I use Proton. But I continue to run into more and more websites and services that detect my VPN and refuse my connection, or just run literally 40 captchas in a row until I just give up.
I use Proton because it has a "suite" of products under a single subscription, but that benefit is losing it's allure as some of their products are pretty shitty from a user experience perspective, their customer support is atrocious, and they don't seem to pay any attention to what their users actually want.
Does anyone track known VPN servers? Is there a specific provider that causes less problems? Does anyone test different VPNs for detection?
Thinking about cancelling my subscription and moving to Mullvad.
Mullvad, haven't had any issues with it. If a site refuses my connection I just change servers until it works, even found a few that work on reddit
have you considered using alternatives front ends for some of the major social platforms?
I use libreddit/redlib to browse reddit. you can run an instance locally or connect to remote ones. this way your IP isn't logged by reddit in the first place & no JavaScript is required to be run for the website to function properly.
there is even an extension called libredirect which can automatically swap clicked reddit (& other platforms) links to the same page on public frontends, which removes the hasstle of manually changing the URL.
Yeah I used to do that before they broke all of them. Used the Stealth app every day but it stopped working a few months ago. Possibly due to VPN, don't really know exactly how that service works.
Redlib works perfectly, I think they use IPv6 address rotation to evade IP bans
redlib is the updated version of libreddit & it seems to have circumvented the issues reddit caused so maybe consider giving it another try.
I think stealth also broke when they removed free API access. although, you can still use the webscraping mode by changing it in the settings I believe. if u want another option maybe try out RedReader or Geddit.
Btw you can also use normal third-party clients with your custom developer API key, there's a patched version of Apollo for iOS/iPadOS (you can download it from AltStore using their custom repository, it's explained on the website) and ReVanced offers a patch for Infinity on Android. The patched Apollo version has a quick guide on how to get an API Key, it works with all apps that support these custom keys though:
- Sign into your Reddit account and go to the link above (reddit.com/prefs/apps)
- Click the "are you a developer? create an app..." button
- Fill in the fields
- Name: anything
- Choose "Installed App"
- Description: anything
- About url: anything
- Redirect uri: apollo://reddit-oauth
- Click "create app"
- After creating the app you'll get a client identifier which will be a bunch of random characters.
I'll try Redlib, thanks for the heads up.
Edit:
The official instance is hosted at https://redlib.matthew.science
It's already broken.
Stealth continued working for a few months after they killed the API.
RedReader is just a terrible app, if I'm honest.
Will try Geddit but I doubt they will hold up to Stealth. It was so good :'(
The official instance is hosted at https://redlib.matthew.science
It’s already broken.
Their server is down, but I haven't seen a Redlib instance get blocked by Reddit. Try another instance like safereddit.com or check out the entire list of instances: https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib-instances/blob/main/instances.md
LibRedirect should also automatically fetch the list and allow you to choose instances you like
Their server is down
Yes that sort of thing seems to happen frequently with these type of platforms. LibReddit, Piped, Invidious, the Instagram one, etc.
It's too much hassle to constantly be trying to chase down a functioning instance.
LibRedirect automates most of that for you. Also, I've been using safereddit.com for over 6 months and never had any issues. Just try it out and see if it works for you :)
LibRedirect automates most of that for you
How does it do that?
Just try it out and see if it works for you :)
Already did, did not work at all. Constantly redirected me to broken webpages.
It fetches an updated list of working instances. It also has a built-in tool that let's you ping all instances and remove the broken ones. I'm pretty sure this will work well, even if you remove all instances except for safereddit.com. That's another way you can use it: Just find one working instance and remove all the others.
I would avoid trying to make sure you use the "official instance" as it kind of works against the projects purpose of decentralizing web requests. pinging around instances helps with avoiding outages as well. you can find active instances here on the uptime monitor.
otherwise, stealth should work just fine if u turn on webscraping mode. I have been using it since the reddit changes with only very occasional issues, as similar to you I have some quams with alternative reddit clients.
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I would avoid trying to make sure you use the "official instance" as it kind of works against the projects purpose of decentralizing web requests.
