Hi! So I have had surfshark for a while and been generally quite satisfied. They do everything I need them to do this far with no fuss and bundle in some handy other services as well.

My annual plan expires in a couple of months and I’m curious what else is out there, as I only started SF because it was heavily discounted at the time. From a new provider, I just need privacy, the ability to torrent totally public domain content, and a static IP. Do you have any suggestions for other options worth considering? I just like to have options. Thanks in advance!

  • dervish666@alien.topBEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    I’ve been using PIA for a good few years now, never had a problem with them, slightly concernced that I appear to be pretty much the only one, does everyone else know something I don’t?

    • Index@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      They were acquired by some VPN megacorp and AFAIK, all their credible postings and court stuff happened prior to that, so their credibility is unknown today

    • Solo-Mex@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I switched to PIA very recently after my Nord subscription ended. Also Nord doesn’t support port forwarding and I wanted to improve my seeding. But PIA has been a disappointment. Using their app on my Win11 desktop, I often see messages on Reddit and elsewhere that I’ve never seen before about “no internet”. It also seems like responses are delayed and sometimes my screen just remains blank after clicking on a link. I’ve never experienced any of that before switching to PIA. And perhaps the biggest gripe, I intended to use PIA with Wireguard on my NAS but after much searching, I cannot find anywhere that PIA releases their WG keys. So I can use WG on my Win11 app but not on the NAS. Oh, and port forwarding? Yeah, apparently that has to be ‘renewed’ periodically so that too, is a PITA on the NAS. Luckily I’m still within the 30 day refund window, just have to figure out where to go next. Maybe AirVPN. In fact, that would be a no-brainer for me except for one thing – Air doesn’t have a server in Mexico and I do need that occasionally. PIA has one that’s incredibly slow but at least they have one.

  • YioUio@alien.topBEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I have Proton Unlimited, so got the VPN included. Otherwise I would use Mullvad

  • Reason_He_Wins_Again@alien.topBEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Isn’t this a subreddit about selfhosting? How is no one talking about OpenVPN?

    I run an IPSEC vpn between me and my server. OpenVPN for the SSL vpn when I’m on the road. Split-tunnel is the default, but if I log in as a different user then I routes all traffic out the VPN.

    • lud@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Try self hosting WireGuard instead of openVPN it’s much faster.

  • sadhgurukilledmywife@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Defintely not you asked, but have you considered switching from torrents for your linux ISOs to Real Debrid?

    Made the switch last week, can’t be happier. It even comes with mega and usenet downloads for cheaper than a VPN. Doesn’t solve the static IP issue, but you might want to check it out.

  • SillyLilBear@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I have been happy with NordVPN. It is able to give me nearly 100% of my 1.5Gbps connection, and with almost no latency difference I’m able to game without turning it off.

      • Aphantasia_Sucks@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        They got hacked in 2019 and wouldn’t admit to being hacked until someone posted some private keys to a server on Twitter, forcing them to admit it. I think that alone caused people to stop using them.

  • funkbruthab@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I was with mullvad for a year and the speeds sucked, nordvpn for a few years now and the speeds are great - and I always keep the mesh net feature on my devices so I can remote in without opening ports.

    I don’t even really use the vpn service anymore though, just the mesh net. I will probably not renew when my year is up.

  • XxNerdAtHeartxX@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Since Mullvad got rid of Port Forwarding, I use TorGuard for checking out LinuxISOs

    But I still use Mullvad on my pc/phone, since its the best

  • ammadmaf@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    For torrenting No vpn instead get a cheap vps service who don’t give a damn about copyright and install wireguard.