Best VPN provider (In your opinion)? (Strictly no referral allowed)

Pseudomonas

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Anyone tried activating their Surfshark Smart DNS for their LG/Smart TV?
Tried activating it with the DNS address, but Netflix could detect that a Proxy server was in used.

I realised IP address on the Smart DNS and the wifi IP address do not match, despite using the same wifi connection and being disconnected from the VPN.

Would kindly appreciate your advice on this matter, thank you!
 

xiaofan

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Anyway I just bought purevpn one year subscription for US$11.88.

I will test the function to go into China over the weekend. And test its function to bypass China GFW during my year end short trip to China.

Sign up and payment are pretty easy.

First impression: performance not good. China server may not work for video streaming.

So looks like you may have to go with dedicated VPN like Transocks, SpeedIn or ChinaTunnel if you want to bypass China geo-blocked contents.

1. Singapore server is not fast, test on my Huawei P20 using WiFi, speed drop to 30Mbps down bps up with VPN. Without VPN the speed is about 180Mbps up/down.

2. China server
It does work for QQ Music and Xiami Music. Speed is not good but good enough for music streaming.

It does not work for Youku. 长安十二时辰is still locked even with the VPN.

It seems to work for Tencent video even though the app does detect I am not in mainland China. But this raised red flag that it may not work well.

3) Android client is better than iOS client. iOS client is not good
 
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xiaofan

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To be updated. Not interested in Netflix so not going to test Netflix.

General impression: VPN server connection is pretty fast. Tested on Huawei P20 Android phone

1) purevpn US server
LA server, speed not bad, tested with AT&T LA SpeedTest server, 38Mbps down and 20.5Mbps up

Pluto TV works fine

2) purevpn UK server
London server speed not bad, tested with Vodafone London server, 25Mbps up and 8.5 Mbps up.

BBC iPlayer works fine

3) purevpn HK server
Speed seems to be okay.
RTHK Screen works
Now News works
 
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Just renewed my AirVPN during the Black Friday sale.

Happy with AirVPN service over the years.

Decent speeds with many servers, and can truly support p2p.
 

xiaofan

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Anyone tried activating their Surfshark Smart DNS for their LG/Smart TV?
Tried activating it with the DNS address, but Netflix could detect that a Proxy server was in used.

I realised IP address on the Smart DNS and the wifi IP address do not match, despite using the same wifi connection and being disconnected from the VPN.

Would kindly appreciate your advice on this matter, thank you!

Double check that you are following their guides.
https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en...3-How-to-set-up-Surfshark-smart-DNS-for-LG-TV

If the provided smart DNS does not work, you may try to contact customer service for help.

And if that does not work out, try alternative methods.
1) install client on the PC and use a PC as the proxy
2) install the VPN client to the router, hopefully your router supported it
3) Buy a Mi Box S to use for Netflix US/JP/etc. It has clients for many VPNs, including Surfshark.
 
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xiaofan

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Some links for streaming services for popular places, mostly geo-locked

0) Singapore

https://blog.moneysmart.sg/entertainment/video-streaming-netflix-subscription-fees/
https://thesmartlocal.com/read/streaming-websites/

SingTel Cast
Starhub Go
Toggle
Netflix
Amazon Prime Video
HOOQ
Viu
TVB Anywhere+
HBO Go
Fox+

Other countries
1) US
Netflix
Disney+
Fox+
HBO Max and HBO Go
Hulu
Amazon Prime Video
Apple TV+
YouTube TV
YouTube
Tubi (free with ads)
Vudu (with some free content)
Sony Crackle (free with ads)
Pluto TV (free with ads), live TV and VOD


Free services
https://parade.com/943656/alexandra-hurtado/free-streaming-services-sites-tv-movie/


2) UK
BBC iPlayer

3) Australia
https://www.finder.com.au/internet-tv/streaming-providers

4) Asia
https://www.vdocipher.com/blog/2018/07/asia-vod-platforms/

5) HK SAR
TVB
Viu
RTHK related

6) Mainland China
iQiyi
Tencent Video
Youku
Mango TV
CCTV related
Sohu video
 
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xiaofan

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Double check that you are following their guides.
https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en...3-How-to-set-up-Surfshark-smart-DNS-for-LG-TV

If the provided smart DNS does not work, you may try to contact customer service for help.

