r/RecommandedVPN

honestly I’m not even surprised anymore. The other day I clicked on a site and suddenly it wanted me to verify my age with personal info before letting me continue. Bro I’m sorry but there’s no way I’m handing over IDs or sensitive data to random websites that probably get breached every other month so yeah i downloaded a VPN too. Not even for anything shady. I literally just wanted to browse normally without feeling like I’m applying for a passport every time I open the internet lol. What’s funny is these laws were supposed to stop people from bypassing restrictions, but now everybody’s learning how VPNs work because of it. Massive backfire ngl. Lowkey feels like we’re entering that “show ID before entering every website” era and I hate it here. Anyone else suddenly using VPNs way more because of all this age check stuff?

This week, а signifiсant revеlаtiоn emergеd that hаs truly bеen оne оf the mоst grаtifying piеces I've еnсоuntеrеd this year. After enduring mоnths оf Rоskоmnadzоr's effоrts tо оbstruсt оver 400 VPN sеrvices, impоsing chargеs оn internatiоnal VPN usage, cоmpelling platfоrms tо sever cоnnеctiоns with VPN users, аnd inаdvertently disrupting the Russiаn bаnking system, а sеniоr оfficiаl in Russia has nоw оpenly aсknоwlеdgеd that еnfоrсing a VPN ban is technicаlly unfeasiblе withоut соmpletely dismantling the natiоn's internet framеwоrk.

Take а mоmеnt tо absоrb thаt. Thеy invеstеd yeаrs аnd likely billiоns dеvelоping оnе оf the mоst advanced internet сеnsоrship systеms glоbаlly. Thеy resоrtеd tо blоcking, thrоttling, impоsing finеs, and еnасting legislatiоn. Rеmarkаbly, during this сrackdоwn, Russian VPN dоwnlоads surged tо 9.2 milliоn in just оne mоnth. Thеir ultimatе realizatiоn is thаt, in fact, they cаnnоt сarry this оut.

The undеrlying reasоn is rather technical, but it essentially cоmes dоwn tо the fact that cоntеmpоrary оbfusсatеd VPN traffic, suсh аs AmnеziaWG, NоrdWhisper, аnd Prоtоn's Stealth prоtосоl, is truly indistinguishablе frоm stаndard HTTPS trаffiс at an infrаstruсturаl lеvel. Tо blоck it wоuld nеcеssitаte blоcking evеrything еlsе.

This situаtiоn sеrvеs as an eхtraоrdinarily cоstly lessоn in whаt this cоmmunity has bеen affirming fоr yeаrs. Oссаsiоnаlly, the gооd guys dо соmе оut оn tоp.

Canada’s government is now encouraging people to use VPNs for online safety… while at the same time pushing proposals that could force VPN providers to hand over user data or weaken encryption access.

A bunch of VPN companies are pushing back hard. Signal already threatened to leave countries over similar laws, and now providers like Proton, NordVPN and Windscribe are warning they’d rather pull services than build surveillance backdoors into their systems.

Their argument is pretty simple: once a government forces a “special access” mechanism into encrypted services, it’s no longer truly secure. If authorities can access it, eventually hackers, foreign governments, or bad actors can too.

What’s wild is that governments keep telling citizens to protect themselves from scams, data breaches and cybercrime, but then attack the very privacy tools people use to stay safe on public WiFi, avoid tracking, and secure sensitive data... Total nonsense

Saw this report about Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine and it’s honestly wild how far the info control has gone.

They’re reportedly blocking access to Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), and even VPN services so people can’t bypass censorship or reach independent news. On top of that, they’re swapping in Russian-controlled “education” platforms to replace blocked Western ones.

So it’s not just social media getting cut off, it’s basically the whole pipeline of outside information + learning tools being replaced with state-run alternatives.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in some areas is getting worse, with shortages of basic supplies and limited access for aid.

Feels like a pretty extreme example of how internet control and censorship play out in real life, not just online theory.

Mozilla just called out what’s going on in the UK around VPN regulation / age verification stuff, and they’re basically saying: this could get messy real fast.

Their take is pretty simple, VPNs aren’t just for “bypassing stuff,” they’re literally basic internet privacy tools. People use them for public Wi-Fi security, work, avoiding tracking, all that normal everyday stuff.

The worry is that if governments start putting rules around VPN access (like ID checks or age verification), you end up in a weird situation where you might need to prove who you are just to protect your privacy online. Which kind of defeats the whole point.

Mozilla also kinda calls out the obvious flaw here: even if you try to restrict VPNs, it’s not like that magically fixes the issue it’s trying to solve. Anyone determined enough will find workarounds anyway, and regular users just end up with more friction and less privacy.

Their bottom line: this feels less like “protecting users” and more like opening the door to broader surveillance, even if that’s not how it’s being framed publicly.

