Proton VPN set up

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  • Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    I've pretty much decided we are going to start moving all of our emails to Proton at some point, therefore it looks like their VPN is where we'll go to.

    I'm trying to figure out how to start with the initial set up in order not to leave too big a footprint.

    When you sign up for the VPN, you create a username that follows you everywhere within Proton, even if you don't have an email with them yet.

    If we both go over to them for email, I'd love to have access to different accounts for different purposes, i.e. professional/personal, then one for MDS, etc.

    If I put my name on the master username, that could become my professional/personal email account on Proton, which I think is appropriate to have my name on.

    Am I over thinking that with the secure email, differentiation of accounts for stuff like MDS and then the VPN I shouldn't be worried if the master username is my real name?
     

    AssMan

    Meh...
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 27, 2011
    16,211
    Somewhere on the James River, VA
    I've pretty much decided we are going to start moving all of our emails to Proton at some point, therefore it looks like their VPN is where we'll go to.

    I'm trying to figure out how to start with the initial set up in order not to leave too big a footprint.

    When you sign up for the VPN, you create a username that follows you everywhere within Proton, even if you don't have an email with them yet.

    If we both go over to them for email, I'd love to have access to different accounts for different purposes, i.e. professional/personal, then one for MDS, etc.

    If I put my name on the master username, that could become my professional/personal email account on Proton, which I think is appropriate to have my name on.

    Am I over thinking that with the secure email, differentiation of accounts for stuff like MDS and then the VPN I shouldn't be worried if the master username is my real name?

    If you go for their "combo deal" or whatever that gives you VPN and email for one fee, you can setup the email first, then use that login to access the VPN. Or maybe I'm not following the question?
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    If you go for their "combo deal" or whatever that gives you VPN and email for one fee, you can setup the email first, then use that login to access the VPN. Or maybe I'm not following the question?

    But damn, that's like $300 a year for a ton of email addresses we don't need.

    Maybe I just need to do surfshark for now, migrate emails to Proton next then next year work a deal with them to add the VPN.
     

    AssMan

    Meh...
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 27, 2011
    16,211
    Somewhere on the James River, VA
    But damn, that's like $300 a year for a ton of email addresses we don't need.

    Maybe I just need to do surfshark for now, migrate emails to Proton next then next year work a deal with them to add the VPN.

    Is that a business plan? The plan I have is like $7/mo.

    ETA: just checked, it's $99/year. 5 email addresses, 5 VPN connections. It's their "Plus" plan.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    Is that a business plan? The plan I have is like $7/mo.

    ETA: just checked, it's $99/year. 5 email addresses, 5 VPN connections. It's their "Plus" plan.

    So it's the Plus plan under emails and then add the VPN?

    There's no pre-fab packages like that on the site.
     

    Seagrave1963

    Still learnin'
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 6, 2011
    10,001
    Eastern Shore
    But damn, that's like $300 a year for a ton of email addresses we don't need.

    Maybe I just need to do surfshark for now, migrate emails to Proton next then next year work a deal with them to add the VPN.

    watching how this goes. We have Surfshark and looking to get a cleaner email.
     

    AssMan

    Meh...
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 27, 2011
    16,211
    Somewhere on the James River, VA
    Yep, looks like it was a Black Friday deal, got the VPN Plus and Mail Plus both for $99. I used coupon code BF2020. Doubt it still works, but worth a try. COuld always just go with the free email address option, pay for the VPN and upgrade during the next promo.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    Yep, looks like it was a Black Friday deal, got the VPN Plus and Mail Plus both for $99. I used coupon code BF2020. Doubt it still works, but worth a try. COuld always just go with the free email address option, pay for the VPN and upgrade during the next promo.

    Thanks for checking.

    I need to think through this. It might be worthwhile doing a phased transition out of my current email combined with VPN.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    Set up Proton VPN with my current email address. Will just have to transition out of it later.

    Everything looks good so far.
     

    AssMan

    Meh...
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 27, 2011
    16,211
    Somewhere on the James River, VA
    Set up Proton VPN with my current email address. Will just have to transition out of it later.

    Everything looks good so far.

    I really like it so far, no issues. I've completely switched over to Brave and ProtonVPN. I'll start using the email more moving forward as I transition to whatever social media platforms emerge.

    FYI, I think you can still get one proton email account for free.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    I really like it so far, no issues. I've completely switched over to Brave and ProtonVPN. I'll start using the email more moving forward as I transition to whatever social media platforms emerge.

    FYI, I think you can still get one proton email account for free.

    I'll see how I'm feeling later this week. I've made about 10 changes to my online stuff this week and I'm pretty maxed out.

    Made new rules for browser segregation, changed passwords, hosed Twitter, hosed the MDS FB page, started using Brave as my primary and then using TOR within Brave, and now done the VPN.

    I don't know what else to do right now.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,848
    Proton also allows an unlimited number of aliases. https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/creating-aliases/
    Combining with filters has been very useful.

    I bought the ProtonMail Plus during black friday because I wanted to setup an extra email for my wife. I didn't understand at the time that all addresses that you create (mine + hers) flow to the same inbox and login.

    Ah, I guess that's where you need to step up to more than one user then rather than just different accounts.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Not to overwhelm you but I just stumbled across the Tails OS which appears to be a totally self-contained OS that you install on a USB flash drive. Then you can start up any computer and boot from the USB onto a secure environment. The package includes a full set of basic PC applications that operate securely and a built in Tor browser. The OS automatically blocks all attempts by applications to communicate with the internet without TOR.

    Again I just discovered this about an hr ago while digging deep into the Off Grid Comms discussion.

    I’m downloading it now and will check it out later this week.

    https://tails.boum.org/about/index.en.html


    Edit: if the first link doesn’t work try this one. https://tails.boum.org/
     
    Last edited:

    willtill

    The Dude Abides
    MDS Supporter
    May 15, 2007
    24,317
    Not to overwhelm you but I just stumbled across the Tails OS which appears to be a totally self-contained OS that you install on a USB flash drive. Then you can start up any computer and boot from the USB onto a secure environment. The package includes a full set of basic PC applications that operate securely and a built in Tor browser. The OS automatically blocks all attempts by applications to communicate with the internet without TOR.

    Again I just discovered this about an hr ago while digging deep into the Off Grid Comms discussion.

    I’m downloading it now and will check it out later this week.

    https://tails.boum.org/about/index.en.html

    Interesting
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Interesting


    You probably have more knowledge of how IT systems and the internet work than I do. I’d be interested in some perspective on this concept. How is it more secure than just using VPN and or other Windows or Mac based systems. At the end of the day isn’t everything you do online traceable to your service provider IP address?
     

    Seagrave1963

    Still learnin'
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 6, 2011
    10,001
    Eastern Shore
    Trying the free version of just the vpn now.

    Let’s see how it works

    same here - it is slower for streaming than Surfshark (but not an accurate comparison as I have a higher tier subscription to Surfshark). If anything, I have "diversified" my digital footprint (stole that from the Carbon Clowns :innocent0) but I really have no idea how secure anything is anymore.
     

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