What's the best VPN in Thailand?

SooKee · November 23, 2017

Well it's Black Friday time. Had a look around and sadly the two VPN providers I'd be interested in (TorGuard and Astrill) have no special deals up, at least not yet. I'm guessing (hoping) that it's maybe down to the fact that it's still not the 23rd in the USA so I'll check back later.

NordVPN has a very good deal up with 77% off @ $99 for 3 years, seems exceptional value given that would normally cost $430. There's also a 72% off 2 year deal at $79. Reading the comparison reviews (not many out there) of NordVPN vs TorGuard it seems TorGuard comes out on top but it's close. In addition to the price, the key factor would be how well does it work here in Thailand? Comments in this thread seem to indicate it works well so, that might be the route I end up going if the other two don't come up with a deal.

Short article here covering VPN Black Friday deals: https://www.vpnmentor.com/best?variation=Black Friday&keyword=+vpn +black +friday&campaignID=989672555&matchtype=b&adgroupID=47872286326&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3dTQBRDnARIsAGKSflmP5nLBiKYiu6dcj-NGZllMRwTqS_m0LQYvfHrDXQS3EJ2swSiWiEcaAgkaEALw_wcB

Edited November 23, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · November 23, 2017

PureVPN has a Cyber Week deal going on which runs through Cyber Monday on 27 Nov....5 years for $79....and a few days ago it was 5 years for $69. I've been with PureVPN for around 18 months now on a $2.08/month for 2 years I got before and it has worked fine for me/for my needs which is occasional VPN use.....your results may differ....everyone seems to have different results/level of satisfaction with VPN providers.

PureVPN provides a 7 day month back guarantee that I even took advantage one time (yeap, they refunded my money), but I later rejoined them...and as mentioned it's worked fine for me since I got a little smarter regarding VPN use and expectations. And they always have online real time chat support.

If you get the 5 year deal it just "adds-on" to the expiration date of your current PureVPN subscription...you will not lose any time on your current PureVPN subscription.

The 5 year deal will probably not be shown when you first arrive the PureVPN website, But just go to the PureVPN website, click on the 2 year deal or just click around for about a minute or so and then a popup window should appear offering the 5 year deal. When the windows pops-up it will always have the 5 minute count down clock running trying to motivate you to grab the deal before it goes away in 5 minutes....but if you leave the site and come back to it the windows will soon appear again with a new 5 minute clock. And expect a PureVPN rep to offer a chat session while you are looking at the site. I expect the offer will run through next Monday. I waiting to see if it drops to $69 again and I will take advantage of it then.

Below I've also included a speed test "with and without" a PureVPN connection from Bangkok to San Francisco. On my AIS Fibre 200/50 connection a VPN connection does not really help with speed like it did when I was on a True DOCSIS/Cable plan where it helped a lot. On my AIS Fibre plan a VPN connection acts like a VPN connection will "normally" work...that is, you will usually get less speed with VPN connection than a non-VPN connection, but as mentioned your internet service provider plan will be a key factor if a VPN connection "might" speed-up your connection.

To San Francisco at 9:50am Thailand time with a "Non-VPN/regular" Connection

To San Francisco a few minutes later "with a PureVPN PPTP Connection"

SooKee · November 23, 2017

Thanks. I'll have a look at that. At the moment I've no need to access services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video in the US / UK but I'd rather not buy into a VPN that's not able to do so should I change my mind in a year or two. Have you tried PURE with those services at all?

I've just tried the Nord VPN trial. Not looked into in depth but I'm hoping that once it's configured properly it doesn't slow down devices as much as it does my laptop! Talk about SLOOOOOOOOW! I did quickly try to access the Netflix US catalogue which worked. On their site however they say that Amazon Prime Video is accessible in the US / UK from any / all of those country servers. WRONG!! I just tried from numerous different servers in both those countries and constantly get hit with a 'Video not available in your current location', this is despite location services being turned off and clearing browser caches / restarts and all the normal crap you need to do to get these services to work. In addition, the Prime Video site takes an absolute AGE to load and navigate between pages with Nord VPN activated to an extent that it's barely usable and totally unacceptable for me

I've sent a contact form to them about it but my trial won't be progressing to a purchase if it doesn't do what it says on the box.

