List of VPN Service Providers - 2023

Synchronice

hero member

Activity: 840

Merit: 756

Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 03, 2024, 04:08:30 PM

Anyone here tried and tested cryptostorm.is VPN service?
I see them popping out more recently, they have open source code, no registration, no kyc and they are accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Mullvad is probably a better service, but it's always good to have some alternative opentions available.

If I had more smerits, I would send you them but at the moment I have only left 2, I am on budget.
Thank you very much for sharing that VPN, it looks very interesting and it is the first time for me to hear about them but it seems that they are an old VPN service provider because I found topics about them since 2014 (haven't dig much). Seems, they haven't changed their UI since the first day but their FAQ section and overall structure of information is very different from others. From quick view, it looks like this is a privacy focused VPN but they accept BitPay for crypto payments, c'mon.

I would stick with IVPN or Mullvad. I don't want any room for headache. By the way, from quick research, many people complain their service but I'll try to find more info about them in the upcoming days.

LoyceV

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Activity: 3290

Merit: 16489

Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021

Quote from: NotATether on April 04, 2024, 07:59:58 AM

You could get them for 800 EUR a pop, way back in 2014 back when they were running a fundraiser.

That's a lot of money for a vendor lock-in.

NotATether

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Activity: 1568

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bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org

Quote from: RickDeckard on April 04, 2024, 05:45:26 AM

Quote from: LoyceV on April 04, 2024, 05:39:15 AM

Quote from: RickDeckard on April 03, 2024, 05:31:06 PM

you are able to purchase a lifetime license. Perpetuity is always a tricky choice in products as it doesn't provide a constant flow of revenue like subscriptions

I've seen too many cases in which "lifetime" isn't really lifetime. I wouldn't pay $500 up front for this.

You're right as well, one example that instantly came to my mind was the infamous Cerberus application[1] that "offered" lifetime subscriptions to amass a huge set of users and then when they reached a comfortable number they simply removed the license. In another similar topic, I am still amazed at how long Plex has been offering their lifetime subscription though, I wonder if they will hit it with the axe eventually.

[1][url]https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/21/cerberus-paid-lifetime-license-expiration/[url]

ProtonMail also used to offer lifetime subscriptions. You could get them for 800 EUR a pop, way back in 2014 back when they were running a fundraiser.

RickDeckard

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Activity: 994

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Quote from: LoyceV on April 04, 2024, 05:39:15 AM

Quote from: RickDeckard on April 03, 2024, 05:31:06 PM

you are able to purchase a lifetime license. Perpetuity is always a tricky choice in products as it doesn't provide a constant flow of revenue like subscriptions

I've seen too many cases in which "lifetime" isn't really lifetime. I wouldn't pay $500 up front for this.

You're right as well, one example that instantly came to my mind was the infamous Cerberus application[1] that "offered" lifetime subscriptions to amass a huge set of users and then when they reached a comfortable number they simply removed the license. In another similar topic, I am still amazed at how long Plex has been offering their lifetime subscription though, I wonder if they will hit it with the axe eventually.

[1][url]https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/21/cerberus-paid-lifetime-license-expiration/[url]

LoyceV

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Activity: 3290

Merit: 16489

Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021

Quote from: RickDeckard on April 03, 2024, 05:31:06 PM

you are able to purchase a lifetime license. Perpetuity is always a tricky choice in products as it doesn't provide a constant flow of revenue like subscriptions

I've seen too many cases in which "lifetime" isn't really lifetime. I wouldn't pay $500 up front for this.

RickDeckard

legendary

Activity: 994

Merit: 2830

Quote from: ABCbits on April 04, 2024, 05:01:46 AM

I did quick check and it seems to be true, https://web.archive.org/web/20130926232935/https://cryptostorm.is/.

Yeah it definitely looks... shady. I guess I'll continue to pay attention to any development or news that come out of the service, but I still won't touch it for now. They do appear also on KYCnot.me[1] with a high score but do note that that the website only evaluates how KYC unfriendly the serivce and how private their policy is.

