Plex was an excellent (and free) utility for media streaming, now They went too far with subscriptions: plex is dead

 

They are also cancelling the possiblity to stream over web for free users I heared

 

https://hide.me/ru/

 

Thanks for the link man! No signup or CC bs involved so thats good. im tryin this one right now. Its better than some others I tried. it works ok just clicking around on various sites, youtube etc. and they load fairly quickly, but download speeds are slow, up/down and seem to be restricted to under 500kb/s, where normally I get 2-3mb/s, sometimes up to like 50mb/s. also google made me do that damn "unusual activity ip address" captcha twice on the first search. I guess because of the free version tier.

Is the paid plan a lot faster?

I am using it on my desktop, can it also do mobile phone on the free tier (ie 2 devices)?

Also it looks like the free version only works for 1 month and then expires?

Does anyone else use this vpn and can add some user experiences with it? Is it totally safe, as in privacy and their servers or any malware on user pc's or anything like that? Also trying to figure out if there are cheaper deals for the long term plans and the best way to pay for it?

 

Mullvad is the only VPN I’d even consider in 2025

 

I was a big fan of mullvad but they stopped having port forwarding so I switched to airvpn which is just OK but at least I can still forward ports

 

Nord collaborates with law enforcement - they offer no router firmware. Mullvad is, meh - doesn't have any sort of router firmware to speak of. Proton is sketchy and collects information - at least they do with the email junk + no router firmware...

Running the VPN on a hardware router (with proper firmware on board) is the only way to fly with a VPN. EVPN is one of the only full featured, RAM only based, no log collections, VPNs that has it own router firmware (i.e. Aircove). Granted it's more $$ than some others, but IMO its the best. I built an aircove router myself combining the OEM router hardware (which cost half the $$ of a retail aircove) and EVPN's firmware. It flies (speed wise) compared with other app/software based VPN's, and it's safe, no leaks, no b.s. asinine MPA/RIAA notices notices because your VPN fucked up...

 

Last edited: Jun 12, 2025 at 3:02 AM

Excellent question. I've written about this previously, so I'll just paste that answer below if you're interested. However, your question is two fold and well posed, so perhaps I can add something pertinent and useful as well.

The "best" depends on who you are, where you are, and what you do or want to do with it. For instance, in my second home (a tropical island in SE Asia), all of us expats use VPNs for 1) work and 2) Netflix/Prime/Etc., so we can access shows not available to us geo-locally.

When traveling to China or India, Abu Dhabi or Dubai, I use specific VPNs to access Google (yes, even Google), or social media apps.

And of course, on public WiFi (airport, airplane, hotel, or client site, studio/theater, etc), I'm on VPN - always.

The top VPNs of 2025 are allegedly the following:

1. NordVPN – Best all-around VPN with very fast speeds (over 800 Mbps). Great for streaming plus extra security features.
2. Surfshark – Best VPN for unlimited devices.
3. ProtonVPN – User-friendly and private VPN from Switzerland.
4. ExpressVPN – Secure and reliable VPN service.
5. IPVanish – Fast, secure, and audited VPN with excellent support for streaming.
6. CyberGhost – Secure, fast, private VPN based in Romania.
7. Mullvad – Privacy-focused VPN based in Sweden.
8. Trust.Zone – Basic, affordable VPN service from the Seychelles.

My trusted VPNs are 1) PIA; 2) Nord; and 3) Proton. You'll note that PIA doesn't make the list above. That's because it's from a US magazine, and that US magazine developed and owns not one, but two of the VPNs it recommends in said list (wink, wink). That doesn't mean they're not good - they are, but that's why PIA flies under the radar, and that's why it's been my #1, since 2015. It's solid, fast enough for my iPhone and Mac, works in some if not all of the countries where it shouldn't, and it's got a great GUI. And the price is right. What it's not good for is Netflix and Prime, though - I use a different VPN for that.


Hope that helps. Here's my previous answer below. Probably some redundancy and overlap, but have a read if you want to dig deeper.