Edited November 23, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · November 23, 2017

No, I haven't tried PureVPN with Netflix or Amazon since I'm not into that type of video streaming service at least yet...can't say how well it works.

All VPN services providers advertise "by-pass ISP blocking/throttling, fastest speeds, strongest encryption, etc.," but it's all just car salesman and real estate salesman talk--that is, they will say anything and all the right buzz words to sell their product/service.

And these various websites that rate/review various VPN service providers a person might wonder why one review website may have a certain VPN provider as one of the top rated VPN providers but the next review website don't even mention that VPN provider.

Well, that is usually because unless a VPN provider "pays" to be included in the rating/review the website don't include them in their review. And it seems like the more pricey per month VPN providers get into almost all the reviews because their prices makes good profit for them which allows them to advertise more....and paying to be included in a Top 10 VPNs or similar review is the same as advertising. Preaching to the choir I know.

SooKee · November 23, 2017

Absolutely. Having done some digging round it seems there are a lot of users having problems connecting to Amazon Prime using Nord VPN DESPITE their site saying all their servers work. Lots of complaints about Amazon Prime pages being slow to load or even stalling completely too, yep, count me in on that problem as well. Disconnect from Nord VPN and Amazon pages load almost instantly. I've done some meddling and have been able to get a few videos to list with play buttons but it seems that Amazon is still picking up the location despite using the VPN (click Play and it says Video unavailable) or, more likely, that Amazon are blocking IP ranges being used by Nord so it'll be back to finding the working ones, if any. A far far cry from the "works with all servers" claim (BS™) on their website! If the information they provide is misleading from the get-go it doesn't inspire confidence.

So, from the admittedly VERY limited testing I've done so far, I'm not in the least bit impressed with Nord and it's off the consideration list for me. Lots of complaints about service drops and slow speeds as well, alongside them having crap customer support. The reviews of course don't mention this.

I'll likely hold out for offers from Astrill or TorGuard as I know they do work but might have a look at Pure to see if they have a trial. While I'm quite happy with these outfits offering refunds I'm not into the model where it's a case of buy it then if your'e not happy you can claim your money back. Nah, I'll pass on that thanks very much.

Edited November 23, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · November 23, 2017

PureVPN does not offer a free trial period....but they use too. However, as mentioned they do provide a 7 day money back guarantee which they definitely honor as I did that once. Of course they tried to talk me out of the refund with a couple of emails in wanting to resolve whatever dissatisfaction I had, but I just said No Thanks...just refund my money. And a few minutes later the refund hit my PayPal account.

Then about a month later I signed up with them again after I got a little smarter regarding VPN use and expectations. Like getting a little smarter in how to prevent being connected to the wrong city when you selected another city for the VPN connection which is an complaint frequently seen by customers of various VPN providers such as PureVPN...that is prevented by using the "Dedicated IP" method in the VPN providers app or in your manual Windows VPN connection setup. All easy.

Dedicated IP just means entering the VPN server IP address number like 199.XXX.XX..XX versus the VPNs host name like www.vpnserverXYZ.com. Easy. But the downside is the IP address number for a server will change every few months, so you need to look up the new IP address number and start using that....just takes a minute.

But for those who don't care about connecting "to a particular city" within a country like say they only want to connect to "anywhere" in the U.S. or whatever country versus say connecting to San Francisco in the U.S., then above is not an issue. PureVPN is not a US based company but a Hong Kong based company I think.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

Well it's Black Friday time. Had a look around and sadly the two VPN providers I'd be interested in (TorGuard and Astrill) have no special deals up, at least not yet. I'm guessing (hoping) that it's maybe down to the fact that it's still not the 23rd in the USA so I'll check back later.

VPN shopping now??? Hmmm....

I would expect Astrill will post their Black Friday deal within the next day or two. That's their normal pattern in past years.

