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VPN for iPad

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  • 04-12-2018 5:45pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭


    Just looking for advice on a good VPN for the ipad. I basically want one so that I can access the BBC iPlayer to watch Match of the Day. A friend had warned me off using VPNs before as he said they can steal your IP address to use in other countries.

    I was talking to my uncle recently who works in IT and he said the above isn’t the case. He recommended Nord VPN but that is €80 a year and I can’t afford that at the minute. I looked on the App Store and noticed a well rated VPN for free but noticed in some of the reviews that people said it slowed down browsing. Would this be the case just when using the VPN or is it when browsing in general? I don’t want to affect the general speed of my ipad by downloading a VPN.

    Basically if anyone could advise of any dangers to my ipad that there are in using a VPN and/or recommend a free/reasonably priced VPN I would really appreciate it.

    Mods if there is a more appropriate forum for this please fell free to move the thread.

    Thanks


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 17,440 ✭✭✭✭Blazer


    Redo91 wrote: »
    Just looking for advice on a good VPN for the ipad. I basically want one so that I can access the BBC iPlayer to watch Match of the Day. A friend had warned me off using VPNs before as he said they can steal your IP address to use in other countries.

    I was talking to my uncle recently who works in IT and he said the above isn’t the case. He recommended Nord VPN but that is €80 a year and I can’t afford that at the minute. I looked on the App Store and noticed a well rated VPN for free but noticed in some of the reviews that people said it slowed down browsing. Would this be the case just when using the VPN or is it when browsing in general? I don’t want to affect the general speed of my ipad by downloading a VPN.

    Basically if anyone could advise of any dangers to my ipad that there are in using a VPN and/or recommend a free/reasonably priced VPN I would really appreciate it.

    Mods if there is a more appropriate forum for this please fell free to move the thread.

    Thanks

    First guy is an idiot and clueless. Ignore him completely.
    At least your uncle knew better.
    I used to use torguard which was excellent and was around €80 a year but there was a monthly option.
    Very fast and never slowed my net down. Like your uncle said Nord are also excellent.

    Not sure if you can use hola on the iPad as a plugin but someone else might know.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,758 ✭✭✭Pelvis


    I wouldn't bother if it's to watch BBC, they have it locked down pretty good and can detect when you're using a VPN most of the time.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Pelvis wrote: »
    I wouldn't bother if it's to watch BBC, they have it locked down pretty good and can detect when you're using a VPN most of the time.
    Agreed. I've tried before on devices and they've been able to detect a VPN straight away.

    I think the BBC continuously add VPN IPs to a blacklist. One might work for a while and then get blacklisted. I wouldn't be paying a sub and waiting for that to happen.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,485 ✭✭✭harr


    BBC i player is very hit and miss and I haven’t been able to get it going with any VPN as of late. It’s a bit of a pain because if you miss a program on BBC you have no way of watching it back they don’t even have repeats .
    I use TunnelBear on my iPad


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    Thanks a million for all the suggestions! Sounds like I could have some trouble viewing the iPlayer. Just to clarify have I anything to lose by downloading and trying a few different VPNs? I wouldn’t bother doing that if there is any risk of slowing down my ipad and/or causing damage.

    Thanks again for all the replies. It’s much appreciated.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    OSI wrote: »
    Blazer wrote: »

    Not sure if you can use hola on the iPad as a plugin but someone else might know.

    Hola should actually concern people in a similar fashion to that described by the OPs friend. While it doesn't allow people to "steal" your IP, it does route traffic both ways, so if someone wants to access things from an Irish IP, they will be routed via your device and any and all activity they do will come from your IP address.
    Now that you say it I believe that’s what he had told me as I had previously used Hola as a vpn.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,998 ✭✭✭3DataModem


    Some companies use very sophisticated methods for VPN detection... contrary to many peoples belief it's not just about assembling a list of VPN IPs, but other techniques are used.

    My favourite is flooding the connection with traffic so much that it briefly disconnects the connection, and during that tiny disconnection the true IP is very briefly exposed.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 Luff123


    Remember one thing about VPNs - if you don't pay money, you pay with data. Even the paid VPN subscriptions could be dangerous. There's this thing called - 14 eyes countries (google it). If the virtual private network provider is registered in any of these countries you could still get in danger. If the authorities requested information about you from your ISP they would HAVE to give up your data.

    As a cyber geek, I have tried most of the top 10 VPN providers in the past and I stuck with NordVPN in the end. I would suggest trying out the free trials firstly (as most of them offer this option), before you commit long term. Such VPNs as NordVPN, CyberGhost, SurfShark (they are new, but seem good), ExpressVPN are good options. Oh and I just resubscribed to NordVPN for 3 more years at $2.99 a month. They had a discount code 'SALE', you could try that, maybe it still works. Cheers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,118 ✭✭✭notahappycamper


    Express VPN is consistent. While it is expensive it works. BBC iplayer works through it also.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    Thanks for the advice. Luff123 I didn’t realise you could be paying with your data. I have 15GB a month but wouldn’t feel that going if that’s the case.