They announced this week that post-quantum encryption is coming to all major app-supported platforms, integrated directly into NordLynx.

quick explainer for the uninitiated: post-quantum encryption (PQE) isn't about protecting you from threats today. it's about protecting your data from threats 5-10 years from now when quantum computers become powerful enough to crack current RSA and ECC encryption.

the real threat is something called "harvest now, decrypt later", intelligence agencies and sophisticated attackers are already capturing and storing encrypted VPN traffic right now, banking on being able to decrypt it retroactively once quantum computing matures. any traffic you send today without PQE is potentially sitting in a vault somewhere.

Nord's implementation bakes it into NordLynx which is smart WireGuard-based, already the fastest protocol in their stack, now with quantum resistance on top.

for comparison: ExpressVPN has PQE on Lightway. Surfshark and Proton are still working on it. Mullvad has had it on WireGuard since 2023 and barely mentioned it because that's just how Mullvad operates.

the gap between "VPNs that take the quantum threat seriously" and "VPNs that don't" is slowly becoming a real differentiator. paying attention to it now before it becomes mainstream is worth your time.

i thought picking a vpn would be simple after reading a few lists, but after trying some it feels way more messy than that. one works fine for a while then starts having random issues, another looks good on paper but feels annoying to use daily, and some are just inconsistent depending on the server.

what surprised me is how small things matter more than expected. stuff like how often you have to reconnect, sites randomly blocking you, or even how the app behaves ends up being more important than speed numbers.

also feels like everyone recommends based on their own use, so advice is all over the place. what works for someone streaming all day is completely different from someone just using it on public wifi.

the World Cup kicks off in a few weeks and i've been going down the rabbit hole trying to figure out the least painful way to watch every match without paying for 4 different streaming services

here's the situation depending on where you are:

US: Fox Sports and Telemundo have the rights. fine if you have cable. if you cut the cord like a sane person you need Fubo or a login you're borrowing from someone's parents. or a VPN pointed at a country with free broadcast coverage

UK: ITV and BBC have it free. but only if you're actually in the UK. if you're traveling or just want the BBC commentary instead of whatever Fox is doing, a VPN on a UK server fixes this instantly

Australia: SBS has free coverage. same deal, geo-locked

the VPNs that have been consistently unblocking sports streams in my testing lately:

Proton VPN: Stealth protocol handles geo-detection better than most. Swiss servers are solid for European broadcasts

NordVPN: obfuscated servers still working on most platforms, good UK/US coverage

Surfshark: NoBorders mode + unlimited devices means your whole household can watch different matches simultaneously. genuinely useful for a tournament

Mullvad: not built for streaming but if you need pure reliability and don't care about speeds it holds up

one heads up: streaming platforms are getting way better at VPN detection in 2026 specifically around major sports events. rotate servers if one gets blocked, don't just give up

which VPN are you running this summer? curious what's actually working

I used to live in the UK, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the BBC, esp. Radio 4, which I listen to all day long; up until a year ago or so, that wasn't a problem and I didn't even need a VPN; then they changed things and it is no longer possible to listen to the BBC live via the internet, and only certain programs are available on demand. So, I got Surfshark to get around this issue - it sounded like a good VPN when I did my research, but alas, half of the time it isn't working for me - when I try to listen to the BBC, I get the dreaded "It looks like you're outside of the UK" screen. Which I don't understand if I'm on a UK server?? I currently use the free Windscribe VPN for this, and that works fine with no issues, so I wish I had signed up for the paid version of Windscribe instead of Surfshark instead. Windscribe gives you a certain amount of time for free, and you can only access certain servers on the free version, but that has been working just fine for me so far. I may bite the bullet and sign up for the paid version of Windscribe next time there is a special offer, even I resent paying for two VPN services at the same time!!

Hey. I've been trying to find a decent VPN for the past few weeks, and I'm kinda lost with all the options out there.

Here's exactly what I need:

works with streaming (YouTube, Netflix – I've heard some VPNs get detected)

no-logs policy (obviously)

works well on mobile when I'm on public wifi

So far I've narrowed it down to:

Mysterium VPN – this one seems interesting because it uses residential IPs (supposedly you don't get flagged as a VPN)

Proton VPN – I know they also have email, not sure how fast it is though

and maybe Mullvad? but I've heard streaming doesn't always work for some people

Thanks in advance.

so Proton's CEO Andy Yen gave a pretty blunt interview this week and one quote in particular has been rattling around in my head

his argument: the wave of age verification laws sweeping the US, EU, UK and Australia aren't really about protecting kids. they're about building the infrastructure for mandatory digital identity online. once governments normalize "you must verify your age to access this website," the next step is "you must verify your identity to post on social media" and then "to access news sites" and eventually "to use the internet at all"

and here's the thing he's describing something that's already half-built. the UK's Online Safety Act requires age verification. Australia's social media ban requires it. 25 US states require age verification for adult sites, with some mandating that every app enforce it individually meaning users could realistically submit their ID to six or more different companies just to use ten apps.