Meanwhile, they already recently remedied one thing that caused a lot of people to complain about their service in the past, and that was low limits on the number of concurrent device direct connections. Sometime recently, for all NEW plan subscriptions or renewals, they raised the limit on concurrent direct connections to FIVE devices, from what had been as low as one or two depending on the prior plan someone had with them.

Unfortunately, they didn't extend that change to their existing customers under their current plans. So existing Astrill customers haven't gotten that new, higher device limit until they renew or extend their current subscription. Which seems a stupid thing for the company to do in terms of treating its existing customers. But hey, it's their business...

SooKee · November 23, 2017

Thanks. I'll probably hold out for TorGuard (as the number one choice) and Astrill as I'm aware they do pretty much all I'll need. Interesting comments here about Nord VPN:

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/2016/09/03/nordvpn-review/

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nord-vpn,review-4494.html

Pib · November 23, 2017

For you UK folks, using my AIS Fibre 200/50 plan in a Speedtest.net test to London, with and without a PureVPN connection at around 11:35am Thailand time.

As mentioned earlier, on my AIS Fibre plan a VPN connection has never really helped to increased speed like it did when I was on True DOCSIS/Cable.

And don't always blame the a certain VPN service provider for less than desired VPN speeds as it may be your internet service provider's network setup/technology that is the limiting factor. You could try different/change VPN service providers till the cows come home and your VPN speed may not improve much "because it's your internet service provider's network" that's the controlling factor; not the VPN service.

Yeap, everyone results with VPN providers will vary....not just because all VPN service providers are not created equal but because everyone is on different internet service providers.

To London....non-VPN connection

To London....VPN connection

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

FWIW, regarding Amazon U.S., something must have changed with them lately. Because the particular VPN servers that I had been using for a long time suddenly stopped working (I don't mean the VPN stopped working, I mean the Amazon site began returning geo errors whereas before it had streamed fine).

Fortunately, did a bit of testing with other servers offered by my VPN provider, and quickly found a couple of suitable alternative server choices that still work fine with Amazon as well as all the other various uses/needs I have.

That's one of the advantages of dealing with a VPN provider who has a lot of different server connections available, even within the same geographic areas. If one particular server IP range ends up getting blocked or somehow otherwise impacted, hopefully, you have other similar options for servers with different IP ranges that aren't having those same problems.

SooKee · November 23, 2017

40 minutes ago, Pib said:

PureVPN does not offer a free trial period....but they use too. However, as mentioned they do provide a 7 day money back guarantee which they definitely honor as I did that once. Of course they tried to talk me out of the refund with a couple of emails in wanting to resolve whatever dissatisfaction I had, but I just said No Thanks...just refund my money. And a few minutes later the refund hit my PayPal account.

Then about a month later I signed up with them again after I got a little smarter regarding VPN use and expectations. Like getting a little smarter in how to prevent being connected to the wrong city when you selected another city for the VPN connection which is an complaint frequently seen by customers of various VPN providers such as PureVPN...that is prevented by using the "Dedicated IP" method in the VPN providers app or in your manual Windows VPN connection setup. All easy.

Dedicated IP just means entering the VPN server IP address number like 199.XXX.XX..XX versus the VPNs host name like www.vpnserverXYZ.com. Easy. But the downside is the IP address number for a server will change every few months, so you need to look up the new IP address number and start using that....just takes a minute.

But for those who don't care about connecting "to a particular city" within a country like say they only want to connect to "anywhere" in the U.S. or whatever country versus say connecting to San Francisco in the U.S., then above is not an issue. PureVPN is not a US based company but a Hong Kong based company I think.

Yes, I have no need to access service provider catalogues in other countries and no interest in doing so. Whether that'll change in the future I don't know. I dare say if I had continued to subscribe to Amazon's abysmal international service it'd be the only way to make it VFM as their 'as intended' offering is dire to say the least.

I have a specific need for a VPN next year which may or may not go beyond July but, if I'm buying, I may as well get it on offer should the need arise again. I'd also prefer to buy into a service that provides access to anything I might need (or that others here might) rather than hamstrung services that don't.

