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Hello everyone,
I have a pretty simple question. I am searching for a reliable VPN provider, because in France, the ISPs strongly limit access to websites such as YouTube and Twitch.tv, and guess what, as a StarCraft 2 fan this doesn't make me very happy. Trying a new ISP wouldn't really be a solution because pretty much every French provider does the same ; for example, my internet connection is around 10Mbps, and around certain hours, I cannot watch a 480p YouTube video without letting it buffer for about twice its duration time.
I am a total noob concerning internet and computing, so some of you might want to explain me that my YouTube problems are not related to my ISP, but it is kind of a known fact, in France, that ISPs limit access to websites like YouTube ; there are videos proving it, articles about it in "serious" newspapers... I even called my ISP to complain, and I was told that, admittedly, even at the worst rush hours on YouTube I should be able to watch it in HD without problems given my connection. Then, I was explained that, because my ISP uses "superior technology" (compared to the other French ISPs), I had a bad YouTube experience (I don't even... What is that kind of answer ?)
I learnt that this problem can be solved by using a VPN, which basically disrupts the conflict between the ISP and YouTube by not letting YouTube know that you come from this ISP (that's what I understood, but once again, I'm a total chobo here).
So, which VPN providers are reliable ? By "reliable", I mean, on which websites can I find VPN services (preferably for free) without taking the risk of downloading malwares or having security issues, or installing programs that could mess up with my computer ? I am very careful concerning this kind of stuff because I really have no luck with my computers. A good example of what might be for me is "SecurityKISS" (am I allowed to put the address of the website here ?), is this one a safe bet ? What better suggestions would you have ?
And is the usage of a VPN simple ? Having little to no knowledge in everything that is related to computers, if there are any sophisticated tasks to execute, I will not even try to use it.
Thank you for all your responses !
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Well, to answer your main question I've had good experience with TorVPN.
Although I'm not sure if a VPN would help your current situation or not. I guess you are thinking they limit bandwidth when a certain website is detected rather than the internet being slow altogether due to being congested during busy times?
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I know that might be what you don't want to hear, but out of interest I googled it and could not find a single reference that french providers are somehow limiting youtube. Are you really sure that is the case or might it just be a misunderstanding?
Edit. The only thing about Twitch I can find are very few posts about one certain french provider's (Free) customers having trouble. That really does not sound like a general issue.
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On October 31 2012 03:21 grs wrote:
I know that might be what you don't want to hear, but out of interest I googled it and could not find a single reference that french providers are somehow limiting youtube. Are you really sure that is the case or might it just be a misunderstanding?
A month ago, France's most known newspaper, "Le Monde", published an article saying that the most important association of French customers (UFC - Que choisir) officially asked the French government to try to force the French ISPs (in particular Free) to solve their conflicts with youTube, because French customers shouldn't be the ones that pay for YouTube and some ISPs' disagreements (something about who has to pay for better installations from what I understood). So it is indeed kind of an official problem ; I can give you a link to the article, but it is in French. (http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2012/09/20/free-attaque-pour-les-ralentissements-de-youtube_1763130_651865.html) And a YouTube video shows a user of Free (my ISP) using this VPN thing and playing a 720p YouTube video that was unwatchable before he activated his VPN.
Anyway, I might as well try, right ?
Edit : Concerning Twitch, the ISP might not be the problem ; but for YouTube chances are high that the ISP is responsible.
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What are the downsides ? The video I watched about it as a way to counter my ISP's limitations makes it seem like it can be enabled and disabled manually, so I thought it would not cause much trouble since I don't intend to use it for other websites than YouTube, twitch (maybe) and some others.
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French providers are actually limiting bandwith on biggest website like youtube, dailymotion, twitchtv, purevid, mixturevideo etc. These sites that munch the most of the bandwith, this polemic has started over years already and ISP's are turning the limitation among website in order not to be caught by justice so some months. e.g. you have no problem on youtube with ISP (x) while ISP (y) is limiting it, then 3 months later they alternate. It is known but still not prosecuted by any trial.
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I just gave "YouTubeProxy" a try, but it tells me it is overloaded and will be available later... If it has this kind of problems, I am not sure it will be better than my bad YouTube connection, which works at least.
Edit : Thank you for your response Jonoman92, I checked tovpn.com, but as I said in the original post, I am really extra careful with every download I make, so I would prefer to have multiple opinions, or the opinion of someone who knows well different VPN providers and has tested them, before I really make up my mind. Also, it doesn't seem as handy as the one that seems nice to me, and it doesn't seem to have enough proxies for me to be able to use a French one - which, I guess, would make my connection better ?
