VPN worth the cost?

[BainaiThai]

I have survived seven years in the land of smiles with Tru cable and Netflix....As a USA dude, looking to pick up the post season baseball games and maybe a few more football games that Tru doesn't carry.  I am not very tech savvy so have hesitated investigating VPN's...any suggestions or advise...help will be appreciated.

[Marc26]

35 minutes ago, BainaiThai said:

I have survived seven years in the land of smiles with Tru cable and Netflix....As a USA dude, looking to pick up the post season baseball games and maybe a few more football games that Tru doesn't carry.  I am not very tech savvy so have hesitated investigating VPN's...any suggestions or advise...help will be appreciated.

MLB.tv has an international packakege for $25usd for every playoff game

That's a pretty good deal, IMO

 

https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe/postseasonintl/2020

 

As for NFL, check out DAZN Thailand

It looks available in Thailand but my computer keeps defaulting to Canada 

 

If they have NFL on DAZN in Thailand, it's 20cad/mo here

 

Get all Premier League matches

All NFL games

Boxing 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Marc26

[JamesE]

First, the cost is insignificant, like $2-$3/ month if you buy two years at once. I've used Pure, Vypr, and Surfshark. I like Surfshark the best but I keep my Vypr subscription going in case Surfshark loses their Thailand server or if my bank and/or Netflix is blocking Surfshark. Those three (and Nord as well) manage their own servers so you don't have to worry about third parties handling your data. Nord gets good reviews but is more expensive. You can also get a free VPN but - from my perspective - not dealing with ads and third party server management is worth a couple bucks a month.

[Marc26]

Go Sox!  3-0   

[BigHewer]

5 minutes ago, JamesE said:

First, the cost is insignificant, like $2-$3/ month if you buy two years at once. I've used Pure, Vypr, and Surfshark. I like Surfshark the best but I keep my Vypr subscription going in case Surfshark loses their Thailand server or if my bank and/or Netflix is blocking Surfshark. Those three (and Nord as well) manage their own servers so you don't have to worry about third parties handling your data. Nord gets good reviews but is more expensive. You can also get a free VPN but - from my perspective - not dealing with ads and third party server management is worth a couple bucks a month.

Surfshark sounds good, JamesE. Have you had any experience watching Netflix outside your country of subscription using a VPN?

I used Nord for a year, but then all of a sudden it got blocked in the space of a few months by everything i was using it  to watch (DaZN and Netflix Japan, iPlayer UK and SBS Australia). Because Nord was on the expensive end, I assumed the cheaper ones wouldn’t work either. 

(This is one of those rare cases where I’m hoping the next reply tells me how very wrong I am )

[BainaiThai]

Thank you Marc and James...think I will take the immediate easy solution and cough up the 25 usd.  Still looking at VPN...I have pretty well exhausted Netflix.  

[JamesE]

16 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Surfshark sounds good, JamesE. Have you had any experience watching Netflix outside your country of subscription using a VPN?

I used Nord for a year, but then all of a sudden it got blocked in the space of a few months by everything i was using it  to watch (DaZN and Netflix Japan, iPlayer UK and SBS Australia). Because Nord was on the expensive end, I assumed the cheaper ones wouldn’t work either. 

(This is one of those rare cases where I’m hoping the next reply tells me how very wrong I am )

Oh, yeah. Plus even when I'm in the US I'll use servers in other countries to get content that's blocked in the States. Streaming services and banks (for some reason) are playing Whack-a-Mole with VPNs. They'll block some known VPN IP addresses, then the service issues a bunch more, then they block them. Every time this happens the user has to relink to get a new IP. So if Netflix doesn't work, I'll hop onto a different server, and if that doesn't work I'll switch to Vypr and try that.

[BigHewer]

6 minutes ago, JamesE said:

Streaming services and banks (for some reason) are playing Whack-a-Mole with VPNs. They'll block some known VPN IP addresses, then the service issues a bunch more, then they block them.

That’s what I figured. It really was incredible with Nord. It would work for a week and then be detected and blocked, rinse and repeat.

Finally, iPlayer and Dazn came up with a message something like: “We have detected you are using a VPN. If you are in the UK and not abroad, please contact us bla bla bla..”

That was the end of Nord for me. I’ll give Surfshark a look. Thanks JamesE.

[gummy]

14 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

That’s what I figured. It really was incredible with Nord. It would work for a week and then be detected and blocked, rinse and repeat.

Finally, iPlayer and Dazn came up with a message something like: “We have detected you are using a VPN. If you are in the UK and not abroad, please contact us bla bla bla..”

That was the end of Nord for me. I’ll give Surfshark a look. Thanks JamesE.

That's why I use Proton

[Smithydog]

I use Express VPN and was bringing up Netflix in other countries, including USA, which was handy. Now it has stopped doing that even when switching servers, clearing cache etc. Have found sometimes just have to wait a few days and then it works fine again for a month or so.