As with routers, I take all of the reviews of these services with a pinch of salt and as you say, the big names attract all the hype (easier to do when you pay for it). In fact, in that regard, TorGuard has one of the worst reputations of them all! For me, I'm not that keen on any of them TBH and class them as more of an evil necessity and in that regard am just looking for the one where the service claims / promises are the least FOS (full of s**t), I'm not holding my breath of finding any that aren't FOS to a degree. I make no bones about my feelings for these services, in this case I have a need to pay for one (the free ones for me being worth exactly what you pay for them), I don't have to like them.

Edited November 23, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · November 23, 2017

23 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Unfortunately, they didn't extend that change to their existing customers under their current plans. So existing Astrill customers haven't gotten that new, higher device limit until they renew or extend their current subscription. Which seems a stupid thing for the company to do in terms of treating its existing customers. But hey, it's their business...

Regarding stupid things some VPN companies do is they may not offer the latest and greatest promotion (i.e, cheap deal) to current customers "on their current subscription number/email address." It's like the promotion is only available to new customers; not current customers. To get the latest/cheaper deal you have to start a new, separate subscription with them with a different email address/logon credentials.

StrongVPN is that way (and still are as of a few weeks ago) which I use to be with...and it don't only apply to "current" StrongVPN customers but "former" customers also. Even when you just go to their main page, maybe see a promotion that you may want and when you begin the signup process where you need to enter your email address if that email address matches an email address as a current or former customer you can't get that deal....you can only get their regularly priced plans. To get the cheap deal you would have to sign up as customer with a different email address which they see as a new customer. But like TG said, "But hey, it's their business...."

Edited November 23, 2017 by Pib

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

One of the services I've been meaning to try, IP Vanish, has just gone live with their Cyber Week offer, a two-year plan for $69, and the right to renew at that rate indefinitely in the future, according to their site.

One of the reasons I'm curious about their service is they're one of the relatively few major VPN providers that offer a VPN app specifically for Fire TV devices, which is something I'd be interested to try.

https://signup.ipvanish.com/?aff=cyberweek&pp=24

I've read some good things about them in the past. But as with a lot of VPN reviews and comments out there, a lot of it is of dubious impartiality. And different users have different needs. So usually, the only way to know for sure is to give a service a try/trial and see how it works for each person's particular situation and geo location.

BTW, Astrill is still showing their regular plan pricing of $99 for one year. So they've still yet to post an update for Black Friday/Cyber Week.

Edited November 23, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

Pib · November 23, 2017

PureVPN offers a Fire Stick VPN app also....and a Android TV VPN app...plus other apps like in the snapshot below.

Below webpage talks specifically the Fire Stick app

https://www.purevpn.com/vpn-for-firestick

And here is a Snapshot of various PureVPN apps taken from the bottom of their main page.

And something else to consider is what VPN protocols does the VPN service provide. Below are the

VPN protocols provided by PureVPN...the UDP and TCP mean OpenVPN TCP or OpenVPN UDP.

Personally, I use the IKEV protocol whenever using their Windows app due to speed and security. Automatic just means the app automatically picks the best protocol depending on the VPN server you are trying to connect to since all server locations may not support all protocols.

I AM NOT RECOMMENDING PUREVPN TO ANYONE as everyone will get different results/level of satisfaction with different VPN providers due to different personal and technical reasons. Seems most people either end up hating or loving a certain VPN providers. Just providing some crossfeed on some of the capabilities of PureVPN.

balo · November 23, 2017

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

NordVPN has a very good deal up with 77% off @ $99 for 3 years, seems exceptional value given that would normally cost $430. There's also a 72% off 2 year deal at $79.

My Astrill subscription were running out and since I am not a happy customer , they could not fix the BBC issue , I decided to switch to NordVPN . I choose the 2 year deal for $79.

And I do not regret one second , now after I uninstalled Astrill from all my devices and downloaded the latest update from NordVPN, everything run smoothly!

All the TV streams I have tried so far are fast , no delays, good HD quality. UK server , US server , Norway server are all connecting .

