I use VPNs only a few times per year, hence why I'm not subscribed to any of them. But I had possibly the worst luck ever trying to use them, and at this point I’d rather just spend my time trying to not go through this nonsense.

I wanted to access a piece of content with a VPN. I won’t go into detail because that’s unimportant here. This is all the nonsense I went through before giving up.

1. Windows laptop, Proton VPN. I’d used this before successfully months ago, so I tried again. It. Just. Could. Not. Connect. I was left hanging for minutes on end.

2. Okay, let’s try on my Android phone. Still Proton VPN, same account. Was able to connect, but even though the server was nearby and at 54% load, NOTHING would load, not even an innocuous DDG search. I tried switching from WiFi to mobile data, and that did not help.

3. I have a backup VPN for cases like this, Tunnelbear. I know this isn’t the highest quality VPN but it’s served me well several years ago when Proton was overloaded. It also just could not connect, saying that my private DNS settings were bad. I switched from WiFi to mobile data, and still got the same error.

4. Now exasperated, I tried using the Mozilla VPN on my Linux desktop. After setting up a new account and going through the motions, I tried to connect and just got an error, with it slyly suggesting to try in a few minutes.

5. Tried Proton VPN on my phone one last time, and now it could not connect at all.

I then proceeded to give up and use a credit-card free trial to access the content. The entire process including cancelling the subscription took about 30 seconds. Trying – and failing – to troubleshoot the VPNs took more like 30 minutes.

Am I experiencing this trouble because I am trying to avoid paying for VPNs, or is it always this bad?

Edit: It turned out that the content wasn't what I actually needed and the paid site didn't have it. I ultimately caved and paid for a month of Mullvad VPN to get the singular piece of content, and it just worked. Maybe you can give me some ideas on what to do with my newfound power while it lasts.

What I was going to mention the Tunnelbear already mentioned, I have a custom DNS set through my network manager, I have to turn it off to use VPN, so are you by any chance using a similar program? Portmaster is kinda popular and breaks VPN easily.

My personal experience is that you get what you pay for. The infrastructure required to run an acceptable VPN service at scale gets ridiculously expensive ridiculously quickly. It makes sense that free users will always go to the back of the line when demand gets high.

I've used a variety of providers, free and paid, over the years. I've had issues with both, but my issues with paid plans have been fewer and father between. I currently use ProtonVPN and, political discussions aside, I've had no issues with it. Connectivity issues have been hiccups at worst.

If you can justify the expense, I'd strongly encourage you to bite the bullet and switch to a paid solution. Proton, Mullvad, whatever fits your threat model and budget.

https://fastestvpn.com/

Coupon code summerexclusive gets you $24 lifetime service. So until they go out of business. I bought it three years ago and they're still going strong.

enter your email address!

and just like that I'm out

I agree with the other comments that you get what you pay for.

I'll also try to offer up a solution that I would consider if I were in your shoes, depending on your precise needs: IVPN offers plans starting at 1 week for $2.

This was you'll get premium speeds only for as long as you need them.

No one said it had to be an email address linked to you.

I have a hunch they only accept payment methods linked to me if they want an email.

Not that it matters anymore, but my DNS is 75.75.75.75 and 75.75.76.76. I don't remember setting it like that.

This sounds like a network issue on your side. Ive used both those VPNs ans they are stable.

The only issue with free vpns is websites block the IPs aggressively and some are very untrustworthy.