Is there a way to whitelist domains to skip the VPN? Like Netflix, Amazon, Amazon Video, YoutTube etc. I don't mind if my ISP knows I'm there, but everything else goes through the VPN? Specifically with OpenVPN?

Both DD-WRT and asuswrt for routers have policy based routing so you can selectively include/exclude traffic from the VPN connection.

Expect random online purchases to be declined or stalled due to IP reputation based fraud detection.

I live in the UK and this happens to me a lot. The combination of whitelisting third party javascript and using a VPN exiting through Finland seems like a brilliant recipe to trip up fraud detection.

Based in the UK, but this hasn't happened to me once and I usually set my VPN to Sweden or Netherlands.

Recommendations? Last time I thought about it, PIA was the recommended service but I know this stuff can change on a weekly basis. Edit: In US, not opposed to loosing speed going overseas, I've got more than enough. Also, how do people typically pay?

https://thatoneprivacysite.net/vpn-comparison-chart/ seems like the most comprehensive way to pick one.

I've been using AirVPN for a couple years and love it. They allow you to use OpenVPN instead of a proprietary client, which is nice.

I am a big fan of PIA and have been a customer for over 2 years now. I pay $40/year and it works great on my MacBook and iPhone.

How do you make sure a VPN doesn't log anything, other than promises ?

Run it yourself, or have it managed by someone you trust.

As a massively inferior but better-than-nothing fallback, contractual agreements.

Otherwise, you can't.

If you are running your own private VPN, how is that any different than your normal connection? All you are doing is basically switching ISPs. All of the traffic can still be tracked back to you, the owner of the VPN server.

Depends where you install the VPN... https://prq.se/?p=services would be a good choice

I trust (ex.) AWS or Digital Ocean more than AT&T or Comcast.

If you run it yourself, what the heck is the point? The ISP of the VPN will log you.

To both you and cortesoft: ISPs (and the countries they reside in) don't all share everything. They don't all have the same, or even compatible, rules, legal regimes, or economic interests. In particular, the economic drivers of last-mile ISPs vs backbone providers to major data centers are vastly different.

Therefore routing across multiple independent networks (which is what a VPN is) actually does provide some additional privacy protection because it means that coordination between multiple entities is now required to see the same information that would have been available to one before, and it changes which entity with which economic interests can see the most.

Essentially, it's a competition hack. There is massive competition (and customer responsiveness) when you get close to the core, but very little for most people at the last mile. So a VPN allows you to shift you effective entry point to an arbitrary provider, and that can be quite helpful.

I also wonder what impact having a US-based VPN provider vs. an EU one makes with regards to jurisdiction, privacy laws, etc.

How can you make sure level3, AWS, DO or anyone else doesn't log everything too ;)

I would expect that they do. I'm not really offended that my traffic is logged by someone and could be traced back to me by someone with the time and resources (law enforcement?).

But assuming that AWS/DO, and their uplink providers (L3, etc) have the goal of selling reliable servers and internet, and aren't building up consumer ad profiles to sell me stuff/sell my data if it looks like one server or IP is maybe a VPN.

You can't as well; you're just moving trust some place else. Choose your own poison :)

You can't. Trust is trust.

Is there an adequate (or easy?) solutions for gamers? I'm ok with a bit of extra latency (30ms -> 50ms lets say), but I'm not at all ok with that for say Counter Strike.

There are several ways to do this. The best way would be to use a router that lets you route. Create the VPN tunnel as always on. Set routing policy based on destination. Gameserver.com goes out the ISP direct, everything else goes out the VPN. You can add additional tunnels and routs as needed but the building block is having a real router that lets you set routes. Personally, I have a static VPN to work, a tor tunnel, VPN to personal offsite infrastructure and an everything else tunnel. I set routes so my traffic goes the the right place automatically, for myself and anyone else in my house.

How do you figure out what to set routing policy for? You say gameserver.com, but how do I figure that out for CSGO vs Overwatch? What about games where you're connected to a friend's computer hosting a match, such as 7 days to die or potentially minecraft?

You basically have to make a white list. It's not an easy thing to do and I don't know any way to do it dynamically.

Sometimes, the only way to make a whitelist is to see what's not working and add it to the list.

can you share more information about which router you use and possibly a link to instructions on how to set this up?

I run a custom made freebsd pfsense box, before that it was linux with iptables.

For the iptables box, I put a second 4 port intel pro 1000 nic in my normal host, ran a VM with PCI pass through so the VM controlled the nic and used that as a router.

I think there are purpose built routers out there that will do this but it will depend on the router on how you set this up. You'd have to do research on this. Pretty sure the ubiquity routers will let you do things like this. I've done similar on open-wrt.

A VPN will always add some latency; you can just turn it off when gaming

There are VPN services with gaming modes or that are built primarily for low latency gaming. This may sound ludicrous at first but if the routing between you and the game server is poor or optimized for price or bandwidth more than latency, then such a VPN service could indeed lower latency. I don't know if they do but under the right circumstances it's possible.

I'm not a networking expert, but I do think it would feasible on an open router platform to program such that certain traffic & whitelisted sites do not use VPN (e.g. your gaming traffic) whereas everything else is routed to VPN. Can't swear by it though, and seems like it may be a complicated setup / maintenance.

Seconding this. I do a lot of uploading of photos, gaming, etc. What's a realistic solution? When should I have my VPN on or off? What about when I'm on my phone on wifi? What about when I'm on my phone on data?

I'm sure it varies by provider/location, but the one I am with is decently priced and if I do a bandwidth test its only about 5MBPS slower when connected compared to when I am not. I forget what the upload was, but it was good enough for me.

Too slow, I can't find a VPN that can match my bandwidth.

There are no technological solutions for sociopolitical problems.

That's true long-term, but not short-term.

That's true short-range, but not long-range.

That depends on how much engineering goes into the delivery mechanism.

Force dissipates roughly r^2 from the event, but yes there are lots and lots of clever ways to reduce r.

Just stick 5 to the front of a Humvee and you're good to go!

Barrett M82?