Is it worth having a VPN

[backstreetboy]

3 practical uses for "Normal" users:

1. protect yourself from public wifi hospots, ie airport, hotels etc

2. Remain anonymous when downloading torrents

3. streaming

4. Blocking ads systemwide on smartphones

 

[netcruiser]

I once read that your device (PC/phone) shares it's unique serial (MAC address?) with the site that it visits as well so somebody can always track you if you used your device on another website without using the VPN...they basically match your serial nr when surfing on VPN to the same serial number when you logged onto Facebook etc..

True? And if so, can this device number/ serial number be faked or blocked from being shared with the site you are visiting? Out of interest offcourse.

It's not part of normal HTTP/TCP/IP to expose the MAC address. Some sites may use other techniques to follow you (like properties your browser provides, e.g. your language or even the size of your browser window).

 

[vic777]

How does one prevent leaking DNS?

Set up the VPN properly, that you don't use the DNS provided by the ISP but pushed through the VPN

 

[Went_For_Beer]

If you're not a normal user, and visit a site like sapunter.net, you might need a VPN on some service providers.

That comment made me think of this thread

I almost brought it back from the dead

 

[Went_For_Beer]

Wait ....do ISP's spy on us? Do they do https and deep packet inspection? And, why would they? Yeah, I get they could do protocol throttling and shaping and that sort of thing but how and more especially why would they do content interrogation?

Most ISP's have a proxy server, especially the WISP's. All data gets cached on the proxy so technically they are able to see exactly what pages/files you have been looking at/dl