Best VPN 2019
 

I am trying to get a VPN but am having difficulty choosing a good one.
There seems to be a lot of info you have to read, there's so many price plans and then there's stuff about 'jurisdiction'.

I would like a VPN for ordinary use and I don't really care about watching Netflix. However I would like a VPN I can trust.
Does anyone recommend a good VPN?

I for one would choose one that resides in a country with good privacy laws.

Switzerland is often cited as a high-tech country where privacy is valued more than in the EU, let alone the USA and its lapdogs. Email, cloud and VPN providers often cite this as a competitive advantage.

Disclaimer: I am just repeating what I have read elsewhere and am probably succumbing to Swiss providers' propaganda.

Switzerland is tiny country which is a tax haven. A lot of Western MNCs are based there because for some reason they want their operations invisible and they want the low tax.

Obama was able to get info on US tax-dodgers who had swiss bank accounts despite Swiss secrecy laws.

Protonvpn is a FREE vpn which as a concept is dodgy as hell. And free vpns have a very bad rep.
So I think we can discount Switzerland on our merry journey to find an honest vpn.

It is a very murky and dirty exercise looking through reviews for a reputable VPN which will offer anonymity and security.

The sole contender I could find is Airvpn.
Anyone want to say anything?

Proton is not the only Switzerland-based VPN provider.

Switzerland is not the only country in the world.

I've used both SurfEasy and NordVPN. They're all right, if you take decent precautions with your browsing habits on top of their use.

That's a very good point. I didn't know VPNs could be so complicated.

I think Germany is a good place because it doesn't have a data retention law which is good for the privacy of its citizens.
But at the same time Snowden's leaks said Germany was involved in sending 'massive amounts of intercepted data to the NSA'(Wikipedia).
But then again, Germany doesn't even have a VPN provider.

Italy may be a viable choice because Wikipedia says it has 'no requirement to store the content of internet communications'. But it provides no source to justify the statement.
AirVPN is based in Italy.

Of course there's always Sweden. They can't be a bad lot.
Except Snowden's revelations have shown Sweden is involved in sending info to the US.
Even so, Mullvad VPN has a good reputation from reviewers.

Have you come across a VPN yourself?

NordVPN sounds alright to me, I think they're in Panama which is a good country when it comes to privacy and data retention laws.

Hmmm - Panama is the modern day wild west. Maybe your data is safe from Government fiat (maybe), but what about it being sold ?. Who'd know ?.
You might think a VPN hides our activity, but what about the VPN operator - they see and presumably record everything you do. Cynical ? ... me ???

FWIW I use PIA.

Hello Sailor. Welcome to LQ.
NordVPN has great reviews all across the entire internet. It operates more servers than any other VPN provider. It operates in more countries than any other VPN provider too.
It must be a very powerful company.

And it's based in Panama. The US built the Panama Canal - an amazing achievement! The Panama Papers is also an amazing achievement - and the whole world benefits from it.

Which OS do you use with NordVPN?

I can't seem to find any info on PIA. Maybe that's a good thing.
Is PIA user-friendly? Which country is it based in?

The PIA homepage states they are a US based corporation - which for everyone else in the world concerned with privacy is very bad news. The US laws (even those passed after the Snowden releases) provide specific exclusions for non-nationals.
PIA supply scripts for Linux which work for apt based distros like Ubuntu - less well for rpm based; I had to write my own Network Manager dispatcher. They have sufficient exit ports for my needs (plenty actually), but they are becoming less useful over time - sites now seem to be able to ascertain I am using a VPN so no bypassing geo-blocking for example. Maybe they just know the PIA IPs.
Support is ok if you can get past the first line.

Hey carlito. I've been a Windows user for a long time but recently I had an interest in Linux so right now I'm trying out Mint. Mostly I used Nord on Windows and my Android phone and only a little bit on Linux but so far it seems alright.