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Topic: Mullvad VPN top-ups using Lightning (Read 402 times)

legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 7490
Crypto Swap Exchange
September 19, 2022, 03:56:04 AM
#28
VPN provider still know know which IP address you access.
It depends on who you're hiding from. Hiding from your ISP? Use a VPN. Hiding from your government? Use Tor. Hiding your Torrent downloads from your spouse, neighbours or parents? Use VPN. Hiding from the website you're accessing? Use VPN or Tor. Hiding from your VPN provider? Use a different VPN.
It gets more complicated if you want to hide the fact that you use a VPN/Tor from your ISP/government.

That's true. But what i wanted to emphasize is VPN provider could know what you do even when you use HTTPS and DNS over HTTPS. And talking about hiding torrent download, it's also useful to prevent from getting sued by publishing company or ISP terminate your internet subscription.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
September 19, 2022, 01:50:30 PM
#24
You are certainly right but what they could do with this, if you are not a dangerous terrorist? I don't think those datas can be used as evidences in court. Moreover most of illicit activities are only done on the darknet nowadays.
All information they collect can be used against you, and you don't have to some criminal or evil terrorist.
I am just saying that nobody should think using VPN is perfect protection and that you can do anything you want on internet.

Back to Mullvad VPN, I just saw they created Tillitis Key hardware company, for logging in to computers and using digital signatures.
Good thing that both hardware and software are open source and code can be found on their github page:
https://www.tillitis.se/
https://github.com/tillitis/
legendary
Activity: 2604
Merit: 2353
September 19, 2022, 03:41:38 AM
#23
Nowadays almost all websites use HTTPS, so VPN providers don't see what you are doing except the URLs you are visiting as your ISP when you are not using a vpn. But if you use DNS-over-HTTPS protocol in your browser it won't see them anymore.
I understand that but this is not so much related with what I said about (5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and) 14 Eyes countries.
Even if you use VPN that is based in one of those countries you could assume that governments from this countries could easily have history of your browsing with real IP address and visited websites.
You are certainly right but what they could do with this, if you are not a dangerous terrorist? I don't think those datas can be used as evidences in court. Moreover most of illicit activities are only done on the darknet nowadays.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
September 18, 2022, 04:15:00 PM
#22
Nowadays almost all websites use HTTPS, so VPN providers don't see what you are doing except the URLs you are visiting as your ISP when you are not using a vpn. But if you use DNS-over-HTTPS protocol in your browser it won't see them anymore.
I understand that but this is not so much related with what I said about (5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and) 14 Eyes countries.
Even if you use VPN that is based in one of those countries you could assume that governments from this countries could easily have history of your browsing with real IP address and visited websites.

legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
September 18, 2022, 09:43:31 AM
#21
VPN provider still know know which IP address you access.
It depends on who you're hiding from. Hiding from your ISP? Use a VPN. Hiding from your government? Use Tor. Hiding your Torrent downloads from your spouse, neighbours or parents? Use VPN. Hiding from the website you're accessing? Use VPN or Tor. Hiding from your VPN provider? Use a different VPN.
It gets more complicated if you want to hide the fact that you use a VPN/Tor from your ISP/government.
legendary
Activity: 2604
Merit: 2353
September 17, 2022, 04:44:30 PM
#20
This (third party) service seems now to offer Lightning payments for 1 month subscriptions by directly topping up the account or by selling voucher codes. But not less than that amount of time unfortunately, that's sad but users still need to use BCH if they need to feed their account instantly with smaller amounts. Undecided
I've seen the reseller, but never used it. If you don't like Forkcoins, use Monero. Or just use Bitcoin, you'll have to wait for a confirmation, but small amounts are accepted. It may be a good option to get rid of small change: instead of sending 0.0001 Bitcoin back to your wallet, use it to get 2 weeks VPN!
Or, if you really want to use Bitcoin LN, send it through an instant exchanger. Some of them exchange small amounts, CoinPlaza.it for instance has a 3300 sat minimum when depositing LN. Convert that to the Forkcoin and you'll get 4 days VPN.
If Coinplaza really sends quickly BCH I think I will try to use this solution next time or I will try to manage bch with Trustwallet on a smartphone, even if it bores me to have to care of a balance just for that.  

How can this offer be slightly cheaper than official Mullvad VPN that costs the same for one month, one years and one decade?
I never tried paying like this but I might give it a test run next month and see how is speed compared to other providers.
Mullvad is probably the best option if you don't want to give them any personal information, but it's still located in Sweden, one of the Fourteen Eyes country.
Nowadays almost all websites use HTTPS, so VPN providers don't see what you are doing except the URLs you are visiting as your ISP when you are not using a vpn. But if you use DNS-over-HTTPS protocol in your browser it won't see them anymore.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
September 17, 2022, 02:44:09 PM
#19
How can this offer be slightly cheaper than official Mullvad VPN that costs the same for one month, one years and one decade?
Bulk discount, I guess.

