Mullvad Browser (no TOR, no VPN)
cross-posted from: https://monero.town/post/422188
The Mullvad Browser is a privacy-focused web browser developed in collaboration with Mullvad VPN and the Tor Project. It aims to eliminate data collection and provide user-centric browsing services, ensuring online activity remains private and secure. The browser has the same fingerprinting protection as the Tor Browser, but connects to the internet without Tor Network or VPN instead. The Mullvad Browser provides anti-fingerprinting protections.
The idea is to provide one more alternative – beside the Tor Network – to browse the internet with more privacy. To get as many people as possible to fight the big data gathering of today. To free the internet from mass surveillance.
Here: >> mullvad browser official <<
Mullvad - this 👍. But also Mullvad, blocking port forwarding 😒.
On that note, does anyone know a good VPN with port forwarding for torrenting?
Proton
Forgot about that one! Bought the two year plan today.
AirVPN
Thanks. Can you explain why you like this one?
They clearly say on their Website that they don't care about you torrenting on their service, they are probably the last privacy-respecting VPN that still allows port-forwarding, you can pay with Monero, the entire company is run by privacy-activists, they stand values like net-neutrality and fight against censorship. They also donate to organizations like the Tor Project, Mastodon, PeerTube, OpenNIC, OpenBSD, the EFF and Riseup.
Sounds interesting. Might try them thank you.
Just don't let the horrible user interface scare you. The service is really awesome though.
Sorry I'm not savy in VPN. What's port forwarding and why do people want that feature?
If you're doing a peer-to-peer (P2P) related activity, port forwarding is very important for improving speed or enabling the service at all. That's because your router blocks incoming traffic from certain ports by default, ports that are used for a P2P connection. To get around this, you can 'forward' the specific port that is used for the P2P activity you're using, letting your router know that the traffic you expect to see from a specific port is good to let through.
You can simply leave port forwarding to your personal router, but if you want to stay anonymous while participating in P2P connections, then you'll want to use a VPN service. If a VPN service doesn't utilize port forwarding, then any P2P connections you use will either be straight up impossible, or very slow over the VPN. The P2P service you're attempting to use needs to access a specific port on the VPN's router, which needs forwarding to work properly. For example, you wanted to host a gaming server without giving away your actual IP address, then a VPN with port forwarding is desirable. The same can be said for torrenting.
TL;DR: VPNS with port forwarding matter if you want to stay anonymous while using P2P services.
Because my program uses a different port
I'd be interested to know what programs actually use port forwarding. I'm guessing quite a lot but you never know which need it until they don't work.
Specifically, it's any peer-to-peer (P2P) connections that utilize a port that's not open by default on your router. P2P connections that need forwarding are used in services like PC gaming (usually in older titles or some indie games), VoIP, torrenting, etc.
Yeah the Mullvad-VPN recently stopped port-forwarding. But this Browser is not a VPN product. Just use it without VPN or use an other VPN provider, if you want.
Yes. Almost wonder if it's a desperate attempt to stay relevant since many of us are jumping ship.
It seems like they had few options, pragmatically, which is also going to be the story with other VPNs as time goes on.