[1]https://kycnot.me/service/cryptostorm

ABCbits

legendary

Activity: 2842

Merit: 7333

Crypto Swap Exchange

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 03, 2024, 04:08:30 PM

Anyone here tried and tested cryptostorm.is VPN service?

Actually it's first time i heard this VPN service. But looking at the guide, i find it's annoying the guide (for various OS) only meant for OpenVPN even though they support WireGuard. Less technical user better use Mullvad which offer more guide and user-friendly application.

Quote from: RickDeckard on April 03, 2024, 05:31:06 PM

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 03, 2024, 04:08:30 PM

Anyone here tried and tested cryptostorm.is VPN service?
I see them popping out more recently, they have open source code, no registration, no kyc and they are accepting cryptocurrency payments.

Interesting, I had never heard of them, but apparently they have been running for 10 years[1] - Question #7.

I did quick check and it seems to be true, https://web.archive.org/web/20130926232935/https://cryptostorm.is/.

RickDeckard

legendary

Activity: 994

Merit: 2830

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 03, 2024, 04:08:30 PM

Anyone here tried and tested cryptostorm.is VPN service?
I see them popping out more recently, they have open source code, no registration, no kyc and they are accepting cryptocurrency payments.

Interesting, I had never heard of them, but apparently they have been running for 10 years[1] - Question #7. It seems interesting, and they something unusual as well - you are able to purchase a lifetime license. Perpetuity is always a tricky choice in products as it doesn't provide a constant flow of revenue like subscriptions, so it is an interesting choice.

However, a bit of investigation led me to this[2] post regarding the connection between Cryptostorm and CryptoCloud and someone named Spink. Also, I wasn't able to find any kind of audit made to the infrastructure of CryptoStorm...

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 03, 2024, 04:08:30 PM

Mullvad is probably a better service, but it's always good to have some alternative opentions available.

I also consider IVPN to be on par with Mullvad level of operation and business ethics.

[1]https://www.cryptostorm.is/faq
[2]https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/16590-about-honeypots/?do=findComment&comment=36684

dkbit98

legendary

Activity: 2212

Merit: 7060

Cashback 15%

Anyone here tried and tested cryptostorm.is VPN service?
I see them popping out more recently, they have open source code, no registration, no kyc and they are accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Mullvad is probably a better service, but it's always good to have some alternative opentions available.

LoyceV

legendary

Activity: 3290

Merit: 16489

Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021

Quote from: user210822 on March 11, 2024, 01:36:57 PM

I've chosen Proton VPN over others due to BTC payment option. Now. Let's see the midterm results. I've paid 120 Euros (in BTC!) say one year back. And that amount turned to be like 430 Euros by 2024. But amount in BTC did fall back to same sum in Euros! Did I overspend my assets?

I remember the days I would spend 0.001BTC to use Mullvad VPN for a day. Nowadays, that buys you more than a year. Since Bitcoin is at a new All Time High, every piece of Bitcoin I ever spent or sold can be thought of as a bad decision. But that's in hindsight.
On the other hand, it also helped support the Bitcoin economy. Bitcoin can't be a currency if nobody uses it. So as long as you don't spend everything, you're still on the winning end.

Let me ~~tell~~ quote you a story:

Quote from: cAPSLOCK on October 12, 2021, 10:16:18 PM

In 2017 I bought my wife and I a trip to Hawaii using Bitcoin... cheapair.com. I wonder if they kept any of their profits in BTC. I hope so... My wife was surprised I had done it. But it was one of the only ways to buy it without her knowing. "Why would you spend the REAL money on this trip instead of the worthless money we have in the bank?", she asked. She's a good one. "Well, I look at it this way... If bitcoin fails for some reason we got a trip to Hawaii from it... and if it doesn't? Well that's exactly the problem we WANT to have

Trip worth like $30k today. Lol. But I replaced nearly all that bitcoin in March of 2020 for about the same USD cost as the trip.
~
I knew in the midst of that beauty and happiness that someday it would be the "million dollar trip"...".

