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.
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.