Introduction to VPNs

[jonaharagon]

For sure I think we want to have an intro to VPNs. This should probably be a multi-page section of the site, including:

• What they are, kind of a top-level overview
• How to choose one
  • Generally free ones aren't great, recommend PTIO for some options, etc.
• How to connect
  • We should cover all the basic operating systems: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android with screenshots as well.
• anything else??

[ReitzBytes]

Will we be providing recommendations for specific providers? (What is PTIO?)

[jonaharagon]

PTIO: privacytools.io 😄

[roranicus]

I find that choosing a VPN is one of the hardest hurdles in getting into privacy, mainly because there are so many companies out there and so much false information. At the same time, you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket and endorse specific companies at the expanse of others.

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/vpn-comparison-chart/ This is always where I direct people. There's probably way too much information for a newcomer, but the review section is pretty useful and easy to understand.

Personally, I tried two companies. PIA, which I quit after they bought an ad in the New York Times, which made the service unreliable as their servers couldn't handle the load. I then switch to Airvpn and haven't looked back, although some people might find Air on the pricy side and one of their best selling points, the config generator, wouldn't be all that useful to someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

[Mikaela]

Will it also be noted that VPN can mean multiple things like a) private tunnel somewhere with all your traffic b) virtual network connecting two or more devices together?

I think b often gets forgotten and causes confusion when I try to explain mixnets like Yggdrasil as VPNs that anyone can join and have stable IPv6 within it. I once tried to introduce it to PrivacyTools.io, but it was decided to be out of scope (https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacytools.io/issues/685) (and since I have stopped supporting Cjdns due to the authors plans to include a Bitcoin based cryptocurrency (due to energy usage / climate change concerns)).

Feel free to steal anything from https://theprivacyguide.org (CC0). When I wanted to add guides to PTIO I decided that it would be best to have a separate site for them. Few months into the project and I was too busy with other things to keep working on it.