Do you use a VPN ? Do they really help ?

[CharlieH]

Just now, Pilotman said:

if its over 1 million, it will be  private jet to some obscure airfield in the North of the UK for me. 

And just hope they dont ask to see your passport !

 

Meanwhile, back on topic.

[mahtin]

In 2013, Freedom House, one year prior to the 2014 coup d'état, awarded Thailand a 'partly free' rating for internet freedom. In 2014, it awarded Thailand an overall score of 62 ("not free") (0=best, 100=worst), citing substantial political censorship and the arrests of bloggers and other online users, ranking it 52 of 65 countries.^[11] As of 2019, Thailand remained 'not free', with an overall score of 35, fourth worst in the Asia-Pacific region, after China, Vietnam, and Pakistan.^[12]

^(wikipedia)

 

^{Expressvpn for me.}

 

 

 

[Excel]

26 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I use Express VPN. I need it for access to UK and US Netflix, HBO, and for online teaching when I do it. IT also allows access to UK lottery. I would not do without it. 

I thought UK lottery blocked all ExpressVPN servers a good while ago, that was my experience anyway which is why I switched to Proton VPN. And for the smart Alecs I only do the hotpicks as all the prizes, with the exception of one, are below the threshold of formally claiming. Having said that, apart from the odd few quid I have won sweet fanny adams since I started doing it in 1994. But as they say "You have got to be in it to win it" 

[covidiot]

8 minutes ago, mahtin said:

citing substantial political censorship and the arrests of bloggers

yeah but i doubt rumak is planning on doing political blogging.

or he could be. anything's possible.

 

[friendofthai]

I use "Hotspot shield" to access Facebook during my trips to Iran. Free and fast. Facebook webpage (and other social networks) cannot be opened there without VPN.

[Pilotman]

15 minutes ago, Excel said:

I thought UK lottery blocked all ExpressVPN servers a good while ago, that was my experience anyway which is why I switched to Proton VPN. And for the smart Alecs I only do the hotpicks as all the prizes, with the exception of one, are below the threshold of formally claiming. Having said that, apart from the odd few quid I have won sweet fanny adams since I started doing it in 1994. But as they say "You have got to be in it to win it" 

sorry, I mislead you, I use another VPN for the lottery. Surfshark. 

[fdsa]

VPN is useful for websites that want you to confirm your identity with codes from email and TOTP device/app every time you login from the new IP address.

 

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

I use Express VPN. I need it for access to UK and US Netflix, HBO, and for online teaching when I do it. IT also allows access to UK lottery. I would not do without it. 

I use Express, but the UK Lottery is still unavailable. And even if you can get round it, they would not pay out if you won a biggie.

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

I use Express, but the UK Lottery is still unavailable. And even if you can get round it, they would not pay out if you won a biggie.

Use 

 

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

I use Express, but the UK Lottery is still unavailable. And even if you can get round it, they would not pay out if you won a biggie.

Use Surfshark VPN, it works on the lottery, for now at least. 

[KannikaP]

Just now, Pilotman said:

Use 

 

Use Surfshark VPN, it works on the lottery

And still no payout if you win big over £50k, they will check you out, and you must go for the dosh personally.

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, rumak said:

Any users and comments ?

Never use anything other than Google chrome.

I have Netflix from my daughter in UK.

Don't anything else.

[clivebaxter]

Anyone posting or downloading not using one is naive at best, I found Surfkshark to be best 

[phetphet]

I use ExpressVPN to access BBC iPlayer, Kodi, Netflix US as there is more selection there, internet banking, viewing news sites or newspapers that are blocked here, and general privacy. I have tried it with Amazon Prime, but they won't allow viewing with a VPN.

 

Look for deals for up to 50% off.

[rumak]

1 hour ago, covidiot said:

yeah but i doubt rumak is planning on doing political blogging.

or he could be. anything's possible.

 

 

The only thing i might be interested in is political  flogging . When they line up all the self-serving "officials"  I will gladly join the line of floggers

[rumak]

Just now, clivebaxter said:

Anyone posting or downloading not using one is naive at best, I found Surfkshark to be best 

free?    actually,  I am the paranoid type...... so even paying for a VPN  with a credit card has me shying away.     

I will look back at the posts as one or two members listed some free VPN's.

Thanks for all the feedback  ..............

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, rumak said:

free?    actually,  I am the paranoid type...... so even paying for a VPN  with a credit card has me shying away.     

I will look back at the posts as one or two members listed some free VPN's.

Thanks for all the feedback  ..............

Opera Browser has a free built-in VPN - (just for info)

[KannikaP]

8 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Anyone posting or downloading not using one is naive at best, I found Surfkshark to be best 

How did you do the comparison between all the others please?

