I am thinking about changing VPN, I am currently using ProtonVPN and I was thinking about changing to AirVPN (for its prices and port forwarding) or Mullvad (Everyone says it is better regarding privacy but I don’t know why).
Which one would you recommend and why? I have seen a lot of criticism towards AirVPN for being based in Italy, but if they don’t collect the data as they say they do, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?
I have used both Mullvad and AirVPN for extended periods of time.
Mullvad is the gold standard. If you don’t need port forwarding and privacy is your biggest concern there is no better choice. Check out their server infrastructure, and tools such as DAITA / Leta / Mullvad browser to see how much they contribute to the privacy community.
Mullvad is also a much better UX. AirVPN Eddie client feels like its stuck in 1998.
Both are good VPNs - Mullvad just happens to be the best. The only real issue, from a privacy perspective, with AirVPN is they refuse to be audited so you are stuck just trusting they do what they say but OTOH they have been around for a long time and never given a reason not to be trusted.
If you do need port forwarding, AirVPN probably has the best implementation of it. They also have customizable DNS on a per device level which is also pretty cool.
What mainly seemed to me a motivation to use AirVPN was the price, 30€ per year with the halloween discount vs the 60€ per year of Mullvad was a good incentive, but seeing so many people criticizing AirVPN without much basis I was worried about making a bad decision, thanks for the great support.
I switched to AirVPN from Mullvad after they removed port forwarding and it has been working fine for me. The phone client is dated like others say, and I have had a few ads popup in it, but it’s worked fine so far. I don’t have anymore knowledge about their privacy standards than the next guy, but I’m not too concerned as I’m just using it to torrent Linux ISOs.
I will say that Mullvad is a pretty stand-up company, and I was sad to leave them, but I need port forwarding.
I have had a few ads popup in it,
How is this not cause enough to instantly drop them!?
They’re cheap and offer port forwarding and there is a radio button you can click to stop seeing ads. It’s typically just a sale notice for AirVPN.
No worries. They are both good VPNs. You really can’t go wrong.
Generally, it’s best to go by capability, not by policy.
Any company has to do what the government of its country says. This goes both for the VPN company, AND any exit node country. So you have to always assume that whatever country your exit node is in has full access to the data exiting the VPN there.
Then there’s the technology being used, the expertise with which it is configured, and finally the policies in place for handling and storing your PII.
Mullvad has a strong record on all accounts, even as far as just giving a year’s notice that it will stop supporting OpenVPN.
AirVPN has virtually no track record, fewer details on hardware, configuration, expertise and PII handling, and it’s in the EU, so has to comply with EU laws as well as Italian laws.
Being in the EU means it has to comply with the GDPR, which does have its benefits. But it also means an EU member state could put a gag order on your account and be monitoring all your data without you ever knowing.
So it all comes down to who you want your data to be private from and why.
Personally, I avoid all public VPN services as much as possible, and assume that the only thing they’re really doing is tricking the next service in the hop as to what country I’m connecting from.
Wow, I didn’t know that, thanks! Also, if you don’t use a VPN, then what methods so you use to hide your traffic?
I keep all my traffic encrypted, use my own DNS, and run a VPN so that anytime I’m away from my place, my traffic is tunnelled through my home setup, which includes a piHole.
If I need more than that to obscure the traffic source, it goes through TOR.
I also run a few public web services off the same IP, so the traffic coming out of my address has plausible deniability.
Plus, I use tracker and ad blockers in all my browsers/devices, of course, as well as block JavaScript by default.
How about torrenting?
Torrenting means you’re sending copies of the files to anyone with a magnet link. Great for quickly sharing legitimate software with a wide group. If you’re trying to download stuff you don’t have a license for, torrenting is a bad solution. Better to find a small community where you can just share files directly, peer to peer or on a private server.
Torrenting has a very obvious digital fingerprint, so even if you’re using a VPN, your ISP knows you’re torrenting. And if your VPN provider gets served with a notice and their country is a member of any international trade agreement, they know who you are and have a responsibility to take action against you.
Torrenting has a very obvious digital fingerprint, so even if you’re using a VPN, your ISP knows you’re torrenting.
even through vpn? how? there are many other useful (and legal) things you can use that practically always makes traffic
I’d take what you’re reading here with a grain of salt.
It’s about the traffic shape and size; the packets are all encrypted, but unless you’re filling the gaps with random noise, there’s a pattern to the randomness, in terms of packet size and density, and to the shape of the traffic volume over time.
If you’re streaming video AND torrenting at the same time, that will cover up some of the torrent fingerprints, but not all.
And if someone has the fingerprint of a torrent from a non-VPN source, they can pretty reliably figure out exactly which torrent you’re connected to. Pretty much nobody goes to that level of analysis for a random person though; they’d have to already have some reason to be watching your network traffic AND find it worthwhile.
I thought AirVPN was based in Canada.
I’ve never used AirVPN, but I’ve used Mullvad for a few years and I rarely ever have any issues with it. I won’t deny that I have few complaints, but the complaints that I do have are quite minimal. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Mullvad based on my own experience.
I hear a lot of good talk on Mullvad and ProtonVPN. ProtonVPN allows port forwarding. But yeah, it’s a bit pricey. Good luck in your search.
I used to go Mullvad but the lack of port forwarding was a big issue. I’ve been with ProtonVPN since and the IPs feel much cleaner (way less blocks) and their email service is also a big plus for me. Worth paying more imo
Same here. Mullvad’s awful policy that essentially limits you to having their client installed on 5 machines was also a deal breaker for me. Sure I could have fucked around with managing keys/connections myself, but why bother? I emailed their support about how inconvenient it was, and they told me I was free to pound sand or pay them for another subscription to enjoy the convenience of having their client installed on more devices.
Proton has been great since I switched, and I see no reason to use Mullvad these days.
Mullvad is ditching OpenVPN. I don’t use Wireguard since it breaks my firewall rules. AirVPN is decent enough. I have used them for port forwarding before.
I don’t use wireguard because it breaks my firewall rules.
How so?
I use Comodo Firewall (on windows machines) to give access or deny access to various apps. I have a VPN only web browser and a web browser that only works when the VPN is off. Wireguard is not supported whereas OpenVPN is.
Oh. Windows.
Have you tried Simplewall? Similar situation, but I’m a Mullvad user, and I haven’t had any issues
OpenVPN is less secure than Wireguard though
I use Mullvad VPN and unfortunately they are based in a country that is part of the 14 eyes alliance. IVPN if I’m not mistaken is based in Gibraltar, which at certain times makes me consider migration
The UK territory?
Mullvad is from Sweden
I think they meant to say that Gibraltar is a territory that belongs to the UK, which is true
Right how is UK better than Sweden, under the “eyes” logic, UK is US’ main squeeze haha
There’s also OVPN. They do all the stuff people like Mullvad for but they own all their own hardware and they’ve had their no-logging policy tested in court.
The problem is they were bought out by Pango which is not a trustworthy company.
mullvad, for sure! they accept several payment types, even cash! no need to sign up w any identifiable information. they allow 5 devices for the monthly price. split tunnel, port fwd & ipv6 support, too.
port fwd support was unfortunately removed due to abuse
oh dang, didn’t know that! thanks for the heads up!
AirVPN does all of that, too, including accepting cash and crypto. They
Tailscale is better.
