Is usenet provider vpn a substitute for other vpn service?

VPN
1

Pardon my ignorance but I’m just learning about usenet. I see that many providers offer vpn service as part of their package. I already have a commercial vpn service. If I subscribe to usenet can I use their vpn for other purposes in the same way as my current commercial vpn and would I therefore be able to cancel my current vpn subscription? Or is it only meant for use with their own usenet service?

If the answer to above is ‘yes’ then please advise if certain providers offer choice of openvpn or wireguard protocol and/or apps for windows and android machines and/or router based vpn service.

2

You can use VPN service provided free just like you can use any vpn provider. But remember you are getting it free, so don’t expect much. I have found they range from garbage to better than nothing. But this can also be said for paid vpn service.

While the lowest cost item can meet your needs there is a reason some paid services are more expensive. The free ones usually have limited number of locations you can connect. Speed also can vary greatly, as the more users at a location can slow down the speeds.

Some of the free VPNs, or the lower cost ones, or the ones that offer low lifetime rates can have issues where their IP groups are blocked by some sites. Probably because they are used by spammers because they are virtually free or low cost for them to do their work.

I had one of these and tried to go to an airline site to book a flight and it was blocked. Thinking I really don’t want to be using a VPN that an airline won’t even let you book a flight through. Not saying the VPN company is doing anything shady, but when a company doesn’t want to allow you to connect to your site do you really want to be using that company to shield your data?

There is really no need to use a VPN to connect to a usenet provider, as SSL connections is more than you need and you aren’t adding another link that could be slowing your speeds down.

This is my opinion on all of this, unlike political discussions always happy to hear any conflicting opinions or anything that I thought was true that isn’t as simple as I thought.

3

I have been and continue to use PrivadoVPN which is offered by a EasyNews and Eweka. Imo it’s pretty good, I mainly use it for torrenting and general browsing if I’m travelling.

Yep, open vpn is supported.

4

No!! Most of those usenet vpns keep user logs all someone has to do is go to the provider and demand the info it is all just marketing.

5

Thank you to all who commented. As I understand it, these vpn’s can be used as ‘generic’ but are generally on par with other free vpn’s (not the greatest). So I will probably keep on with my paid commercial vpn service. Just trying to limit the number of paid subscriptions whenever possible.

As part of my learning experience I’ve signed up for a free trial with one provider (****.farm) who doesn’t require a credit card, just so I can learn the process. I try not to give out the credit card if at all possible, but so far every single show/movie I’ve tried to download has failed. Unfortunately the downloads usually go all the way to the end before telling me they’ve failed. Is this likely a result of again, free being worth every penny, or is it typical of other providers as well?

EDIT:

so far every single show/movie I’ve tried to download has failed

Actually, just before I maxed out my daily limit, I managed to get one successful download of a show I didn’t really want, but it showed me it works.

6

Stick with a real vpn provider but if someone really wants to find you, they can in most cases vpn or not like if you make a threat against the president but just torrenting yea your fine.

7

Interesting statement about SSL. Do most people not use a VPN with usenets?

8

I have Privado through Newshosting and think it works very well. Speeds are good enough (400mb down with it off, 350md down with it on) that I usually just leave it on.

9

I have been and continue to use PrivadoVPN

I have it set up, but have never used it because I couldn’t find their entry on TorrentFreak (a news site).

There have been a couple of VPN services which have gone through the legal system, with good and bad results.

10

Farm sucks, their retention is crap. They only keep long retention for “popular” posts, however that’s determined. Everything else is much less than a year. The only thing I’d use farm for is as a backup/fill sever using cheap sale blocks. I bought a 500GB block from them over 4 years ago as a fill sever and have used only a couple of gigabytes so far. And the only plus they have on their side is that they’re NTD.

If you’re looking to keep overall costs as low as possible, go with a service that offers multiple backbones in one package such as Frugal. As you get into usenet you’ll end up getting at least two providers on different backbones with different takedown policies, anyway, so might as well just get it all in one package which may end up being cheaper than paying a la carte.

If you’re not a heavy user, then you can get away with one unlimited provider and a couple of cheap blocks (or even just blocks, period, if you’re a super low user). Most can get away with one unlimited provider. Easynews has a $3/month deal right now on an annual membership (prepay for a year’s worth of service, 36.00). You can get this and buy a block or two on other backbones as deals come up. Easynews also has a unique feature which is great for beginners; web search. It’ll allow you to d/l stuff via a familiar web browser interface while you learn about usenet/nntp.

Link to Easynews deal:

If you don’t want to give out your CC info (which I can understand) and your card company doesn’t offer one-time-use numbers, you can use PayPal. In fact, I prefer to use PayPal for all of my services where possible since I just need to maintain that one source instead of updating my info at a bunch of different sites, and contracts remain valid unless you don’t update your financial info when needed. This means you’ll retain your subscription pricing indefinitely (unless otherwise stated). And PayPal is a legitimate company, no need to worry about storing your card details there.