Synchronice

hero member

Activity: 840

Merit: 756

Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim

Quote from: user210822 on March 11, 2024, 01:36:57 PM

I've chosen Proton VPN over others due to BTC payment option. Now. Let's see the midterm results. I've paid 120 Euros (in BTC!) say one year back. And that amount turned to be like 430 Euros by 2024. But amount in BTC did fall back to same sum in Euros! Did I overspend my assets?

At that time, you could buy and sell X amount of bitcoin for 120 Euros. Now, if you were to sell that number of bitcoins, you'll get 430 Euro but you can't buy the same amount of Bitcoins for 120 Euros, that's called investment. So, you didn't overpay for the service because you had a need of VPN back then and it was probably necessary for you to buy VPN in exchange of amount of Bitcoins.
Please, don't follow that logic and don't get yourself depressed because of that. We can't always invest in Bitcoin and also we can't invest everything into Btc. There are things where we need to spend money anyways, including food, drink, rent and so on. If you think like that, then you might also say that you overpaid on your meal x4 because you could buy Bitcoin and sell it with 4x profit. That's not right way to think, this will only make you feel depressed.

LTU_btc

legendary

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Slava Ukraini!

Quote from: user210822 on March 11, 2024, 01:36:57 PM

I've chosen Proton VPN over others due to BTC payment option. Now. Let's see the midterm results. I've paid 120 Euros (in BTC!) say one year back. And that amount turned to be like 430 Euros by 2024. But amount in BTC did fall back to same sum in Euros! Did I overspend my assets?

That's nature of things when you're paying in BTC for goods. When you're paying in BTC, you have to accept possibility that Bitcoin can go up significantly and it may make your purchases to look very expensive. On the other hand, Bitcoin can go down too.
Personally, I wouldn't consider that you overspent. After all, at time of purchase you paid €120, not €430.

user210822

jr. member

Activity: 86

Merit: 1

I've chosen Proton VPN over others due to BTC payment option. Now. Let's see the midterm results. I've paid 120 Euros (in BTC!) say one year back. And that amount turned to be like 430 Euros by 2024. But amount in BTC did fall back to same sum in Euros! Did I overspend my assets?

dkbit98

legendary

Activity: 2212

Merit: 7060

Cashback 15%

Quote from: NotATether on February 13, 2024, 12:33:41 AM

But DNS blocking is hard, because there's a bunch of illegal betting websites around, to the point where even professional athletes were banned for using them.

Yeah well that is why some people came up with solution to ban everything related with gambling, porn and other things with using third party software.
DNS blocking is not that hard, you just need to have list of blocked websites that is constantly updated with new domains.

Quote from: ABCbits on February 13, 2024, 05:24:23 AM

Since we currently talk about blocking feature, today Mullvad announce content blocking for their free DNS[1]. The interesting part is they share list of blocked sites[2].

Very nice.
I don't know if you guys know this, but it's easy to add their DNS address in your smartphone settings, and there will be no more ads on internet, except in apps maybe.
You don't even have to use Mullvad VPN to have this.

RickDeckard

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Activity: 994

Merit: 2830

Quote from: ABCbits on February 13, 2024, 05:24:23 AM

Since we currently talk about blocking feature, today Mullvad announce content blocking for their free DNS[1]. The interesting part is they share list of blocked sites[2].

Interesting to see, thank you for the update. I think that the main difference with Mullvad is that the reason for doing this content blocking is different (as stated by their blog update - "enable parents and guardians the opportunity to block unwanted advertising, adult content and gambling, whilst still enabling their children access to social media platforms.") and this is also a free Encrypted DNS which makes you free to choose either to use it or not.

ABCbits

legendary

Activity: 2842

Merit: 7333

Crypto Swap Exchange

Since we currently talk about blocking feature, today Mullvad announce content blocking for their free DNS[1]. The interesting part is they share list of blocked sites[2].

Quote from: NotATether on February 13, 2024, 12:33:41 AM

Quote from: dkbit98 on February 10, 2024, 09:42:36 AM

There are many gambling addicts who want self-exclusion, and parents who want to restrict some access to their kids.

Admittedly I do not know a whole lot about gambling addiction solutions, but shouldn't addicts be trying to get professional counseling to figure out the best way for them to solve their gambling problem? Which may or may not include blocking the websites by DNS.

