Great service. I particularly like that you can connect to their network without redirecting all traffic and only selectively use different SOCKS5[1] endpoints[2] for different browser profiles.
Ad-blocking adblock.dns.mullvad.net DNS[2] is quite nice for the mobile as well.
An error occurred during a connection to mullvad.net. SSL received a record that exceeded the maximum permissible length.
Error code: SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG
The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.
That might be your network provider’s proxy blocking access.
We’re currently on pub WiFi and it blocks all access to Mullvad, which is frustrating, because it means our web traffic - or at least the sites we’re visiting - are not private and can be viewed by the provider. Potentially they could also MITM TLS traffic, rendering that also insecure. I’m scowling at you Marston’s Inns.
Possibly they also block other well know VPNs.
I’d not be using it at all but for the fact 4G/5G signal around here is so poor.
EDIT: I got the bit between my teeth on this one. So Marston's appear to use a captive portal for WiFi and, it turns out, the issue is typically the MTU (maximum transmission unit). On macOS I can get Mullvad to connect using an MTU of 1280, and can then access the article. However, the MTU setting isn't available on Mullvad's iOS app. Some additional reading suggests that I could use the Wireguard iOS app instead, which would allow me to tweak MTU, but I'm not yet sure how I could set this up to work with my Mullvad subscription. I get the impression it may be possible although I have no idea how many of the additional protections (multi-hop, DAITA, etc.) would be usable going this route.
Mullvad has been around for a long time and was on the cutting edge of technology when public VPN’s were becoming relevant a decade or so ago. Since then they’ve managed to stay relevant despite not advertising or being affiliated with a larger platform.
In my estimation their success is largely due to word of mouth and a perception of being a legitimate company with a serious interest in security and privacy in a market rife with scams and lies. I’d imagine that’s how they attract talent as well.
> In my estimation their success is largely due to word of mouth and a perception of being legitimate company with a serious interest in security in privacy in a market rife with scams and lies.
Anecdatum: I picked Mullvad because of strong recommendations from HN commenters on multiple threads.
It's fairly rare during general browsing, but Mullvad makes no attempt to hide that their servers are VPN IPs, so any site that explicitly wants to block VPN users will very likely block Mullvad. Mostly an issue if you're trying to use a VPN to view geo-blocked media.
I get lots of Cloudflare authenticators, some Youtube content gets blocked, and a few sites will not load at all. Reddit (which I avoid as often as possible) blocks it completely [1]. Switching to a different country sometimes works but increasingly does not. I don't use streaming services apart from Youtube.
Still, I am happy with the service and will continue to use it.
Edit:
[1] As others have written below, Reddit blocks when not logged in. Since I don't have an account, that's a 100% block rate for me.
Often. It is becoming a big problem. In the last couple of days youtube has become almost unusable. Reddit is usually blocked. Twitch shadowbans chats. A lot of random unexpected sites block it like wiki pages. Captchas make google too annoying to use (but mullvad has its own proxy called Leta but it lacks features like suggested corrections to the search). I still use it always and persist despite this. Often hopping servers will work but I might have to try 5+ different servers
I switched from Mullvad to ProtonVPN for this exact reason about 1.5 years ago. Unfortunately ProtonVPN seems to be even worse at this now. It's become clear that the more popular VPN services are increasingly having connectivity problems to many popular sites (social media, streaming media, etc.)
Often if you're on a bad node that has been rate-limited, usually connecting to a different node in the region helps. However VPN blocking very often and more frequent especially this year, it seems like walls are going up everywhere.
Side note: one of Mullvad's Miami servers is blocked by HN, I have to switch nodes if I land on that one because "Sorry" message.
> Side note: one of Mullvad's Miami servers is blocked by HN, I have to switch nodes if I land on that one because "Sorry" message.
I frequently hit "Sorry" messages when opening a few HN links in quick succession through Mullvad too. I suppose the IPs have been flagged as potentially malicious.
Not sure what it takes for that to happen though; my server that archives every post made on HN has yet to get banned or heavily ratelimited, it just hits a 429 every once in a while.
I use the default endpoint in Sweden, and I can’t access Reddit and YouTube without being logged in (which I refuse to do). Not an issue in the end because it’s mostly a waste of time.
Most Cloudflare sites throw up captchas, switching to other Mullvad servers every hour does not help anymore. Reddit blocks completely. Many other YC funded startups block Mullvad VPN (I miss Paul Graham's influence, don't you?). Port forwarding was removed by Mulled company so less bittorrent peers. All magnet link search engines and 90% torrent sites block Mullvad, even though these sites advertise VPN.
Why is that nonsense? It totally makes sense to lower the price on bulk purchase. You can upload whatever amount of credit to Mullvad as well and I doubt most users purchase month to month. It's just a more elegant way to stay pricey. There are similar small independent competitors that are half their price for a year and I doubt they are half as private or less performant.
I think it’s because of the way annual plans are marketed in relation to VPNs. For example, NordVPN’s homepage currently is offering 74% off, but when you click through, you have to buy 2 years of service to get 74% off and no mention of the 2 year plan is made on the ad and there is no discount at all on the monthly rate, which is 3 times the cost. So you have the choice of roughly $4 per month if you lock-in 2 years or $13.99 per month vs Mullvad’s $5.20 flat rate per month without agreeing to 2 years.
It’s just been my experience that when you have to prepay 2 years up front you are giving up any recourse if the service starts to suck, the company goes bankrupt, etc. It makes sense to be a bit skeptical when the discount for 2 years is 74% vs a normal company that gives you a 10-20% discount on a bulk purchase.
Great that they are self hosting their support email. Curious about which software they are using, few years ago I have a good experience with the open source/self hosted OS Ticket tool to handle support tickets, follow up messages, threads, multiple support seats, etc. It has some UX issues, wondering if there is any other good solutions out there right now.
I agree that the UX could use a tweak or three. With so many sites blocking VPNs sometimes it takes a few adjustments to get through. I've asked a couple of times for a pinnable Mullvad app window so I don't have to keep opening it. I get a standard "We'll consider it" email.
> "Encrypted DNS Proxy and adding ShadowSocks for WireGuard to enhance obfuscation for customers that truly need it."
Seems like the user base is wider than what would be addressed by the most basic use of VPN. Mullvad would then serve a greater purpose than what many, or at least I, would be aware of.
I’ve been using mullvad for years now. I can’t recommend it enough. I travel a fair bit for work and it’s a must in certain countries and certain hotel chains that have horrible privacy reputations.
I've used Mullvad for quite a long time now, and haven't had too much trouble, though as of late the performance the last year seems... lower than previous ones.
But honestly I think dragnet surveillance has won, so that's a moot point for usage (just my opinion).
I mainly use it to keep from doxing myself (OpenVPN + socks v5), because for some reason every website you go to now wants to know if you're interested in X at [Your location].
with a footer like `[IPv4] [IPv6] [lat, lon] [First Name, Last Name] [SSN#]` Serving you proudly since 2005!
Ad-blocking adblock.dns.mullvad.net DNS[2] is quite nice for the mobile as well.
[1] https://mullvad.net/en/help/socks5-proxy
[2] every server has its socks proxy address listed https://mullvad.net/en/servers
[3] https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls