Which VPN do you use?

[megabyteme]

I believe this will become VERY important to US users as ISPs begin monitoring all customer's traffic. I'm quite uncertain who to use, if they are reliably secure, and who is easiest to setup accounts/ software with.

Please help with any VPN knowledge you have. I know next to nothing about them. Feel free to talk "down" to me as this is something I have never done before.


Thanks!

EDIT- I will specifically be using this with BT, so that is a must-have feature.

[manker]

A VPN won't stop your ISP seeing what you're downloading. It will only stop your peers and the websites you visit seeing your actual IP address.

[anon]

Which VPN do you use?

None. :D

That's obviously not the kind of answer you're looking for, but you'll find this (http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/) article useful, if slightly dated.


A VPN won't stop your ISP seeing what you're downloading.

It actually should, thanks to encryption. Although middleman attacks are possible.

[manker]

A VPN won't stop your ISP seeing what you're downloading.

It actually should, thanks to encryption. Although middleman attacks are possible.I was wondering about something similar to do with hashes.

There's a thing on private trackers to do with not bothering to .rar content now since it's obsolete and causes storage issues for people who seed on the same machine as they view. But I was thinking that if a movie or whatever was .rar'd along with some 3kb text file, it would change the hash and make it slip by any ISP checks so long as it had a password for encryption.

Seems like a simple enough solution but it should work, yes? :eyebrows:

[megabyteme]

None. :D

That's obviously not the kind of answer you're looking for, but you'll find this (http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/) article useful, if slightly dated.


A VPN won't stop your ISP seeing what you're downloading.

It actually should, thanks to encryption. Although middleman attacks are possible.

I have read that article (found your link in another thread), and found it a good start, but a lot can change in a year. As for the VPN being attacked by my ISP, I doubt they would do that from the start. I believe they will be picking the easiest ducks. I just don't want to be one of them...

[anon]

But I was thinking that if a movie or whatever was .rar'd along with some 3kb text file, it would change the hash and make it slip by any ISP checks so long as it had a password for encryption.

Seems like a simple enough solution but it should work, yes? :eyebrows:

Just recreating the same torrent with a different piece size would yield a new info_hash, no text file required.

I couldn't tell how this might fare in reality, because it would probably depend on what criteria providers use to flag a certain hash as belonging to copyrighted stuff, if they use this system at all. They could just add the new one to the blacklist making it an endless "game".

[megabyteme]

I can't wait to see what hackers do to the leading companies it this coup d'état of the free internet. :popcorn:

[Artemis]

Back to your original question although not for BT the one I have 'used' in the past is StrongVPN specifically to enable the protected content on Kindle Fire devices in my country. It works perfectly for this application. The other option (which is cheaper) is to configure a small VPS with a Linux distro like fedora and install OpenVPN. If you are interested in this option I can give you some pointers.

[A]

I really like this thread: http://filesharingtalk.com/threads/448069-I-need-a-VPN Good stuff in there.

[megabyteme]

Back to your original question although not for BT the one I have 'used' in the past is StrongVPN specifically to enable the protected content on Kindle Fire devices in my country. It works perfectly for this application. The other option (which is cheaper) is to configure a small VPS with a Linux distro like fedora and install OpenVPN. If you are interested in this option I can give you some pointers.

I looked into OpenVPN yesterday, and the site mainly focuses on driving people to their "Private Tunnel" service. The site specifically goes into anti-BT/filesharing in its TOS section.

I am leaning towards the following security precautions since the free internet has fallen in the US:

Change my DNS to OpenDNS (in order to keep my searches out of the hands of Concast) cost: Free
Find a trustworthy VPN service (to keep my BT activities private with the sole exclusion of bandwidth) cost: ~$10 per month
Connect to sites via HTTPS (I already installed an extension for Chrome) cost: free
Limit the number of items I am sharing at one time (this way, I will not receive numerous notices at one time if detected) cost: free
Limit the amount of time I seed (DMCA notices I have received before all showed how long I seeded, as well as how much data I uploaded- seemingly to eliminate the "OOPS, I accidentally downloaded something I didn't mean to" argument.) cost: free

I wish this was not necessary, but I am not about to exit the world's greatest library. Adopting these few precautions at a cost of ~$10 per month is very reasonable for the access available to us. I am hoping this blows up, goes to court and is declared as what it is- wiretapping and (once they start collecting out-of court "settlements") racketeering.