Quote
I never tried paying like this but I might give it a test run next month and see how is speed compared to other providers.
My own internet speed is the limiting factor with Mullvad.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
September 17, 2022, 01:46:36 PM
#18
This (third party) service seems now to offer Lightning payments for 1 month subscriptions by directly topping up the account or by selling voucher codes. But not less than that amount of time unfortunately, that's sad but users still need to use BCH if they need to feed their account instantly with smaller amounts. Undecided
How can this offer be slightly cheaper than official Mullvad VPN that costs the same for one month, one years and one decade?
I never tried paying like this but I might give it a test run next month and see how is speed compared to other providers.
Mullvad is probably the best option if you don't want to give them any personal information, but it's still located in Sweden, one of the Fourteen Eyes country.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
September 17, 2022, 04:05:04 AM
#17
This (third party) service seems now to offer Lightning payments for 1 month subscriptions by directly topping up the account or by selling voucher codes. But not less than that amount of time unfortunately, that's sad but users still need to use BCH if they need to feed their account instantly with smaller amounts. Undecided
I've seen the reseller, but never used it. If you don't like Forkcoins, use Monero. Or just use Bitcoin, you'll have to wait for a confirmation, but small amounts are accepted. It may be a good option to get rid of small change: instead of sending 0.0001 Bitcoin back to your wallet, use it to get 2 weeks VPN!
Or, if you really want to use Bitcoin LN, send it through an instant exchanger. Some of them exchange small amounts, CoinPlaza.it for instance has a 3300 sat minimum when depositing LN. Convert that to the Forkcoin and you'll get 4 days VPN.
legendary
Activity: 2604
Merit: 2353
September 16, 2022, 03:55:26 PM
#16
Minimum payment: 6 months. I hope Mullvad will soon add LN payments directly. Until then: if you want to try Mullvad with LN-payment without subscribing for 6 months: convert $1 worth of LN through fixedfloat.com to BCH (not promoting the shitcoin here) and pay it to Mullvad. That gets you almost 6 days of VPN usage.
This (third party) service seems now to offer Lightning payments for 1 month subscriptions by directly topping up the account or by selling voucher codes. But not less than that amount of time unfortunately, that's sad but users still need to use BCH if they need to feed their account instantly with smaller amounts. Undecided


legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
November 20, 2021, 07:29:37 AM
#15
BCH (not promoting the shitcoin here) and pay it to Mullvad.
Oh, I thought I saw some bch-blasphemy written from you but you have fast fingers  Cheesy
You could follow the same route sending LN to Fixedfloat, converting it to Bitcoin and then sending it to Mullvad. You'll pay about $1.50 (still not that bad) for just under 6 days of VPN usage. But it doesn't feel right to use LN to still create an on-chain Bitcoin transaction and then wait for a confirmation before you can use the VPN.

I don't particularly like forkcoins or other shitcoins, but they serve a purpose until LN is more widely accepted. Just like I sometimes use a shitcoin to withdraw a small amount from an exchange to avoid their ridiculous Bitcoin withdrawal fee.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
November 20, 2021, 06:51:35 AM
#14
I actually don't know a single VPN service that accepts LN transactions; including this one as the top-up service is a sort of middleman.
I think that TorGuard and Surfshark VPN are accepting LN payments via Coingate option, but email address and other information is required for registration.
TorGuard even has their own active Lightning node running for years:
https://1ml.com/node/03557fd11b58cb93d2ad4fab4dd4cff7462a97e21e8f6b7a712cb8bd27a96b9eef

BCH (not promoting the shitcoin here) and pay it to Mullvad.
Oh, I thought I saw some bch-blasphemy written from you but you have fast fingers  Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
November 20, 2021, 05:50:43 AM
#13
Minimum payment: 6 months. I hope Mullvad will soon add LN payments directly. Until then: if you want to try Mullvad with LN-payment without subscribing for 6 months: convert $1 worth of LN through fixedfloat.com to BCH (not promoting the shitcoin here) and pay it to Mullvad. That gets you almost 6 days of VPN usage.

While it's cool way to promote LN usage, some people like me would rather use on-chain transaction since we rarely make Bitcoin transaction.
In that case: try to combine payments: if you top up your VPN when you're making another payment anyway, it only adds a few bytes to the transaction size. This reduces your total fee and prevents unnecessary blockchain growth.

I wonder if @carl_dong simply write wrong amount.
See:
You can also buy from resellers that offer Mullvad VPN at different price models than ours.