And if that does not work out, try alternative methods.
1) install client on the PC and use a PC as the proxy
2) install the VPN client to the router, hopefully your router supported it
3) Buy a Mi Box S to use for Netflix US/JP/etc. It has clients for many VPNs, including Surfshark.

More details on 1)
https://thevpn.guru/share-vpn-connection-windows/

More details on 2) will depend on the router.
Surfshark itself has the link here. Not all routers have this capability.
https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003103833-How-to-set-up-a-router-with-Surfshark-

More reference
Linksys router
https://thevpn.guru/install-vpn-linksys-router/

Asus router
https://thevpn.guru/install-asus-router-vpn-guide/

Netgear
https://thevpn.guru/install-vpn-netgear-router-guide/
 
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xiaofan

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There is a report that Nord VPN does not work with StarHub Go when overseas.

I understand that Toggle, SingTel TV Go, SingTel Cast and StarHub Go all try to detect VPN and try to block them.

Not so sure what is a good VPN to use in this case.

Any IVacy VPN users tested some of these apps? I was thinking it may have better Singapore and Malaysia servers.

I understand Most of people are not that interested of going into Singapore here. But when people go abroad, this use cases become valid.

One option is to set up an OpenVPN server on the router or home network.

Another option is to try SS providers because they may not be so popular outside of China and may be have less chance of being blocked. One user reported success with a paid SS provider to access Starhub Go.
 
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xiaofan

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Further tested purevpn under Windows 10 (a very old desktop, USB 3.0 WiFi AC1900 adapter).

Similar results as Android.

Singapore server : slow

Going into China -- not working.

US, HK and UK server work okay for a few contents blocking sites tested.

US: Pluto.tv, Sony Crackle,
HK: PCCW NowTV News
UK: BBC iPlayer

This is just an impulse buy. I will test its capability to unblock China GFW in a few weeks time.
 

stiwipl

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[...]
Another option is to try SS providers because they may not be so popular outside of China and may be have less chance of being blocked. One user reported success with a paid SS provider to access Starhub Go.

SS providers are still using the same data centers as OpenVPN providers. So if the whole data center is blocked from accessing, SS won't help here.

My advise would be to setup OpenVPN on the router. If you have Asus with Merlin, it's a breeze and .ovpn files are ready to download once you setup the server. You just upload ovpn to any OpenVPN client.
 

xiaofan

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SS providers are still using the same data centers as OpenVPN providers. So if the whole data center is blocked from accessing, SS won't help here.

My advise would be to setup OpenVPN on the router. If you have Asus with Merlin, it's a breeze and .ovpn files are ready to download once you setup the server. You just upload ovpn to any OpenVPN client.

Yes to set up an OpenVPN server on the router is a good option and I mentioned that in my post before the SS provider option.

One option is to set up an OpenVPN server on the router or home network.

Another option is to try SS providers because they may not be so popular outside of China and may be have less chance of being blocked. One user reported success with a paid SS provider to access Starhub Go.

And you are right that contents provider can ban whole chunk of data center provider IP addresses like to ban Google Cloud or Digital Ocean IP addresses.

But it depends on the use cases, coming back to Singapore for contents may work well with OpenVPN server on the router.

On the other hand, if you are in China and want to bypass GFW, then OpenVPN server on the router may be a hit and miss. It may work well for some people and it may not work at all as GFW is very good at detecting all kinds of VPNs. SS providers have an edge in China and many of them provide servers capable of HD/4K Netflix streaming.
 
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xiaofan

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Interesting Wireguard testing. Some of the speed data shows no improvement over traditional VPN protocols but speed data are pretty good.

Not many VPN providers offer Wireguard option though. So you may want to try DIY approach on a cloud server provider or on your home network.

https://www.tipsforchina.com/mobile/does-wireguard-work-in-china.html

The author compared 12VPN, VPN.ac, and TorGuard.
 

xiaofan

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https://www.tipsforchina.com/mobile/best-vpn-for-china.html

The author mentioned Shadowsocks provider WannaFix.

+++++++
The speed. It's not really fair to compare the speed of Shadowsocks to a traditional VPN. The protocols they use (Shadowsocks and V2ray) are much faster. Technically, these are protocols are not really VPNs. Rather, they are proxies.

VPN into China. WannaFlix is offering a server in mainland China that enables access to Chinese geo-restricted services such as QQ Music, iQiYi, etc from outside of China. This is a very rare feature among VPN providers these days.
+++++++++
 

xiaofan

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This morning the purevpn Singapore server seems to be faster.

Tested with a very old Windows 10 desktop with a USB 3.0 WiFi adapter. Speedtest Windows 10 app and SingTel server

Without VPN, download 330Mbps, download 355Mbps

With VPN, download 78Mbps, upload 29Mbps

No where near the speed mentioned here for Surfshark and Windscribe.

And it does not really work to go into China, so I think purevpn can not be recommended.

That being said, I think it is worth the US$11.88 one year subscription price I paid for it.

Pros:
1) Many different server locations

2) Connection establish speed is pretty fast.

3) VPN server speed is at least okay for 720p/1080p streaming (not for China contents).

4) Android client is pretty good. Windows client is okay but lacks the city connection option in Android.

5) Said to be working in China and it is recommended by VPNDaDa as No 3 along with ExpressVPN (No 1), NordVPN (No 2) and VyprVPN (No 4).To be tested.

Cons:
1) Browser extension is not good with even less country option.

2) iOS client is also not good with less features.

3) The so-called China server does not work well for China geo-blocking bypass.
 
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bodohboy

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SS providers are still using the same data centers as OpenVPN providers. So if the whole data center is blocked from accessing, SS won't help here.

My advise would be to setup OpenVPN on the router. If you have Asus with Merlin, it's a breeze and .ovpn files are ready to download once you setup the server. You just upload ovpn to any OpenVPN client.

Just tried running OpenVPN client on my newly bought ASUS router. Is it possible for me to activate and deactivate the VPN remotely on my phone (iOS)?

Or can I set it up such a way that only certain devices that connects to the router gets VPN?
 

imacbie

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Just tried running OpenVPN client on my newly bought ASUS router. Is it possible for me to activate and deactivate the VPN remotely on my phone (iOS)?

Or can I set it up such a way that only certain devices that connects to the router gets VPN?
u can set only certain devices / ips passes thru the vpn only.
at least on merlin's firmware which i think shldnt be much diff from stock.

44Gn6OE.png
 

bodohboy

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u can set only certain devices / ips passes thru the vpn only.
at least on merlin's firmware which i think shldnt be much diff from stock.

44Gn6OE.png

Thanks for the info bro. I am currently running a dual-router configuration with a dedicated VPN router (ASUS RT-AC2600) behind my primary router (LINKSYS EA7500). I am running OpenVPN firmware on the ASUS from ExpressVPN. Will it be more efficient if I ran it on Merlin? Quite a noob at this haha
 

xiaofan

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Thanks for the info bro. I am currently running a dual-router configuration with a dedicated VPN router (ASUS RT-AC2600) behind my primary router (LINKSYS EA7500). I am running OpenVPN firmware on the ASUS from ExpressVPN. Will it be more efficient if I ran it on Merlin? Quite a noob at this haha

Are you running the ExpressVPN OpenVPN client under Asus with Asus stock firmware? Or are you running customized ExpressVPN Firmware on the Asus? I tend to believe the proprietary ExpressVPN firmware may have better performance but may not have all the features of Asus/Merlin FW.

ExpressVPN router firmware.
https://www.expressvpn.com/support/vpn-setup/app-for-routers-asus/

It has the per device settings you want. But not so sure if your router is supported or not.
 
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