UK VPN Experience with Express VPN, CyberGhost, PIA or NordVPN

[TexasDave]

Hello,

Happy holidays....

Is there a "Merlin Friendly" VPN out there that folks like? I am considering ExpressVPN (expensive), CyberGhost, PrivateInternetAccess or NordVPN. Or any other candidates?

They all seem similar and (except for ExpressVPN (higher cost)) about the same (I would get a one year subscription).

I will be pointing to the UK for the most part (just for privacy). I do not stream, but do download stuff from usenet and my kids play games.

Thinking up upgrading my RT68U to a RT86U and then using the RT68U as an AP.

Thanks and Happy 2019!

Dave Z

 

[Dave Parker]

Not a VPN expert but I have been using ExpressVPN for almost a year now. Yes they cost a little more than some of the others you mentioned but you get what you pay for. Used PIA for a year or so and they are OK, but they are located in the USA. ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands. No data collection laws. IMHO ExpressVPN is the best choice available. And new customers can get 15 months for the price of a one year subscription.

 

[doczenith1]

Good idea to upgrade to the 86U if planning on using a vpn. The 68U can do around 50-60 Mbps using 128-CBC and the 86U can do 200's using 128-CBC and a little faster using GCM. In the past PIA has been able to max out my 86U at 225 down and 299 up (and faster with the windows client) but recently I tested the upload speeds and they were under 100 if I remember correctly. Just ran some tests. Look like they are back where they were. Upload peaked at 315. I'm using their Chicago server and 128-GCM.

 

[Marin]

I use NordVPN and I am getting about 93-95% of ISP speed with them (using AES-256-GCM for my cipher)

 

[Travis99]

All VPNs that you mentioned are the top ones, so I guess they all work pretty well. I am Nordvpn client as well. Works okay, but I use it mostly to watch Netflix.

 

[TexasDave]

Really appreciate all the advice - Thanks! on PIA, they are located in the USA but there have had two "real world" cases where they were asked to turn over logs and were not able to do so. So they seem pretty safe....not that watching NetFlix is something to really worry about. They are one of the few VPNs who have been tested in the real world and passed.

Happy 2019 to all!

 

[Xentrk]

I am very happy with TorGuard. TorGuard is able to get around Netflix and BBC VPN Blocks. Read more about it here.

https://x3mtek.com/why-i-use-torguard-as-my-vpn-provider/

 

[tiogelito]

I use Expressvpn and TorGuard and I got 95% of my ISP speed (92/25 naked vs 87/25 through VPN). I'm 70 km away from their closest server. BTW, my router is the RT-AC86U, "the beast" ;-)