each one of those companies is a potential breach. each one is a database of "this person accessed this content on this date"

Yen's point isn't that age verification is inherently evil. it's that the infrastructure being built to implement it is indistinguishable from mass surveillance infrastructure

and once it's built, it doesn't get unbuilt

Norton VPN just launched what they're describing as a multi-tunnel VPN built specifically for AI agents. not for humans.

the idea is that when you're running local AI tools, coding assistants, or agentic workflows that need to make external API calls, those calls are completely unprotected. your AI agent is essentially phoning home to various endpoints in plaintext, leaking what services you're using, what you're building, potentially what data you're feeding it

Norton's product creates dedicated encrypted tunnels per AI process rather than tunneling all your traffic together. each agent gets its own isolated tunnel

honestly the use case is more real than it sounds. if you're running Cursor, Claude, Copilot, or any local LLM with tool use those tools are making a lot of outbound connections you probably haven't thought about

whether Norton executes this well is a separate question. their track record on VPN has been mixed. but the concept of "VPN for AI agents" is going to become a real product category and Norton just claimed the first mover flag

weird timeline we're in

Canada’s new Bill C-22 could force VPNs and tech companies to give the government easier access to private user data and encrypted communications.

NordVPN says it would rather leave Canada than weaken encryption or betray its users’ privacy.

This is exactly why people use VPNs in the first place. Once governments demand “lawful access,” privacy stops being private.

Apple is catching heat again after a bunch of foreign VPN apps suddenly got wiped from the China App Store. According to reports, companies like ExpressVPN and Star VPN got notices from Apple basically saying “yeah, your app’s gone.”

People are calling it another massive example of Apple playing nice with China’s censorship rules. Kinda hard to keep the “we care about privacy” image when VPNs start disappearing the second Beijing snaps its fingers.

What’s crazier is people in China literally need VPNs just to use normal apps like YouTube, Google, Reddit, or X. And Apple folding again is exactly why nobody buys the whole “Big Tech cares about privacy” act when billions of dollars are on the table.

Android 16 apparently has a system-level bug that lets some traffic slip outside your VPN tunnel, even when you’ve got “Always-on VPN” and “Block connections without VPN” turned on. So yeah… your real IP could still leak without you even realizing it.

What’s got people pissed is this isn’t a one-app problem, it hits basically every VPN provider, since the issue sits deep in Android itself. Google reportedly tagged it as “Won’t Fix (Infeasible),” while privacy-focused Android forks like GrapheneOS have already pushed a fix.

The sketchy part is everything can look totally normal. Your VPN still shows as connected, but some traffic may quietly bypass it and expose your real IP to websites, advertisers, your ISP, or anyone watching the connection.

Stay safe

so we covered SB73 when it dropped, Utah becoming the first US state to legally target VPN use for age verification bypass. went live May 6th. seemed like a big deal

it lasted 8 days

Utah has agreed to not enforce the VPN law until September 3rd, 2026 after Aylo the parent company of Pornhub challenged the law in court.

so the entire thing got immediately frozen by a lawsuit from a porn company. i genuinely could not write this if i tried

but here's the part worth actually paying attention to beyond the obvious jokes: September 3rd is not that far away. this isn't dead, it's just paused. and the legal arguments being made here will probably set the template for every similar law that comes after it, in Utah, in the 24 other states with age verification laws, and eventually in Europe

the EFF is involved. the constitutional questions around VPN restrictions are going to get answered in a real courtroom for the first time ever

that's actually significant regardless of which side you're on

also Citrix just dropped a patch for CVE-2025-6543, a CVSS 9.2 vulnerability in NetScaler Gateway affecting VPN virtual servers. if your company runs Citrix ADC and hasn't patched yet, close this tab and go do that first. seriously

Following up on the Iran internet blackout thing because this detail is too good not to share

a number of Starlink satellite receivers have been smuggled into Iran, allowing users to bypass ALL restrictions by connecting directly to SpaceX satellites completely outside Iran's national internet infrastructure.

think about that for a second. the Iranian government spent years and billions building one of the world's most sophisticated internet censorship systems. deep packet inspection, protocol blocking, shutdown infrastructure, the whole thing

and Elon Musk's satellite dish, hidden under someone's roof in Tehran, just bypasses the entire thing by going directly to space

no VPN needed. no obfuscation protocol. no AmneziaWG. just... a dish pointed at the sky

obviously it's dangerous to own one over there. obviously the government knows this is happening. but the fact that it works at all is genuinely mind-bending from a technical standpoint

the censorship arms race in 2026 has officially entered orbit

literally