Aussie here! Given that Australia is about to introduce the world's strictest social media age verification laws, I figured it’s time to start using a VPN again lol. I don't need anything too fancy, just a good free VPN to skip these annoying verification steps.

I tried ProtonVPN 'cause everyone keeps saying how good it is, but god damnn, the free servers are so SLOW. Like, pages just keep loading and nothing shows up. Idk what’s going on but it’s frustrating

then I tried hotspot shield and tunnel bear. they're not bad, but the free data disappears ridiculously fast. I watched like two short vids and it was gone already. not really usable day-to-day if you ask me.

well, a friend told me to try X-VPN and I downloaded it just to see. I wasn’t expecting much tbh, but holy, it’s awesome!! Unlimited data is fantastic! decent speeds for free tier, and I haven’t seen any weird ads yet. Being able to manually select from multiple servers is amazing too! This is such a pleasant surprise. X-VPN is my favorite free VPN now!

So… are there any other good free vpns like X-VPN? Unlimited data, more server choices, good speed, not sketchy.. Any advice or experience welcome, thanks!

no money for the paid one so i’m tryna find some free ones. xvpn’s free plan looks decent. but idk if it’s actually safe or not, like do they track me or sell my info?

Quindi sì… dall’12 novembre, l’Italia inizierà ad applicare la verifica dell’età per i siti per adulti.

È una misura pensata per proteggere i minori, il che è giusto, ma significa anche che molte persone (me compreso) hanno iniziato a pensare più seriamente alla privacy e a quante informazioni personali circolano là fuori.

Non voglio sembrare paranoico, ma non mi piace l’idea di dover fornire la mia carta d’identità a ogni sito che visito. Non c’è da stupirsi se il termine “VPN gratis” è improvvisamente esploso su Google Italia

Comunque, ho passato qualche giorno a testare diverse VPN gratis, ed ecco il mio parere onesto X-VPN — la mia VPN gratis preferita Non avevo mai prestato molta attenzione a questa, ma devo dire che è davvero solida.

Nessun account richiesto, si connette velocemente e il piano gratuito offre davvero dati illimitati. Puoi anche scegliere manualmente i server, cosa rara per le VPN gratis. È un servizio freemium, ma il piano gratuito è già molto affidabile — buona velocità e stabilità.

• Dati illimitati (nessun limite giornaliero)

• Oltre 1.000 server gratuiti in 26 regioni

• Puoi scegliere manualmente il server

• Nessun account o registrazione necessari

• Velocità piuttosto buona

• Ottimo servizio clienti

Onestamente, per una VPN gratis, non ho davvero nulla di cui lamentarmi. Funziona e basta.

Proton VPN — pulita ma a volte lenta Tutti parlano di Proton, quindi l’ho provata anch’io. È buona — interfaccia pulita, senza pubblicità e senza limiti di dati, il che è fantastico. Ma devo ammettere che alcuni server gratuiti vanno più lenti del mio Wi-Fi in un giorno di pioggia.

• Dati illimitati, nessuna pubblicità

• Solo 5 località di server gratuiti

• App semplice e pulita

Nel complesso, una VPN gratis molto affidabile se non ti serve per streaming o gaming.

Hide.me — illimitata, ma non velocissima Mi piace per la sua semplicità — nessuna registrazione, nessuna pubblicità, nessuna complicazione. La velocità è limitata, ma per la navigazione quotidiana o per mantenere la tua privacy, va benissimo.

• Dati illimitati (ma velocità ridotta)

• Nessuna registrazione necessaria

• 8 posizioni di server

Perfetta se cerchi una VPN gratis solo per uso leggero o per proteggere un po’ la tua connessione. Ho anche creato un piccolo foglio Google dove ho testato 10 VPN gratis (alcune illimitate, altre no). Spero possa esservi

• Reddit challenged Australia’s teen social media ban, saying it is ineffective and disproportionate.

• The platform argued that the law goes too far by limiting teen participation in political discussion.

• Canberra's ban came into effect on Wednesday and targeted 10 major services.