So forget Astrill , slow and terrible at times. NordVPN is the answer.

balo · November 23, 2017

I also have to add that NordVPN livechat fixed one of my older Win 7 computers that were terrible slow , this is what they instructed me to do :

After doing so, please enter these command lines one by one.

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset
netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

After doing so, please restart your machine and test the connection again.
In addition, please go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing center > Change adapter settings > right-click on your internet connection and click Properties > uncheck IPv6. Do the same with your TAP-NordVPN Windows adapter v9.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

27 minutes ago, balo said:

My Astrill subscription were running out and since I am not a happy customer , they could not fix the BBC issue , I decided to switch to NordVPN .

Balo, what happened with you, and Astrill, and the BBC issue??

As best as I can recall, you had posted positively on them several times in the not too distant past...

One of the things about Astrill, I believe, is they have A LOT of different server connections available to someplace like Los Angeles, for example, but relatively fewer to other places including the UK. They certainly have servers there, but just not as many to choose from, if memory serves.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

34 minutes ago, Pib said:

PureVPN offers a Fire Stick VPN app also....and a Android TV VPN app...plus other apps like in the snapshot below.

Below webpage talks specifically the Fire Stick app

https://www.purevpn.com/vpn-for-firestick

providing some crossfeed on some of the capabilities of PureVPN.

Thanks for that info and update, Pib... I see those are marked as "new", and I don't recall those being available last year about this time when I gave Pure a test drive... So I'm glad to see they're branching out to try to serve the different use cases that people have...

Others reading here probably won't recall, but Pib probably will. He and I had quite an exchange last year after I gave Pure a try and came away dissatisfied. In a nutshell, their Windows app at the time was handing out inconsistent IP location assignments, meaning, for example, you'd connect to a supposed L.A. server, and the actual geo IP that the app would give you would be Texas one time, then California the next time, and so on... And that was really causing difficulties for my uses.

Now, for someone who only cares about getting a U.S. connection, that kind of thing probably wouldn't matter much. But in my case, I wanted not only a U.S. connection but also a reliable/consistent connection to a particular city or cities of my choosing. And Pure's Windows app just wasn't providing that. However, as I recall, Pib managed to find a work-around to that that involved simply using Pure's various server IP addresses directly and not relying on their Windows app... Hope my recollection is not failing a year later....

Pib · November 23, 2017

19 minutes ago, balo said:

I also have to add that NordVPN livechat fixed one of my older Win 7 computers that were terrible slow , this is what they instructed me to do :

After doing so, please enter these command lines one by one.

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset
netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

After doing so, please restart your machine and test the connection again.
In addition, please go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing center > Change adapter settings > right-click on your internet connection and click Properties > uncheck IPv6. Do the same with your TAP-NordVPN Windows adapter v9.

Sounds like NordVPN was really beating around the bush and saying they don't have IPv6 capability yet so our IPv6 incompatibility is probably causing your problem....it's confusing our IPv4-only VPN servers. So we need you to clear-out old IP-related files on your computers (start fresh) and turn off IPv6 to ensure your computer don't regenerate some IPv6 related files.

IPv6 can indeed cause issues like certain servers/websites getting confused in dealing with dual stack (i.e., IPv4 & IPv6) clients. It's a problem due to those websites/sites not having IPv6 capability/problems.

If your ISP provides IPv6 connectivity in addition to the standard IPv4 connection then some servers/websites who are trying to determine your IPv4 address get confused due to your computer's IPv6 address basically taking priority over your computer's IPv4 address which causes that server/website not to be able to properly connect with/identify your computer. It's just something we'll have to deal with until more sites becoming IPv6 compatible....IPv6 becomes the dominant protocol and IPv4 is retired. But we are still probably at least 5-10 years from the point of IPv6 becoming the dominant protocol and probably 10-15 years before IPv4 is retired.

skatewash · November 23, 2017

I've read this topic with interest but I'm far from being a sophisticated VPN user. Basically, my use of a VPN is for logging into my US financial institutions so that it appears I am in the US. Occasionally, I find it helpful to use a VPN to play a video (e.g., a clip from a US tv show) that may for some reason be geo-blocked in Thailand. For these purposes, I have been using Opera's built-in VPN facility. Is this a good choice for my situation or do I need to be concerned about using this free VPN? My previous VPN was hola.com which I understood did have some issues. As you may have guessed, I do like the price of Opera's VPN and have been generally satisfied with the speed when accessing US sites. Any thoughts from the experts would be appreciated.

