Select country on free plan
I want to be able to select the country at least, I don't care if I cant choose the server or not, but its annoying having to connect to a place on the other side of the world. I most likely will stop using this VPN if this is not added back.
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Tom commented
If selecting country isn't possible, then how about selection world region? N/S Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia?
It would maintain the flexibility of proton slotting free users into servers with capacity, while not routing the connection to the other side of the planet.
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KJay Black commented
nice choice of countries and my free account keeps not signing me in at the moment but sends me to mail. instead why:
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Nikolaus Kühn commented
As a paying proton mail user that only rarely needs VPN country selection is the much more interesting feature than speed. If I would rely on VPN as a daily driver I would pay for it to get the full speed.
As a completely free user (i.e. not even paying for mail) I'd say any restriction is fine but I lack a plan differentitation for paying customers that are not needing VPN a lot. -
EldrinSMP commented
The choice to remove the option to choose what country I connect to makes the free Proton VPN completely useless for me. I primarily used it to connect to my secure services when forced to use public WiFi, but unfortunately my secure services block international connections without prior authorization given and travel plans logged. Forcing me to. the Netherlands 100% of the time makes my use case completely invalid. How can this e good for users when it completely goes against our best interests. Knowing that you violated the contracts of your paid users when doing this as well destroys the long-standing trust I've had in Proton. I'd planned on subscribing to SimpleLogin for email masking, but knowing this and knowing they are a Proton company, I'll be checking into alternatives.
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Martin Blackwell commented
Not really selling the paid VPN service if you cannot test the usefulness from different countries.
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Get better commented
This is incredibly frustrating I want to be able to select the country
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Reza Helios commented
خوبه
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secureworld commented
As a US user of Proton products since close to the time Proton Mail was in the early stages, the products have been great. However, I agree with the OP that this change in Proton VPN is annoying. The connections to the Netherlands ("NL") more than 90% of the time during the weekdays and even weekends are absolutely frustrating, especially when US sites block access because they detect an international IP. Now, when this happens I just don't use Proton VPN and switch to another. I was thinking of a paid plan before this change, but this move by Proton does not entice me to sign up for a paid plan, which it appears is the main goal of Proton here. Bring back the country selection on the free plan, especially for US users.
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Gabriel Nunes commented
As a long-time paying user of Proton's services, I am completely disappointed with the new Android VPN app in general, and with this regression for free users in particular.
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Patrick commented
I agree completely. The VPN service is completely useless now. And as a reply to Proton Admin: if connection speed is supposed to be the most important to 99% of the users, why do you put a timer on changing servers if not to force people to a paid subscription?
I was actually thinking of taking a subscription, but this makes me rethink it unfortunately. Just be honest about why you have changed it...
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春華 commented
You're just from those country which Internet was not blocked by gov and access any websites easily ,Why do you care if you can switch countries?
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Sponsi commented
So it really is a thing!
I wanted to check something with one of the three countries I had on my plan
and let's not call it a FREE plan! I have the Mail Plus plan which included 3 servers!!!!
Now the support says there are 5 servers but they are rotating... and including my domestic VPN but why would I want a domestic VPN?
People use VPN to access services from other countries, OF COURSE not for BS like "because I want to feel safe" - as if logging in via VPN from Italy would be safe in any way.
And the support keeps repeating itself.
And why did you make the change just like that!
It's breaking the rules of the contract we established when I was purchasing the Mail Plus plan!
First you lie in the sales, comparing no discount to sale discount,
then you don't allow prolonging accounts with sale discounts
and now THIS?I tend to watch the Dutch TV via VPN... now I can't. PATHETIC.
AND REMEMBER: It's not the free plan! I paid for Mail Plus which included VPN with 3 servers!!!!
You really want to antagonize people?
PATHETIC.
This is the "free world" service you were trying to create? -
UserNumber13 commented
Give the basic universal VPN options and features back to the free users. Removing them makes 0 sense, especially those who need it. Scummy move on ProtonVPN, shame on them. In order to bring back trust to free users, revert the changes back and give the free users the options they need.
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Northern Proton commented
I only need access to VPN a few times per year, so the free plan and going to the most available server is usually fine. EXCEPT WHEN IT ISN'T.
It is not fine when I am away on a trip and I need to do some banking for a few minutes. My bank detects that I am not in North America and completely blocks my access. This happens maybe two or three times per year. Coming from a free VPN in the Netherlands do not solve my problem, it has to be a server in North America. I think paying for VPN service for 1 month at $10USD to do a few minutes of banking once or twice in that month is pretty expensive.
I like Proton products a lot and will continue recommending them to lots of friends and family. I think this change is a step in the wrong direction. Please consider bringing back "Select country on free plan". Put some creative limitations on it if necessary.
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lol commented
I absolutely do not believe to the fact that 99% of users use random server.
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Night-star commented
I agree comment the above.
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Dave commented
I totally agree with all these comments.
I tried raising this issue with the VPN helpdesk - but just got a lot of marketing spin about how the number of servers is increasing. But CHOICE is the only issue AFAIK. As a relatively long time proton user and paying PM user - it really is a deal killer for me too as far as VPN goes. Bad idea guys and girlz! -
MARKKOL23 commented
I would like to select one country of my choice and all should be available not a list made for me.
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ellery commented
I've been thinking more and more about the recent change to remove free ProtonVPN Users ability to select their country of choice. I keep coming back to the same conclusion; Why shouldn't I just go with another service? It may sound like I'm just being petty, and it would be very easy to dismiss these kind of complains, but I think it's valid.
When I was shopping for a VPN that fit my needs, I saw that ProtonVPN offered the feature I was looking for as a free option. At the time I was very grateful for this. However, I'm not just complaining because I want things for free. That's not it. I'm more than willing to pay. But now, the price is roughly the same no matter where I go.
My question is this;
Why would I pay the company that removed a free feature, lies while saying that it's for the benefit of the users, when in reality it makes the experience far less convenient and you're also constantly being shown offers and prompts to upgrade to their paid service to select a country. The INTENT is obviously to make us pay to choose the country. But the rhetoric is an EXTREMELY dubious claim that "99% of users care about connecting quickly to the server with the highest speed." Now the more I read about this, the more I've seen many valid complains from users. So I highly doubt that 99% claim is even true in the first place.
So if the price is the same here, and the price is the same with all of the competitors, why shouldn't I go spend my money somewhere else rather than giving it to the company that lied to me? Don't tell me this is for the user's convenience, while removing features that made the service more convenient to use, and constantly ask me to pay to get those features back. That is how you lose customers.
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ellery commented
100% Agree with this feedback. The only thing that I used the VPN for was watching Japanese TV. In fact, when I first was looking for services, I was originally GOING to pay until I found out that Japan was on the list of free countries. I would still gladly pay if they were just honest about it.
But this made up line about changing the experience "for the users" so that we can connect more quickly leaves a BAD taste in my mouth. If you're going to extort me, don't lie to me about it too! Just be honest about the fact that you want people to pay to be able to select the country.
If you remove a feature and then tell me that it's for my own benefit, I'm going to go look for someone else to pay rather than paying you. Very dishonest behavior.