The other thing I cannot stress enough is automation. It’s most likely why you aren’t getting completes. With automation, a download will be retried until successful. This does add another dollar or two per month (prepaid annually) for a good indexer, but totally worth it not having to worry about hitting daily limits trying to go the free route.

Check the sidebar for info on everything I’ve mentioned here. It has links to provider deals, backbone maps, softwares needed for automation, helpful tips, etc. Learning usenet is a process, and while asking questions will give you a start, you won’t get it all from forum chat alone. You’ll need to do some research and read some guides to get a good understanding of it.

Good luck, and welcome to the community.

11

Your comment has been automatically removed from /r/usenet per rule #1. Please refer to the sidebar rules for more info.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

12

Don’t know about everyone else but I don’t. Since SSL creates an encrypted stream between my computer and the usenet server my take is it eliminates the “man in the middle” or the vpn. My take is this is more secure than involving a third party which could turn out to be the weakest link in the securing your data between your computer and the server/website. Only reason I use SSL is because in my work they are exceptionally secure with anything online, and always have me thinking about it.

I have heard SSL can slow down downloads, but in my very limited testing I haven’t found that to be the case. Some tests show a very slight change of speed, some show none. So my anecdotal experience is there isn’t any in real life because there are speed differences all the time when you are internet probably because of the way traffic is routed. Sure there are other reasons but that is my thought and I’m sure there are other factors I don’t even know about.

Also there really is no reason for my ISP to know what I am doing online any more than why the electric company should know the use of the electricity I buy from them. I’m sure if they could sell that information like the ISP can and probably does they would be doing it. Unless they are paying me for the information they are selling, they aren’t going to get it. I pay way too much for their service as it is and I’m also not going to be a profit source for them in addition to my monthly bill.

Companies want to go to online billing to save them money. They have to buy that stamp every month if they want me to pay. Now if they want to give me the cost they spend each month for that bill I might consider taking a $1 credit a month for an email instead of a paper bill. They don’t care about the environment, they only care about the cost of that bill.

I’m guessing the SSL might not be 100%, but if the certificates used are compromised things might be compromised at the server side and a VPN isn’t helping either. It could also be adding to the problem if they were compromised as that is another potential weak link.

But when I am on public wifi I do use a VPN when browsing. I also use a paid service that I rightly or wrongly trust, as the contract outlines privacy and exactly what data they see and what they do with it. I’m trusting them as I am buying a service, namely encrypting my data. When I am on a public wifi I assume that in order to give away free wifi they have some sort of revenue stream, and that revenue stream might be me, or my data, which is reasonable for the wifi. But I can take that away just like when you use an adblocker to block ads on “free” news or informational websites.

While some people might not think it is right or fair to use adblockers or use a vpn to deprive the person who is providing “free” wifi of income selling my information I don’t see it that way. The “free” wifi can block my use of a vpn, websites can not allow me access with an adblocker/pihole/vpn. Totally agree they can, but if I am now the product they are selling, I don’t want to use their service, I do have a hotspot on my phone and have unlimited data so the value of your free wifi is pretty low, and not worth looking at all your worthless ads when trying to be online.

Everyone is different, but this is why I pay for what right now is a decent VPN. This might change, and that is why there are tons and tons of VPN companies. If ads don’t bother you and you don’t care about them selling your info, most of it isn’t personally identifyable enjoy your free vpn. Remember you are the product they are selling and paying you to be the product. I’m not willing to do that, but if you are, great, and you will be saving a monthly fee. Choices are always good, but important to know what might be going on. There might be some free VPNs run by benevolent tech titans that are giving you the privacy free. If you are please share them so we all can participate. Not saying I am untrusting, I prefer the word “skeptical”.

Questioning authority used to be encouraged, not so much today, sometimes that might be good for one group and very bad for another. Sometimes it is hard to get all the info to decide who that always available personal assistant software really works for, not saying it’s bad, as capitalism is both good and bad just like liquor, gambling, and credit cards. Education also important, as well as good choices when you vote, or even if you vote.

13

I have a VPN just for when torrent. I don’t use it for usennet personally.

14

Although my original question was about the vpn aspect, obviously I have much more to learn and I appreciate your very detailed response to my sub-question.

To clarify, I’m a very light user so I do hope to keep costs down but I’m not looking for a free solution. Just using free options as a means of dipping my toe in to Usenet and starting to learn without the commitment. I don’t relish the thought of giving out my credit card info for a bunch of ‘trial’ subscriptions, many of which I may ultimately have to cancel due to dissatisfaction but they will forever have my CC info. PayPal may be a better option, so thanks for helping me remember I have a PayPal account!

I’ve already been using automation but by torrenting, and I’m hoping this will give me a higher reliability factor. Also it sounds like I need to be less concerned about ‘always on’ VPN while downloading, provided I am using SSL so that will be one less complication. Once I learn what I need to and get a subscription with my provider of choice, I will most likely add SABnzbd to my existing Docker containers in place of Qbittorrent. For now, during the learning phase, I’m doing things manually.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of research but will also take your advice to read through the sidebar. Again, I always forget it’s there, just like PayPal lol.