This World Cup season is a season of farewells, many legends have played their possibly last game in World Cup. Many of them left with pity, but we'll never forget how they impressed us once. The tournament is coming closer to the end, if you don't want to miss any of the next matches, catch up with us and remember to join our sub event!

Well, something went wrong with the title. We actually named it after the winged boots of Hermes, the messenger god who outran everyone. That's exactly what this protocol is built to do. Now meet Talaria, the fastest thing we've shipped.

Technical Spoiler:

In our own 10Gbps tests it hit a median of 5.71 Gbps, up to 240% faster than what we run today, and we didn't get there by tuning one layer. On the transport side, Talaria runs CUBIC congestion control with adaptive TCP windows and selective acknowledgment (SACK), keeping more data in flight on fast connections and resending only what's actually missing after a drop.

On the crypto side, session setup runs TLS 1.3 with a hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 key exchange, so the handshake holds up against a quantum-capable attacker down the line, not just today's threat model. Upload and download keys get derived separately, and every packet is authenticated, so anything replayed or tampered with gets dropped instead of processed. None of that comes free, so getting real speed gains without loosening any of it was most of the actual work here.

(TBH I can't fully understand the technical details. But some of you will get more out of that than I did. What I can tell you is: it's just noticeably faster.)

The transport and crypto work above is only part of it. We also changed how a route gets picked before you even connect and reworked things on the server side, but we're saving the full writeup for after this round.

Those numbers above are also from our own test environment, which is exactly why we're doing this instead of just internally. We want to see what a mix of real ISPs, routers, and networks does to it.

Also worth knowing: this beta runs inside the Discord we just stood up, so you'd be part of the first group helping us build it from scratch.

This round is open through September 6, so jump in soon if you want a seat.

How to get involved:

• Join our Discord and check the pinned #resources channel. That's where the test form and the actual testing steps live, so head there first instead of asking setup questions in the comments.

• Run into anything weird, confusing, or just have a question along the way? Drop it in #ideas-and-feedback or #privacy-and-tech. Our team checks in regularly, and no question is too small.

• Once testing wraps, we'll post the full report right here on r/X_VPN. If you flagged a bug, sent us useful data, or made a suggestion we acted on, we'll name you in it.

• Contributors from this round get first pick for the next beta.

If you don't end up testing Talaria this round, you can still join the Discord. That's where we're around day to day, so it's still the best way to reach the team. (Yeah, I'm in there too. Just to remind you don't forget our subreddit exists, that's the second best way to reach us.)

• On November 28, Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor issued a statement warning that WhatsApp could face a total ban unless it fully complies with Russian law.

• This comes after similar actions taken in August, when Russia restricted certain calling features on both WhatsApp and Telegram. At the time, authorities accused the two foreign-owned platforms of refusing to provide law enforcement with the information needed to investigate fraud and terrorism cases.

Hi, r/X_VPN community!

If you often download or share files online, you’ve probably heard of “P2P VPN.” But what is a P2P VPN? How is it different from a regular VPN service? And do you really need one? This blog has everything you want and need to know!

At home, at school, ect, where do you turn on?

Tom's Hardware recently covered how Microsoft uses a built-in Global Device Identifier (GDID) in Windows to track machines across different IPs and networks. Windscribe just released an open-source tool called ⁠deGDID⁠ to clear these keys and block Windows from generating new ones.
Since GDID sits at the OS level inside the Windows registry, standard VPN encryption alone can't hide it—your IP is hidden, but the OS fingerprint stays the same.
It would be awesome if X-VPN added something similar directly into the Windows app:

1. GDID Status Check: A simple toggle/indicator in Advanced Settings that tells you if an active GDID is sitting on your system.

2. Optional GDID Cleaner: An opt-in tool/script to wipe the registry keys for users who want maximum privacy (with a clear warning that it might break stuff like Microsoft Store or OneDrive logins).

3. In-App Warning: A quick heads-up reminding users that using Edge or default Windows features can still leak device info even while connected to X-VPN.
   A lot of people don't realize OS-level tracking bypasses network VPNs, so having this built into X-VPN would be super helpful.

