hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?
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Before I try it, I was first wondering if anyone is familiar with their way of doing things and if there would be any risks on my end. This is how it works, quoted from their site:
What is a community powered (Peer-to-Peer) VPN?
Hola is the first community powered (Peer-to-Peer) VPN, where users help other users make the web world-wide again. This means that Hola routes your traffic through other peers (nodes) in the Hola network, as opposed to routing through power-hungry costly servers. This allows Hola to provide you with a superior VPN service with minimal underlying costs. HolaCDN's use of uses real peers to route your traffic, rather than proxy servers, makes you more anonymous and more secure than regular VPN services. This also means that Hola is harder to detect and block. Currently, Hola runs in a hybrid mode - combining traditional VPN architecture and peer-to-peer technology. Chrome browser extension and Opera browser add-on operate as a standard VPN service, and are not part of the Hola peer-to-peer networkI'm a bit skeptical and wondering if anyone else uses it for personal use? One example, watching TV and/or movies that are geo-locked?
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I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow. Then there is the fact that it is "peer-to-peer" that means that at some point your machine/device will be used as an exit node, and as soon as that happens all bets are off. You'll probably have the FBI knocking on your door pretty soon asking why your IP was used in some crime or another, assuming they ask before arresting you...
Free ALWAYS poses some risk to you, but in most cases it's just advertising, but in others it is far less clear.
If you are looking for a VPN then look for a solid reputable one that is not free (in most cases they are less than $100/yr). You'll be much better off.
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We used to use it because of the travel, but have been avoiding it for a while now.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We used to use it because of the travel, but have been avoiding it for a while now.
I'm surprised you don't VPN directly into your house, lol.
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@dafyre What house? There nomads =P
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@dafyre What house? There nomads =P
For some reason I thought they still had a house state side. If nothing else, he can VPN in to the Scale lab or something
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@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow.
Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow.
Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
Yeah, but to be honest I am the same way... for some reason, paying for a services makes it seems like it will be around in the long run.
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Luminati sells Hola users' bandwidth. That doesn't sound like a loss leader.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Luminati sells Hola users' bandwidth. That doesn't sound like a loss leader.
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free". Hola sells all users, not just free ones AFAIK.
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
Yeah, but to be honest I am the same way... for some reason, paying for a services makes it seems like it will be around in the long run.
That's the reason many people say that Linux certainly died by 1995.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
That's the reason many people say that Linux certainly died by 1995.
Point Taken
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free".
It's not a loss leader. That's my point.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free".
It's not a loss leader. That's my point.
We don't know that. That the sell the data doesn't tell us that it is profitable or if it is still a loss leader for selling the paid product.
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No, we don't know. So you can't call it a loss leader.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
No, we don't know. So you can't call it a loss leader.
I didn't. I spoke about emotional reactions to loss leaders as a general thing that IT people seem to react to.
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Interesting. If you pay for the premium subscription, your never used as an peer (exit node)
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Interesting. If you pay for the premium subscription, your never used as an peer (exit node)
Yeah, basically... just avoid them.
