Thought those free VPNs were a scam till my ISP throttled me at 3am

I always figured free VPNs were just selling your data, but after my ISP capped my speed to 0.5 Mbps during a late night download, I grabbed ProtonVPN's free tier. Now I'm pulling 50 Mbps at 2am and they haven't asked for a cent. Anyone else get burned by their ISP and had to change their tune?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake7921mo ago

ProtonVPN's free tier legit saved me too, I was getting 1.2 Mbps with Spectrum at midnight and now I'm sitting at 45 Mbps easy. Honestly makes you wonder why anyone pays for a VPN when the free ones work this well for basic stuff.

diana_kim661mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly, the whole ISP throttling thing is just another example of how these companies get away with whatever they want until you fight back. Tbh, it's like how grocery stores put the most expensive stuff at eye level and hide the cheap options on the bottom shelf. Ngl, I've noticed that pattern everywhere, from phone plans to streaming services. They count on you not knowing your rights or just giving up, but a free VPN or a quick call to complain can flip the whole script.

jamie8041mo ago

Wait you're seriously telling me a free VPN actually works for this? I thought those were all garbage that just sell your data or slow your connection to dial-up speeds (not that I'd know what dial-up feels like anymore, thank god). That's wild, man. I've been paying for a VPN for years thinking you had to fork over cash to get anything decent. Now I'm sitting here wondering how much money I've burned on that subscription when I could've just grabbed a free one and called it a day.