I’m fairly certain this post might end up revealing my lack of knowledge on this topic rather than being a sound technical question, but here goes:

Why are most people keen on VPN services when TOR was present all along? Is it just because TOR is “slower” than VPNs or some other reason related to access?

Here are the points that confuse me:

  1. Many services block TOR.

True, but that’s the case with VPNs too. Netflix, Spotify, or some government website (won’t specify which country) will give you a tough time when they detect VPN use.

  1. Your ISP will know you used TOR.

Sure, but they also know that you used a VPN. Not sure why so many people use this argument. Besides, if you use TOR bridges, your ISP won’t know it.

  1. VPNs are super helpful when trying to circumvent CG-NAT.

And you’d be right there. Accessing clearnet to serve or host a service is much easier with a VPN. But then again, most people aren’t trying to circumvent their CG-NAT to host service. They’re trying to use the web more generally.

This post was inspired by my utter disillusionment of Mullvad.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    I myself occasionally use Tor, but only use VPNs for connecting to corporate networks (i.e. don’t pay for one myself).

    I agree with most of what you say. VPNs can be used to circumvent geographical restrictions, but otherwise don’t reliably improve privacy. All they do is change which party can see what you’re doing, from your ISP to a VPN provider. Tor does actually make sure it’s very unlikely anyone can see what you’re doing.

    Here are some reasons why I think some people might use VPNs instead of Tor:

    • circumventing geographical restrictions, as already mentioned
    • Tor can sometimes be unacceptably slow especially for video streaming.
    • Tor is not entirely trivial to set up to use for apps that aren’t Tor Browser; on Android there is something called Orbot, but on desktop operating systems I think one needs to follow relatively complex technical restrictions (I haven’t done that myself, so take with a grain of salt).