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Comment by jimsimmons | Hacker News Reader

Happy Mullvad user here. The fact that they do zero advertising and provide no offers or discounts etc is the number one reason I went with them. They don’t even collect your email. You have an account number that’s all. You can even pay for that account in cash by sending that money to the company’s PO box anonymously.

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That sounds excellent. Is that even legal for them to do though? Aren't there "know your customer" laws all over the world now?

Hi! Yes, it is legal. Your average corner shop has no requirements to do KYC when selling chocolate bars, and neither do we. :)

Cheers, Fredrik Strömberg, cofounder of Mullvad.

Thanks! Reading your site now. Is support for using native wireguard and OpenVPN clients considered first class alongside the Mullvad app? And any restrictions accessing geoblocked streaming content (both from your side and providers' sides blocking Mullvad)?

Last I checked Mullvad wasn't great for sites that actively ban VPN IPs like Netflix. For that NordVPN is better since (I recall reading) they use the residential IPs of users of some other free VPN services, so these rotate too frequently for Netflix to ban. You'll still have to ask for fresh IPs from time to time though as even those get blocked.

As Netflix is now banning more residential IPs more aggressively, all "streaming VPNs" face problems nowadays: https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-intensifies-vpn-ban-and-tar...

Yeah, streaming sites was the one issue I had with Mulvad. But I don't stream that much, and am super happy with them otherwise.

Hi!

I've been looking for a new VPN provider for a while, but most i found seem to disallow tormenting. Does mullvad permit it?

Tangential: If you mean torrenting (I see a typo in your comment), and if you don’t really need a VPN or can do with a basic VPN service, there are many “seedbox” providers who provide disk space, data traffic, and a set of ‘ready to install and use’ apps.

Recommended examples?

I don't have specific recommendations, but going through r/seedboxes (on reddit) and also reading the wiki there or asking questions can help.

Another Mullvad user here. Generally happy, but the Windows and Android apps are somewhat buggy.

Every couple of weeks I have to reinstall the Windows app because it's failing to update, and the Android app started eating my battery recently (used 46% of a full charge yesterday after some hours of internet browsing).

In their defense their support has always been amazing when I contacted them about it, and the Android issue could be manufacturer's fault, since OnePlus is known for its shenanigans.

I'll continue with Mullvad for the foreseeable future.

You could try using the official WireGuard app rather than Mullvad’s. Just generate a WireGuard config on Mullvad’s website, and you should be able to import that no problem.

The windows app works perfectly for me - I'm vpn'd 24/7 and it never crashes. I think it depends on your usage.

Can you use them with third party VPN clients?

Yes [1], the technical aspects are easily accessible. I'm avoiding third party VPN clients for simplicity and trust-minimization, but it's my plan B.

[1] https://mullvad.net/en/help/faq/#40

Yes

I like your criterion there. How well does it do for geofencing? NordVPN has been okay except for the BBC which seems to smart for any of that.

Nord uses "residential IP addresses". There was some discussion around its cagey ownership as well.

Thanks for this, just switched to Mullvad.

Happy Mullvad user here. Plus they offer WireGuard which is awesome.

Thats good, that has nothing to do with privacy.

The VPN concept can provide no assurance on privacy and any supposed assurance can change at any moment’s notice, whether they VPN provider is aware or not, coerced or not.

Who you want privacy from is important, but the people VPNs provide privacy against results in no differentiation between VPN providers.

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