The use of VPN's in social media and Forums

[ellentonboy]

I was hoping someone would know about the VPN offered by the company Malwarebytes, offered for Mac users, and it's effectiveness.   I ask this question not because I am trying to do anything deemed illegal, or unethical.  I am simply asking if I had been on a Forum previously, would the VPN block my IP address and not allow moderators to see that I was a former member.  Again this has nothing to do with illegal downloading, I was just prefer the moderators not to know my identity based on my IP address.

I specifically purchased the VPN portion of Malwarebytes to rejoin.  Does anyone know how effective Malwarebytes is?  To end the mystery, the Forum I am trying to rejoin in based on sports, it's not like a Twitter or Facebook, and it is not an adult site.  

Anyone. use this VPN and can comment on it's effectiveness?

[viking8x6]

I don't believe that moderators can reliably use your IP address to know whether you're a former member of a site or forum, for two reasons:

• Multiple people can share the same IP address.
• A single person can have many IP addresses even in the case where they are not using a VPN, because mobile devices in general will have varying IP addresses depending on their current connectivity, and wired internet providers often use dynamic addressing.

 

[barecubb]

No experince of the Malwarebytes VPN, but I do use NordVPN (on my mobile phone) and only ever access Breeding Zone and others via the VPN. I sometimes have to complete a Captcha on other sites, but that's all. 

Not so great for banking apps and TV apps, but I expect that.

It lags sometimes but the NordVPN has a quick fix to reconnect if that happens. 

[ellentonboy]

22 hours ago, viking8x6 said:

I don't believe that moderators can reliably use your IP address to know whether you're a former member of a site or forum, for two reasons:

• Multiple people can share the same IP address.
• A single person can have many IP addresses even in the case where they are not using a VPN, because mobile devices in general will have varying IP addresses depending on their current connectivity, and wired internet providers often use dynamic addressing.

 

Thanks for that, I did upgrade to include the VPN and I was able to get on the Forum.  I already had Malwarebytes for protection of my MacBook Air, so it cost me a prorated amount.  I had discussed VPN's with other Forum members like myself (who were continually bashed) all of them went to a VPN and their problems ceased.  I am hoping the same will happen for me.   Even if you changed your screen name or handle, they posted the initial screen name in a "members area" so people could easily see who the "new" member was.  I went ahead and created a new account, using a different email address and they made me wait for approval from a moderator before I was able to participate.  Even then, my posts were reviewed by a moderator before they were visible to the rest of the Forum.  I didn't sign out till I started seeing my posts in the GM area.  Thanks again for your input.

[ErikRaw]

AMEX gives me trouble with VPNs, that's about it.  

I was using Nord for a while.  Based in Panama and allegedly won't have out info for government requests.  Using TunnelBear now... lighter weight, but i believe they will comply with govt if requested to pull my activity.

[BootmanLA]

17 hours ago, ErikRaw said:

AMEX gives me trouble with VPNs, that's about it.  

I was using Nord for a while.  Based in Panama and allegedly won't have out info for government requests.  Using TunnelBear now... lighter weight, but i believe they will comply with govt if requested to pull my activity.

My understanding about Nord (whether it's completely true or not) is that they have their VPNs configured in such a way that there is no logging information kept, so there's nothing they can use to comply with government demands for information. 

[AirmaxUK]

I guess it depends why you need the VPN as to which is best. I've been using NordVPN for a while. It has been useful when travelling - a lot of Hotel and Public WiFi is unencrypted open access, and the VPN adds some level of security and circumvents any family-filter type blocks.  Using it for accessing geographically limited services (like BBC iPlayer) is hit and miss as the streaming services get to know the VPN IPs and ban them. I am not sure I will renew my subscription, since I got a decent fibre connection at home, I set up a VPN server on the router, so I can VPN back home and access all my local storage as well as appear to be in the UK.