Planning a Write-Up/Re-Review of my lifetime VPN/SmartDNS products, including some tests
Hello everyone,
as most of you are aware, I am a lifetime VPN hoarder and some of you may be familiar with my VPN chart (albeit I admit, I don't always keep it up to date).
Now, I've collected quite some VPNs, some of which I haven't really been using in a while, others I've been using on a daily basis. Hence, I was thinking about reflecting on them and giving those dusty ones another change to shine, too.
The VPNs that will enter the game are: Windscribe Pro Lifetime, Keepsolid Lifetime, PureVPN Lifetime (former Ivacy Lifetime grandfathered), FastestVPN, GooseVPN, and Getflix VPN (basically smartdns, but also offers vpn), Keepsolid SmartDNS, Getflix SmartDNS.
As for FastestVPN, there may or may not be some upgrade in quality (I don't know yet). someone on LE forums tagged them to upgrade existing lifetime customers to "Lifetime Pro" for free since they already have quite the bad reputation and that may just be fair instead of locking features for legacy lifetime customers. So, I reached out and asked to have my account upgraded to Pro, too. And they apparently did. At least I can now sleect Double VPN and "Pro" servers. My Account status doesn't say "Pro" though iirc. If you hold a lifetime sub, you can probably reach out to be upgraded, too 
That said, Double VPN was free/included in legacy lifetime I purchased and was a "removed" features now only available to Lifetime Pro by design, which always leaves a sour taste.
What would you like me to test?: I've thought about doing speedtests of 3-4 locations for each service (US, EU, Asia, misc)? I also wanted to compare proprietary clients (if any) and provide screenshots. For that, I will setup Virtualbox containers to conduct the testing as multiple vpn clients on my host system always hate each other. I can probably test flix unblock, but I don't have any other streaming services I can test to unblock. I'll want to include protocols offered, too. Information like "Is there a linux client available", too. Adding to that, I'll also give a short writeup about my personal experiences which, needlessly to say, are individual and subjective. I can also test configs on my Glinet wifi router if that's of interest to some?
Any more ideas/wishes?
Important: There is NO ETA for this. Uni has be occupied a lot, I'm writing my final thesis at the moment and X-MAS is approaching. It might as well be published in the new year.
Alright, let the fun begin!
Cheers!
Comments
Do it!!!!!!
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i am more interested in your wild sex adventures after class in the ladies locker room.
Only if he has video so I can post it and make some monies!!!
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Please forgive if I've indexed this in my brain wrong but isn't he in seminary?.
videos are a plus naturally
just think about the hot Spanish beauties
and the 11 inch
wtf
he is a monk?
no nNNOooooo
Windscribe is getting a lifetime?
I might consider it then.
I like their humour as much as I like their product, its good. I used one of those coupons once to get Pro and I was quite satisfied with the results. The free tier is also quite good (and also what I use)
youtube.com/watch?v=k1BneeJTDcU
Windscribe did offer lifetime. They no longer do. I bought them in 2017 iirc. For like 40$ lifetime. One of the best deals ever
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Sounds like a great idea! I definitely look forward to it. Here are some comments on what would be needed:
That's it, really. In terms of VPN stuff, my only questions would be ones of the sort that I've seen you already address in posts -- how the customer service is with those "lifetime-but-needs-occasional-renewal" plans (Ivacy PureVPN actually told me that mine would expire and not be renewable when I contacted them), and maybe the overall base stability of a service (i.e. if I connect 4 devices to it and leave them connected 24/7, will they ever lose that connection, and if so, what happens, like can they shut off internet access in case of IP leak, etc.).
Honestly, I just think more write-ups that are reliable and trustworthy in the VPN space is the most important thing -- as we've all seen, there is so much shitty marketing around VPNs and it's next-to-impossible to actually know what is factual without doing all the technical work yourself. So I'm just happy to read whatever you have to say about it, as I feel like you are genuine in presenting your experience and opinions.
The fact that someone other than me actually thinks of reviews and comparisons as thesis(es?) makes me feel less weird, thank you.
youtube.com/watch?v=k1BneeJTDcU
Would be nice to see if they let users download configs. ( Wireguard, Openvpn )
Wait, what happened with Ivacy? I still see their website.
Hey! Congrats on approaching graduation! Good luck with the thesis!
Something I'd like to know more about is how much privacy one gets by using a VPN. For example, there is browser fingerprinting. Another example is transmission start and stop timing comparison. Additional examples might be privacy compromises possibly within your machine's boot firmware or within proprietary kernel blobs.
I'm not taking a position one way or the other on VPNs. And privacy is adjacent to performance, so maybe I am off topic. Nevertheless, since you asked, I'm mentioning privacy, a topic related to VPNs that I know little about and would like to know more. @Ympker, in January, or when you have time, what have you read and what can you share about VPN privacy?
Thanks! Best wishes for the upcoming holidays!
I hope everyone gets the servers they want!
Gimmeh!!!
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Got swallowed by PureVPN a while back. Lots of threads about it
If possible, please list the countries offered (countries with servers), and if the performance of the 'rare' countries is any good.
What a bummer. I was able to migrate, but I found out about their 5 years limitation. It looks like that they will make an offer in 5 years to switch to a subscription..
I've contacted them through ticket and they said they will renew for another 5 years:
"Please note that upon checking it seems like you had an Ivacy Stack Social account previously therefore, you need to come back on 1 week before the expiry date and then get your account renewed for 5 more years."
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They are telling different stories to different people, see some comments on Reddit. To me, they wrote: "We recommend that you contact us 1-2 weeks before your current subscription expires. This will allow us to discuss your options and ensure a smooth transition to your new plan."
I'm sure there's multiple forces at play there. I'm confident there'll be a sales pitch to transition to a paid plan. Acquisition is an easy way to get customers. 'm equally sure that translation is playing a part in the mixed message. Regardless, five years is a long time. We may all have jetpacks and brain computers so we don't need VPNs. Who knows. ;-)
My sub is now set to expirer sometime in 2028, but a friend wasn't grandfathered. Probably only because I had much time remaining. That said, Reddit posts mentioned they were renewed for another 5 years, so..
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
I guess we will see when the current subscription expire. In my case it's not my primary VPN, I'm using Winscribe with their lifetime offer, so I'm not much worried about the lifetime of PureVPN.
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Also using primarily Windscribe Lifetime these days, then PureVPN/Keepsolid
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
I am using Windscribe lifetime as well!
@Ympker stop teasing and post the goods
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As am I. One of my best purchases off there.
You guys are making me jealous. I only have the 3-year WindScribe special that anyone can still get. Now I wonder if I should risk it on some of these shadier VPN lifetimes in case some turn out decent!
Only know if you try. I gambled on some, and got lucky with Windscribe, Ivacy/Purevpn and Keepsolid. Back then, I researched them regarding date of incorporation, time on market, user feeedback, and potential. Keepsolid is still available for lifetime, and I still think they're among the promising ones.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.