VPN after a week

I've been trying some new security related stuff after watching this episode of NOVA:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/secrets-in-your-data/

I added the Privacy Badger add-on for Firefox, it seems to work seamlessly and doesn't break any sites that I've used.  I also tried a VPN although not sure if that really qualifies for security.  Here's what I found after a week or so:

Stuff that is better:
My DSL modem is set to maximum security which is fine but before the VPN the maximum security setting broke stuff like audio streaming from Yesterday USA or Antioch OTR.  It also broke the automagic NIST time setting of Windows 10.  And I couldn't check my WB9KZY email either.  So I'd have to downshift the modem security to check those sites and then remember to reset it to maximum later.  But now with the VPN they all work even with maximum security.  One other advantage if the server is outside the US is being able to see sites like bilibili.tv
 

Stuff that is worse:
Gmail hates the VPN as does Flacebook.  Also Discover is a little upset with the VPN.  So I disconnect the VPN when checking those sites - note that it is a lot easier to disconnect and reconnect the VPN than to change the modem security back and forth.  And I have to consent to cookies a lot when using the VPN, maybe due to the Netherlands servers ?  Sometimes if the server is in the wrong state content will be restricted.  And there are a lot of capchas to contend with - and time gets spent waiting for these Cloudfare challenges: 

 Stuff that is just weird:

Seeing Dutch commercials on Youtube like the above, I haven't seen any Japanese, Polish or Romanian commercials yet :)

So seeing a lot more capchas and having to enter more security codes so a VPN can be more of a hassle, especially when paired with a private browser window.  But being able to check email or listen to streams with less hassle is a good thing.  I'll keep on with the experiment.

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm