Amazon taking over my Router?

[Robwho]

My Virgin router now identifies itself as Amazon and has slowed down considerably on Speedtest.  Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Graham_A]

Using a VPN will switch your connection to an IP address shared with other users rather than your VM router's IP connection.  In general using a VPN will always give a slower connection speed than a direct connection.

[Robwho]

Sadly, I have no idea what you mean about a VPN and my domestic internet and neither do i know how to edit the message with the IP address on!  I'm not doing very well am I?  The VPN came with Norton 360 and, more or less, set itself up!

I am grateful for you input though.  I just wish I was more educated on these matters

[Client62]

You might be interested to see how much Norton is reducing the bandwidth.

Try a speed test with VPN OFF using :  https://www.samknows.com/realspeed/ 

[goslow]

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@Robwho wrote:

Sadly, I have no idea what you mean about a VPN and my domestic internet and neither do i know how to edit the message with the IP address on!  I'm not doing very well am I?  The VPN came with Norton 360 and, more or less, set itself up!

I am grateful for you input though.  I just wish I was more educated on these matters

---

Where you have posted your real VM IP address at message #8, use the 'Post options' drop down to the top RHS of the post and 'Edit Reply'. Delete your real VM IP address from the post. You have 30 mins editing time to make any changes.

[Robwho]

Hi Graham

apart from " In general using a VPN will always give a slower connection speed than a direct connection." which i do understand the rest of your message might just as well have been written in Klingon.  I have no clue what it means!

[Robwho]

Got it.  Thank you

[ALF28]

A VPN connection creates a tunnel giving added security and privacy on the internet, and is advised if using mobile devices on wifi in cafe's etc. which may not be secure and some companies use them to ensure privacy.

A vpn will stop man in the middle attacks also,can stop geoblocking, but they do slow the speed by approx 57% and prevents the ISP monitoring activity.

I have used VPN at home but found problems with some connections, and it is easy to switch it off. It does change your Ip address to another server which is no longer a virgin ip address, so it is not so easy to monitor activity on your own accounts as the Ip address will change a lot.

As VPN uses remote servers all over the world, I am not sure that they are secure and some may keep logs.

I am sure there are some advantages but I do not use one usually  but  they can be handy if you want privacy and security but I found they caused me to many issues so rarely use VPN, but they may be good for protection in some cases as part of of an antivirus protection product or stand alone VPN or some browsers have VPN. I have tried I few VPN's myself and still have one installed should I need one, use when needed.

see-

Do I Really Need a VPN at Home? (pcmag.com)

[Robwho]

Thank you Alf28

The trouble is that i don't really know enough about VPN's!  The one i am using came with Norton 360 and seems to have a mind of its own!  I re-booted my router this morning (after disabling VPN in Norton) and all is much better, faster and i can access my Router on line again.  It has also reverted to Virgin from Amazon an Speedtest.  As someone who is paranoid about security I will now take your advice and look at the article you sent.  I am not really clear why i would need a VPN for mobile but not for home but i will research it.  Thank you for your input.

[ALF28]

Home wifi is generally secure if set up correctly, mobile wifi located in cafe's ,hotels  etc may not be secure, and not as secure as a mobile phone via a mast connection, so then VPN would be advised.

VPN can protect your  virgin home ip address, keeping it private, however I have had no issues by switching off my vpn, provided you have a firewall switched on, the windows firewall is good and protects computers, wise to do a regular firewall reset. (norton has its own firewall)

Some websites will not connect to vpn and it is interesting that vpn can be used by hackers/spammers to hide their true identity.

VPN also prevents the isp (broadband provider) having access to your activity, but may also block the ISP security.?

I also use antivirus, in my case it is malwarebytes pro, which is similar to Norton antivirus, and may  perform better than the standard free windows antivirus.

[Robwho]

Hi Alf28

Yes, i have been reading the article you sent me and it seems logical to use a VPN when out and about but not at home.  I am going to try to set up Norton 360 to do that which is, i think, quite easy.  I don't find much indepentent reviews of Norton 360 VPN on the internet.  Certainly, it doesn't come up with a rating from any of of the "big boys" so i might look at Tunnel Bears or Express VPN for my out, about and holiday coverage and just keep Norton for its anti-virus etc.  Thank you for taking time to help me.  I appreciate your help.

Regards