MX Linux Forum

I am toying with installing a VPN on my system and I am looking for suggestions and recommendations. I operate a Toshiba Qosmio laptop, 64bit and usually hotspot via my iPhone 6s. I am a retiree and am using MX-Linux as my default OS which I am quite happy with. I note there are a number of VPN posts here but I haven't seen anyone offering their advise and experience. I am aware there a free VPN's available but as they say, you only get what you pay for. Wouldn't it be nice to install an operating system that actually includes a VPN. Thank you.

There was a post here a few days ago which linked to this https://restoreprivacy.com/best-vpn site that I thought did a good job to rate the top seven VPN's in 2019. Privacy was a big factor. The author said essentially the same as you did, to stay away from the free VPN's.

The article is pretty new from October 2019. These were his top seven picks with their home country:

1. ExpressVPN.com (British Virgin Islands)
2. Perfect-Privacy.com (Switzerland)
3. NordVPN.com (Panama)
4. VPNArea.com (Bulgaria)
5. VPN.ac (Romania)
6. VyprVPN.com (Switzerland)
7. Trust.zone (Seychelles)

I'm still in the researching mode and look forward to user experiences and comments.

Nordvpn has a linux app via terminal. Mxlinux has custom fix for the sysvinit issue. You can find it quickly under the Network section of Popular Apps in MXPI. May be that is enough to sway you in that direction?

I use NordVPN service but not their linux app, I rather use a few chosen servers of which I put the address in the network manager. Since I need to change of location pretty often, it is just a matter of seconds by ticking/unticking the boxes in the network manager>vpn connections.
Beware the DNS leaks.

Thank you for that info, much appreciated.

Hi. I shopped around and did some research and have been successfully using Ivacy vpn. Not expensive at all.

that site, also has some recommendations for Australia:

1. ExpressVPN
2. NordVPN
3. VPNArea
4. VPN.ac
5. Perfect Privacy


So Why do you need a VPN for Australia?
Here are four reasons:
https://restoreprivacy.com/australia-vpn/

Yes, VPNs are completely legal to use in Australia
:lipsrsealed:

The few times I want to use a VPN I just go to https://www.vpngate.net/en/, download a server's openvpn config file, then run in a terminal. If it doesn't work I try another server. These free servers aren't super fast or reliable enough for 24x7 use but are fine for occasional use such as if you want to view content that's blocked in your country or region.

I looked at the 'restoreprivacy' site and my first impression is that it might be useful for eliminating bad choices of vpn providers; but I would be inclined to get second opinions on the services they recommend.
I also noted that they list DNS leaks as one of their criteria. I am not very knowledgeable... just an old guy muddling along trying to keep my computer running... but it seems that any linux distro will have DNS leaks if it is systemd, using OpenVPN, and especially any Ubuntu flavor. Lots of posts on Ubuntu forums with lots of fixes and lots of replies saying the fixes don't work. Fortunately MXLinux seems to be immune to this leaking problem.
Depending on your level of need for privacy (i.e. paranoia level) you might want to check out this site:
https://thatoneprivacysite.net/#detailed-vpn-comparison .
Unlike many of the magazine articles, with titles like "Best 10 VPN's", this site has so far not been accused of being paid to advertise a product.

Try installing PIA VPN. Available from MX Package installer. It is a nice app similar to the ones you find in Windows. Very easy to install and has VPN from different countries.

Private Internet Access (PIA) was acquired by Kape Technologies, an Israeli based firm.

yoel wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:09 pm Try installing PIA VPN. Available from MX Package installer. It is a nice app similar to the ones you find in Windows. Very easy to install and has VPN from different countries.

Private Internet Access (PIA) was acquired by Kape Technologies, an Israeli based firm.

That is what I have been using for a couple of years. Easy to configure and hundreds of servers throughout the world.

I also like Vyprvpn but it's very difficult to get it to work on MX-Linux