VPN illiterate in need of help

[Kalmado]

So with recent happenings in the news and also getting a special warning sign every time I visit TPB (IPT doesn't have some things I want such as New Japan Pro Wrestling) I figure I better get educated and would rather those smart from BG help a brother out. I looked into Reddit and my head about exploded.

From what I've gathered thus far Tor and PIA VPN seem to be popular as well as Nord. But, they are slightly pricey (well, for me). Currently there is a deal for a VPN that has been rated so far "Best VPN of 17 by PC Mag" for $35 for a lifetime membership (link regarding deal).

Would those that are educated in this field please contribute to this thread so those of us with zero to limited understanding of VPN, how they work, and cost can make some educated purchasing decisions please and thank you!

[Zetanio]

I wouldn't use TPB. Ever.

[Niya]

About the "how it works" part: a VPN is, in simple words, an encrypted tunnel/point to point connection between you and a server/router/whatever is at the other end.
Companies and some home users have VPN to enable access to their internal/home network to ppl who are on the road/not at home. Thanks to the encryption all traffic between you and the target device/network can not be sniffed/read by anyone who might eavesdrop on the connection. They just see a lot of gibberish packets travelling back and forth between your IP and the target.

TOR has a different approach even though it's similar to VPN: you connect (encrypted) to a so-called entry node (let me call it EnN). That node connects to a relay node (RN) that only sees the connection from the EnN but doesn't know that the original packet came from you. That RN makes a connection to another RN and so on, until the last one connects to an Exit node (ExN) that forwards the packet to the "normal" internet. Each node only knows details about the previous and next node in the chain, but not about the whole chain. That way TOR helps to completely obfuscate where the packet originally came from.
TOR connections are pretty secure but VERY slow, so they're not for daily surfing but more for important/dangerous transfers that should never be able to trace back to the source.

About cost/recommendations, can't help much with that since I have no idea of what's available to the US market.

[Kalmado]

I wouldn't use TPB. Ever.

There are a few uploaders there that I've been downloading from for going on seven years and I've never had an issue. I know it's a breeding ground for others to upload garbage. Anything specific that keeps you away from TBP?

[Zetanio]

Open t*****s are tracked by every single ISP and they will tag you near instantly. I wouldn't even visit the website.

Only times I ever got warnings was by using that site.

[Arkanna]

Open t*****s are tracked by every single ISP and they will tag you near instantly. I wouldn't even visit the website.

Only times I ever got warnings was by using that site.

This

[Kalmado]

Open t*****s are tracked by every single ISP and they will tag you near instantly. I wouldn't even visit the website.

Only times I ever got warnings was by using that site.

Somewhat why I'm looking at buying a VPN.

[Kalmado]

I was using KAT but as far as I know it's gone.

[Zetanio]

Just use private trackers. Done and dusted.

[SephYuyX]

I solely use public trackers, including TPB, KAT, YIFY, Rarbg, et al, and have never ever had a letter from my ISP or otherwise. I've downloaded terabytes of movies/games/music/software/etc all without VPN or TOR.

ISPs don't care about you as long as you aren't hosting, over-seeding, or doing other illicit stuff. There has been recent talk of the FBI and ISPs auto-flagging your account if you are using VPN andor TOR anyway.

If you insist on being "more secure", Nord+TOR is the best combo; Using both a VPN and TOR is baseline, anything less than that is pointless, and even then if an agency cares enough about you they can still get you.

[Arkanna]

I solely use public trackers, including TPB, KAT, YIFY, Rarbg, et al, and have never ever had a letter from my ISP or otherwise. I've downloaded terabytes of movies/games/music/software/etc all without VPN or TOR.

ISPs don't care about you as long as you aren't hosting, over-seeding, or doing other illicit stuff. There has been recent talk of the FBI and ISPs auto-flagging your account if you are using VPN andor TOR anyway.

If you insist on being "more secure", Nord+TOR is the best combo; Using both a VPN and TOR is baseline, anything less than that is pointless, and even then if an agency cares enough about you they can still get you.

And your ISP is who? Because C&D letters are very common from several national ISP's.

[Shenrien]

Never received a C&D with TWC/Charter/Spectrum.

[Hellfury]

The functioning of VPNs was well explained above, so I won't go into that, personally I use PIA, back a few years ago when I did my research, they ticked a lot of important buttons (no logging, several high speed exit nodes etc.).

