Anybody know of anything else that would be quite wise to purchase sooner than later, due to potential (or incoming) regulation that would be regarded as privacy-infringing to enforce? I was thinking about this because I’ve been pondering a high-quality 3D printer purchase for this reason.

Advice for varying levels of budget would be quite nice, too; I partially intend on this being a post people may want to revisit.

    • deadcream@sopuli.xyz
      12·
      2 months ago

      Not if they start using DPI and block VPN protocols. VPNs that use OpenVPN, Wireguard and other non-censorship-resistant protocols (including Mullvad) don’t work in China, Iran or Russia.

      Mullvad and other mainstream VPN providers only work in free countries where VPN is allowed.

        • 0xKesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          7·
          2 months ago

          https://mullvad.net/en/help/connecting-to-mullvad-vpn-from-restrictive-locations

          This is what I can find on their website. Last updated April 22, 2026.

          Seems like Russia is mostly blocked and China is fully blocked.

          This guide lists different settings and methods to connect to Mullvad VPN from networks and countries where connecting to a VPN is difficult. This includes countries such as China, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

          But Russia, China, and Iran are listed here. So maybe works? I’m confused

          • TrollAccount69@lemmy.ml
            3·
            2 months ago

            It is a legitimate arms race. Things are changing weekly, you gotta understand what you’re doing and why and take other steps to connect to stuff sometimes.

        • deadcream@sopuli.xyz
          3·
          2 months ago

          Protocols that mimic regular https traffic in a way that survives DPI. There are many variants like vless+reality+vision, naiveproxy, etc. It’s still cat-and-mouse game since government’s DPI systems are constantly improving.

          • Stolas@lemmy.ca
            3·
            2 months ago

            Interesting. What would you recommend though, and how would you recommend searching for these services?

            Just on the off chance that north america could become like the aforementioned countries.

            • deadcream@sopuli.xyz
              2·
              2 months ago

              You can self host xray or sing-box server (which implement many of the protocols) on a cheap vps. A lot of documentation is not great and is either in Chinese or Russian but it’s doable. There are also paid services offering vless with various degrees of reliability and sketchiness.

              Of course the real challenge when living in an authoritarian country is how to pay for it. I.e.you need to buy a vps abroad. I guess it will be easier in USA then in countries under sanctions or with internal restrictions where people generally can’t use Visa or PayPal.

            • bleustenns@lemmy.mlOP
              2·
              2 months ago

              I’m actually wondering the same thing. I had the thought of buying a ridiculous amount of VPN time quite some time ago but ultimately decided against it for the reasons listed.