Pib · November 23, 2017

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thanks for that info and update, Pib... I see those are marked as "new", and I don't recall those being available last year about this time when I gave Pure a test drive... So I'm glad to see they're branching out to try to serve the different use cases that people have...

Others reading here probably won't recall, but Pib probably will. He and I had quite an exchange last year after I gave Pure a try and came away dissatisfied. In a nutshell, their Windows app at the time was handing out inconsistent IP location assignments, meaning, for example, you'd connect to a supposed L.A. server, and the actual geo IP that the app would give you would be Texas one time, then California the next time, and so on... And that was really causing difficulties for my uses.

Now, for someone who only cares about getting a U.S. connection, that kind of thing probably wouldn't matter much. But in my case, I wanted not only a U.S. connection but also a reliable/consistent connection to a particular city or cities of my choosing. And Pure's Windows app just wasn't providing that. However, as I recall, Pib managed to find a work-around to that that involved simply using Pure's various server IP addresses directly and not relying on their Windows app... Hope my recollection is not failing a year later....

Yeap...that was back then....the reason I got my refund from PureVPN but ended up signing back up about a month later. Their app is much better know...I almost like it...but I really don't use it that much since I have manual Windows VPN connection setup which means I have no need for the app. Once I started using the Dedicated IP method for my Singapore, San Francisco, and Seattle VPN connections I was never logged onto a different VPN location. I stopped using LA simply because the SF and Seattle connections are faster.

Additionally, there have been times where I decided to play around with "not" using the Dedicated IP method which I've mentioned in my earlier posts and always gave me the specific server/location I wanted versus just using the layman's name for the VPN server at a certain city like Los Angeles for example.

Once again Dedicated IP just means you enter the IP address number like 192.XXX.XXX for the website layman's name of www.vpnserverinSF.com which means you can only be connected to that IP address number and not somewhere else that might be in another city.

Before all to often (saying 20% of the time) PureVPN would not make the LA connection (or whatever city you chose) when using their app, but connect me to another city in the US instead....it still made a connection to the US just not to the city I wanted.

For those folks who just wanted a US IP address then no issues....but without going into details if you didn't get the specific VPN location you wanted it can cause you problems in logging onto certain services like that service/website challenging your logon since it's coming from a location they don't show in their history files of your previous logons....they think it might be someone trying to hack your account. Preaching to the choir I know.

Additionally, I bet many folks when they make a VPN connection to what they think is a certain city in their country, they don't double check the connection specific location by using a website site such as iplocation or whatismyipaddress. They made their connection....got an IP address in the country they needed...and they are good to go....probably more true for folks from small countries where you can drive across the entire country in a hour or two or three.

But for folks from large countries like the US with multiple times zone...cities thousands of miles from each other....logging onto a specific location can be very important to prevent logon challenges, gaining access to certain video streaming choice, etc.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

The only issue I'm aware of with Opera is that they got bought out some time back by a Chinese company... So, if that kind of ownership creates any concerns about whose hands your data may be passing thru en route...

From a banking standpoint, I think the one thing that's important is that anyone maintain a CONSISTENT same city log-in location/IP address, and not one that's bouncing around TO different locations. When that latter starts happening, the bank and financial institution security systems can begin throwing up flags....

balo · November 23, 2017

54 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Balo, what happened with you, and Astrill, and the BBC issue??

They could not fix it , simple as that . WHen I first contacted them they told me they were aware of the problem with BBC and they were working on fixing it (replacing the servers maybe). Then 4 days later I got a message from them that BBC was up and running again .