[Uzor]

I work at a VPN company. I'll remain objective, however. Feel free to ask me any questions you want.

Open t*****s are tracked by every single ISP and they will tag you near instantly. I wouldn't even visit the website.

Only times I ever got warnings was by using that site.

This is not necessarily true in regards to TPB. Yes, ISP providers do track TPB and many other public trackers. However, most decent VPN providers will encrypt your traffic as well as use their own DNS servers. In these situations, your ISP will not know that you are using TPB, and you can download however many petabytes of data you want. The only thing they can see is encrypted traffic.

I would refrain from using TPB if you are NOT connected to a VPN tunnel, however.

From what I've gathered thus far Tor and PIA VPN seem to be popular as well as Nord. But, they are slightly pricey (well, for me). Currently, there is a deal for a VPN that has been rated so far "Best VPN of 17 by PC Mag" for $35 for a lifetime membership (link regarding deal).

I would never recommend anyone to subscribe get a lifetime VPN subscription, nor would I recommend you to use a VPN service that is either free or extremely cheap.

In most countries, VPN providers do not fall under the same law as ISP providers. Like every business, a VPN provider has to earn their money somehow. If they don't earn it through subscriptions, they'll earn it by selling your information. Remember: a VPN provider, in general, has access to the same kind of information about your browsing habits that your ISP has. Don't trade your ISP selling your information to your VPN selling your information.

Also, if you're going to download things online, DON'T do it using TOR. It is highly frowned upon. Also, a lot of people would argue that using TOR over VPN is like using double condoms during sex. Those people would also argue it's because the FBI, NSA etc. have been known to highjack TOR exit nodes and supposedly have found ways to break TOR. However, I personally don't have any recommendations about whether it's safer or not.

What protocol are you interested in using, and is your only goal to download from TPB, or do you plan to hide from your ISP as well following the recent resolution? There are several to choose from, all with their ups and downs. Never, ever, use PPTP though. And which protocol, encryption etc all depends on what your requirements and needs are.

[Zetanio]

This is not necessarily true in regards to TPB. Yes, ISP providers do track TPB and many other public trackers. However, most decent VPN providers will encrypt your traffic as well as use their own DNS servers. In these situations, your ISP will not know that you are using TPB, and you can download however many petabytes of data you want. The only thing they can see is encrypted traffic.

I would refrain from using TPB if you are NOT connected to a VPN tunnel, however.

My comment was for using TPB without a VPN. With a VPN you can do whatever you like.

[Uzor]

My comment was for using TPB without a VPN. With a VPN you can do whatever you like.

I see.

To be fair, some ISP:s (I'm looking at you, Cogent) have blocked TPB, and will even block it for other providers that go through their net. It's likely many more will follow eventually. So visiting TPB may not even be possible even with a VPN in some cases.

[Kalmado]

Forgot to mention that I used to use TunnelBear but it changed and it's kind of weird now so I don't bother. I think I'm going to try out that one I linked in the OP. I mean, $35 for a lifetime membership, even if the company folds in a year, isn't too bad.

[Hellfury]

Should also be noted, some of the free ones have a model that uses "your IP" as a node for outgoing traffic, in essence, they treat all their free clients as "exit nodes" for lack of a better term, whilst the paying client doesn't provide anything (beyond payment), read the fine print carefully. There is no such thing as a free lunch usually

[Kalmado]

Should also be noted, some of the free ones have a model that uses "your IP" as a node for outgoing traffic, in essence, they treat all their free clients as "exit nodes" for lack of a better term, whilst the paying client doesn't provide anything (beyond payment), read the fine print carefully. There is no such thing as a free lunch usually

Wasn't that what that really popular free VPN was doing a few years back? I forget the name. I know it blew up on Reddit.

[Uzor]

Forgot to mention that I used to use TunnelBear but it changed and it's kind of weird now so I don't bother. I think I'm going to try out that one I linked in the OP. I mean, $35 for a lifetime membership, even if the company folds in a year, isn't too bad.

I would like to point out that VPNSecure's normal price is $80 for a yearly subscription. It is extremely sketchy that they offer a life time subscription for $34 — especially considering Slickdeals state that the original price is $39, and their offer provides $5 off.

Wasn't that what that really popular free VPN was doing a few years back? I forget the name. I know it blew up on Reddit.

Yes, Hola did this.