@SocksAreComfortable said:
Obviously it'll differ from provider to provider, but in general, are these "lifetime deals" for a service that requires then to run servers viable? Like I'm sure some people just buy it and forget about it and rarely/never use it, but are they actually sustainable for regular use?
That said, I wouldn't prefer/trust any of the more expensive snakeoil providers (Nord, Express etc) over any of the lifetime providers.
@SocksAreComfortable said:
Obviously it'll differ from provider to provider, but in general, are these "lifetime deals" for a service that requires then to run servers viable? Like I'm sure some people just buy it and forget about it and rarely/never use it, but are they actually sustainable for regular use?
That said, I wouldn't prefer/trust any of the more expensive snakeoil providers (Nord, Express etc) over any of the lifetime providers.
How is Nord "snake oil" in this context?
Good question. From what I know NordVPN and ExpressVPN are top and always work. There is nothing deceptive about them.
@SocksAreComfortable said:
Obviously it'll differ from provider to provider, but in general, are these "lifetime deals" for a service that requires then to run servers viable? Like I'm sure some people just buy it and forget about it and rarely/never use it, but are they actually sustainable for regular use?
That said, I wouldn't prefer/trust any of the more expensive snakeoil providers (Nord, Express etc) over any of the lifetime providers.
How is Nord "snake oil" in this context?
What I meant was probably that Nord/Express etc often market themselves as "the solution for security/anonymity", while we know a VPN alone won't make you anonymous. Big players like Nord/Express, while charging more, don't necessarily add anything more worthwhile to the table and are sort or selling a false sense of security at the same time. While Keepsolid/Ivacy and other lifetime vpns I've used are not necessarily better in that sense, at least I don't have a recurring subscription for that "snakeoil"/false sense of security/anonymity zhat is conveyed.
Fwiw, Ivacy lifetime vpn is probably about as good for streaming and basic vpn use cases as Nord is.
Or at least not significantly worse.
@hornet said:
How is Nord "snake oil" in this context?
Basically what @Ympker already said: not only are they overpriced compared to LTDs (and let's not forget their false "limited time offer" ads, which interestingly enough stay pretty stable at any given time LOL), they're also overexaggerating the alleged risk of browsing / using the Internet without a VPN, and giving you a false sense of security / privacy / whatever else they may be trying to push on you...
... Starting with their website - a quote from www.nordvpn.com rn: "Your IP: XXX · ISP: YYY · Your Status: Unprotected" - yeah, right! (esp. funny because it says the same regardless whether you are actually using a VPN or not - try it out yourself if you don't believe me Presumably, it changes to "Protected" only if you activate Nord )
@root said:
NordVPN and ExpressVPN are top and always work. There is nothing deceptive about them.
I'm afraid that one does not exclude the other - in fact, I hate to break it to you, but based on their track record until now, yes, they clearly are deceptive!
To support this statement with a few examples (apart from the alleged "protection" I already pointed out): I mentioned how Nord silently changed their logging policy in a previous rant of mine, then there was this bizarre blog post made by Nord after a breach (a pretty hilarious read if you ask me ), and last but not least, both of them have their own drama regarding shadyownership (for ExpressVPN, refer to my above rant)
@chimichurri - please distinguish between anonymity and privacy. There is no online public VPN service which offers anonymity. Every VPN provider wants to secure themselves in case things go south legally; therefore they keep some metadata and payment logs to identify customers. No business man would want to go to prison just so that customers can do illegal stuff online - it's all about covering their ass and their business.
My problem is not with anonymity, but with privacy. I have a problem when they share my data with third party for analysis into better targeted advertising.
If I would want anonymity, I could simply use Tor, or some VPN created on a VPS paid with cryptocurrencies. But for now I just want my privacy.
Comments
How is Nord "snake oil" in this context?
Good question. From what I know NordVPN and ExpressVPN are top and always work. There is nothing deceptive about them.
What I meant was probably that Nord/Express etc often market themselves as "the solution for security/anonymity", while we know a VPN alone won't make you anonymous. Big players like Nord/Express, while charging more, don't necessarily add anything more worthwhile to the table and are sort or selling a false sense of security at the same time. While Keepsolid/Ivacy and other lifetime vpns I've used are not necessarily better in that sense, at least I don't have a recurring subscription for that "snakeoil"/false sense of security/anonymity zhat is conveyed.
Fwiw, Ivacy lifetime vpn is probably about as good for streaming and basic vpn use cases as Nord is.
Or at least not significantly worse.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Basically what @Ympker already said: not only are they overpriced compared to LTDs (and let's not forget their false "limited time offer" ads, which interestingly enough stay pretty stable at any given time LOL), they're also overexaggerating the alleged risk of browsing / using the Internet without a VPN, and giving you a false sense of security / privacy / whatever else they may be trying to push on you...
... Starting with their website - a quote from www.nordvpn.com rn: "Your IP: XXX · ISP: YYY · Your Status: Unprotected" - yeah, right!
(esp. funny because it says the same regardless whether you are actually using a VPN or not - try it out yourself if you don't believe me 
Presumably, it changes to "Protected" only if you activate Nord 
)
I'm afraid that one does not exclude the other - in fact, I hate to break it to you, but based on their track record until now, yes, they clearly are deceptive!
To support this statement with a few examples (apart from the alleged "protection" I already pointed out): I mentioned how Nord silently changed their logging policy in a previous rant of mine, then there was this bizarre blog post made by Nord after a breach (a pretty hilarious read if you ask me
), and last but not least, both of them have their own drama regarding shady ownership (for ExpressVPN, refer to my above rant)
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@chimichurri - please distinguish between anonymity and privacy. There is no online public VPN service which offers anonymity. Every VPN provider wants to secure themselves in case things go south legally; therefore they keep some metadata and payment logs to identify customers. No business man would want to go to prison just so that customers can do illegal stuff online - it's all about covering their ass and their business.
My problem is not with anonymity, but with privacy. I have a problem when they share my data with third party for analysis into better targeted advertising.
If I would want anonymity, I could simply use Tor, or some VPN created on a VPS paid with cryptocurrencies. But for now I just want my privacy.