[PLUG-TALK] VPN anyone?

John Jason Jordan johnxj at gmx.com
Fri Feb 14 18:20:16 UTC 2020


I have never used a VPN, but I finally decided to try one. I started
with Private Internet Access, but the speed was awful - my connection
was reduced to a quarter of what it normally is, in spite of going
around and around with their tech people. Furthermore, I could install
their little app on my computers, but not on the D-Link DIR-860L that
Russell (thanks!) configured for my gigabit CenturyLink connection.
When I log into the router I see that it thinks my IP address is the CL
97.x.x.x address, not the 154.x.x.x address of the VPN. Still, web
sites gave the 154.x.x.x address, so maybe messing with the router is
unnecessary.

I canceled the PIA service and then tried ExpressVPN, mostly because
reviews rated them as being about the fastest. Plus, they advertised
that I could install the VPN on my router - maybe, depending on the
model. Their speed was maybe a third of what I normally get; still not
acceptable. And I spent an hour in chat with their tech people trying
to get the VPN installed on the router. Finally, I gave up and canceled
the service.

So does anyone use a VPN that you can recommend? And what might be
necessary to install the service on the router? (The ExpressVPN
tech said he needed to know if I was on PPOE.) And if it is installed on
the router, do I then need to install it on the computers as well?

I recall a meeting where the speaker discussed internet privacy, and
his views were that the NSA can find you regardless of what you do. I'm
not concerned about the NSA, just big companies, including CenturyLink.
So are VPNs a waste of time?



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