Amerika: Land of the free*

*As long as you do EXACTLY as the corporations tell you what to do.

:angry:

[anon]

I looked into OpenVPN yesterday, and the site mainly focuses on driving people to their "Private Tunnel" service. The site specifically goes into anti-BT/filesharing in its TOS section.

That's something else. You don't need to purchase any services they may offer to run it. OpenVPN as a software suite is free and open-source, and can be download at the following link.

http://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/downloads.html


Change my DNS to OpenDNS (in order to keep my searches out of the hands of Concast) cost: Free

I used to be on OpenDNS too, but switched back to my provider's servers some months ago. The reason for this is that some ill-designed CDNs rely on you doing so, to deliver data through the most efficient path. If I use name servers from the US, they think I reside there and use a sub-optimal route. But that won't be a problem for you as they have servers on your city.

Do note OpenDNS does hijacking of their own as well. If you mistype a domain, they redirect you to a search page with advertising. Turning that off requires you to make an account and such.

[cola]

If you want to get a proxy on the cheap, you can always get a VPS from a provider off lowendbox and use it as an SSH proxy. If you get a KVM or Xen VPS, you can install OpenVPN and use that.

[Artemis]

Back to your original question although not for BT the one I have 'used' in the past is StrongVPN specifically to enable the protected content on Kindle Fire devices in my country. It works perfectly for this application. The other option (which is cheaper) is to configure a small VPS with a Linux distro like fedora and install OpenVPN. If you are interested in this option I can give you some pointers.

I looked into OpenVPN yesterday, and the site mainly focuses on driving people to their "Private Tunnel" service. The site specifically goes into anti-BT/filesharing in its TOS section.

I am leaning towards the following security precautions since the free internet has fallen in the US:

Change my DNS to OpenDNS (in order to keep my searches out of the hands of Concast) cost: Free
Find a trustworthy VPN service (to keep my BT activities private with the sole exclusion of bandwidth) cost: ~$10 per month
Connect to sites via HTTPS (I already installed an extension for Chrome) cost: free
Limit the number of items I am sharing at one time (this way, I will not receive numerous notices at one time if detected) cost: free
Limit the amount of time I seed (DMCA notices I have received before all showed how long I seeded, as well as how much data I uploaded- seemingly to eliminate the "OOPS, I accidentally downloaded something I didn't mean to" argument.) cost: free

I wish this was not necessary, but I am not about to exit the world's greatest library. Adopting these few precautions at a cost of ~$10 per month is very reasonable for the access available to us. I am hoping this blows up, goes to court and is declared as what it is- wiretapping and (once they start collecting out-of court "settlements") racketeering.

Amerika: Land of the free*

*As long as you do EXACTLY as the corporations tell you what to do.

:angry:

Last statement first: They are already collecting out of court settlements in the thousand each month, at least the copyright trolls are (google copyright troll if you are unaware of this charming corporate phenomenon in America).

To simplify your requirements though, if you hire a remote VPS (virtual private server) with a Linux distro you can telnet in and install and configure OpenVPN onto the server. Once this is done and you configure your PC you have created a VPN tunnel between the two. For the purposes of the copyright holders that you are concerned about, the originating I.P. address for any transactions i.e. bt downloads, will be the I.P. of the server, so the copyright holders can go fish.

[megabyteme]

Last statement first: They are already collecting out of court settlements in the thousand each month, at least the copyright trolls are (google copyright troll if you are unaware of this charming corporate phenomenon in America).

To simplify your requirements though, if you hire a remote VPS (virtual private server) with a Linux distro you can telnet in and install and configure OpenVPN onto the server. Once this is done and you configure your PC you have created a VPN tunnel between the two. For the purposes of the copyright holders that you are concerned about, the originating I.P. address for any transactions i.e. bt downloads, will be the I.P. of the server, so the copyright holders can go fish.

I am aware of the previous incarnation of copyright trolls. What is being done here is that all the major ISPs, the RIAA, and MPAA have teamed up to take over that racketeering scheme. Recently, Concast "championed (http://filesharingtalk.com/content/1691-Comcast-Wins-Protest-Against-%93Shake-Down%94-of-BitTorrent-Pirates)" the little guy in order to push out all the small-time lawyers running the "out of court" settlements. These groups didn't team up for anything but HUGE amounts of money. This truly makes me :sick: and :angry: and nearly :gunsmilie.