[KhunHeineken]

3 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I have lived here for 8 years and never found a situation were I have needed a VPN. Unless you need to access some geo blocked content from back home I cant see the need. In the rare instance where I need to get around some geo-blocking etc, I just use Opera browser which has a basic peer to peer VPN built in.

It appears to be one of those things, most people are not really sure why, but they feel they need a VPN.

As for which one is the best, it would probably come down to the country/content you are trying to access.

 

I would be lost without my VPN to get around geo blocking.

 

The other problem the VPN's fix is "a man in the middle attack."  Say you live in a condo with WiFi.  What if your neighbor has cracked your WiFi password?  Maybe someone has spliced into the cable downstairs.  Now, they can place themselves in between you, and the website you are connecting to, which could be your internet banking.  A VPN encrypts all the traffic between you and your bank, so a man in the middle can not use the information.

 

Need to access any sensitive websites like banking, email, security cameras etc from a public WiFi like in cafes, bars, airports, restaurants etc, you should always use a VPN to stop a man in the middle attack, even a free one is better than nothing.     

 

Even cellular data can be "sniffed."

 

Sounds like super spy stuff, but it's not.  This equipment can be bought by the public.  

[KannikaP]

Just now, CharlieH said:

Opera Browser has a free built-in VPN - (just for info)

But no UK access....last time I tried it.

[KannikaP]

13 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Never use anything other than Google chrome.

I have Netflix from my daughter in UK.

Don't anything else.

Google Chrome is not a VPN.

[KhunHeineken]

Just now, KannikaP said:

How did you do the comparison between all the others please?

Bandwidth, speeds, server locations, and price are the main things to consider.    

 

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

But no UK access....last time I tried it.

Whilst not impossible, rumak is American I believe, and unlikely to need UK access.????

[clivebaxter]

6 minutes ago, rumak said:

free?    actually,  I am the paranoid type...... so even paying for a VPN  with a credit card has me shying away.     

I will look back at the posts as one or two members listed some free VPN's.

Thanks for all the feedback  ..............

Not free but about the cheapest, tried others which either did not work or cut off all the time

[mahtin]

Atlas VPN, a VPN provider, says that VPN installs surged by 644% in Thailand after the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) restricted access to Pornhub.

 

“Bangkok had a greater proportion of female visitors than anywhere in the world with 31 per cent of Pornhub visitors identifying as female,” says Thai Enquirer.

 

https://prachatai.com/english/node/8906

 

Just saying...

[CharlieH]

One of best I found and has variable payment plans was Cactusvpn (great for Uk tv etc )

[rumak]

Just now, CharlieH said:

Whilst not impossible, rumak is American I believe, and unlikely to need UK access.????

 

I am a stateless person .   ????      My main desire is just to get the vast reservoir of movies available online................. that i got before,  but am not getting now    on Scrubbs 2  or Covenant   add ons .       

my million dollar transactions are all done in my dreams. 

and my spying activity discussed only at local bars

[KhunHeineken]

11 minutes ago, rumak said:

I am the paranoid type...... so even paying for a VPN  with a credit card has me shying away. 

PayPal fixes that problem.  

[rumak]

Just now, KhunHeineken said:

PayPal fixes that problem.  

OK,    how does one use PayPal ??          ( i also do NOT have internet banking). 

[Logosone]

Hey Rumak, good to see you're addressing this because we live in a golden age of film entertainment.

 

Okay, I use Express VPN. They have excellent customer service, who I have called on many times. The VPN does allow me to watch UK films, US films on Netflix with a UK account (I signed up from Thailand). It also allowed me to watch BBCiplayer in Thailand. 

 

Here's the catch, every now and then BBC and even Netflix will block the VPN. You then have to get on the customer service and they will often fix the issue. Sometimes they can't, and Express VPN once went months when they could not outfox BBC, though they finally managed to do it. So you have to be ready for the odd blocked period every few weeks or months.

 

Also some websites block VPN outright, no way to get through. Having said that it does allow viewing worldwide Netflix from Thailand and BBCiplayer from Thailand, usually, so I keep it and consider it worth it.

[KhunHeineken]

3 minutes ago, rumak said:

OK,    how does one use PayPal ??          ( i also do NOT have internet banking). 

 

PayPal acts as a trusted site to hold your credit card or debit card details, and for forwarding and receiving payments.  

 

Say you want to buy a VPN subscription for $60USD a year.  You elect to pay with PayPal on their payment screen.  Basically what happens is, PayPal sends the VPN company $60USD off your credit card, but the VPN company doesn't know your credit card number, expiry date, CVV etc.  This is the way it will work wherever you see the PayPal symbol for payment.  The company you are buying from, over the internet, will never know your credit card details.