It was working for 3 days , then down again , I sent a new mail and they told me BBC had detected their servers again so they were working to fix it . Another week went by and then I received another mail that now t was fixed , so I went to the BBC website and yes it was working . The next day , thats right THE NEXT DAY , it was down again!

Needless to say I had enough , at the same time I tried out NordVPN and had no issues at all during the trial period. And now after 2 weeks no issues , all my streams are working , so I went for the 2 year deal .

Edited November 23, 2017 by balo

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

1 minute ago, Pib said:

But for folks from large countries like the US with multiple times zone...cities thousands of miles from each other....logging onto a specific location can be very important to prevent logon challenges, gaining access to certain video streaming choice, etc.

Agree entirely Pib... I've kind of moved on since last year also. Back then, I was mostly relying on Windows apps for my VPN connections, and I'm not sure I had, or may have just gotten, my AC router then and hadn't figured out using it for VPN directly. But since then, I'm all into direct VPN connections via my ASUS router where you're using the specific IP server address -- which should eliminate the kind of vagaries that were occurring with Pure's app in the past.

BTW, for Americans, also since last year, there's been the rise of a whole series of over the top cable TV replacement services delivered via Internet, and pretty much, all of those rely on your system identifying a specific city/geo location in order to serve up the correct local channels for that area. Services like Sling TV, DirecTV Now, Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Fubo TV, Playstation Vue and others. And some of them (Hulu Live, Playstation Vue in particular) get very nasty (like wanting to suspend your account) if they think you're changing your home log-in location too often.

So obviously, if you want the local channels for Los Angeles, for example, it's going to cause you grief if your VPN suddenly gives you an unwanted Seattle IP connection, and suddenly you're getting Seattle stations, and your service provider starts wondering why you keep moving your home from Los Angeles to Seattle to who knows where in successive log-ins, all in the space of a few days or weeks.

But for more generic services like Netflix, regular Hulu and Amazon Prime U.S., they don't seem to mind if your log-in IP location changes from time to time, just so long as you remain in their broader eligible service area (being the U.S. and its territories). They don't really have the city-specific issues, unlike the cable TV replacement services.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

11 minutes ago, balo said:

They could not fix it , simple as that . WHen I first contacted them they told me they were aware of the problem with BBC and they were working on fixing it (replacing the servers maybe). Then 4 days later I got a message from them that BBC was up and running again .

It was working for 3 days , then down again , I sent a new mail and they told me BBC had detected their servers again so they were working to fix it . Another week went by and then I received another mail that now t was fixed , so I went to the BBC website and yes it was working . The next day , thats right THE NEXT DAY , it was down again!

Needless to say I had enough , at the same time I tried out NordVPN and had no issues at all during the trial period. And now after 2 weeks no issues , all my streams are working , so I went for the 2 year deal .

Thanks for the explanation. I would just suggest, that's probably more of an issue of the BBC cracking down on VPN users, as Netflix has continued to try doing in the U.S., as opposed to Astrill acting badly.

There's an ongoing cat and mouse game going on between many of the content providers and the VPN services where specific VPN server addresses or address ranges are identified and blocked, and then the VPN providers switch to new addresses, and so on and so forth. Some content providers are more aggressive about that than others.

But what matters in the end, is that you found a service that's delivering what you need. Just don't be too surprised if the same kind of thing doesn't happen with Nord at some point in the future.

balo · November 23, 2017

14 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

But what matters in the end, is that you found a service that's delivering what you need. Just don't be too surprised if the same kind of thing doesn't happen with Nord at some point in the future.

I agree, it could also happen with NordVPN . But there is one other major change, the speed has increased.

I am only on the cheapest AIS fibre package here so I am normally happy with 2-3 mbps to the UK , enough to have a reliable TV stream . With Astrill for the last 6 months the speed was very unreliable , and a lot of freezing so had to restart multiple times.

When I uninstalled the Astrill software and network files in my system and replaced it with NordVPN, suddenly the speed increaseed , web pages were loading quicker on all my devices, regardless if I'm connected to UK , US or other servers.

