Black Friday 2019

[buwaytress]

OK guys, I have been delaying getting a VPN subscription. Never really needed something premium but with the black friday deals still looking good, and possibly needing a VPN solution soon for streaming, I'm wondering: Should I dive in and get the 2-year deals? I see Nord and Proton as the best (don't know enough to really know more) but I'm leaning towards Proton for longevity.

Proton's 3 euros a month is more or less the same price as Nord's USD 3.45.

Any feedback before I spend my precious btc?

[1715038028]

1715038028

[Steamtyme]

I can't say I know much about VPN's, never bothered with one to date. I just remember reading up on Nord getting hacked in October. While they will likely learn from it you might want to go with the Proton option especially if you are looking at a long term contract.

[akamit]

@LTU_btc

You just got lucky with Blockchain.com because just a couple of months ago they started to support Bitpay, which I knew just a few days ago.

Before that, I suffered a lot with Namecheap>Bitpay thingy because I use Blockchain.com as my hot wallet.

Step 1: Connect to USA vpn (Bitpay doesn't support my location)
Step 2: Transfer money from Blockchain.com to GreenAddress
Step 3: GreenAddress to Bitpay>Namecheap

So more fees I had to pay; and more time I had to wait for confirmation. Bitpay really sucks.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I see Nord and Proton as the best (don't know enough to really know more) but I'm leaning towards Proton for longevity.

I'm not going to mention which VPNs I have previously or am currently using.

NordVPN gets some very mixed reviews. Do a quick reddit search to see what I mean. Many people who have used it for 5 years and say they've never had a single problem, but many others who have said they cancelled their subscription because the speeds were so awful and their connection was frequently dropped. ProtonVPN generally seems to have better reviews, and also is recommended by https://www.privacytools.io/providers/vpn/. Loyce did point out some concerns he had with Proton's Terms and Conditions earlier in this thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5203656.msg53206456#msg53206456). You can see my response afterwards and decide for yourself if it concerns you.

There is not much to separate them (as far as I can see) otherwise. Both are based outside 5-eyes countries, both have a good no-logging policy, both accept bitcoin, both have AES-256, etc. They do both offer a 30 day money back period, so there's not a huge risk to trying one out and seeing if it works for you, other than you might have missed the deal on the other one by the time you want to switch.

[LoyceV]

ProtonVPN generally seems to have better reviews, and also is recommended by https://www.privacytools.io/providers/vpn/.

Their first recommendation is Mullvad. Good to know: you can pay any amount with crypto, it doesn't have a be a full month. I sometimes buy a few hours access for a few cents in BCH. I regret to say that, unlike BTC, it's accepted without confirmation

[o_e_l_e_o]

Good to know: you can pay any amount with crypto, it doesn't have a be a full month.

With Mullvad? Interesting.

So I've just had a look at their payment page, and the smallest I can choose is 1 month. If I send less BTC than they are asking for, they will credit me with the time I've paid for, even if it's just a few hours like you say? I will potentially use this as a completely disposable VPN since their accounts require absolutely no personal details.

[LoyceV]

So I've just had a look at their payment page, and the smallest I can choose is 1 month. If I send less BTC than they are asking for, they will credit me with the time I've paid for, even if it's just a few hours like you say?

Correct. I used it with BTC in the past when BTC was worth a lot less. Now, with BTC, the fees get you for very small transactions (and make the dust completely useless to the receiver). That's why I keep a few bucks worth of BCH in Electron in the VM I use for the VPN.
I can't wait for them to start accepting LN

I will potentially use this as a completely disposable VPN since their accounts require absolutely no personal details.

That's what I do

[buwaytress]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did read the reviews and yeah, it does seem to me the Swiss Protonvpn looks to have the edge -- only if it's better reviewed. As of today, their offer is still available too. My only problem now is there is NO Bitcoin payment option, despite google telling me otherwise. Not willing to use my debit card right now, not to mention the irony of using it for a privacy solution haha.

Shame. NordVPN does have btc option, but it's not as cheap.

Now trawling through the rest to see which accepts btc.

[TryNinja]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did read the reviews and yeah, it does seem to me the Swiss Protonvpn looks to have the edge -- only if it's better reviewed. As of today, their offer is still available too. My only problem now is there is NO Bitcoin payment option, despite google telling me otherwise. Not willing to use my debit card right now, not to mention the irony of using it for a privacy solution haha.

They do accept Bitcoin. But AFAIK you need to add the amount as credits first. Go to your Dashboard and look for "Add credits" or similar at the bottom of the page. Click and there will be a "Pay with Bitcoin" option in the dropbox.

[buwaytress]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did read the reviews and yeah, it does seem to me the Swiss Protonvpn looks to have the edge -- only if it's better reviewed. As of today, their offer is still available too. My only problem now is there is NO Bitcoin payment option, despite google telling me otherwise. Not willing to use my debit card right now, not to mention the irony of using it for a privacy solution haha.

They do accept Bitcoin. But AFAIK you need to add the amount as credits first. Go to your Dashboard and look for "Add credits" or similar at the bottom of the page. Click and there will be a "Pay with Bitcoin" option in the dropbox.

I don't see it on my dashboard. According to their own help page on Bitcoin (https://protonvpn.com/support/payment-options/) and the following instructions pahe, I had to sign up first for a free VPN account, and then the options would appear next to credit card/paypal. Maybe I'll enquire later anyway and figure out, it does seem a bit silly to have to add credits first instead of paying instantly (guess this is what they call poor user journey). But I'll bite the bullet and find another option for now. Thanks a lot though you!

P.S, if anyone chooses, make sure you pay in USD/CHF instead of EUR. It's the same units, so much cheaper (that is, 144 USD is less than 144 EUR).

[TryNinja]

Apparently today is the last day of Ledger’s black friday and they are offering another 5% for these who didn’t bought it yet. Just use the coupon “LASTDAY”.

[thetrainer]

Any flags for PureVPN?

So far good.
This time their Black Friday deal was $1.32 per month for 5 years plan but for shorter and cheaper vpn subscription check this. Their it is available for $1.99 per month for 1 year plan even after Black Friday. I've hardly seen this price on 1 year plan.