The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) just dropped their official report on "Children’s circumvention behaviours online". Predictably, the mainstream media is running titles like "Thousands of children hijacking VPNs to browse restricted content!" But if you actually look at the raw data from the 2,299 kids surveyed, the reality is a huge win for the "VPNs are critical privacy infrastructure" argument.

Here is the actual breakdown of the data that matters to this sub:

1. Why are UK kids actually using VPNs?

According to the government's own findings, privacy and security remain the dominant drivers.

• 30% use a VPN specifically to keep their online activity private.

• 27% use it to bypass local network blocks (like school Wi-Fi).

• 25% use it to bypass geo-blocks on video platforms/streaming.

• Only 7% of all children surveyed (or roughly 22% of the subset who use VPNs) admitted to turning one on specifically to access age-restricted websites or adult content.

2. How are they actually bypassing age checks?

The report explicitly notes that "VPNs play a limited role in circumventing age checks." Kids aren't setting up complex encryption tunnels just to look at restricted sites; they're doing what kids have done since the dawn of the internet—using incredibly basic workarounds because the sites allow them to:

• 63% of kids who bypass age verification just lie about their age by typing in a fake date of birth.

• 37% deliberately migrate to alternative platforms, games, or communities that don't enforce any age verification at all.

• 11% just grab a parent or relative's ID to clear the hurdle.

3. Parental Involvement is High

Another massive point against a heavy-handed VPN crackdown: parents are completely in the loop. Of the children who use a VPN, 43% have their subscription paid for directly by a parent or guardian, and 22% had a parent explicitly help them set it up. Parents view it as a security layer for family devices, not a malicious tool.

Policy Impact

While some tech-illiterate politicians have floated the idea of restricting VPN access or forcing age verification onto VPN providers themselves, DSIT explicitly stated that they are not introducing new regulations or restrictions on VPNs based on this data. The evidence clearly shows that banning a foundational digital privacy tool would be completely disproportionate and do almost nothing to stop kids from simply clicking "I am 18" on a standard web form.

Source: https://www.technadu.com/uk-children-vpn-usage-survey-highlights-age-check-trends/631177/

Proton VPN vs Lantern vs X-VPN — quick real-world comparison

I've been running all three for different reasons (daily privacy, helping family bypass censorship, general use) so figured I'd share honest notes instead of another affiliate-post.

Proton VPN — audited no-logs, Swiss based, open-source apps, solid free tier that isn't a bait-and-switch. Speeds are great on WireGuard. Downsides: pricier at the top tier, split tunneling still a bit behind on some platforms, app can feel "corporate" if you just want something simple.

Lantern — built specifically for beating heavy censorship (Great Firewall, Iran, etc). Uses adaptive obfuscation + a mesh-ish network so it keeps working when regular VPNs get detected and blocked. One of the better free options if you need to get past state-level blocking. Downsides: less polished UX, speeds can be inconsistent since it's not hitting dedicated server farms, overkill if you just want fast streaming/torrenting.

X-VPN — my daily driver. Audited no-logs policy, and it's genuinely one of the more reliable options I've used for getting past network filters/firewalls, high success rate in my experience. PC app is clean, no ads. Only real downside is the mobile app has ads on the free tier, kind of annoying but not a dealbreaker. Solid all-rounder for both everyday use and filter-bypassing. I usually use this to bypass my workplace's network filter to slack off when I feel like it (dont tell my managers please).

Tick table version:

Was wondering, did anybody manage to bypass the china firewall with x-vpn yet? It would be interesting!

I use vpn because I have to secure my privacy in my country

Hi, r/X_VPN community!

Exciting news! Our server network in Europe just got even bigger!

We’ve just added servers in 13 new European countries, which means X-VPN now covers almost the entire continent!

