jackteet

Thanks for that. I am not interested in free VPN`s cos many of then use your wifi when you are not online for other customers. god knows what that will be used for. Seems Nord has many fans so may give them a try. thanks again

bob_day

These two are not free vpns as such. They are commercial product which allow you a subset of their paid product at no cost. There is a huge difference.

Having said that Nord is a good option, used it myself for a while before switching to Windscribe.

jackteet

Thanks for that, may I ask whether there is much difference between nord and windsctibe.

bob_day

Both get great reviews as solid secure vpn offerings, as do many others. Windscribe has more options should you wish to use them. Eg I set up a few apps in their Split Tunnel. Amazon Prime Video for example. I subscribe so have no need to hide the fact that I'm watching it. I want maximum line speed to get reliable 4k streaming I get this by bypassing the VPN for this particular app. Also noticed that a couple of banking apps don't work over vpn, so bypass these too. Means that i don't have to turn off the vpn to pay my credit card..

The final clincher for me was price. Windscribe had/has a deal at $29 per year...

Check out the reviews before you make a decision...

jackteet

hi Bob, I wish I handt asked [ lol ], sounds very advanced and frankly i am useless at IT; hense I need a vpn for idiots. You are obviously acomplished vpn use whereas I do well to turn my PC on. Thanks for the info but I think I will go with Nord

bob_day

Didn't mean to make it sound as it had to be advanced. Just illustrating that there are drawbacks with a VPN of any flavour which you may or may not be able to configure around. Windscribe, as does Nord and probably many others work 'out of the box' having a simple quick connect button...

At the end of the day Nord is a good choice.

jackteet

Indeed Bob, I shall go for nord knowing I can get a refund within 30 days. Thanks for all the advice. jack

BristolUK

Yes, that's what I was getting at earlier.

Imagine a free browser or free email program supposedly known for stealing your details and raiding your bank account "but you'll be safe if you give us your credit card details and pay for our service"

jackteet

Yes, exactly.

bob_day

Not quite sure of the point you're trying to make here. The internet is and always has been awash with free propietary and open source software. Linux is a fine example, PGP encryption another, Firefox, thunderbird, loads of photo processing applications, the list of free top quality software is endless

VPN specifically since that's what this thread is about, quoted from Protons website :-Free VPNWe believe privacy and security are fundamental human rights, so we also provide a free version of Proton VPN to the public.

Unlike other free VPNs, there are no catches. We don't serve ads or secretly sell your browsing history. We are able to provide Proton VPN Free thanks to people who subscribe to a Proton VPN paid plan.

If you would like to support online privacy, please consider upgrading to a paid plan for faster speeds and more features.

BristolUK

I was agreeing with your comment that "These two are not free vpns as such. They are commercial product which allow you a subset of their paid product at no cost. There is a huge difference...."
Free doesn't necessarily mean dodgy.

bob_day

I must have been having a blonde moment :-)

astera

If you need a VPN primarily for watching UK freeview tv then you're better off getting a DNS solution coupled with an Apple TV device. You get all the main apps (BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channels 4 & 5) installed on the ATV and then just manually change the DNS setting (on the ATV).

Easier than using a VPN.

Fred James

I agree, but if you are downloading from Torrent sites , you need the privacy/security option that you get from a good VPN.

I get all I need the same way you do with ATV and DNS

bob_day

Gonna have to disagree with your final statement. Absolutely DNS redirection is a better solution for UK TV on whatever your chosen platform is as there is no impact on your data rate.. I use smartdnsproxy for that and have done for years.

However it is more complicated to set up as you have to change dnsserver settings in your router or the device you want to watch tv on. In some cases this may not even be possible due to providors locking down the supplied router.

A vpn app on the other hand. Install app, select country, hit connect. Job done and hello eastenders, corrie or whatever..