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I think that you are looking for a way to mask your IP address rather than VPN. VPN - Virtual Private Network is a thing that is used for different purposes. Imagine you are outside the office with your laptop, but you need to access something that is isolated in the office network. You create a secure tunnel, a VPN connection with a server in your office and for your computer, even when you are very far away from the office, it seems you are there. You could use this for the purpose you need, by connecting through VPN to a computer of your friend, say in US, the rerouting youtube through his computer, but it would require a lot of a hassle.
Try TOR - https://www.torproject.org/. It will effectively mask the ISP your address is coming from. But beware, this and any proxying stuff creates a lot of traffic overhead, effectively cutting down your bandwith.
Also try to google for public proxy servers lists, you may be able to use some of them. Best to choose proxy closest geographically to your location, as it would have the smallest impact on your effective bandwith. Some proxies do not allow flash to be passed through, so your list could get narrow very fast, but it is worth a try.
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You understand what I am searching for, Roman666. Is Tor safe to download and easy to execute ? If so, I will probably give it a try and see what happens.
But some of the things you said remain dark to me. First, you say that using a VPN requires an other computer, and a complex process of installation. But on the websites of some VPN providers, I find that using a VPN is just as simple as installing a program and running it ; according to the tutorials available, that's it. You run the program whenever you want, select a proxy server, it connects you to it and boom, you're good to go. It seems almost to good to be true, but that's what on the websites, and a user-made video on YouTube also shows such a simple process. Are you sure every VPN requires an other computer and necessarily consists in "re-routing through another computer" ? I could give you a link to this tutorial video that sells dream if you are interested, but it is in French, although by just watching what's on the screen you would understand everything, except that Free is accused of limiting bandwith on some websites.
Second, you say that using "TOR" will cut down my bandwith, but I am precisely trying to make full use of a bandwith that is basically confiscated by my ISP when I go to YouTube and maybe Twitch. So your solution does not seem to really correspond to my goal, but maybe there's something I missed.
Thank you for your response, and I will at least try TOR if it is simple and safe.
And if no free VPN can accomplish what I am searching for, maybe I will think about NexTGenVPN, Teodice, thank you.
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I don't think VPN will help you. If what I'm reading is correct, the ISPs in france are having issues with other ISPs and network providers at the routing level. So you'll have to search for a VPN/proxy provider whose conenction to you is not affected by your ISPs issues.
The article you posted isn't quite correct regarding youtube. Youtube and google provide content but they do not own or affiliate with the interconnects with your ISP. You can read about orange vs cogent for a better idea of what's going on in france. http://morse.colorado.edu/~epperson/courses/routing-protocols/handouts/cogent-ft.html (english)
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The VPN i use is Privitize. Its free and works pretty well.
edit: just checked privitize homepage and the dl link is missing. You can probably still find mirrors on TPB if u want.
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ISPs will throttle the bandwidth to youtube
I don't know about france but they did it in Korea - I would be able to watch and stream even at 720p but try to watch a 360p youtube video at 4am or 1pm or whenever with no other downloads going and I would need to let it load for some time before hand.
Yet I could be downloading games off steam at 10MB/s at same time as watching stream on twitch or owned
VPN will bypass this as the connection doesn't appear to be going to nor coming from youtube and thus won't be throttled by your ISP
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Well, I just read something about the potential dangers of using a VPN, and I can say I am scared now, I won't even try. Something about hackers running VPNs and accessing to/infecting your computer... I guess I will just try another ISP and wish that it doesn't throttle YouTube and such (or at least not as badly as Free). Thank you all for your responses, but I won't do anything fancy to solve my problem, just dat standard resiliation.
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sure there are potential dangers, but you won't be the one running the VPN software on a distant server. You're paying them to secure their server. They'll have to disclose if they get hacked etc..If you pick a prominent VPN provider i'm sure it will be very safe. The risks aren't much bigger than by just being online.
Since a VPN will encrypt your traffic and shift it's source your ISP won't be able to tell what you are doing (impossible unless they decrypt it, so impossible) so it WILL help your problem. If they are really trafic shaping.
Here's a list of well known VPN providers with how secure they are:
http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/
trafic shaped 10 mbits, and i thought France had decent internet ... i pay 30 a month but i got unlimited 50mbits, no shaping
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The best solution would be a hosting location in your city. That probably means that you have to host it yourself. If you get a random VPN account your throughput will most likely be very limited.... which means it is only worth it if you want to bypass a geocheck
In fact a business account, if possible from the same provider, to run the VPN on would serve you best, since those aren't shaped and you get the best possible routing to get there (because it is within their network).
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EPT