As for the info being posted by yourself and others, I find this all VERY valuable. I'm taking it all in right now, and making sense of it. I've got a spare box sitting here (I'm reasonably sure it is complete), so I may head in the direction of a home-rolled system fairly soon. To begin with (as an effort to NOT be the easiest "duck"), I'll most likely try a paid service first.

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK!!!!!

Had to get that out regarding the largest wiretapping and racketeering scheme in the history of mankind.

[anon]

As for the info being posted by yourself and others, I find this all VERY valuable. I'm taking it all in right now, and making sense of it. I've got a spare box sitting here (I'm reasonably sure it is complete), so I may head in the direction of a home-rolled system fairly soon. To begin with (as an effort to NOT be the easiest "duck"), I'll most likely try a paid service first.

That will work to install a Linux distro and get used to how it works. It won't be a solution since it'd still use your Comcast IP. I do agree with Artemis and cola on that renting a small server and building your own VPN is the best, if you have the time and effort required (plus Art offered to help you). It'd put you in control of how the server runs, what it logs, and so on.

And that triple "fuck" is quote material, dude. :D

[cola]

If you want to rent a cheap box, using an SSH proxy will be the easiest to set up. The only concern I'd have is making sure that the box is secure, and that can be kind of a pain and a little daunting if you're not used to linux.

Most VPS providers will give you the option to install minimal-OS templates, where the OS is installed with just the bare bones. And SSH will still work out of the box. The only thing I'd do is change the SSH port, to thwart drive by port scanners. Software like tunneler helps with setting up the proxy on your computer. Once you have your server, you could make that change and be up and running in less than 10 minutes.

OpenVPN is a bit more tricky, and you can't do it with just any VPS. But it's not always the best solution either. Especially if you only want some traffic going through it and not all of your traffic going through the VPN.

[anon]

Most VPS providers will give you the option to install minimal-OS templates, where the OS is installed with just the bare bones. And SSH will still work out of the box. The only thing I'd do is change the SSH port, to thwart drive by port scanners. Software like tunneler helps with setting up the proxy on your computer. Once you have your server, you could make that change and be up and running in less than 10 minutes.

Don't forget to reverse-forward the port your favorite P2P program will be using.

[megabyteme]

As for the info being posted by yourself and others, I find this all VERY valuable. I'm taking it all in right now, and making sense of it. I've got a spare box sitting here (I'm reasonably sure it is complete), so I may head in the direction of a home-rolled system fairly soon. To begin with (as an effort to NOT be the easiest "duck"), I'll most likely try a paid service first.

That will work to install a Linux distro and get used to how it works. It won't be a solution since it'd still use your Comcast IP. I do agree with Artemis and cola on that renting a small server and building your own VPN is the best, if you have the time and effort required (plus Art offered to help you). It'd put you in control of how the server runs, what it logs, and so on.

And that triple "fuck" is quote material, dude. :D

The help is much appreciated! The learning curve seems pretty steep as I have only tinkered with Linux a few times, and without great success. I missed the part where i need to rent a server, then install the distro. Doh! I couldn't be in better company when it comes to getting answers to my questions. :happy:

On another note, I've been curious about this sort of stuff for quite some time. A BIG thanks to Concast for making me take the plunge. :dry:

[PastTense]

So why is it that the sites hosting these VPN servers don't get sued by the copyright mafia?

[cola]

They're outside the US. So DMCA doesn't apply. And most overseas hosts will ignore US legal documents. If they get papers from a local court, that's a different matter.

[megabyteme]

How secure is FTP (I'm assuming SSH would be used with it)? If I were to rent a seedbox, then grab the files, what would Concast see? I've got some trustworthy real world friends who would enjoy grabbing an occasional file from me, but setting up any kind of blind-to-the-ISP system would be overkill for them.

BIG question here, what can, and cannot, be seen as pirated material by the now spying ISPs?...

[A]

If you plan to use linux home, one word: Kubuntu (or openSUSE KDE version)


How secure is FTP (I'm assuming SSH would be used with it)? If I were to rent a seedbox, then grab the files, what would Concast see? I've got some trustworthy real world friends who would enjoy grabbing an occasional file from me, but setting up any kind of blind-to-the-ISP system would be overkill for them.
FTP is not secure. sFTP is. SSH is another way to access the remote server securely (alternative to insecure telnet).


