Hello geeks,
Some of you already know that I'm traveling to KSA very soon and start a new life.
And after a fast research, it turns out that having a VPN account is the way to go.
Now I read a lot of artciles about VPN providers and I basically found "private internet access" A.K.A "PIA" to be the best fit for my needs.

my questions are the following:
1) Any of you have any experience with this provider?
2) can I buy an account when I'm in Lebanon and use it later in KSA?
3) Can the Saudi goverment detect that I am using VPN service?
4) Any other comments regarding using VPN services?
do you want to use VPN for securing internet surfing ??
to be able to secure access to sites and services such as youtube, skype, viber...
I heard that youtube is already blocked and whatsapp, viber and skype are on there way to be blocked, and you never know what's next :P
40$ a year for peace of mind is quite a bargain :D
You could get a VPS, and connect through SSH if you want, or use it as a VPN. You'll be able to do more stuff using the server instead of just having a vpn. Of course you don't have to but I thought you might be interested.
I read everywhere that I'm better off with a paid service, for both speed and security reasons.
40$ a year is nothing really.
i have faced the same situation, and I've got a VPS with minimum specs. then created a SSH tunnel and it is really fast.
if you have some technical skills, i will help you in the steps, it is not difficult at all.
Does it have any additional benefits over VPN when it comes to my needs?
The answer is YES, if you are related to CS or IT, so you can deploy a SSH server, Web Server, ...

the answer is NO, if you just want to secure your traffic, i think that the VPN is best that SSH tunnel for many reasons.
Metalloy wroteNo it is :P
Then good luck with your VPN account ;)
Metalloy wroteto be able to secure access to sites and services such as youtube, skype, viber...
I heard that youtube is already blocked and whatsapp, viber and skype are on there way to be blocked, and you never know what's next :P
40$ a year for peace of mind is quite a bargain :D
I was in KSA 2 days ago, youtube is not blocked and I did not hear about the other apps being blocked
in Oman all VOIP are blocked (skype, facetime, etc..)
Gamer wrote
Metalloy wroteto be able to secure access to sites and services such as youtube, skype, viber...
I heard that youtube is already blocked and whatsapp, viber and skype are on there way to be blocked, and you never know what's next :P
40$ a year for peace of mind is quite a bargain :D
I was in KSA 2 days ago, youtube is not blocked and I did not hear about the other apps being blocked
in Oman all VOIP are blocked (skype, facetime, etc..)
are you sure? because I didnt subcribe yet.
What about torrents?
I recently came back from Saudi Arabia as i was residing there for more than 2 years and I can confirm that youtube is not blocked. Some youtube videos that contain explicit material are blocked but they can be accessed using the secure http (https) instead of (http). Skype, viber and all of the other voip apps are working. Torrents applications are also working. I think you will need VPN if you want to secure your traffic or if you want to access adult content, other than that everything is accessible with high speeds and cheap prices
Alright thanks for confirmation Ghaleb.
No need for a vpn man, no need for a vpn at all, use tor web browser. Issue solved.

That being said, I don't trust any vpn provider, none, not even one. If you want a vpn, buy a decent dedicated server and use it as your vpn, but as i said, you don't even need a vpn. You need tor, see who uses tor.
Tor would be too slow to stream videos or engage in any other high-bandwidth activity. A VPS with OpenVPN or an SSH tunnel are essential if performance matters.

@fisher: it all depends on who you are protecting yourself against. Understanding your threat model is essential when it comes to security. In this case, I doubt any non-arab VPS or VPN company will disclose anything to the KSA.
It's the first time I see someone referring to it as the "tor web browser". It may be a bit pedantic of me, but Tor is anything but a web browser. Also I agree with the sentiment already expressed that Tor is too slow for regular browsing.

Unfortunately I have never bought a VPN account anywhere, but I can help out if you ever decide to host and build your own VPN.
if not tor, then you could use a decent proxy, you just don't need a vpn if all you need to do is hide your ip, the simplest solution is usually the right one.

And he doesn't have about the internet speed if he uses tor in ksa, i do agree that tor in lebanon sucks, but they have blazing fast internet connection in ksa and pretty much in all the civilized world, i really doubt that he'll notice any serious performance drawback. At least he can give it a try before he buy a vpn.

When i refereed to tor as a web browser, i was telling him to download the firefox bundle that has tor built it, it is easier than setting up tor for a new user.