VPN KNOWLEDGE BASE
The VPNmine blog, page 4
SETUP GUIDESHow to install a VPN on a Fire TV StickFire OS is Android underneath, so a Fire TV Stick runs real VPN apps. Install from the Amazon Appstore, or sideload with Downloader or adb.
SECURITYDo you need a VPN at home?At home the threat is your ISP compiling your browsing history, not someone reading your traffic. Whether that is worth a tunnel depends on where you live.
SERVER LOCATIONSConnecting to a Singapore VPN serverSingapore is Southeast Asia's interconnection hub and a landing point for many submarine cables. What a Singapore exit gives you, and what it will not.
STREAMINGUsing a VPN while travelling: what the rules actually areTravelling changes which law applies, which networks you use, and whether your subscriptions follow you. What a VPN helps with and what it does not.
SPEEDWhy gigabit connections lose the most to a VPNA 50 Mbps line barely notices a tunnel. A gigabit line often halves. The cause is per-packet work, which makes it a hardware problem, not a protocol one.
LEAKS AND TESTINGWebRTC leaks, browser by browserWebRTC reports your addresses to any page that asks, with no prompt. What each browser does about it and what you can actually change.
PRIVACY AND LAWWhat a VPN audit proves, and what it does notAn independent audit is the strongest evidence a VPN can offer and it is still a snapshot of a scope someone chose. How to read one.
PROTOCOLSWhat is OpenVPN?OpenVPN is a TLS-based VPN protocol that runs over UDP or TCP and negotiates its ciphers. Two decades old, endlessly configurable, and hard to block.
TROUBLESHOOTING"Handshake did not complete": what the WireGuard error meansWireGuard's handshake error has four causes: blocked UDP, a wrong key, a stale endpoint or a clock that is badly off. How to tell which.
SETUP GUIDESDoes Apple TV support VPN apps? What tvOS 17 changedApple TV blocked third-party VPN apps until tvOS 17. Here is what changed, what still is not possible, and how to tell which era a guide was written in.
SECURITYEvil twin hotspotsAn evil twin is a fake access point using a name your device trusts. What it can and cannot do now that most traffic is encrypted.
SERVER LOCATIONSConnecting to a German VPN serverFrankfurt is one of the world's biggest exchange points and Germany has strong data protection. What a German exit gives you, and the retention story.
STREAMINGRegional pricing and what a VPN does not changePrices vary by country because purchasing power does. A VPN changes your apparent location, not your billing country, and billing is what decides.
SPEEDPicking the fastest VPN serverThe fastest server is usually the nearest, but not always. How to choose by latency and load rather than by flag, in about five minutes.
LEAKS AND TESTINGHow to read a DNS leak test resultA leak test result is a list of resolvers. Knowing which findings are leaks, which are normal, and which are your browser going its own way.
PRIVACY AND LAWHow free VPNs make moneyA free VPN has real costs. The five business models that cover them, ranked from acceptable to actively harmful, and how to tell which you are using.
PROTOCOLSWhat is WireGuard?WireGuard is a VPN protocol of about 4,000 lines with one fixed cipher suite and no negotiation. What that design buys, and what it costs.
TROUBLESHOOTINGWhy your VPN keeps disconnecting, and how to stop itA VPN that drops every few minutes has one of seven causes. How to tell which, from what the connection was doing when it dropped.
SETUP GUIDESHow to set up a VPN on Apple TVApple TV has run real VPN apps since tvOS 17. Install one from the App Store, or route the box through a router when your provider has no tvOS build.
SECURITYPublic Wi-Fi in 2026: what is still actually riskyHTTPS everywhere killed the classic coffee-shop attacks. What remains is DNS visibility, captive portal tricks, and everything that is not a browser.
SERVER LOCATIONSConnecting to a US VPN server: what changesThe US has the densest network capacity and no general ISP retention mandate, alongside broad surveillance powers. What a US exit actually gives you.
STREAMINGHow streaming services detect VPNsDetection is address reputation, not traffic inspection. The three signals services use, why they cannot read your tunnel, and what that means.
SPEEDHow much does a VPN slow your internet?Expect ten to thirty percent on a nearby server, plus the round trip in latency. Where the loss comes from, and which parts you can recover.
LEAKS AND TESTINGSeven checks that prove your VPN is workingA connected icon proves nothing. Seven checks that confirm the tunnel carries traffic, resolves names correctly and fails closed when it drops.