    I had a look at NordVPN but couldn’t see the €3 monthly option. Do you know where I can get that?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 10 Luff123


    Redo91 wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice. Luff123 I didn’t realise you could be paying with your data. I have 15GB a month but wouldn’t feel that going if that’s the case.

    I had a look at NordVPN but couldn’t see the €3 monthly option. Do you know where I can get that?
    Sorry, you misunderstood me. By data, I meant your personal info, activity logs. I read that free VPN providers in order to survive, expand - sell your activity data to advertisement companies, so they could target you better. At the checkout select a 3-year plan and there's a button "Got coupon?" press it and try to apply the 'SALE' code. I'm not sure if it still works.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    Luff123 wrote: »
    Redo91 wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice. Luff123 I didn’t realise you could be paying with your data. I have 15GB a month but wouldn’t feel that going if that’s the case.

    I had a look at NordVPN but couldn’t see the €3 monthly option. Do you know where I can get that?
    Sorry, you misunderstood me. By data, I meant your personal info, activity logs. I read that free VPN providers in order to survive, expand - sell your activity data to advertisement companies, so they could target you better. At the checkout select a 3-year plan and there's a button "Got coupon?" press it and try to apply the 'SALE' code. I'm not sure if it still works.
    Sorry it was fairly clear that’s what you were talking about. My bad.

    I’m going to give it a free trial to see how it works on the iPlayer! Hopefully that three year promotion is still available by the end of it.

    Thanks for all your help.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    So I went for the free trail with NordVPN to try it for the week. I selected the plan on the App Store but when I set up on my account on the App itself it is asking me to select what plan I want even though I already selected a monthly one.

    Also, it advised that I can cancel the subscription by clicking on my Apple ID in settings and selecting “subscriptions”. I have followed these steps and can’t see that option. Either way I’ll be in town tomorrow so can go into compuB about this but just found it strange.

    Any help on the first issue would be apparicated. Weird how I have to select it again? When I picked the option in the App Store did that do anything I wonder?


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 Luff123


    Redo91 wrote: »
    So I went for the free trail with NordVPN to try it for the week. I selected the plan on the App Store but when I set up on my account on the App itself it is asking me to select what plan I want even though I already selected a monthly one.

    Also, it advised that I can cancel the subscription by clicking on my Apple ID in settings and selecting “subscriptions”. I have followed these steps and can’t see that option. Either way I’ll be in town tomorrow so can go into compuB about this but just found it strange.

    Any help on the first issue would be apparicated. Weird how I have to select it again? When I picked the option in the App Store did that do anything I wonder?
    I had the same exact issue when I started using Nord. What I did was, I contacted customer support and they told me to re-login to my account and to check if it updated itself. It didn't work so they asked for a screenshot of my transaction, after that they fixed it somehow.

    So, firstly try to re-login to your account. If that does not help, contact customer support and I'm sure they'll fix it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭Redo91


    Luff123 wrote: »
    Redo91 wrote: »
    So I went for the free trail with NordVPN to try it for the week. I selected the plan on the App Store but when I set up on my account on the App itself it is asking me to select what plan I want even though I already selected a monthly one.

    Also, it advised that I can cancel the subscription by clicking on my Apple ID in settings and selecting “subscriptions”. I have followed these steps and can’t see that option. Either way I’ll be in town tomorrow so can go into compuB about this but just found it strange.

    Any help on the first issue would be apparicated. Weird how I have to select it again? When I picked the option in the App Store did that do anything I wonder?
    I had the same exact issue when I started using Nord. What I did was, I contacted customer support and they told me to re-login to my account and to check if it updated itself. It didn't work so they asked for a screenshot of my transaction, after that they fixed it somehow.

    So, firstly try to re-login to your account. If that does not help, contact customer support and I'm sure they'll fix it.

    Ya it was very confusing. As I thought might have been the case when I selected the subscription option on the App Store that just downloaded the app. I had to select the monthly option in the app itself then. Now it shows up in my subscriptions so I can easily cancel it.

    Can’t seem to see the three year option which you (and also my uncle) have. I wonder is it finished or only available on the website which I haven’t had a look at yet.

    Thanks for your help!


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,889 ✭✭✭Third_Echelon


    I've used and subscribed to TunnelBear in the past. It was very good, but BBC iPlayer stopped working on it.

    I changed over to NordVPN subscription and it works fine with BBC iPlayer now. I got a very good deal on Nord VPN. There was a code 3YDEAL that i used for the 3 year deal. $99 for 3 years.


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