Using professional counseling might cost a fortune, while blocking website cost little or no money.

Quote from: NotATether on February 13, 2024, 12:33:41 AM

But DNS blocking is hard, because there's a bunch of illegal betting websites around, to the point where even professional athletes were banned for using them.

That's true, although i wonder how many addict interested with illegal casino which may cheat or scam them. Anyway, i've seen people take more drastic action such as installing software which perform whitelist or block all web page which contain specific keyword.

[1] https://mullvad.net/en/blog/family-friendly-dns-content-blocking-now-added-to-our-encrypted-dns-service
[2] https://github.com/mullvad/dns-blocklists

NotATether

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bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org

Quote from: dkbit98 on February 10, 2024, 09:42:36 AM

Quote from: NotATether on February 10, 2024, 06:05:21 AM

You are supposed to use these kinds of VPNs to circumvent censorship, not to censor yourself! Huh

Not true.
There are many gambling addicts who want self-exclusion, and parents who want to restrict some access to their kids.

Admittedly I do not know a whole lot about gambling addiction solutions, but shouldn't addicts be trying to get professional counseling to figure out the best way for them to solve their gambling problem? Which may or may not include blocking the websites by DNS.

But DNS blocking is hard, because there's a bunch of illegal betting websites around, to the point where even professional athletes were banned for using them.

dkbit98

legendary

Activity: 2212

Merit: 7060

Cashback 15%

Quote from: Synchronice on February 10, 2024, 10:51:22 AM

Just wondering, how will VPN that you can turn off with one click, will exclude you from gambling?

It would probably work better than asking casinos to self-exclude you, when you can easily register new account and/or use different casino.
Setting custom DNS can be done even without using any VPN, this can be on network or router level, and yes this is self-censorship that actually works.

Quote from: RickDeckard on February 10, 2024, 11:06:08 AM

In order to combat gambling addiction there are better ways to do it other than using a VPN to block certain websites (after all a user doesn't even need a VPN for that when you can create a list for blocked websites in uBlock Origin for example.). I easily see opposite happen - gambling addicts instead using VPN services to access gambling websites that may have been blocked on their country.

I didn't propose that VPN should be used just for this purpose, but I simply stated that DNA based self-censorship is very effective way and it has real use cases.
uBlock origin is something I use every day, but simple using of different browser would bypass any restrictions you made.

Quote from: Synchronice on February 10, 2024, 10:51:22 AM

Also, as a note, every licensed casino/gambling company has to offer a self exclusion procedure[1] that can be used by any client (see for example this[2] one from bet365) in order to prevent them from using the service.

Yes, and there are thousands of different casinos they can use.
Today I saw one example in Scam Accusation of one guy who got self-exclusion but they accepted him again with different account:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5484390

LoyceV

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Activity: 3290

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Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021

Quote from: Synchronice on February 10, 2024, 10:51:22 AM

Just wondering, how will VPN that you can turn off with one click, will exclude you from gambling?

It won't.
If you want protect your children, updating your hosts file helps. I'm not concerned about gambling, but I use it to block social media and other ads.

ABCbits

legendary

Activity: 2842

Merit: 7333

Crypto Swap Exchange

Quote from: Synchronice on February 10, 2024, 10:51:22 AM

Quote from: dkbit98 on February 10, 2024, 09:42:36 AM

There are many gambling addicts who want self-exclusion, and parents who want to restrict some access to their kids.

Just wondering, how will VPN that you can turn off with one click, will exclude you from gambling? The most effective tool in this case is to ask casino to ban you from gambling and they won't unban you even if you request it.
By the way, I don't say that R.O.B.E.R.T. is an useless tool, it has its place but I don't understand why their blocklist is not public.

You can setup the VPN on your router, so all device connected to that router would use Windscribe/other VPN automatically along with optional blockade. But your router must have feature to use either custom OpenVPN, WireGuard or IKEv2 VPN configuration. But i've no idea whether you can configure things to be blocked from manual configuration.

Topic: List of VPN Service Providers - 2023 (Read 2817 times)