it rests, the VPN turns itself off and internet stops working until it is turned back on. Is this how it should work? Asking because I’d like to use it when both off and on, if that is possible. 🤔

 

[Queen6]

VPN question, I’m using PIA VPN and finding that with my iPad when it rests, the VPN turns itself off and internet stops working until it is turned back on. Is this how it should work? Asking because I’d like to use it when both off and on, if that is possible. 🤔

Likely has a safety toggle/kill switch so if the device sleeps or the network status changes the VPN locks the connection to prevent any leaks via you ISP.

Q-6

 

[Huntn]

Likely has a safety toggle/kill switch so if the device sleeps or the network status changes the VPN locks the connection to prevent any leaks via you ISP.

Q-6

I’m also noticing that I can no longer Airdrop to my iPad from my iPhone, “declined”, with wifi and Bluetooth on. 🤔

 

[Queen6]

I’m also noticing that I can no longer Airdrop to my iPad from my iPhone, “declined”, with wifi and Bluetooth on. 🤔

Pass, but if oyu want to test full close the VPN and see if the behavior changes. Whole point of the VPN is to isolate your data stream. I've not used PIA so not familiar with their app.

Q-6

 

[Huntn]

Pass, but if oyu want to test full close the VPN and see if the behavior changes. Whole point of the VPN is to isolate your data stream. I've not used PIA so not familiar with their app.

Q-6

I guess I could turn off the VPN kill switch and see if that makes a difference. 🤔

 

[MacBH928]

VPN question, I’m using PIA VPN and finding that with my iPad when it rests, the VPN turns itself off and internet stops working until it is turned back on. Is this how it should work? Asking because I’d like to use it when both off and on, if that is possible. 🤔

i don't understand what you mean to use the VPN when the iPad is OFF. To connect to local devices (printers, airdrop, etc) there should be an option saying "allow to connect to local devices"

the Kill Switch shuts your internet connection if the VPN connection is disrupted. This is so no data gets "leaked" outside the VPN connection if any issue happens.

 

[Huntn]

i don't understand what you mean to use the VPN when the iPad is OFF. To connect to local devices (printers, airdrop, etc) there should be an option saying "allow to connect to local devices"

the Kill Switch shuts your internet connection if the VPN connection is disrupted. This is so no data gets "leaked" outside the VPN connection if any issue happens.

If I set set my iPad down for a few minutes, when I go back to use it, VPN has turned itself off and the iPad has no connectivity, I presume based on the active kill switch. I must go to setting and turn VPN back on.

 

[iHorseHead]

I didn't read all of the posts here, but I use Surfshark VPN and sometimes my internet connection disappears, even on my iPhone and on 5G. Music stops playing, Safari saying I'm not connected to the internet and nothing works till I switch off the VPN. It happens frequently.

 

[Queen6]

If I set set my iPad down for a few minutes, when I go back to use it, VPN has turned itself off and the iPad has no connectivity, I presume based on the active kill switch. I must go to setting and turn VPN back on.

Reckon that's related to the behavior of iPadOS and the VPN provider has yet to fully figure that out. Makes sense as the OS will always look to save power where and when it can. I know on Android you can stipulate by app to ignore power saving and have used for the VPN app, IOS I don't know.

Q-6