Why do people use VPN's?

[nntpjunkie]

What I mean is, no one really uses the VPN for anything more than to make the traffic between their computer and the Usenet provider(example Giganews) private because they are really only concerned about hiding the traffic they are downloading so they can download in peace - well SSL which is free accomplishes the exact same goal - so why pay for VPN...just trying to save some folks a little money

Wrong. So wrong, I'll come visit you in the hoosegow.

Hiding the traffic is not the only thing. Hiding the ROUTE is much more important, which is what a VPN will do.

Most ISP's (in America at least) are much more interested in WHERE the traffic is coming from and going to; that, and the protocol.

Most if not all AUP's (Acceptable Use Policies) specifically list Usenet and P2P as 'infringing uses and traffic hogs' that will get your account pulled if 'overused'; exactly at what level that is, is hazy, but may be less than the stated 'cap' on the account. A user some 30 miles from me on the same ISP got his account yanked (and made the national news by complaining very loudly) while using about 1/10th of his 'cap', but the majority of his traffic was deemed 'infringing' simply by the protocol used.

SSL hides NEITHER the eventual destination IP address OR the protocol used.

VPN's do. In the age of most ISP's utilizing 'deep packet inspection' and other odious spying techniques, it's better to be safe than sorry.

You are right on as far as hiding the route, as the VPN acts as a front end that your computer connects to to send all traffic through so the ip that shows up is the ip of your VPN provider because all of your traffic goes through the VPNs front ip and then gets sent out to the internet. SSL does hide the protocol however because when you get on the Usenet over SSL a secure socket layer wrapper is created (usually 256bit encryption) that encapsulates all network traffic including the protocol layer. So with SSL you can download all day long and it just looks like gibberish to you ISP - this is the same reason that SSL is used to secure and hide banking transactions - so all your info stays secure. One other important thing to think about is most VPN providers keep logs of everyone who gets on including their IP address - they do this for law enforcement purposes. SSL however is a different story - there are so many connections happening at the same time to a usenet provider that logs are not kept of peoples IP address etc because the logs would be enormous - depending on the newsreader, sometimes a new connection will be created each time a single article is grabbed and most downloads are made up of 100s or 1000s of individual articles, and if one person makes 100s or 1000s of connections for a single download you might as well multiply that times all the others users that get on at the same time multiplied by a whole bunch because most people download more that one file at a time because a single download - video etc can be and usually is made up of 50+ individual RAR files. Keeping up with all those logs would make the servers freeze. So to sum up SSL completely hides your traffic and protocol and no connection logs are kept because most Usenet service providers want their servers to work so you can actually connect and get your downloads

[Beck38]

So to sum up SSL completely hides your traffic and protocol and no connection logs are kept because most Usenet service providers want their servers to work so you can actually connect and get your downloads

Again, keep thinking that and I'll visit you in the super-max, or give you a high salute as the ISP's (if you have more than one, which most don't) in your area give you a lifetime ban.

[nntpjunkie]

So to sum up SSL completely hides your traffic and protocol and no connection logs are kept because most Usenet service providers want their servers to work so you can actually connect and get your downloads

Again, keep thinking that and I'll visit you in the super-max, or give you a high salute as the ISP's (if you have more than one, which most don't) in your area give you a lifetime ban.

If and when I do I will share my boiled carrots and vanilla cake with you because seem like a really nice fellow who gave me a warning and tried to get me to go the way of the VPN

[pokekevin]

since were on the topic of Vpns would anyone have a good recommendation on one?

[xtrememc8]

since were on the topic of Vpns would anyone have a good recommendation on one?

I use HMA vpn because I like its client software. I can randomly change IPs or do speed test to find the fastest VPN servers. However, HMA does keep logs so it is not 100% anonymous. I am testing a few other alternatives. B4 I can find something better I will stick with HMA VPN, at least it is reliable......

[temisturk]

HideMyAss should definitely be avoided. They "keep logs and as a UK company when given a court order to cough up information, they do so."

This list: Which VPN Providers Really Take Anonymity Seriously? makes a good starting point for your search. Note that you should always choose a VPN provider from outside the legal jurisdiction you reside in.