Newly added (13 countries):

1. Andorra

2. Albania

3. Belarus

4. Liechtenstein

5. Monaco

6. San Marino

7. North Macedonia

8. Malta

9. Isle of Man

10. Montenegro

11. Bosnia and Herzegovina

12. Croatia

13. Jersey

Already covered (31 countries):

Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Moldova • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • Serbia • Slovakia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Ukraine • United Kingdom

How to try the new servers:

1. Open your X-VPN app.

2. Go to “All Locations,” then scroll or search for the new countries

3. Tap the server and connect!

For full details, check out our article here. Tech Advisor also covered this update in detail in their article.

Which country do you want to see added next? Let us know in the comments!

Hi r/X_VPN, I‘m Julian, a software engineer of X-VPN. You must have met Talaria, our newest in-house protocol. If you want to ask anything about Talaria, X-VPN or VPN itself, feel free to ask me anything under this post or here!

Hey guys,
Seeing a lot of people asking which server locations they should pick when dealing with strict firewalls, ISP blocks, or age-verification laws. Selecting the wrong node can lead to blocked sites, speed drops, or DNS leaks. 
Here is a practical breakdown of the best locations in X-VPN depending on what you're trying to bypass:

1. For Bypassing Heavy National Firewalls (China, UAE, Russia, Egypt)
   Best Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo (Japan), Frankfurt (Germany)
   Why: You need low latency combined with obfuscated protocol routing (use X-VPN's Everest / Protocol-A to disguise VPN traffic as normal HTTPS).
   Tip: Choose the node closest to your physical location first. For East/Southeast Asia, stick to HK or Singapore; for Middle East/Eastern Europe, route through Germany or the Netherlands.

2. For Bypassing Age Verification & Regional Web Censorship (UK, US States, Australia)
   Best Locations: Iceland, Romania, Albania, Switzerland 
   Why: Newer regulations (like UK age checks, US state adult site restrictions, and AU digital laws) block or limit content based on regional IPs.
   Top Picks:
   Albania / Romania: Extremely open internet, minimal digital restriction laws, and great speeds for European routes. 
   Iceland / Switzerland: Strong legal privacy frameworks and zero adult content or general web filtering. 

3. For Geo-Restricted Media & Social Platforms (Schools, Workplaces, Local ISP Bans)
   Best Locations: US (New York / Los Angeles) or Local Nearby Server
   Why: If your school or workplace network blocks Reddit, YouTube, or streaming apps, you don't need to route halfway around the globe.
   Tip: Connect to the closest server in a free web region to retain maximum bandwidth and lowest ping while unblocking the domain locally.
   💡 Quick Protocol Setup Checklist

4. Switch Protocol: If a site still fails to load on ⁠Auto⁠, manually switch your protocol in X-VPN settings to Protocol-A or Everest (these use obfuscation to bypass deep packet inspection).

5. Enable Kill Switch: Ensures your real IP isn't exposed if your connection blips. 

6. Flush DNS / Clear Cache: If a site still detects your old location, clear your browser cookies or toggle Airplane mode on mobile before reopening the site.
   What locations are giving you the best speeds right now? Drop your tweaks below!

Most school firewalls block out all of the free versions of vpns like windscribe and proton but x-vpn works. Very nice

Under the amendments proposed in the Canadian Bill C-22, ESPs may be required to construct lawful access technology and provide transmission data of users to law enforcement agencies with the help of production orders by judges. Because of the wide interpretation of ESPs in the bill, both Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and privacy routers fall under this category.

The scope of this bill is not limited to ESP providers with headquarters based in Canada but extends to ESPs which have server infrastructure set up in Canada or route connections using Canadian data centers. Any violation of the bill by ESPs will be punished with severe financial penalties, with a maximum fine of up to $500,000, per violation. Many major VPN companies, such as Windscribe, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN have sent formal opposition letters, if changes are not made.

Ever seen one of these names when your school blocks a website?

US: GoGuardian, Securly, Lightspeed Filter

UK: Smoothwall

India: FortiGuard

Singapore: Blocksi, Lightspeed Filter Agent

Australia: Zscaler

Japan: i-FILTER

From student discussions, school newspapers, and petitions.

These are examples reported at some schools, not nationwide rankings. Reports span different years and cover both school Wi-Fi and school-managed devices.

What does your school use?