I remember the days I paid about 0.001BTC for one or only a few days VPN usage. That gets you almost a full year now!
mk4
legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 3873
Paldo.io 🤖
November 18, 2021, 04:58:11 AM
#12
Does other well-known VPNs only accept bitcoin using mainnet or you can pay using LN? I haven't bought VPN in a while, but I think it's perfect for anyone who wants to buy short-term subscriptions as a day or a week.
I actually don't know a single VPN service that accepts LN transactions; including this one as the top-up service is a sort of middleman.

Anyway is mullvad VPN is a good one? It is the first time that I know about this service
Probably the best when talking about privacy. Debatable when talking about speed, features, etc. Based on my experience speed is pretty close to mainstream VPN services tho.
legendary
Activity: 1932
Merit: 1273
November 18, 2021, 04:11:04 AM
#11
Anyway is mullvad VPN is a good one? It is the first time that I know about this service
I do personally use Mullvad, and so far so good. I really like their features and the flexibilities they've given. I know the service from privacytools.io(Due to some drama they now have 2 separate websites: PrivacyGuides). On both sites, you can see Mullvad is one of the recommended VPN services, which are only listed after it met with strict specific criteria.
legendary
Activity: 2702
Merit: 4002
November 18, 2021, 03:12:05 AM
#10
Does other well-known VPNs only accept bitcoin using mainnet or you can pay using LN? I haven't bought VPN in a while, but I think it's perfect for anyone who wants to buy short-term subscriptions as a day or a week.
Anyway is mullvad VPN is a good one? It is the first time that I know about this service
mk4
legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 3873
Paldo.io 🤖
November 17, 2021, 09:39:17 AM
#9
Mullvad offer a 10% discount for paying in bitcoin. So €4.50 equivalent in BTC per month, or €54 per year. A 12 month coupon for $55 works out to around €48 though, so there is still a discrepancy, but not quite as big as ETF has outlined.

I actually forgot about this. What I remember in the past when I paid with bitcoin is that every 1mo purchase I did pretty much amounted to around €4.85-€5 ish(excluding transaction fees) hence why I've always remembered it as a flat €5 price lol.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 792
Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim
November 16, 2021, 02:25:40 PM
#8
That, and monthly price is a flat €5 with no discounts. A bit more expensive than most VPNs, but you're pretty much paying for the privacy.
It's one of the cheapest monthly VPN and sometimes this is an option for those who can't afford one-time yearly subscriptions where it gets really as low as $2.

Mullvad office is in Gothenburg, Sweden that is one of 14 Eyes country, and I never tried their service but they have open source clients, and they are giving 10% discount for Bitcoin payments to start with.
I don't expect perfect protection from any VPN, but they are useful tool in todays world, and it's essential if you live in China or other countries with tyrannical regimes.
To my mind, Mullvad is one of the best VPN for those who value privacy.
It offers:
Easiest account setup and access process
Very simple and easy interface
€5/month and 30 days money-back guarantee.

VPNs don't provide the best privacy(Tor is probably still the best, in exchange for really slow speeds), but it's going to depend on who you're trying to hide from. Should be a great service if you just don't want your ISP snooping on your stuff. Smiley
Everyone should approach the security and privacy they need. There are types of people who use VPN to hide traces while doing the basic internet stuff. But, there are types of people who do something prohibited (phishing, social engineering, scamming, trading with illegal items) and they need to use more complicated tools and methods to improve their security rather than VPN alone.
With VPN, I feel more self-confident, independent and proud.
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
November 16, 2021, 09:02:14 AM
#7
Mullvad offer a 10% discount for paying in bitcoin. So €4.50 equivalent in BTC per month, or €54 per year. A 12 month coupon for $55 works out to around €48 though, so there is still a discrepancy, but not quite as big as ETF has outlined.

but the app is quite lacking in the features side compared to more mainstream VPNs.
They have config generators for both WireGuard and OpenVPN on their website, so you can connect through them and use the full feature set they come with instead if you want:

https://mullvad.net/en/account/#/wireguard-config/
https://mullvad.net/en/account/#/openvpn-config/
mk4
legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 3873
Paldo.io 🤖
November 16, 2021, 06:28:38 AM
#6
I just checked option to buy voucher without login and noticed price difference,
1. On https://vpn.sovereign.engineering/account?is_hidden=dummyyes, the price is "12 months for $55.00 ($4.58 per month)"
2. On mullvad website, the price is flat 5 EUR which means 12 months costs 60 EUR (or 68.51 USD).

I wonder if @carl_dong simply write wrong amount.

I'm guessing it's probably because both services are pulling current BTC prices from different APIs. No idea where because Carl Dong's service isn't open-source, but yea shouldn't really be a problem because it's accessible on Tor anyway.
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