I’ve just installed NordVPN on my Windows 10 PC and, although it appears to be working correctly on my usual “connections”, I’m just wondering how to make proper use of this powerful facility.
Obviously, I don’t want suggestions that are immoral or illegal … 
I know absolutely nothing about VPNs. I have heard that they do invite skilled hackers and other “agencies” to dig deeper and try to crack them. Simply because immoral/ illegal reasons are often why people have them. Now DO NOT grab that and assume that I am saying this is you. I’m not. Got that?..I am just saying that’s what I have heard. Of course that may be crap also. If you want have a VPN to protect your private affairs. Go for it. Obviously it’s your money/ Bank details/property/ family and privacy that you need to protect. Use it for this. I have resisted on line banking. I don’t like automatic debits either unless you have no choice. We get by without it and use the phone to pay bills. Sometimes I even walk to the local post office (20 minutes walk) and pay bills there. Prehistoric I know but I enjoy the walk and so does Tex (my dog)
Given that the size of the internet, with associated risks, is increasing exponentially, additional defensive measures have become essential. I found this extract helpful in deciding to install a VPN:
Here are a few most common cases when you should strongly consider using a VPN:
You use public Wi-Fi regularly
When you’re using a public Wi-Fi network, even a password-protected one, a VPN is your best friend. That’s because using public hotspots can be rife with hazards. Hackers have many methods to intercept your internet traffic and steal your passwords, files, and photos.
You travel a lot
Going to a foreign country? A VPN can help you access services that may not be available in that country – say, China, where the government blocks sites like Facebook. Even if you just cross the border into a neighbouring country, you will most likely lose access to some streaming content to which you subscribe.
You want to shield your browsing from third parties
Even when browsing the web in the comfort of your own home, using a VPN is a pretty good idea. For instance, you may want to buy your little nephew a birthday gift online without being bombarded with toy truck ads for the next six months. Or perhaps you need to do a quick research of health clinics without attracting your employer’s attention.
You want to avoid government surveillance
Then there’s the widespread surveillance by local and foreign governments. The Snowden leaks and years of follow-up reporting have shown us the vast scope and reach of worldwide surveillance. It would be illegal for police officers to search your home without a warrant. Yet government agencies track and collect your browsing activity, messages, social posts, and other private data. They even share this information across country borders.
You are a journalist or political activist
Some countries don’t have the same protections for freedom of the press, speech, and expression that most democratic countries enjoy. In fact, some regimes resort to harsh measures to monitor and punish those whom they see as threats to the government. People who dare to stand up have to take extra precautions to protect their communications.
You use file-sharing services
P2P (Peer-to-Peer) is one of the fastest and most effective methods to share large sets of data across a network. It is used to distribute open-source software, corporate and scientific data, and public domain videos.
But despite these legitimate uses, many ISPs try to discourage internet users from P2P file sharing. They do it by controlling access to file-sharing websites or setting bandwidth limits. That slows down their customers’ internet speed and restricts their choices.
Hmm Lot to think about there. Thank you for that.
Easy.
Only use it when either you want to hide your activities from snooping, when you need to disguise your geo-location or when you are trying to access a web site your government has banned or blacklisted.
To use it for normal internet activities is a total waste of time and money a VPN just slows down your internet speed. Some sites even don’t work when accessed via (some?)foreign VPNs for example Guardian Australia
Why did you decide to get a VPN?
Personally I just use the notification bar (used to be the charm bar) in WIN10 as a quick way to access it and turn it on and off.
For nefarious activities then apparently Switzerland, Netherlands and Japan have the best laws to keep your use/data private (I Googled it when I set it up) but I also use outlets in Russia, Australia, UK and USA for geo-location problems.
No doubt realist will stick his oar in with his usual doom and gloom about nothing being safe etc - just ignore.
Perhaps I should add that for protection against third party eaves dropping at public wifi (ie fast food outlets, libraries etc) I use my own modem VPN at home because generally speaking it is quicker as I am not sharing the service with anyone and I also have access to my server or desktop computer if necessary. It has the same security as any VPN though, of course, the meta data is available to my nanny state.
If your modem/router has this facility and you have a fibre connection then it might be worth setting up and it is free!
I personally don’t believe any of the spiel of the VPN providers. Everything you do is logged and that is not going to change with a VPN despite what they say. VPN small print will tell you in one paragraph that they absolutely categorically don’t keep logs of your activity. In the next paragraph they admit freely that they will comply with local or national law enforcement rules of the given country and work with law enforcement if they need to look at your activty. They can only do that if they can monitor your activity and track what you are doing. It’s the law and no VPN company is above the law so the reality is you can and will be tracked if someone wants to do that.
Therefore get rid of any notions that VPN makes you anonymous or untraceable in the world. It isn’t and yet most people naively think that’s what they are getting.
