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Brave Browser's Firewall + VPN Service Expands to Desktop, Gains Cross-Platform Functionality

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Alternative browser company Brave today announced that its Firewall + VPN service has expanded to the desktop, which means it is available for use on Macs and PCs in addition to iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.

brave-vpn.jpg

Brave has long offered a VPN service on the iPhone and iPad, but now it will be available cross-platform for Brave users. The Brave VPN subscription is priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, and with the new cross-platform functionality, it can be used on a total of five devices at once.

Brave's browser is designed to block ads and trackers for a more private browsing experience that prevents tracking across websites, but the Brave Firewall + VPN protects against trackers outside of the Brave browser as well. It blocks websites and apps from accessing IP address and location information, while the firewall portion of the service blocks trackers and "other online nuisances."

Brave VPN subscribers can activate the service on Mac by opening up the Brave browser, going to the Settings menu, and toggling on the VPN.

The desktop VPN option is rolling out to users in various regions over the next few days, and Brave says that users should check back "soon" if it is not already available today. iPhone and Android users can log into their accounts and link more mobile or desktop devices.

Article Link: Brave Browser's Firewall + VPN Service Expands to Desktop, Gains Cross-Platform Functionality
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/03/13/brave-vpn-expands-to-desktop/
That's a pretty pricy VPN service. For the same price, you can easily get two years of regular VPN with most VPN service providers and have all of your data protected, not just the browser data.

NordVPN for example has the adblocking stuff included in their regular membership, so this surely does sound like a very poor value proposition.
 
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There are so many VPN services competing for the same buck that it comes down to what are the best ones. There are usually articles that are written by individuals that are paid by VPN service providers to tout theirs as the best and I have been running the same one for the past three years after trying out two over the course of a year and finding the one I am using was far superior to the runner up and they just released an other update today and I am happy with it. I am not going to give them a plug here since it is up the individual that ultimately decides what they like and can afford, but I do suggest that the find one that doesn't keep logs and are based off shore from the US.
 
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Isn’t 1.1.1.1 VPN free everywhere? That’s what I use for iOS. Unlimited and always free. Customizable too…

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f00f said:
This is via a partnership with Guardian. Brave and Guardian have been buddy buddy since middle of 2020 apparently.

Guardian's Pro offering costs 124.99 USD / year. I'm definitely struggling to see what the value prop is for that amount of chedda.
Click to expand...

Guardian should stop your data from getting mixed up in things like this:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...ocation-data-on-americans-horrifying-experts/

A typical VPN just encrypts your data but doesn't stop it from being sent to people that could aggregate it into a profile on you.
 
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Bawstun said:
Isn’t 1.1.1.1 VPN free everywhere? That’s what I use for iOS. Unlimited and always free. Customizable too…
Click to expand...
I assume you are talking about Cloudflare WARP. That is not a true VPN. It only encrypts your traffic and DNS queries but it does not hide your IP address.
 
SmallDane said:
I assume you are talking about Cloudflare WARP. That is not a true VPN. It only encrypts your traffic and DNS queries but it does not hide your IP address.
Click to expand...

I have it activated right now, and for me it seems that each website I visit to detect my IP is displaying a Cloudflare assigned IP and not my own, so it appears to be masking.
 
Bawstun said:
I have it activated right now, and for me it seems that each website I visit to detect my IP is displaying a Cloudflare assigned IP and not my own, so it appears to be masking.
Click to expand...
Yeah my bad, I guess I had outdated information. It appears they added IP hiding fairly recently (one source said August 2022). That certainly brings Cloudflare WARP closer to a true VPN than before. However, it still lacks some features as far as I can tell. There is no way to change your geo-location. And there is no browser extension. And some sources say that torrenting is not possible. Correct me if I'm wrong about these issues.

Those missing features are still important to me and many other people using a VPN. But if you don't need them, I guess WARP is quite an interesting product. Though there is always that nagging suspicion about free products. Will you and your data eventually become the product? That being said, I do use Cloudflare DNS and am quite happy with it.
 
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