BIG question here, what can, and cannot, be seen as pirated material by the now spying ISPs?...
http/ftp: ISP sees everying going through the pipe.
https/sftp/ssh: ISP only sees the headers (like where you connect to. eg: If you connect to google.com via https, ISP only knows you connected to google.com, they know sqaut what data was transferred).

bittorrent from seedbox. sFTP it back home. Thats the way to do it. oh, and encrypt your HDD with truecrypt with AES 256.

[IdolEyes787]

How secure is FTP (I'm assuming SSH would be used with it)? If I were to rent a seedbox, then grab the files, what would Concast see? I've got some trustworthy real world friends who would enjoy grabbing an occasional file from me, but setting up any kind of blind-to-the-ISP system would be overkill for them.

BIG question here, what can, and cannot, be seen as pirated material by the now spying ISPs?...

Wouldn't it just be a lot easier in the end to simply move to Candidia?

I could probably get you a job at Tim Horton's.

[Artemis]

OK I will break it down more simply for you Meg. If you rent a server, either a VPS or a dedicated server it will come preconfigured with an operating system that you can remotely access and you will be given the details to login and access it, otherwise it would be somewhat useless. But that is it, just the O/S, usually a shell if it is a Linux distro, no GUI or anything fancy, you telnet in and configure the server via the command line. I did this for a job for years so it isn't quite so scary.
From there you can turn the server into whatever kind of server you want, my first suggestion was to hire a relatively small one and install OpenVPN to configure as a VPN tunnel, but the other option now being discussed is to go the seedbox route. For this you hire a bigger server (in terms of bandwidth and power of the server) and configure the server with your bt client (usually utorrent in a wine container or a native Linux torrent client, but but an older version of utorrent would be best for you). From there you download the files from the server to your home via secure ftp which is a protocol the ISP's are scanning far less for, and throttling less, because it used now for legitimate downloads far more.
To get a decent seedbox configuration will mean moving from a VPS (probably) to a dedicated server, in order to increase bandwidth, which will increase costs, so you need to look at your priorities?
Both options, a VPN and a seedbox protect your I.P. address from being the start address for a bt transaction, for the simple reason that the I.P. address will be that of a rented server overseas, or as I stated earlier there are the VPN services too, if you feel I am making your head explode like I did Mr Barker Lounger in the other thread. iPredator and StrongVPN can also do the job for you at a price.

[OlegL]

How is it possible for a "virtual private network" to be private if it exists on the public network, which is the internet?

[megabyteme]

OK I will break it down more simply for you Meg. If you rent a server, either a VPS or a dedicated server it will come preconfigured with an operating system that you can remotely access and you will be given the details to login and access it, otherwise it would be somewhat useless. But that is it, just the O/S, usually a shell if it is a Linux distro, no GUI or anything fancy, you telnet in and configure the server via the command line. I did this for a job for years so it isn't quite so scary.
From there you can turn the server into whatever kind of server you want, my first suggestion was to hire a relatively small one and install OpenVPN to configure as a VPN tunnel, but the other option now being discussed is to go the seedbox route. For this you hire a bigger server (in terms of bandwidth and power of the server) and configure the server with your bt client (usually utorrent in a wine container or a native Linux torrent client, but but an older version of utorrent would be best for you). From there you download the files from the server to your home via secure ftp which is a protocol the ISP's are scanning far less for, and throttling less, because it used now for legitimate downloads far more.
To get a decent seedbox configuration will mean moving from a VPS (probably) to a dedicated server, in order to increase bandwidth, which will increase costs, so you need to look at your priorities?
Both options, a VPN and a seedbox protect your I.P. address from being the start address for a bt transaction, for the simple reason that the I.P. address will be that of a rented server overseas, or as I stated earlier there are the VPN services too, if you feel I am making your head explode like I did Mr Barker Lounger in the other thread. iPredator and StrongVPN can also do the job for you at a price.

I actually followed quite a bit of that, and feel I'm on decent grounds to move ahead. I'll continue to look into the various options, and lay low with my downloading until we see what the Coalition for Anti-Privacy does to the unsuspecting in the coming month, or so...

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone pointing me in the right direction! :)

[A]

How is it possible for a "virtual private network" to be private if it exists on the public network, which is the internet?
Encryption magic.

[megabyteme]

Wouldn't it just be a lot easier in the end to simply move to Candidia?

I could probably get you a job at Tim Horton's.

