It's 2022... VPNs are basically mainstream now, but sadly service providers are still very focused on using custom soft clients (mobile/desktop apps) for connecting. If you're like me (and if you're reading this, I assume you are), you prefer to connect your whole house to the VPN at your router - your Mikrotik router to be specific. In the last year or so we have started to see a bit better "support" from some of the more popular service providers, but this usually only goes as far as a basic guide in their help knowledge base, if you need actual help from their support staff you are going to regret it....

There are a million VPN review sites out there but most of them are a) dodgy affiliate sites; and b) focused on things like whether you can watch US Netflix. For this poll, the main criteria I'm interested in are:
a) Does the provider offically support Mikrotik?
b) Is the router set up straight forward / aligned with basic protocol standards (e.g. IPSec) - or did it require additional config hacks / work-arounds?
c) Is the connection stable, or does it drop out regularly?
d) If you have to speak to support about a connection problem, do they actually know WTF they are talking about when it comes to using the VPN with Mikrotik?

I'm posting this poll because I have been using Surfshark for a couple of years now, and I am ready for a change. Site regulars will be familiar with their IPSec-breaking 5 second DNS TTLs and other issues, but in the last month or two I have noticed that the connection has become horribly unstable, particularly in the evenings which only leads me to believe that their AU servers are drastically overloaded and they are doing nothing about it. Additionally I have noticed some other weird shit going on, such as my SSH traffic being re-routed out a different exit point to my web traffic.

On the surface of it, NordVPN seems to be the most popular option, but I found out recetly that they are owned by the same parent company as Surfshark, and will be merging soon, so even though they have a pretty sweet birthday deal on right now, I'm kind of hesitant. I'd like to support ProtonVPN personally, but only their Basic plan is price-competative and I'm a bit worried they don't have as big a server network.

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Sorry do your research formally, not on my dime.

Fuck me sideways, what is it with self righteous assholes on this forum? This IS research. I'm asking for OPINIONS based on USER EXPERIENCE. If you don't want to contribute, that's fine, but your self indulgent "don't waste my time" bullshit is only wasting mine, and anyone else who might be interested.

If you want to post in this thread, maybe try pulling your head out of your ass and being helpful instead of tossing low effort useless condescending garbage that only proves you don't actually know anything about the subject in the first place.

I run my own VPN service on MikroTik hardware & software. It has excelent MikroTik support.

Running RouterOS. WG, IKEv2.

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I like IPVanish because I found them to be the most consistent/persistent from a performance perspective .... the other VPN 3rd party services I have tried is ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access where my experiences where unsatisfactory.

IPVanish also provides superb documentation exploiting WireGuard .... unfortunately IPVanish does not as yet provide support for Tik devices.

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No I dont like spam and everywhere else I turn some dick or site is trying to sell or push a VPN. So I consider this spam. A new poster eh. If you were someone here who had posted frequently or even a little bit, then that would be a different story. To come hear out of the blue and be suddenly asking about 3rd party VPN, Sorry dude, dont buy it, never will!

Yeah mate... first of all I didn't try to sell anything, I asked a legitimate question and offered a number of alternatives and even gave people the option to suggest their own....

But secondly and more importantly, maybe YOU should do some research before you go making assumptions about people's knowledge or motivation. I've hardly come here out of the blue, and if you had taken 5 seconds to look at my actual post history instead of stroking your own scared-little-boy ego, you might have realised that. I may not post often but that doesn't mean I'm a) new; b) don't contribute value; or c) trying to sell anything. Like I said in my original post - that 5 second DNS TLL problem with Surfshark that dozens of people have come to this forum looking for answers to? Yeah, I discovered that, I diagnosed that, and I came up with the work around for that. ==> viewtopic.php?p=814119. Most of my other posts are asking or answering questions about IPSec. I've never tried to sell anything once. You've got literally zero basis for any of the assumptions you've made except your own stupid preconceptions, based on your false sense of superiority. You're a classic Dunning-Kruger mate, and now everyone else here knows it too.

So you can cram your self entitled attitude up your ass. Just because YOU think something is spam doesn't mean it is, and it doesn't give you the right to be a rude asshole or treat this forum like you own it, or have any fucking say at all about what kind of content other people post. If you don't like a thread, don't read it, don't post in it, but keep your unhelpful selfish bullshit to yourself so people who actually want help and want to contribute can.

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These forums are for help on Mikrotik devices, and not forums on Third Party VPNs.
If you have a legitimate question on which third party VPNs WORKS with Mikrotik etc. I would give you the time of dayl

However, this is pure marketing BS for third party VPNs , and not having any part of it and recommend others avoid as well and has nothing to do with MT.

You must be illiterate then, or you just didnt actually read my post, because asking which 3rd party vpns work with Mikrotik is exactly the question I asked...

I'm honestly curious though, what part(s) of my post exactly do you think are "pure marketing BS", because I didn't promote any specific VPN at all... I spoke of my personal experience with one brand (which was bad) and asked opinions on another saying I was cautious about it because of...more bad news. So where exactly is the marketing? Do you even know what marketing is? I guess not.

I am on the same boat - ExpressVPN is removing L2TP/IPSec support by end of October so I am leaving until they support Wireguard (which should work on Mikrotik).
Though chances are low since they are pushing their proprietary protocol and pushing clients (trying to get rid of router VPNs). I was looking at NordVPN or Surfshark but based on what you said it is No-Go..
Any ideas are welcomed...

P.S. Mikrotik could at least add TLS auth support so we are not left empty handed in regards to Client usage..

I am on the same boat

Ditto. Im to the point of putting a device (virtual or physical) in place to handle VPN services.

I run my own VPN service on MikroTik hardware & software. It has excelent MikroTik support.

I do the same. Took hAP ac2 with me on vacation did site2site wireguard back to my house. Win!