So I just hope it will last , can't be happier right now.

SooKee · November 23, 2017

Interesting to see exactly what info can be seen about you, device wise, using https://ipleak.net

With what I'm trying to access Nord has been a failure so far, even with their suggestion of disabling Cybersec and trying different servers. I guess they'll need to review a few of their server claims with regard to certain services. They are continuing to look into it. Maybe the ISP you use here in LOS may not play the same as some others. I will wait and see what they come up with next but I doubt Nord will be on the shopping short list.

Be interesting to see how many of these VPNs continue to work with services like Amazon Prime and Netflix for those who need them for that, as their crusade to ban VPN access continues. While some providers might be better at working around the barriers than others, you can't help but think that it's only a matter of time, even from the complaints I've trawled up today from researching the various services.

Edited November 23, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · November 23, 2017

4 hours ago, Pib said:

PureVPN does not offer a free trial period....but they use too. However, as mentioned they do provide a 7 day money back guarantee which they definitely honor as I did that once. Of course they tried to talk me out of the refund with a couple of emails in wanting to resolve whatever dissatisfaction I had, but I just said No Thanks...just refund my money. And a few minutes later the refund hit my PayPal account.

SooKee,

While surfing around on the PureVPN website I found that they do offer a 3 day trial period for $2.50. Not free, but $2.50 (about Bt83) ain't much if you want to test out PureVPN.

But to tell you the truth, when switching to a new VPN provider and getting use to their app and differences from your current VPN provider can sometimes cause confusion/dissatisfaction if not really having the time to dedicate to checking out the potential new VPN provider....and 3 days is not very long.. Anyway, see below webpage which talks the 3 day trial period.

https://www.purevpn.com/blog/vpn-deals-and-coupons/

Pib · November 23, 2017

OK, my Cyber Week VPN shopping is done for around 5 years....yes, 5 years. I just bought the PureVPN 5 year plan for $69, which works out to $1.15/month. The 5 year plan was added on top of my current PureVPN subscription (call it top up) which ran until mid 2018....I'm now extended to mid 2023.

Did all of this during a chat session with a PureVPN rep. I first asked what happened to the 5 year plan at $69 I saw a few days ago....can only find the 5 year plan at $79 now. The rep said she would give a $10 discount and make it $69. And once again I confirmed it would just top-up my current account. I then said go for it. She generated the invoice...I logged onto my PureVPN account and paid the invoice. At that point my account now reflected two subscriptions...my current one going to mid 2018 and the 5 year plan going to mid 2022.

I then told the rep I had paid the invoice but two subscriptions were showing in my account as the 5 year plan did not just top-up my other subscription. She said hold a few minutes and the two will merge/she is working on it....and it will finally show just one subscription to mid 2023....and sure enough that is what happened in just a few minutes....less than 5 minutes. My VPN credentials did not change...I did a quick check to confirm I could do a VPN logon with my old credentials and I could. Done, finished, said thank you....good to go for VPN until mid 2023.

Once again, I'm not recommending PureVPN to anyone....it just works fine for me.

TallGuyJohninBKK · November 23, 2017

Pib, don't wanna rain on your Pure parade, but I was just looking at IP Vanish's website where they had an interesting chart on different VPN providers, including an interesting reference and link regarding Pure's service.

Obviously, you just use your VPN to search out available Chang retailers and nothing else. But reading the linked article (footnote No. 2) re Pure makes for an interesting read.

https://www.ipvanish.com/

The footnote #2 re Pure leads to the following article:

https://torrentfreak.com/purevpn-logs-helped-fbi-net-alleged-cyberstalker-171009/

Quote

PureVPN Logs Helped FBI Net Alleged Cyberstalker

By Andy

on October 9, 2017

A Massachusetts man was arrested late last week on suspicion of conducting a cyberstalking campaign against a female former roommate, her friends, and family. Court documents reveal that logs, obtained by the FBI from privacy service PureVPN, helped the prosecution. Until now, PureVPN had always maintained it carried no logs - almost.

Edited November 23, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

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