Otherwise have found it meets my needs for Australian content primarily. 

[BigHewer]

30 minutes ago, gummy said:

That's why I use Proton

Does it work for BBC iPlayer content?

[NCC1701A]

i use Private Internet Access. $45 a year. 

it has a kill switch that prevents you from getting on the internet in case the VPN is not working. 

and it has a bypass list to add apps and websites to bypass the VPN like Netflix Thailand and Disney+. 

2 hours ago, BainaiThai said:

As a USA dude,

you really should not be on the internet without a VPN 24/7. 

[BigHewer]

29 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

I use Express VPN and was bringing up Netflix in other countries, including USA, which was handy. Now it has stopped doing that even when switching servers, clearing cache etc. Have found sometimes just have to wait a few days and then it works fine again for a month or so.

Otherwise have found it meets my needs for Australian content primarily. 

Thanks Smithydog. Have you by any chance tried Express VPN with SBS content in Australia?

[Marble-eye]

1 hour ago, BigHewer said:

That’s what I figured. It really was incredible with Nord. It would work for a week and then be detected and blocked, rinse and repeat.

Finally, iPlayer and Dazn came up with a message something like: “We have detected you are using a VPN. If you are in the UK and not abroad, please contact us bla bla bla..”

That was the end of Nord for me. I’ll give Surfshark a look. Thanks JamesE.

I have no trouble accessing IPlayer with SurfShark, paid for two years subscription, really cheap but cannot remember exactly how cheap.

[BigHewer]

8 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

I have no trouble accessing IPlayer with SurfShark, paid for two years subscription, really cheap but cannot remember exactly how cheap.

Thanks Marble-eye, I’ll give it a look

[gummy]

35 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Does it work for BBC iPlayer content?

yes

[Marble-eye]

https://surfshark.com/deals

[JamesE]

Just now, Marble-eye said:

https://surfshark.com/deals

Exactly. But they and Vypr do additional discounts like free extra months. I think I ended up paying something like US$60 for 27 months. Both Surfshark and Vypr have stellar customer support. Ask and you get an immediate answer.

[JamesE]

41 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you really should not be on the internet without a VPN 24/7.

You need two things. A solid VPN and a password manager.

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, BainaiThai said:

Thank you Marc and James...think I will take the immediate easy solution and cough up the 25 usd.  Still looking at VPN...I have pretty well exhausted Netflix.  

Good choice!

I just watched the Red Sox beat theYankees 

God I love the baseball playoffs

 

$25usd is a steal for all the playoff games 

[NCC1701A]

3 hours ago, BainaiThai said:

As a USA dude,

and make sure you get a VPN company that does not log their users IP addresses and other activity. no logs, nothing to trace or to SELL. 

never use a free VPN company. Again selling your info. 

when you first use your VPN get ready to be challenged by sites like Google, Amazon, VPN don't work with Bank of America ( Wells Fargo yes) some US government agencies. as a example the US Navy Typhon Warning Center appears to be down when using a VPN. Some sites just don't work or your log in will not work. It can be confusing at first. 

I have to use a VPN with Wells Fargo that says I'm in Southern California because when they see Thailand they freak out and lock my account.   

I switch to SoCa VPN server for most USA activity. Singapore for everything else.  

[DrPhibes]

I use Nord 3 yr signup, have business/research stuff that needs VPN as some sites will not allow access from outside the US and I need extra security for some things.  Has worked great, Netflix blocked content viewed is a plus.

[gummy]

1 hour ago, JamesE said:

You need two things. A solid VPN and a password manager.

 

41 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

and make sure you get a VPN company that does not log their users IP addresses and other activity. no logs, nothing to trace or to SELL. 

never use a free VPN company. Again selling your info. 

when you first use your VPN get ready to be challenged by sites like Google, Amazon, VPN don't work with Bank of America ( Wells Fargo yes) some US government agencies. as a example the US Navy Typhon Warning Center appears to be down when using a VPN. Some sites just don't work or your log in will not work. It can be confusing at first. 

I have to use a VPN with Wells Fargo that says I'm in Southern California because when they see Thailand they freak out and lock my account.   

I switch to SoCa VPN server for most USA activity. Singapore for everything else.  

Could you pm me with the link to say the US Navy Typhoon warning site please and I will try it on the VPN I use to see if it works on that one

[Poolie]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

i use Private Internet Access. $45 a year. 

it has a kill switch that prevents you from getting on the internet in case the VPN is not working. 

and it has a bypass list to add apps and websites to bypass the VPN like Netflix Thailand and Disney+. 

you really should not be on the internet without a VPN 24/7. 

Purely curiosity, but why's that? Why are they so paranoid about overseas sites?

[Viggen840]

Let me get this straight: you want a link address sent to you, you are supposedly pc savvy enough to use a VPN, but can't make a simple online search for yourself? Is that about right?