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Another vote for hosting your own. I used to roll my own VPN server but switched to Algo since it is easy to roll out and supports most major VPS providers. ht

by scrps 7y ago

Another vote for hosting your own. I used to roll my own VPN server but switched to Algo since it is easy to roll out and supports most major VPS providers. https://github.com/trailofbits/algo https://github.com/trailofbits/algo

TimTheTinker 7y ago
I was doing this for about 2 years on DigitalOcean. But early this year they stopped accepting prepaid credit cards as a means of payment (I had been buying prepaid Visas from Wal-Mart with cash). Since then I haven't been using a VPN... perhaps I'll try again on Linode or something. Does anyone know of a good VPS provider (or trustworthy/non-honeypot VPN provider) that accepts anonymous payments?
- pnutjam 7y ago
  Pia has anonymous payment methods, you can even use retail gift cards.
- thaeli 7y ago
  Mullvad is a VPN, but it has good performance, takes crypto for payment, and hasn't shown themselves to be untrustworthy yet.
  - stordoff 7y ago
    Also actual cash ("5 EUR (or an equivalent amount in any other currency)" for a month), which may be easier to make anonymous than crypto.
    - TimTheTinker 7y ago
      Envelopes would be postmarked with the post code from which they were mailed. That probably wouldn't give Mullvad any information they don't already have, since they can see your IP address. But an intercepting 3rd party could pair your account ID with with your geographic region; it would be even worse if you accidentally drop a hair inside the envelope.
      - stordoff 7y ago
        Sure, it's not a silver bullet, but I suspect the risk model is better understood (post it away from me if geographic region matters, be careful of fingerprints and hair). It also has to be preemptively intercepted, rather than crypto which is recorded forever (if I pay upfront for a year, a bad actor has one shot to intercept, whereas with crypto they can _always_ analyse the transaction history to see if I've slipped up and they can correlate transactions anywhere). I don't think either gives you an absolute guarantee[1], but cash doesn't have as many subtle pitfalls. [1] At the end of the day, you have to assume Mullvad isn't compromised _anyway_, so even if they did, it may not help (as you can probably be identified from your traffic)
  - TimTheTinker 7y ago
    Thanks for this! Looks like they also support WireGuard.
- kbenson 7y ago
  > But early this year they stopped accepting prepaid credit cards Didn't they start taking multiple crypto currencies though? I noticed the other day there's a crypto-currency ATM in my local supermarket. I'm not sure where you live and if there's one near you, nor if the machine requires some form of verification (it probably does have a camera...), but if it accepts cash, which I imagine it would given the type of people that would want to use it, then that's a pretty easy way to get hard to trace online currency. Just, you know, keep your face mostly covered when you buy, and don't mix that wallet with any other purchases at all. Actually, maybe I'll head down there tomorrow and buy my first bit of cryptocurrency.

by scrps 7y ago

TimTheTinker 7y ago

I was doing this for about 2 years on DigitalOcean. But early this year they stopped accepting prepaid credit cards as a means of payment (I had been buying prepaid Visas from Wal-Mart with cash). Since then I haven't been using a VPN... perhaps I'll try again on Linode or something. Does anyone know of a good VPS provider (or trustworthy/non-honeypot VPN provider) that accepts anonymous payments?

pnutjam 7y ago
Pia has anonymous payment methods, you can even use retail gift cards.
thaeli 7y ago
Mullvad is a VPN, but it has good performance, takes crypto for payment, and hasn't shown themselves to be untrustworthy yet.
- stordoff 7y ago
  Also actual cash ("5 EUR (or an equivalent amount in any other currency)" for a month), which may be easier to make anonymous than crypto.
  - TimTheTinker 7y ago
    Envelopes would be postmarked with the post code from which they were mailed. That probably wouldn't give Mullvad any information they don't already have, since they can see your IP address. But an intercepting 3rd party could pair your account ID with with your geographic region; it would be even worse if you accidentally drop a hair inside the envelope.
    - stordoff 7y ago
      Sure, it's not a silver bullet, but I suspect the risk model is better understood (post it away from me if geographic region matters, be careful of fingerprints and hair). It also has to be preemptively intercepted, rather than crypto which is recorded forever (if I pay upfront for a year, a bad actor has one shot to intercept, whereas with crypto they can _always_ analyse the transaction history to see if I've slipped up and they can correlate transactions anywhere). I don't think either gives you an absolute guarantee[1], but cash doesn't have as many subtle pitfalls. [1] At the end of the day, you have to assume Mullvad isn't compromised _anyway_, so even if they did, it may not help (as you can probably be identified from your traffic)
- TimTheTinker 7y ago
  Thanks for this! Looks like they also support WireGuard.
kbenson 7y ago
> But early this year they stopped accepting prepaid credit cards Didn't they start taking multiple crypto currencies though? I noticed the other day there's a crypto-currency ATM in my local supermarket. I'm not sure where you live and if there's one near you, nor if the machine requires some form of verification (it probably does have a camera...), but if it accepts cash, which I imagine it would given the type of people that would want to use it, then that's a pretty easy way to get hard to trace online currency. Just, you know, keep your face mostly covered when you buy, and don't mix that wallet with any other purchases at all. Actually, maybe I'll head down there tomorrow and buy my first bit of cryptocurrency.