VPN’s exist in part to get all the stupid idiot crims and hackers to funnel all their activities through one specific portal which makes analysis of their traffic so much easier. Imagine a serial killer who posts threatening letters to people using post offices all over the country. You never know when the next letter will be sent and you have no idea which post office will be used. So hard to catch the guy.
Now consider how easy it would be if all his letters were first channelled through a single post office. All you need to is station law enforcement officers at that one post office and watch for people bringing in letters.
That’s what VPNs do. Funnel all the stupid idiots into one portal.
The real crims don’t use VPN’s I’m sure. They use the dark web and all that stuff.
I also think it’s supremely naive of anyone to believe that things are truuly encrypted such that nobody, not even the manufacturers, can see the data. Mobile phones, computers, servers, VPN networks are all encrypted, but someone somewhere has those encryption keys and can see everything. They are watching all the time, analysing all the traffic through complex computer algorithms looking for key phrases and connections between people. Of course they are.
But this is all high level national security stuff of course. Nothing to worry an ordinary member of the public who isn’t wanting to engage in criminal activity.
I also don’t think much of that list of given reasons by your VPN company, they are really just scare tactics imho. If you’re going to get hacked or get your details stolen it will mostly be done by you getting malware or viruses or by you using certain websites.
VPN is useful for hiding your country of origin if websites refuse to play ball with you but how often is that the case?
On balance I have thus far stayed away from VPN providers. I use public WiFi carefully and change passwords routinely.
An interesting thread, thanks Omah as I have been thinking about this.
My first question is… are they free? I’m guessing not.
Thanks Ray,I shall have a read of that. Does that become your default network?
No, it’s a browser plug-in and you connect via the vpn as and when you need it, usually for browsing US sites where they’ve blocked EU users as a result of the ludicrous EU GDPR.
AFAIK, some are free, some are paid-for, some come with browsers … 
However:
The Dark Side of Free VPNs: What You Need to Know
https://www.safervpn.com/blog/use-free-vpn-hola-risks-cybercrime/
When it comes to proxies and VPNs, the ones that don’t charge you money actually end up costing you the most by draining your privacy and security. Read more about the dangers of using a free VPN or proxy!
I’m trying out NordVPN free for 30 days and then approx £30 pa thereafter:
NordVPN is also switchable (ON/OFF) with the facility to select the country of your choice.
One thing that you should be aware of when using a VPN is that your browser can leak your real IP address which rather defeats the object of using a VPN. To overcome this you need an addin like WebRTC to prevent your browser giving your IP address to all and sundry. There are web sites that will test your IP security via your VPN service.
This is the one I use with Firefox but there are others:
If you are interested this is the VPN I use, it costs me about $50 a year
The reason I chose this one is because they also offer a SOCK5 proxy so that you can use a torrent (file share) without having to permanently connect to a VPN service. You just enter the proxy into your Torrent program.
BTW personally I am wary of free VPN because in any free service on the internet you are not a customer but a product. However I have no reason to think they are shady but I would read some reviews of their services first.
Yes I should have mentioned that I also use webrtc.
I’ve tested that (UK to US) and it certainly seems true - speed reduced by a whopping 80% … :shock:
But I wached a US movie from Crackle with no interruption …
Thanks … I’ll check that out …
Yes that has been my experience too but I think streaming services reduce (or increase) the quality of the transmitted movie depending on the quality of the connection.
However if your VPN provider has, for example, several US sites you might find some faster than others so it is worth playing about with different addresses. I have several US ones set up in WIN10 so I can try different ones at different times of the day.
A quick look seems to indicate 19 locations/sites in the US with multiple servers … :shock:
Interesting thanks. I was thinking of getting a VPN but not sure it’s worth it now.
You say people can track which sites you go on… say you go on ebay, do they only know you visited ebay or can they find out what you bought, how much you spent, if you’re a seller, you’re name/password etc???
and forums (like this one for example) …does it just show your computer visited this site or can they see your username, password and find your posts???
I know site moderators are supposed to be able to trace someone’s location, though not sure how as on my iPad where google shows my location they are always miles out!!! (often as far as the opposite end of the country!) as I never have location services on.
Though US sites such as Amazon.com can tell I’m in UK and direct me to there but I don’t know how they know???
I think the internet and broadband is just another way for the govt to keep tabs on people and I don’t trust social media at all. (Big Brother is watching you!)
Having been housebound for a period in the past though I have to admit online shopping and banking etc has been a godsend as there was no way I could get to my bank (or even my nearest post office - which isn’t even accessible) for food or money. I would not have been able to remain independant through that period if I hadn’t been able to ‘shop online’ and just get everything I needed delivered to my doorstep!
Your prediction came true - have you ever considered using your psychic skills on the stage or the TV?