I appreciate the offer, but I had an "incident" there a few years back. Court orders prevent me from giving details, but it involved stale doughnuts, 3 AM, and lots of blood. :(

[mjmacky]

I did this for a job for years so it isn't quite so scary.

No matter how I read it, it screams an admission of ineptitude. What have your doctors done to you with their chicken scratch?

[cola]

a VPS with 512megs will easily run openvpn and deluge, if you're wanting to combine both VPN and seedboxes. Although, I know some seedbox providers will also allow you to SSH into your account and use it as a proxy too.

[Artemis]

I did this for a job for years so it isn't quite so scary.

No matter how I read it, it screams an admission of ineptitude. What have your doctors done to you with their chicken scratch?

There is a time and a place like the lounge for instance, where responses can be lighthearted and inane, but that was a complete brain fart in the middle of a serious discussion that hopefully was actually leading somewhere for once without the usual flaming or (until now) inane posts.
In reply to that though, one of my first jobs in the computer industry was working E.C.N.Z. (Electricity Corporation of New Zealand) setting up S.C.A.D.A. in the power stations throughout the North Island of New Zealand. The PC's used to access the S.C.A.D.A. system locally by the operators onsite at the power stations were XENIX workstations. XENIX was an X86 UNIX platform. This was before Linux, the O/S did not have a G.U.I. and in fact each interface was designed individually for each power station.
When off-site I would telnet into the machines to update them as a matter of course as part of my job, so as I said before I did this for years, well just on 2 years to be precise since that was the length of my contract.

[OlegL]

How is it possible for a "virtual private network" to be private if it exists on the public network, which is the internet?
Encryption magic.

Encryption/VPN would allow me to hide my real internet IP address? In this case, other people would see my fake internet IP address, instead of the real one, right?

[Artemis]

Encryption magic.

Encryption/VPN would allow me to hide my real internet IP address? In this case, other people would see my fake internet IP address, instead of the real one, right?

Yes, a VPN or Virtual Private Network is a point to point tunneling protocol, that in effect as it sounds creates an encrypted tunnel between the two I.P. addresses.

[anon]

Just think of a really long network cable that connects you to a router on another location. You can be part of their local network, and more importantly, gain access to the Internet via their gateway. People can't see what you're transferring, because it's going through the cable (encrypted).

I'm bad with analogies, but I think that sums it up pretty well.

[ranirajput]

By using a secure and anonymous connection through Banana VPN's in the USA or UK, you will get full internet access in places that censor or block your connection and strong protection when using public Wifi - my friend told me that who stays in US.
Or You can use Happy -VPN which is also good .....

[anon]

By using a secure and anonymous connection through Banana VPN's in the USA or UK, you will get full internet access in places that censor or block your connection and strong protection when using public Wifi - my friend told me that who stays in US.
Or You can use Happy -VPN which is also good .....

And you aren't posting this to advertise some site.

[Artemis]

By using a secure and anonymous connection through Banana VPN's in the USA or UK, you will get full internet access in places that censor or block your connection and strong protection when using public Wifi - my friend told me that who stays in US.
Or You can use Happy -VPN which is also good .....

And you aren't posting this to advertise some site.

We'll just have to wait to see if the next post is the beginning of the spamfest or if we get treated to a nice spammy signature, what's your bet? :blink:

[PastTense]

Since virtually no one has recommended specific VPNs that they use, perhaps advertisements are better than nothing.

[cola]

I like getting cheap servers, I have one with edis.at right now. But for straight up VPN service, I guess this list is pretty good:

https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/

[PastTense]

But that list only deals with the issue of anonymity . A lot of us on the other hand are also concerned with issues like download speed, connection reliability, price... For example: "I tried AirVPN and no matter what server I choose I never get a download speed of more than 1 mbps although my connection is 16 mbps" http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=324627 (that thread has a poll but few responded)

[cola]

Yeah, it's a list where you should start looking first. It's not supposed to be a speed guide.

[cap87]

A few months ago SecurityKiss gave away 6 months of their 2º best paid plan (50gb/month) and i must say, their service is pretty good. It's not better than having your own server, but they have a shit ton of servers for you to choose from and i always hit full speed, at least on the ovh ones.

Now what i would really love to know is what VPN providers take privacy seriously when pressured.

[sbovisjb1]

OVH dedi. Split with friends, much cheaper than VPN.