do folks normally use a VPN service to anonymize all outbound internet? if so what’s the best service? I have pia VPN but can cancel if there’s a better service.
Running through a single VPN doesn’t anonymize your traffic at all. It just shifts it from your ISP to your VPN provider.They have the same obligation to hand over records to the government upon request as your ISP. In the end it is all about who you trust with this info more.
A VPN is just a half measure towards anonymity. Traffic correlation is regularly used to associate a destination with its corresponding endpoint.
If you really want anonymity, there is quite a bit to learn and it’s really not something that can be learned in a Reddit post or two.
I run everything through VPN… Screenshot’s from vpnpro.com… Although I think their results are rigged as I did see a Nord ad… That said, realistically 650-750mbs is realistic on a 1.2gbs w/ a FWG+ at the top possible speed; advertised is 500mbs WG.
But from other review sites, Nord is faster with others seeing about 850mbs, which is likely due to more servers geographically available than others.
I just got Surfshark yesterday… 3 years + 4 months for $89 tax included and unlimited devices besides my FWG+. Connected to the fastest server using WireGuard and I’m getting between 550 - 625 Mbps on my FWG+.
If you “Anonymize” enough of your traffic, it’s not anonymized.
If you want to use a VPN I wouldn’t personally bother with any of the vendors. I setup a wireguard server in a public cloud and just route my traffic through it when I’m on cellular. You could obviously push your firewalla traffic through it as well. I setup a pihole and unbound on the server as well to provide DNS and adlbocking on the go. I use Hetzner, because you get a lot of machine and bandwidth for the money. Runs me less than $4 a month.
Not sure what’s normally done, but it mostly comes down to what you don’t want seen and by whom. In general, if you’re not doing anything too shady and just don’t want your ISP to be able to monitor your traffic, and sell aggregate information about you to advertisers, a VPN will do that. If you want to browse anonymously look at TOR. If you need to make what you’re doing online invisible to everyone…¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Comparison chart
vpn is only used for geo location changing, absolutely no other uses
Any useful links or resources you can recommend?
Does doing a speed test on the firewalla also measure the speed between the vpn service?
Why do you trust the Public Cloud more than the VPN company?
It’s not used to prevent man in middle attacks?
No, the VPN connection can’t be selected as the WAN currently. It hasn’t been mentioned to be an enhancement either for the future either. So you’re best option is to use the same speedtest server on the FW and then selecting the site/server to match on a computer.