michali

Knowing how many if us depend on VPN's to watch our UK TV, I am looking for advice on the most reliable one! I have been using HMA for quite awhile now and it has been good for the most part. I have emailed them to see if there is presently a problem as my speeds have dropped dramatically. What are posters using for their VPN please? I installed Zenmate last night on Chrome on my PC and it worked well but I prefer to use my ipad to watch my programs. Any advice would be appreciated.

Markie

I've tried all the major VPN providers, and by far my favourite is VPN.ac. They're fast, reliable, and have excellent customer service. Using OpenVPN UDP provides excellent speeds.

P.S. They're also really, really cheap. Great deal.

michali

Thanks for that! I am trying it for a month to see how well it works for me. Having a hard time setting up the open vpn update on my ipad though! Have sent in a request for help.

fulwood

Someone recommended Zenmate - think based out of Germany and had no issues at all. no viruses or anything. It's free. i had tunnelbear but it buffered too much and cost me 5 bucks a month. i would use tunnelbear again but zenmate is perfect for now..

michali

I have only used Zenmate once so far on my PC but it was great! Got my VPN.ac sorted, excellent support from them. Needed that for my iPads.

Markie

Aren't they fantastic? I was so shocked, it was a last minute attempt. If you use OpenVPN UDP the speeds are amazing (or L2TP/IPSec on Windows).

Zenmate is one I haven't tried, I hadn't heard of it but I'm extremely suspicious to say the least. For one the poster said no viruses, well that means they're scanning your traffic (how else can they detect viruses?). Second, anything that's free has to have a monetisation model unless it's some kinda charity.

Looking through their site, they're hesitant to answer real questions - no mention of logging, for example. Obviously they're scanning traffic, so what do they do with that information? They don't tell us.

Finally, it's not a true VPN - only a browser proxy. A true VPN puts your computer on a different, remote, network. A network you're hopefully trusting more than your own ISP. I'm at uni, and they monitor ALL student traffic - so VPN is truly essential to me, not just proxying some traffic. Maybe this isn't as important to you.

In conclusion, Zenmate could be an interesting option to watch TV, but I'll happily pay under $45 a year to have a true VPN connection that has been extremely fast with excellent customer service behind it (and I swear, I have no affiliation with these guys at all!).

Warning - paying isn't a guarantee they're safe, and ultimately it comes down to trust. Talking with one of the VPN.ac guys, I trust them. There's others I'd trust. I would NOT trust the major providers Hide My Ass (they've already shown that they log data) and VyprVPN (much discussion of their logging habits that they don't discuss well). I think that small companies that specialise in security and offer VPN on the side, like VPN.ac and AirVPN (though AirVPN is hardly small anymore) are the way to go. AirVPN was about 1/3 of the speed of VPN.ac for me - which makes sense they're huge and trying to stretch out their server budget. VPN.ac is really small and so far, seems to be focused on providing VPN as a hobby not as a major source of income. They set up some servers in data centres and are selling VPN access to them, and keeping great service. The guys behind it seem really committed to keeping it great, too.

fulwood

I should have kept my gob shut..

Markie

Why? It's good to share things that have worked, I was just pointing out my concerns and why I'd be hesitant. Everyone needs to weigh all the factors for themselves, though the OP had noted she needed a "real" VPN service, not everyone may.

Truth is, if you don't have any desire for privacy (employer/school monitoring, etc) and you don't need a full virtual network, a free proxy to watch TV can be a good option - and it's a heck of a lot easier to setup.

michali

This is a good discussion! Thanks for the heads up on security. I will try VPN.ac for a month and if it continues to be good, I might cancel my HMA account. They have not responded yet to my email regarding slow speeds. Unlike VPN.ac who responded almost immediately. I hope they can keep up this excellent service as they grow and expand. I am hoping that 1tb a month will accommodate me and my husband. It should do.

Markie

1 TB really is a rather huge amount of data, very few people could come close. If you could come close, you're probably doing a lot of P2P (not an accusation, just a likely fact). If you're doing P2P, you shouldn't be using HMA - they're the worst in terms of privacy. Part of that is because, as a British company, they don't have much choice. However, they share more than they're legally required to.

When I tried HMA (because I, actually, don't care that much about privacy) it was PAINFULLY slow... not usable for iPlayer, etc. I think that keeping up excellent service as a small company grows is a challenge, however, if you look at who is behind VPN.ac - a Romanian security company ran by some nerds - it becomes clear it's more a labour of love than anything, thus, it's likely to stay good. Guaranteed? No, growth always seems to destroy good things. But likely enough, I bet my $42.50 (for a year, with coupon code) on it. It's under £30, and to me that's a bargain for what I get.

However, I'll note AirVPN is the same type of company but grown much larger, and they were pretty darn slow too. Nothing near as awful as HMA, but pretty bad.

michali

Yes, I think 1tb will be more than enough. It is just really for watching BBC and ITV....no P2P definitely. My conscience would bother me! Luckily here we get films quite quickly, albeit from a shop that makes its own DVD copies! Sadly, my conscience does not stretch far enough not to purchase from them! HMA normally works pretty well for us, except for the last couple of days when there is a lot of buffering at times and I do not have to use a VPN for more sensitive issues. Are you saying though that VPN.ac openvpn is safe for say, banking, when you are away from your own secured wifi?

Markie

Frankly, I'm not one to avoid banking on public WiFi. I trust SSL enough on it's own, after all the data then goes out on the unencrypted Internet. SSL is designed to secure your connection against anyone in the middle, including on your local Wi-Fi, at your ISP, or elsewhere on the Internet. I understand this position isn't too popular among some but, if you can't trust SSL to keep your data secure locally, how can you possibly trust it to keep your data secure as it crosses the Internet?

That said, yes, the VPN tunnel is highly secure so, in effect, VPN.ac (using their datacentre space they rent) becomes your ISP. OpenVPN is excellent in this regard. L2TP/IPSec is also acceptable. PPTP is not, it's junk.

As for buying pirated DVDs - your conscience lets you buy pirated DVDs, but not P2P? Heck, my conscience would feel better about P2P than pirated DVDs. At least with P2P you're supporting nobody, whereas with pirated physical DVDs you're giving money to gangs and organised crime...

michali

True! I guess, because they are 'legitimate' licensed stores with several outlets, it feels OK to buy from them. Definitely not gangsters but of course illegal! I actually rent most films from iTunes. It is just that they take so long to bring out the new ones, but I am learning to be patient!

Mind you, isn't it really illegal for us to be watching UKTV from abroad? I would be so happy to buy a TV licence if they would only offer that to those of us abroad.