I know multiple people who worked / working at Mullvad and they take their business, security and privacy _very_ seriously. Not surprised to see them shine here.

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pzmarzly 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Coincidentally, Mullvad, Windscribe and IVPN all worked when I was in China behind GFW, while more popular options did not.

Seems like there are VPNs, and then there are VPNs.

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godelski 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm a bit curious about how that works. I love Mullvad but routinely I find sites like Reddit completely block it. Even yesterday someone posted a Debian wiki link[0] and I was blocked. It's not all of them but Reddit is a big killer. So I thought China would block all of them (aren't they known?)

Fwiw I'm not switching from mullvad

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46252366

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ryanwhitney 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I use obscura—which routes through mullvad—and the reddit problem is very annoying.

I finally hit the point of searching for mirrors yesterday and turns out, they exist.[0]

It’s really only suitable for lurking or being able to view search results, but it has eased the pain a bit.

0: reddit-viewer.com

	▲	Izkata an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> It’s really only suitable for lurking If you're not just lurking, log in and reddit doesn't block you.

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otar an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

While using mullvad reddit doesn’t block access if you’re signed in.

So, login without mullvad, turn it on after that and it should work.

	▲	panarky 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The question is not "how do you make reddit work over mullvad". The question is "if reddit can block mullvad why can't China".

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nenxk 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah reddits weird because last I checked you can access it on TOR but not Mullvad ( though if you server hop enough you can usually slip through )

	▲	mkaic 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		perhaps I shouldn't share my workaround, but I've found that Mullvad's Norway nodes consistently get past Reddit's IP-blocking :)

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ThatMedicIsASpy 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

my current mullvad endpoint seems to be blocked by flathub (blocking package updates). nixos wiki is also blocked

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jwrallie 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

How do other providers avoid this issue? Do they keep changing IPs or is the traffic that comes out of Mullvad worse in quality somehow?

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godelski 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'd also like to know.

I'd also like to ask people not to block this way. It creates LOTS of false positives. There's much better ways to handle bots and this tactic seems particularly dumb for Reddit given they want users from places like China or elsewhere where a VPN might be required. Not to mention people using public WiFi. It's not like VPNs are uncommon these days.

If you must ban IPa then do so with a timeout and easing function. So that each hit results in a longer ban time. Bots want to move fast so even a few seconds ban time will make them switch IPs while not impacting most users (who will refresh)

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timpera an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

From my experience, PIA VPN and Proton VPN also get blocked everywhere, from Reddit to captchas on Google Search.

	▲	jb1991 19 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		PIA it’s one of the least trustworthy VPNs, highly recommend getting a different one.

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buckle8017 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They purchase residential traffic exit from botnets.

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nenxk 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Any proof or articles you could link to backup that claim seems unlikely given their size/reputation also would be surprised they’d get blocked this often using botnet traffic

	▲	Marsymars 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The person you're replying to is claiming that providers other than Mullvad avoid the being-blocked-by-reddit issue by using residential IPs.

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7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[deleted]

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spiffytech 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I knew they were going to pass the test before I even clicked the article link.

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citizenpaul 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

At risk of sounding sale pitch'y. Mullvad is the only VPN the longer I use the more I like it. I've tried MANY competitors first and all the other ones so far seem to only get worse over time.

I love that I can pay directly with a crypto wallet and have true anonymity.

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Scoundreller 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Can also mail cash. But you get a 10% discount only on crypto.

> We accept the following currencies: EUR, USD, GBP, SEK, NOK, CHF, CAD, AUD, NZD.

Not a bad way to get rid of some spare currency lying about that you’ll incur a fee to localize anyway.

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cyanydeez 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

crypto is a public ledger. If someone wanted to find you, that's pretty easy target.

	▲	bawolff 8 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That depends how you obtained the crypto in the first place. In any case, its certainly better than visa, but if you dont trust your vpn provider the real issue is they have your IP address and at best just a pinky-promise they dont log.
	▲	xboxnolifes 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		They can find your wallet, but if your wallet is not linked to you in an obvious way...
	▲	sowbug 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Not all digital currencies work that way.
	▲	ruuda 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		They accept Monero too
	▲	neoromantique 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Depending on crypto, and even on public ledger ones, there are ways to on-ramp cash to a new cold wallet.

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ignoramous 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Windscribe and iVPN up there with Mullvad in TFA.

> Mullvad ... security and privacy _very_ seriously. Not surprised to see them shine here.

? TFA reflects on dishonest marketing on part of public VPN providers more than privacy / security.

That said, VPNs don't add much security, though, they are useful for geo unblocking content and (at some level) anti-censorship. In my experience, the mainstream public VPNs don't really match up to dedicated censorship-resistant networks run by Psiphon, Lantern, Tor (and possibly others).

	▲	prosody 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Advertising a VPN endpoint in country A which in reality is in country B is a security concern for users trying to reduce their visibility to country B’s authorities. You’re right about the more fit to purpose tools, of course, but they’re more of an impediment to normal internet usage.