I would but I didn't know where to find them.
you can find active instances here on the uptime monitor
Thanks
stealth should work just fine if u turn on webscraping mode
Nope
Geddit also doesn't do anything but a constant loading indicator.
oh damn I see sorry u can't get the apps to work I guess I'll do a little digging on my side. in the mean time I hope I've been at least somewhat helpful haha 🙏
There are only 2 VPN providers that are worth using IMHO: Proton and Mullvad. All the other VPNs are of questionable quality or their practices make you wonder if you should use them at all (eg logging and keeping logs)
Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don't encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.
What don't you like about IVPN? Audited, open source, great reputation. I don't even use them but seems odd to count them out.
Unfortunately there are websites that try to detect vpns and block you. Fuck those websites. Don’t encourage them by giving them eyeballs or money.
It's mostly CDNs like Cloudflare and Akamai that are notorious for blocking VPN and Tor users. Fuck CDNs, they destroy privacy and centralize the internet.
That’s what I do. If a website blocks me because of my vpn, fuck em. I don’t waste my time. What business of theirs is it if I’m using a vpn.
I try not to but those websites comprise most of the internet at this point. Unfortunately people also use VPNs to do nefarious shit, so it's not always malicious.
Proton and Mullvad are the only 2 I'd trust. I suspect that they get similar results.
Proton has gotten a lot better since launch, but it's always a moving target with these things. I really only have issues with some store sites that just don't load with a VPN, which only tells me I don't want to shop there.
IVPN and AirVPN are also very trustworthy and pretty popular in the privacy community
ProtonVPN free (paid is still too expensive for me) and Mullvad.
I find that Mullvad is usually blocked more.
For the past 3 or 4 years I was just on ProtonVPN free tier. For past 15 days I am using Mullvad. I really like that you can choose some custom ports for WireGuard, and also the multihop.
What is unfortunate is that I can't generate separate credentials for OpenVPN, like with ProtonVPN. It just uses account ID.I have also tried IVPN for a week. Nicer UI, but a bit more expensive, sort of. They have variable pricing based on subscription length, and that just makes me dislike them enough to stick with Mullvad. €5/month whether it's 1 month, 6 months, a year or longer.
I don't remember what specifically it was, but I know I also preferred the Mullvad's ToS over IVPN, although both are fine.I also thought of AirVPN because of port forwarding, but for privacy I'll stick to Mullvad.
What surprised me with Mullvad was the payment processing speed. It only took 4 days from me dropping the envelope with money into mail collection box in Slovakia to me getting the time added. Considering that shipping to Sweden is "3-5 days", they must have just processed that basically immediately.
But perhaps I was just lucky. I'll see the next time.Mullvad, IVPN, Proton, AirVPN, or Windscribe are all fine. Depending on how much stock you put into audits the first three are probably a tier above for privacy.
Geph were not mentioned yet. It will likely not solve the problem mentioned by OP, but it is VERY censorship resistant.
Mullvad air and proton. Several computers and infrastructure thingys I have access too in addition to a handful of vpses. Nebula for overlay networking.
unfortunately the blocking of servers is a perpetual battle that plauges almost any publicly listed proxy (vpns, tor, etc). the only way I have found around it is using lesser known/blocked VPNs or residential proxies. both of which probably have subpar data privacy policies, if they even follow them at all.
althought it likely won't help your captcha troubles, I would like to give a huge +1 to mullvad. have been a happy customer for years. in compsrison to proton as a company they have a much more direct/benifitial effect on the web & furthuring users privacy online in my eyes.
Depends on use case and the country. I use Mullvad and Riseup VPN and something private (and Tor). Sometimes when a site has Mullvad in Europe blocked, it works when I try one of their servers outside of Europe. In my experience Mullvad is awesome, and you can try it for one month. And Mullvad, the no nonsense VPN provider, has had the same prize since years! (And no discounts like Proton trying to get you sign up for a year or more trying to keep you with Proton).
No need to have an account. https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=riseup