I've been using VPNs since 2004 or 2005 I think - someone at our company got hacked, we issued security protocols. I got onboard with double tunneling, etc (I switched to Mac also at the same time, and later iPhone - not 100% safe or invisible, nothing is, but a lot less headaches overnight).

Without listing the most obvious names (ai crawlers are a terrifying thing), I travel regularly to multiple countries that vigorously block apps, services, VPNs and spy on citizens and visitors alike. I have however never not been able to connect wherever I've traveled (at the studios, at the hotel, at the airport, etc).

While there is not one product that'll guarantee that you can use your VPN in every and any country (that's what you mean by "worldwide," right?), my solution, if you want to call it that, is simply to use several different VPNs.

• Rule 1: I have a subscription to 4-5 different VPNs. One will work here, but not there, etc. This is the way.

• Rule 2: avoid, if possible, VPNs with the name VPN in them - I know, that's almost all of them, right? (that said, I do carry a sub to NordVPN for Europe, the US, etc., because it's rather speedy - if not the speediest - and solid). You may have to research, but yeah, they're out there. Invaluable.

• Rule 3: hire someone ('developers' are excellent and cheap in India, Romania, Ukraine) to code you a couple of open-source based apps (desktop and iPhone) for your own personal use. I've done this twice already. Some of these guys in Ukraine code for the military: they'll appreciate your support and you'll appreciate theirs.

Other rules of thumb:

• always carry at least two phones: one for home/work, the other for travel that you can pop a SIM into (or eSIM - depending on the country), and hotspot through. Hotspot is a good way to bypass the hotel, airport, or restaurant WiFi - 4G is ample enough to do most business, even watching or downloading a movie. Most importantly it decouples you from your location and proximate prying eyes.
• ditch anything Google (including YT) and Meta (Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp), Russian (VK, Telegram), Chinese (WeChat), even Viber ('Cyprus' based, but IL owned), from your main phone while traveling internationally. It's a pain, I know. Instead, at the very least look into Signal (in the news a lot lately, but I've been using it long before the pandemic), and if you're serious, look into Threema or Session - or ask your developer/hacker from Ukraine to recommend an even more esoteric one.

 

Last edited: Jun 12, 2025 at 5:26 AM

they do support wireguard though which can be used by many firmwares

 

Router Firmware == the operating system, if you will, that runs the particular router hardware being used. WireGuard is a vpn protocol not a firmware. Whether the firmware of the router supports WireGuard or not is controlled by whoever is supplying the firmware. The VPN (company) itself must supply the firmware for its own service for x, y, or z hardware. Last I checked mulvad does not publish any firmware for any popular router hardware, nor does it offer any specific hardware retail package for its service...

EVPN uses LightWay which is superior to openvpn in both security and speed and a some ways is more superior to WireGuard. I can attest to the fact that LightWay is dam fast and secure. The Aircove is a hardware router that has a EVPN firmware designed for it specifically. So you have a fast secure protocol that runs natively on a router hardware (not a computer based app) which solidifies the entire experience and compartmentalizes the VPN itself.

Here is a short breakdown of how Lightway stacks up against the rest of the open source protocols...

 

there's 0 need for specific firmware if your router supports a good vpn protocol already. it'll route everything through the proper tunnel just fine

the information on lightway does look interesting though, thanks!

 

If you're in China, there is only ONE that works perfectly, and is super fast with WireGuard.
Forget the list of VPN's above. I am in China, been here for 18 years, and have tried everything under the sun.
ASTRILL - It's expensive, but you get what you pay for!
PRO TIP - play their 2048 game to get 10-50% off - I tried, my wife tried, we failed. So I wrote a python script that completely automated the game and won 10% off. I tried a few times but couldn't get better than that. I paid for 2 years.
Another tip - NEW server ultra fast USA -Bend (IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5.MAX v5.10.5-TeamCubeadooby - Download 3 parts 1gb ea. 8mins max)